What is "Cue-balling?"

Found this definition:
Cue Balling - One of the major "sailor alts" (see below) used to increase the rate of fire of 8 inch (20.3 cm) guns on US cruisers of the World War II period. This involved using the rammer at high speed to strike the projectile and bat it into the breech. This meant that the rammer did not have to extend and retract past the much shorter and thus faster acting powder bag ram position. This unofficial loading method increased the ROF of these weapons from the standard 3 RPM up to 5 or 6 RPM, a significant improvement. The fact that the gun crews were able to do this on a regular basis and not damage the mechanisms is a credit to the designers of the mountings, who over engineered them to be resistant to such abuse.
Sailor Alt - Unofficial USN term used to describe an unauthorized change to standard practice.
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/Gun_Data_p3.htm

 

Wait! Somebody sailor-proofed a piece of gear? And they didn't get recognition from Congress, or God?

 

Wow! Thanks for all the salutes. I bookmarked that site since it seemed to have a lot of good information.