Rodney straddled Bismarck with her third salvo and scored hits with the fourth. The guns' mechanical loading rate did not determine how quickly the ship could obtain accurate long-range hits. Shells first had to reach the target, and spotters then had to observe their fall. The fire-control team used those observations to refine the next firing solution, so deliberate ranging could require much longer between salvos than reloading alone.
Notable Point · 2:13:37-2:16:47
Why a battleship waited between salvos
Rodney's early salvos show why practical long-range firing cadence depended on observing fall of shot rather than a gun's mechanical reload rate.