Did Royal Navy ships compete in timed gunnery shoots?

Did Royal Navy gunnery competitions actually time ships firing at targets?

Yes. Ships fired at towed targets, with performance judged by time to the first hit and how quickly rounds reached the target area.

Destroyers, sloops or tugs towed targets according to what was available locally. The assessments included the time to the first hit and how quickly the ship concentrated rounds around the target. Those grades affected the careers of captains and other personnel as well as gunnery officers. Competitive shooting therefore gave the ship's company a practical incentive to improve its performance.