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During WW1, the Royal Navy was rather let down by the interaction of shell and ship. That is, British armour piercing shells often didn't pierce armour, or at least not in a condition to function afterwards. Similarly, an excessive focus on rate of fire led to poor ammunition handling practices that led to the loss of several ships.

Concerns had been expressed on both subjects prewar, but no action was taken. What if it had been, and the RN enters the First World War with shells that work properly and ships that need more than mild provocation to explode?

Note that I don't propose to do anything about the dysfunctional command and control. Solving that requires the Royal Navy to not be British. Suffice to say, I'm a Jellicoe man rather than a Beatty man.
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