Deckgun versus aircraft

[ridgewayranger]

Hi everyone,
Purely for my own amusement and curiosity I've been using my D/G against aircraft in Sub School artillery. I've succeeded in hitting the large flying boats several times but was surprised that in most cases they stayed in the air at least for a few more circuits. I would expect an aircraft hit by a 3" shell to disintegrate. I would not recommend this practice in combat, even though we can be provided with AA shells. Does anyone know if they actually work? A delay had to be set on the fuze before loading, until the development of proximity fuzes, so it was a very hit or miss process(no pun intended!)
RR