Radar-directed gunnery reduced the need for six guns firing forward to establish range. This allowed the elevated forward position and its weight to support other weapons, including additional close-range AA armament. Quadruple pom-pom mountings were considered a weakness of the Didos' Mediterranean service, while octuple mountings remained in demand. An alternative with four octuple pom-pom mounts appeared in related discussions, although the archival research described here had found no matching design at Kew or Greenwich. Stronger air defense would come at the expense of main-battery fire against destroyers and torpedo boats. That exchange became easier to accept as Hunt-class and war-emergency destroyers entered service and assumed more of the surface-screening burden.
Notable Point · 1:16:44-1:19:40
Radar changed the balance of Dido guns and close air defense
Radar reduced forward ranging requirements, while growing destroyer numbers made it easier to exchange some cruiser surface firepower for stronger AA batteries.