Except that you guys are forgetting that Ericsson had information on the armor thickness of the CS Virginia (provided by a Union spy) and actually tested several cannon with both normal loads and higher pressure loads to determine IF they could penetrate Virginia's armor. The 11" guns were selected because they were tested with the higher pressure loading and actually penetrated the mockup of Virginia's armor (while surviving the test). The Navy (wisely in my opinion) chose NOT to use a double charge of powder as Ericsson suggested because the three successful tests were a very small "sample size," and a couple of the guns that were being tested blew up (injuring some of the testers) during the experiment.
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