Editing Channel Dash (section)

====Noon====

{{see also|Cross-Channel guns in the Second World War#Dover|l1=Dover guns}}

[[File:Dover AST 2001073 lrg.jpg|thumb|{{centre|Satellite photograph of the Strait of Dover (NASA Terra Satellite image, March 2001)}}]]
At Dover in 1940, there were four {{cvt|6|in|mm|0}} guns with a range of {{cvt|12000|yd|m}}, two [[BL 9.2-inch Mk IX – X naval gun|{{cvt|9.2|in|mm|0}} guns]] with a range of {{cvt|18000|yd|m}}, two modern 6-inch batteries with {{cvt|25000|yd|m}} range and four more 9.2-inch guns on new mountings with a range of {{cvt|31600|yd|m}} and then {{cvt|36300|yd|m}} with supercharging. (After the fall of France, Axis ships could avoid the Dover mine barrage by sailing close to the French coast.) A supercharged naval {{cvt|14|in|mm|0}} gun could fire shells {{cvt|48000|yd|m}} but was difficult to use against moving targets.{{sfn|Collier|2004|pp=131–132}} The [[South Foreland]] Battery of the Dover guns, with their new K-type radar set, tracked the ships of the Brest Group coming up the Channel towards Cap Gris Nez.{{sfn|Ford|2012|pp=44–45}}

At {{nowrap|12:19 p.m.,}} the Dover guns fired their first salvo but with visibility down to {{cvt|5|nmi|mi+km}}, there could be no [[Artillery observer|observation]] of the [[Indirect fire|fall-of-shot]]. The gunners hoped that the radar would detect the shell splashes and allow corrections to be made, although this method had never been tried before. "Blips" on the K-set clearly showed the ships zig-zagging but not where the shells were landing.{{sfn|Ford|2012|pp=44–45}} Full battery salvo firing began and the four 9.2-inch guns fired {{nowrap|33 rounds}} at the German ships, which were moving out of range at {{cvt|30|kn|mph+km/h|lk=in}} and all missed. German sources state that the fleet had already passed Dover when the coastal artillery opened fire and that the shells landed well astern of the major German units.{{sfn|FC|2013|pp=44–51}} The coastal guns ceased fire when light naval forces and torpedo-bombers began to attack and by {{nowrap|1:21 p.m.}} the German ships passed beyond the effective range of the British radar.{{sfn|Richards|1974|p=370}}