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Two weapons fit the subject; a comparison may prove useful

Vickers Quadruple 2 Pdr Mk VIII (series)

Recoil operated, water cooled, belt fed

1. Weight of mounting: 8.5 - 11 tons
2. ROF 100 rpm
3. MV 2400 f/s
4. ammo supply: on-mount belt fed from tray; up to 112 rds available/gun
5. range: 6800 yds
6. ceiling: 13000'
7. weight of projectile: 1.6 lbs

Comments: Not director-controlled DD and smaller [the director was large and heavy]. "The internal gun arrangement was complex in the extreme and 'pompoms' needed considerable skilled maintenance. ...despite some improvements over the older ammunition-belt system, jams were still frequent." [Destroyer Weapons of WW II]

Good/bad feature: The tray ammo supply provided a lot of ready use ammo which mean the mount could be fired by one person (Captain of the Mount) in an emergency once the mounting was powered. However, the presence of 400+ rounds on the moving structure would have made manual operation harder and demanded larger training/elevation motors once this feature was incorporated.

The cordite propellant was the reason this weapon was not adopted by the USN despite RN encouragement to do so, the propellant dictating a non-curable low m/v issue.

Naval Gun Factory 1.1in Mark 1/1

Recoil operated, water cooled, clip fed

1. Weight of mounting: 4.7-6.5 tons
2. ROF 150 rpm [sources differ on this figure]
3. MV 2700 f/s
4. Range: 7400 yds
5. Ceiling: 19000'
6. weight of projectile: 1 lb
4. ammo supply: eight round clips, two clip feeders/gun

Comments: " it was extremely complex. ....Many defects soon appeared; for example, in view of excessive vibration, broad steel stiffening plates were added to the mount between the carriage and the base, and a new mount was designed....the gun also earned a reputation for jamming, realizing earlier fears." ....In 1945 the captain of a destroyer escort armed with the 1.1in wrote that it worked well enough as a gun, but that despite its high rate of fire it lacked the range of the stopping power of the Bofors gun. .... power drives required an .inordinate amount of overhaul by ship's force to be kept in even fair operating condition." [Friedman, US Naval Weapons}

Good features: Adaptable to a lightweight off-mount director. Lighter weight, higher rate of fire, longer range and ceiling
Bad features besides mechanical issues: Like most 'heavy machine guns' it took a lot of manpower to keep it going. Pointer, trainer, mount captain, and at least four loaders. Plus more ammo passers to feed the loaders. One picture in Campbell shows nine men on the moving structure.

In a kamikaze world, the Vickers, worts and all, would be the better weapon if only because of its projectile weight. In earlier worlds? If this comparison shows anything, it shows the difficulty in getting complex weapons to work in a salt-water environment, when you want them to.