From 1875 onwards, the balance between breech- and muzzle-loading changed. Captain de Bange invented a method of reliably sealing a breech, adopted by the French in 1873. Just as compellingly, the growing size of naval guns and consequently, their ammunition, made muzzle-loading much more complicated. With guns of such size there was no prospect of hauling in the gun for reloading, or even reloading by hand, and complicated hydraulic systems were required for reloading the gun outside the turret without exposing the crew to enemy fire. In 1882, the 81-ton, 16-inch guns of fired only once every 11 minutes while bombarding Alexandria during the Urabi Revolt.Beeler, pp. 77–78 The , 450 mm (17.72 inch) guns of the s could each fire a round every 15 minutes.Brown, "The Era of Uncertainty", p. 85
