NavList:

I stumbled across a video on YouTube titled Atlantic Crossing - Life on an Ocean Liner. Filmed in 1967, it follows the journey of three young American boys on their trip to visit their grandparents in Italy. The ship they are travelling on, the SS Leonardo da Vinci, was constructed in 1958 for the Italian Line as a replacement for the Andrea Doria. She was decommissioned on September 23rd, 1978 - three days before I was born. Curiously, she was designed to be converted to run on nuclear power. (!)

At 8 minutes and 25 seconds, there is a shot of two officers taking sextant sights from one of her decks. They then proceed inside to record their observations and presumably work out a fix, although the scene was surely staged for the camera. Neither officer appears to note the time of their shots. As one of the officers writes in his notebook, you can see what appears to be some LOPs. (See attached screen shots.) I'm curious as to what method sailors of this era would have used most often to fix their position: intercept method, noon sight, time sight, etc.? Also, would they be likely to set their wrist watches to GMT from the chronometer, or to the time of their home port?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide some insights.

Sincerely,

Sean C.

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