My late FIL’s jeep carrier was sunk by surface fire from those ships. He’d have been delighted if what you said was true.
It is true in the case of the Johnston. The big guns were not able to aim down because the Johnston was too close. Read up on the battle.
I’ve “read up” on the battle and had first hand accounts of it from my FIL, who spent two days wounded in the water after being sunk by a Japanese battleship.
Anyhow, it may have been true in the case of the Johnston but was most assuredly not true in his case.