NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Master and Commander Details
From: Don Seltzer
Date: 2015 Jul 1, 14:19 -0400
Don Seltzer
From: Don Seltzer
Date: 2015 Jul 1, 14:19 -0400
Yes, the error was in longitude.
On 5 September 1803, Cape St Vincent was observed from the ship. The longitude by prior dead reckoning was 13° 15' W. It was corrected to 8° 49' W from the observation of the Cape, a difference of about 213 nautical miles.
On 6 Sept, there was a notation in the log of 'sailing by chart'. Once they entered the Mediterranean, there were no further observations of either latitude or longitude.On 5 September 1803, Cape St Vincent was observed from the ship. The longitude by prior dead reckoning was 13° 15' W. It was corrected to 8° 49' W from the observation of the Cape, a difference of about 213 nautical miles.
On Wed, Jul 1, 2015 at 1:51 PM, Lu Abel <NoReply_LuAbel@fer3.com> wrote:
Don:Interesting comments on navigation of the Constitution.When you say "[Preble] was about 200 miles off..." was that mainly in latitude or longitude? If he was determining latitude by noon sights but longitude only by DR, I'd expect the error to be mainly in longitude.Lu
From: Don Seltzer <NoReply_Seltzer@fer3.com>
To: luabel{at}ymail.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 1, 2015 9:51 AM
Subject: [NavList] Re: Master and Commander Details
On Tue, Jun 30, 2015 at 10:06 PM, Greg Rudzinski <NoReply_Rudzinski@fer3.com> wrote:This is a very entertaining documentary on the movie Master and Commander. I wish there were more details on period navigation :( Enjoy !Thanks for posting this. Some interesting interviews that I had not seen before. The hype regarding the 'secret weapon' USS Constitution was just a bit over the top at times.The movie had just one navigation related scene, when the midshipmen were gathered on the quarterdeck for a lesson. They were using an assortment of sextants and octants appropriate to their ratings and social class.Regarding the Constitution and navigation, the first Atlantic crossing by Captain Preble in 1803 was accomplished by noon latitude sights and dead reckoning. He was about 200 miles off in his reckoning when he arrived off Spain.During the War of 1812, both Hull and Bainbridge seem to have relied on similar methods, although Bainbridge was provide with a chronometer which went unused. The next Captain, Charles Stewart, also had a chronometer and used it to determine longitude beginning in 1814.Don Seltzer
