Financial limits left many British warships with less anti-aircraft protection than official confidence suggested. Numerous destroyers could not elevate their main batteries against aircraft and relied on lighter guns, an individual high-angle weapon, speed, and maneuver. Rear Admiral Reginald Henderson warned in 1932 that the value assigned to the High Angle Control System Mark I lacked realistic firing evidence. He also pointed to the greater number of aircraft destroyed by fighters than by anti-aircraft guns in the First World War. He thought the smaller air forces encountered at sea could make interception easier, but that required effective warning and fighters with adequate endurance and firepower. Until those capabilities developed, the fleet would remain dependent on high-angle barrage fire.
Notable Point · 46:14-47:48
Henderson challenges confidence in fleet air defense
Rear Admiral Reginald Henderson warned that British confidence in shipboard anti-aircraft fire exceeded the evidence available from realistic testing.