ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Coast Artillery fire control system

Okay kiddo, so imagine you're playing with a big toy catapult and you want to hit a target that's really far away. But you can't see it very well because it's too small or it's too cloudy outside. So what do you do? You use a special tool called a "fire control system" to help you aim your catapult and hit your target!

Now, the coast artillery fire control system is like a really big, fancy version of that toy catapult and tool. It's used by armies and navies who are trying to protect their coastlines from enemy ships that might be far away in the ocean. The system helps them aim giant guns that are mounted on the coast and shoot at those enemy ships to keep them from getting too close.

The fire control system has several parts that work together to help the soldiers aim the guns accurately. There are big towers with telescopes that the soldiers use to scan the horizon and look for enemy ships. These towers are called "observation posts." When they spot an enemy ship, they use special instruments to measure its distance and direction. These instruments are called "range finders" and "azimuth instruments." They basically help the soldiers figure out where the ship is and where it's going.

Once they know where the ship is, the soldiers need to calculate how they should aim their guns so that the shells land on target. This is where the "computer" part of the fire control system comes in. It's not a computer like the ones you use to play games or watch videos. It's more like a really complicated math machine. It takes the measurements from the range finders and azimuth instruments and uses them to calculate the exact angle the guns should be aimed at to hit the target. The soldiers enter this information into the computer and it gives them a set of instructions that tell them how to adjust the guns.

Finally, the soldiers use special "telephones" to communicate with each other and with the guns themselves. These are not like the phones you use to talk to your friends or family. They're more like walkie-talkies that are connected to all the different parts of the fire control system. The soldiers use them to tell each other when they're ready to fire the guns and when they need to make adjustments.

So that's basically how the coast artillery fire control system works, kiddo. It's like a big, fancy catapult and tool that helps soldiers aim giant guns at enemy ships far away in the ocean. It has observation posts, range finders, azimuth instruments, computers, and telephones that all work together to make sure the soldiers can hit their targets accurately.