The Mark VIII two-pounder was not a complete anti-aircraft defense and could not reach high-flying Focke-Wulf Condors. Its higher-velocity wartime ammunition and roughly four-kilometer anti-aircraft ceiling still made it useful against low aircraft and small boats. Several escorts could combine their manually aimed fire to make a strafing or light bombing run too dangerous to press home. Suppressing or deterring an attacker could protect the convoy even without producing a kill.
Notable Point · 1:28:50-1:32:41
What the two-pounder Pom-Pom could deter
The manually aimed two-pounder threatened low-flying attackers and small boats, with combined fire from several escorts helping deter an attack.