Flares, smoke, and the advantage of radar fire control

Japanese reconnaissance aircraft dropped flares while the ships fired star shells to illuminate American targets for visual gunnery. The method resembles the flare illumination used during the British attack on Taranto. USS Denver received roughly three eight-inch hits after the Japanese obtained a firing solution, although all three shells failed to detonate. Impact angle, fuze setting, and manufacture are possible explanations for such shell failures. When increasingly accurate fire forced the American cruisers behind a smoke screen, the Japanese visual picture disappeared. American radar fire control continued through the smoke, preserving the ability to engage when ordinary sight no longer worked.