The gun mounting had already been tested in HMS Enterprise and was intended to provide anti-aircraft fire when torpedo and level bombing were considered the main aerial threats. Both attack profiles required aircraft to hold relatively predictable courses, giving a heavy barrage some practical value despite slow training and firing rates. Radar later made the concept more useful by showing where the attack was coming from. Six-inch shells placed across the approach could force a pilot to alter course, waste fuel, release weapons without a useful hit, or continue through damaging fire. The barrage was meant to wear down and disrupt an attacking force as well as destroy individual aircraft.
Notable Point · 26:23-31:20
Six-inch guns as an anti-aircraft barrage weapon
The six-inch mounts were intended to engage aircraft by disrupting torpedo-bomber and level-bomber attacks, even when the barrage scored no direct kill.