[TorpX]

I remember the accident and the "sabotage theory". I never thought it was very credable. Most of what I read involved ill-considered ballistics experiments and the possibility of over-ramming. I also remember stuff in the papers about how "old" and "crude" the guns were, but they seemed to function very well in WWII.

Yes they can. The guns in the turrets are automatically timed to fire a fraction of a second apart to prevent the shells from interfering with each other. Standard practice in most navies was to fire one barrel from each turret simultaneously, as this made it easier for the gunnery officer to see exactly where they were hitting.

I saw news video when they were used in Lebanon against the Syrians. It showed them being fired one at a time. That puzzled me as it is usually desirable to obtain a TOT effect. In a fleet action, wouldn't they have to fire them in volley, to avoid any pitching or rolling problems (in rough seas)?