Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:23:20-2:23:55

Fire-control spaces housed people as well as machinery

The apparent spaciousness of early fire-control positions reflects the number of operators required to turn observations into a firing solution.

Analogue ComputingFire ControlNaval GunneryShip Design
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Question

Why did naval fire-control positions need so much space?

Short answer

They contained teams of human operators and communicating stations as well as the visible calculating equipment.

Notes

The mechanism alone does not explain the size of a range clock or director space. These compartments also needed room for numerous operators. Personnel had to communicate and move between calculating stations. Before compact digital systems, human computing power was a major part of the fire-control installation.