The claim of twenty 16in hits on Kirishima is not based on surveys of the wreck or any other recent source--except that it is recent to Westerners. The original damage control sketch from Kirishima's DC officer showed about twenty large-caliber hits. I think I can claim partial credit for this "news" by reporting it in English in Warship International a couple years ago. My collaborators and I showed the absurdity of the usually quoted hit figures for the 16in and 5in batteries and traced them back to their source, the testimony of a Kirishima gunnery officer in the United States Strategic Bombing Survey. The same guy is responsible for the false claim that his ship was scuttled.
A friend of mine who calculates hit probabilities figured that seven 16in hits would be at the lower end but still on the curve for what might result from a proper FC solution in that situation. Obviously twenty hits would be nearer the upper end of the probable.
A friend of mine who calculates hit probabilities figured that seven 16in hits would be at the lower end but still on the curve for what might result from a proper FC solution in that situation. Obviously twenty hits would be nearer the upper end of the probable.
Comment