Long-range fire control exposes technical and ammunition limits

The ships begin firing at roughly 20,000 yards, a demanding visual-gunnery range. A smudge may be seen well before spotters are confident and the contact report reaches command, so a sighting time and a recorded action time need not match. Ajax cannot immediately use her aircraft effectively because the seaplane has not been launched and its wireless is configured for reconnaissance rather than gunfire spotting. Graf Spee has radar, but at this stage the set can confirm that something is present without identifying it or replacing visual control of the engagement. A magneto problem also prevents one turret from training normally until the crew works around it. Graf Spee's use of high-explosive shells, possibly because armour-piercing ammunition was scarce or being conserved, may explain why repeated hits do less decisive damage than their calibre suggests. The ammunition explanation remains an inference, making this a useful passage on the difference between nominal firepower and combat effect.