[ Post a Response | The SteelNavy.Com Message Board ]
Posted by Richard Byrd on September 30, 2025, 10:23:11, in reply to "If the minesweeper was stationary"
Occurred during the Battle of Pantelleria, during a running battle between Italian ships and a convoy escort, no reason to think Hebe would have been stationary. 
Previous Message
Then yes, in theory easily. Depending on factors like weather, etc. The Lord Clive class monitors originally had 12" guns and were firing on stationary targets around 26k yards. Previous Message
We seem to have drifted off the topic of my actual question, which was not what is the longest range hit ever. The question I am trying to get some facts or even opinion about, is whether a 6" gunned Italian CL could have been matching the performance. in range and accuracy at least, of all these 15-18" guns? Previous Message
I have seen many times over the years discussions of the longest range hit in naval combat and IIRC the field largely came down to a close tie between Warspite on Guilio Cesare or Scharnhorst/Gneisenau on Glorious, in both cases at around 26,000 yards. I just stumbled onto something that puzzled and surprised me - a claim that the Italian CL, Raimondo Montecuccoli hit the RN minesweeper HMS Hebe with 152mm fire, also at ~26,000 yards. Admittedly, the source is the Wikipedia article on Montecuccoli, but it claims that both sides agree on the event and lists the RN's assessment of the damage to Hebe. Is this possible?
Responses