I played a little open beta, but not enough to try out turrets. I have been told that they're pretty poor but I'm still interested in trying them out on my cruisers.

From doing some searching I see that Rapid Fire affects Turrets, but to what extent? The skill states that it works on your next attack - if turrets are doing lots of small damage attacks then does this mean that you will just get one rapid fire shot off for hardly any benefit?

Also each bolt under rapid fire apparently does less damage than normal. Is this likely to be a percentage, like 20% less? Because 20% less on a low damage turret won't be as bad as 20% on a high damage cannon.

If anyone can clear some of this up for me or point out where I am perhaps drastically wrong in my thinking, I would be most grateful.

Rapid fire lasts for 15 seconds, not just one shot.

The reduced damage per shot is pretty irrelevant when you're shooting three times as fast. Overall you gain quite a bit of dps.