I sailed on a couple of Bank Boats. The DF was situated in the Radio Room (much to my disgust.) The DF was still on ships when I left the sea in 1986, although I'll admit it wasn't used that much by then. But it was still there.
There's nothing wrong with a DF if it's used properly (very much like the radar.) As the early Satnav system came in (the old polar orbiters, very much pre-GPS) I met the same prejudices to the point where one Captain said it was
'utter rubbish.'
Yeah ... right !!!