It's not like I have a full account of every action ever fought.alecsandros wrote: What was the range of the hits on the Italian destroyers that you mentioned ?
Here an account of HMS Euryalus engaging the RM at 2nd Sirte:
But first a video:
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/our-navy-in-action
At 03:10 the weather conditions of the battle are shown (and possibly Euryalus as well).
Sired was a gunnery control rating and rangefinder operator aboard Euryalus....At 2.56, the Euryalus opened fire with "A'' turret:
upon the nearest 8-inch cruiser, which for a few brief
minutes was clearly visible in a gap in the mist. I
obtained several clear range cuts of this cruiser in the
rangefinder eyepiece and I was dismayed to see that the
enemy's turrets were pointed towards Euryalus. The
Euryalus shook as salvoes left the two "A'' turret guns
and once again the acrid smell of cordite filled the range-
finder compartment. The range was about 20,000 yards.
It was extremely difficult to hit a target at that. range and
several of our spotting shots were not even sighted. In
the meantime, a number of 8-inch shells had dropped
close to Euryalus and we had to take avoiding action.
According to my range cuts, the range appeared to be
closing, and at 18,000 yards we opened fire with all the
main armament. I saw a straddle on the enemy cruiser
as she turned away, making smoke which mingled with
the mistiness. Cleopatra, ahead of Euryalus, was also
firing, and clouds of yellow cordite smoke billowed across
my vision further obscuring the enemy. Soon after 3
p.m., the heavy sea mist came closer and, with the smoke.
screens, completely hid the enemy ships. Our cruisers
turned away into the wind. The Italians had also
turned away and were soon out of sight.
There was now a lull in operations and I took advan-
tage to rest my aching eyes and to wash the salt spray
from the rangefinder lenses. At 3.15, fire was opened
again by Cleopatra and Euryalus as the Italian cruisers
were sighted for a few moments at extreme range. The
low clouds overhead cleared somewhat and, at 3.20, an
aircraft warning was received from radar, and the ship's
armament was divided. The two after-turrets were
under the control of the blue director in anti-aircraft
fire, whilst the three for'ard turrets were still controlled
by the green director in low-angle fire. At 3.25 our
after-turrets and pom-poms opened fire on low-flying
German Ju. 88s which tried to attack the cruisers. Both
gunfire and bombing were very inaccurate due to the
violent sea and wind, and neither side scored any hits. At
3.28, the enemy planes flew off.
Heavy seas were washing down the upper deck as
Euryalus crashed her way towards the Italian fleet at 28
knots. The Cleopatra was ahead of us and Dido and
Penelope were astem. Clouds of stinging spray swept
across the bridge drenching everyone and partly obscur-
ing my View. The destroyers appeared to be submerged
half the time. I saw one of them balanced on a huge
wave, her bow overhanging the trough. With a terrific
lunge she crashed into it in a mass of spray. Her stern
reared into the air and I watched her Propellers thrash
madly and churn up the top of the following wave. She
recovered herself and smashed into yet another wave.
The Euryalus was also pitching very heavily and every
wave caused the ship to shudder.
All contact with the Italian ships had been lost and
our radar was being operated. About 4.40 H.M.S. Zulu
flashed a signal reporting four Italian ships to the north,
east and, a few minutes later, she reported another group
of enemy ships consisting of the Italian battleship
Littun'o, two heavy cruisers and a light cruiser, escorted
by a number of destroyers. One group of ships was only
some nine miles to the north of Zulu, who was ahead of
us. The other Italian ships, including the battleship,
were about fifteen miles to the north-east of us. We put
on high speed and made for the main Italian fleets
Signals fluttered from our flagship, the Cleopatra, and
each ship was flying the white ensign from the mast-head.
The fleet certainly made heavy going at speed through
the heavy seas. Thick black smoke, made deliberately
to hide the convoy and shield ourselves, poured from the
funnels and hid the ship astem as we zigzagged first to
port and then to starboard. At 5 pm. a radar range was
obtained on the Littoria, and ten minutes later the Euryalus
opened fire at 15,000 yards. I saw a good straddle on
the Italian battleship with our second salvo and a few
seconds later, a vivid red flash which I believed to be
hit.
At 5.30, the Littorio, who had been firing at Dido,
shifted her fire to Euryalus and through the rangefinder
I watched her nine 15-inch guns open fire on us. It was
an awful moment as her turrets suddenly became a mass
of flame and smoke and I knew a broadside of 15-inch
shells was coming my way. I felt the hairs on the back
of my head rise and my heart pounded. I continued to
range on her control top, but it was very hard to con-
centrate. The Littorio's third broadside screamed close
overhead and crashed into the sea only some 400 yards
away, I again saw the ripple of red gun flashes spout
from her 15-inch guns and I wondered what I would do
if the cruiser was hit by nine I 5-inch shells each weighing
some 2,000 pounds. However, the broadside fell, with
a terrible "crump," several hundred yards short...
(Sired, Enemy Engaged, pages 23-25.)
"