Eight-inch anti-aircraft fire depended on fuze timing

Did the Royal Navy have proximity-fuzed ammunition for an eight-inch anti-aircraft gun?

Proximity fuzes emerged during the war, while the earlier high-angle eight-inch concept relied on time fuzes and the large shell's blast radius.

A viewer asks whether eight-inch anti-aircraft shells could use proximity fuzes. Such fuzes were developed during the Second World War, and earlier plans already existed for firing the calibre against aircraft. The original high-angle scheme relied on time fuzes, so the large shell's blast radius mattered more than scoring a direct hit. This supports the earlier caveat that an eight-inch weapon was more plausible as barrage or deterrent fire than as a precision anti-aircraft gun. The concept was intimidating and remained a barrage or deterrent weapon rather than an accurate substitute for smaller rapid-fire guns.