At long range, very little of an enemy ship might be visible. Gunnery could mean estimating the hull's position from the base of its smoke plume on the horizon. The target was not a sharply defined object, and fall-of-shot observation had to work through that uncertainty. Nominal gun range and real hit probability were therefore very different measures of combat effectiveness.
Notable Point · 43:02-43:31
Long-range gunnery aimed through smoke
At battlecruiser ranges, crews could be aiming at the estimated base of a smoke plume rather than a clearly visible enemy hull.