ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58
This is only true within certain assumptions.
Long-base-line shore FC has superior range-finding, yes. That's it. This is often compromised by less effective communications between widely-separated stations than are avaialble in a ship environment. But rangefinding is only one aspect of fire-control.
Well it is you who made a hell of an assumption. So you are saying that aiming at ship, seen as small line on water is hard - OK. But you completely ignore the fact that this ship doesn't even see the guns firing at him? What gives better FC if you don't see the target? Destroying randomly trees in closer or further vincinity of enemy battery won't win you a battle.
Many of these shore FC systems were designed in an era where line-of-battle ships cruised in formation past shore targets and fired and maneuvered in tight central control by the flag. Analog FC systems (I've actually operated one) are great at predicting along a curve--they're just elegant gear trains after all.
I see you problem. You probably visited to often some ancient California forts, built around 1905, which in 1941 should serve as military museums, not military forts. You are confusing very heavy, slowly trimming and firing guns and mortars with modern, built mid-30s rapid firing installations.
So, in a shore-based FC system, if the targets are not behaving and cruising along in lines to their doom, the long-base-line rangefinding is nice, but hardly determinative.
But let's you get XXX (sorry doesn't know english term for a single salvo falling on different sides of a ship), even before ship decides on which tree should she aim.
As for ships being less accurate, yes, they are, because they pitch, roll, and yaw. But their targets ashore do not move, and, in daylight, they can do 2-3 crossed-beairng fixes in under a minute and know exactly where they are in relation to the target.
You again assuming they exactly know when their target is. It is ship which is clearly visible, while battery is not. Once again - fioring to the flashlight or smoke is not accurate, but even those appear only after battery decides to open fire.
And to those who say BB is safe beacuse their armour would not be penetrated - armour of Bismarck also wasn't penetrated, and still was changed into piece of junk.
