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A rangekeeper is defined as an analog fire control system that performed three functions: [2] Target tracking; The rangekeeper continuously computed the current target bearing. This is a difficult task because both the target and the ship firing (generally referred to as "own ship") are moving.
Figure 1: Rangekeeper Coordinate System. The coordinate system has the target as its origin. The y axis value range to the target. US Navy rangekeepers during World War II used a moving coordinate system based on the line of sight (LOS) between the ship firing its gun (known as the "own ship") and the target (known as the "target").
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The Mark 8 Fire Control Computer was developed by Bell Laboratories during World War II.It was initially requested by the USN Bureau of Ordnance as an alternative to the Ford Instruments Mark I Fire Control Computer, in case supplies of the Mk I were interrupted or were unable to be manufactured in the required numbers. [1]
Mark 1A Computer Mk 37 Director above the bridge of destroyer USS Cassin Young with AN/SPG-25 radar antenna. The Mark 1, and later the Mark 1A, Fire Control Computer was a component of the Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System deployed by the United States Navy during World War II and up to 1991 and possibly later.
The rangekeeper's target position prediction characteristics could be used to defeat the rangekeeper. For example, many captains under long range gun attack would make violent maneuvers to "chase salvos." A ship that is chasing salvos is maneuvering to the position of the last salvo splashes.
The name rangekeeper began to become inadequate to describe the increasingly complicated functions of rangekeeper. The Mk 1 Ballistic Computer was the first rangekeeper that was referred to as a computer. Note the three pistol grips in the foreground. Those fired the ship's guns.
The present position of the target was called the Line-Of-Sight (LOS), [12] and it was continuously sent down to the Mk 8 Rangekeeper in the plotting room by Synchro transmitters. [12] When not using the radar's display to determine Spots, the director was the optical spotting station. [7]