The report range thingie might just be a "close", "medium" and "long" range report, I do not remember. There is also a "Target nearest warship" for the deck officer. There should be menu buttons in OM / DW for both, but my memory cannot say for certain. Have your crew man the deck gun, and "Target nearest warship", once they shoot a shot, then try manning the gun yourself, and see if it's not partially aimed at the attacker then... I do not recall game behavior with that either... I think I need to plug my batts into the wall charger and get a 110v AC hit... wake things up maybe.
