The Vickers machine gun illustrates the difference between an effective killing range, quoted as 800 yards, and a maximum reach of roughly 5,000 yards. Fire beyond the effective range can still make an attacker react. In the example, fighters break a large Italian torpedo-bomber formation into smaller groups, heavy artillery separates those groups further, and pom-pom fire confronts an isolated aircraft during its final approach. A trained pilot who could make an accurate torpedo drop in calm conditions must now cope with manoeuvring, explosions and the loss of mutual support. The defence succeeds if those pressures spoil the drop. A moving ship can evade a badly aimed attack, whereas a bomber driven off its exact aim over a city can still damage the wider target.
Chapter · 51:35-54:33
How successive defensive layers disrupt a torpedo attack
A torpedo-bomber example shows how fighters, heavy guns and close fire can spoil an attack even when they fail to destroy the aircraft.