Editing Fire-control system (section)

===Origins===
The original fire-control systems were developed for ships.

The early history of naval fire control was dominated by the engagement of targets within visual range (also referred to as [[indirect fire|direct fire]]). In fact, most naval engagements before 1800 were conducted at ranges of {{convert|20|to|50|yd|m|sigfig=1}}.<ref name="early" />
Even during the [[American Civil War]], the [[Battle of Hampton Roads|famous engagement]] between {{USS|Monitor}} and {{ship|CSS|Virginia}} was often conducted at less than {{convert|100|yd|m|sigfig=1}} range.<ref name="monitor">{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.monitorcenter.org/history/chronology/chronology2.php
 |title        = Chronology of the USS Monitor: From Inception to Sinking
 |access-date   = 2006-08-26
 |work         = The Mariner's Museum
 |publisher    = USS Monitor Center
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060713014755/http://www.monitorcenter.org/history/chronology/chronology2.php
 |archive-date = 2006-07-13
}}</ref>
<!--Quote: The two ironclads continue circling and firing at ranges varying from 100 yards to a matter of feet. -->

Rapid technical improvements in the late 19th century greatly increased the range at which gunfire was possible. [[Rifled]] guns of much larger size firing explosive shells of lighter relative weight (compared to all-metal balls) so greatly increased the range of the guns that the main problem became aiming them while the ship was moving on the waves. This problem was solved with the introduction of the [[gyroscope]], which corrected this motion and provided sub-degree accuracies. Guns were now free to grow to any size, and quickly surpassed [[EOC 10 inch 40 caliber|{{convert|10|in|mm|sigfig=2}}]] calibre by the 1890s. These guns were capable of such great range that the primary limitation was seeing the target, leading to the use of high masts on ships.

Another technical improvement was the introduction of the [[steam turbine]] which greatly increased the performance of the ships. Earlier [[reciprocating engine]] powered capital ships were capable of perhaps 16 knots, but the first large turbine ships were capable of over 20 knots. Combined with the long range of the guns, this meant that the target ship could move a considerable distance, several ship lengths, between the time the shells were fired and landed. One could no longer ''eyeball'' the aim with any hope of accuracy. Moreover, in naval engagements it is also necessary to control the firing of several guns at once.

Naval gun fire control potentially involves three levels of complexity. Local control originated with primitive gun installations aimed by the individual gun crews. Director control aims all guns on the ship at a single target. Coordinated gunfire from a formation of ships at a single target was a focus of battleship fleet operations. Corrections are made for surface wind velocity, firing ship roll and pitch, powder magazine temperature, drift of rifled projectiles, individual gun bore diameter adjusted for shot-to-shot enlargement, and rate of change of range with additional modifications to the firing solution based upon the observation of preceding shots.

The resulting directions, known as a '''firing solution''', would then be fed back out to the turrets for laying. If the rounds missed, an observer could work out how far they missed by and in which direction, and this information could be fed back into the computer along with any changes in the rest of the information and another shot attempted.

At first, the guns were aimed using the technique of [[artillery spotting]]. It involved firing a gun at the target, observing the projectile's point of impact (fall of shot), and correcting the aim based on where the shell was observed to land, which became more and more difficult as the range of the gun increased.<ref name="early" /><ref name="spotting">The increasing range of the guns also forced ships to create very high observation points from which optical rangefinders and artillery spotters could see the battle. The need to spot artillery shells was one of the compelling reasons behind the development of naval aviation and early aircraft were used to spot the naval gunfire points of impact. In some cases, ships launched manned [[observation balloon]]s as a way to artillery spot. Even today, artillery spotting is an important part of directing gunfire, though today the spotting is often done by [[unmanned aerial vehicles]]. For example, during [[Desert Storm]], [[RQ-2 Pioneer|UAVs]] spotted fire for the ''Iowa''-class battleships involved in shore bombardment.</ref>

Between the [[American Civil War]] and 1905, numerous small improvements, such as telescopic sights and optical [[rangefinders]], were made in fire control. There were also procedural improvements, like the use of [[plotting board]]s to manually predict the position of a ship during an engagement.<ref>See, for example [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/usnfirec.htm US Naval Fire Control, 1918].</ref>