Talk:38cm Quadruple Gun Mount/@comment-41.164.6.244-20171010122031/@comment-30534142-20171101123713

The only design flaw those turrets had was the close proximity of the pair of guns which provoked a wake effect between the shells when fired simultaenously, thus creating a greater dispersion than normal. Problem that was only discovered in 1944 and had been adressed postwar by adding delay coils like you said.

Other problems, like the one who caused the explosion of one of her gun, were due to the shells and not the guns nor the turret. As for loading problems before her refit in the US, those were not due to her design but because Richelieu was still incomplete during the Battle of Dakar. When she had to escape to Africa in 1940, Richelieu was about 90% complete and several of her systems were not operational.

Since you've mentionned Navweaps, they say it themselves at the very beginning ot their article about the 380mm/45 gun : "At the time of her escape, she carried 296 APC rounds, but only 198 quarter charges and her ammunition handling equipment was barely functional."