Manual control holds the British ships away from their pursuers and turns the action into a long-range gunnery problem. Accuracy is low enough that both sides expend many shells for intermittent hits, which explains the historical effort devoted to rangefinders and fire-control systems. The British designs carry the best available coincidence rangefinder and radar, while the German ships use high-grade stereoscopic instruments and earlier radar. Effective heavy-gun fire at that distance depends on both tactical range management and the sensors and calculations supporting it.
Notable Point · 1:36:37-1:41:34
Why navies invested in long-range fire control
A running engagement at maximum range shows the appeal and limits of rangefinders, radar, and fire-control systems when hit chances remain low.