View Full Version : Naval gunnery 23rd April 2007, 22:26 A
question to RN guys who will know the answer. I don't want to
appear dopey because I think I'm going to get an answer that
someone is going to say I should have known and it's obvious.
But I don't know it and I've wondered about it for donkey's
years. So please bear with this ole boy. For the umpteenth time,
yesterday I saw an old black and white movie about sinking the
"Bismarck" in WW2. I remember it happening when it happened as a
teenager in those days. Once more the question arose in my mind
and it is this: How can they land a shell on a ship that is
travelling at speed from miles away? It just boggles my mind.
How do they do it? The ship can be zig zagging and still be hit
from miles away. How are the calculations made? What are the
guys in the gun turrets doing for the next salvo that is
different from the last salvo? There is a difference of hundreds
of yards travelled since the last salvo. What are the guys doing
in those few minutes in that