At the 1860s starting point, fire control could amount to seeing an enemy through a gunport and deciding to fire. The task gradually expanded from one person's judgment into coordinated groups working toward a common solution. Electronic assistance could reduce the number of people involved while demanding more expertise from those who remained. Operators looking beyond visual range had to understand both the target problem and the equipment well enough to distinguish genuine returns from echoes or misleading indications.
Chapter · 47:46-49:38
Fire control grew from gunport judgment into specialist teamwork
Naval fire control moved from a gun captain's visual judgment to coordinated teams and electronic operators who had to distinguish real targets from echoes.