NavList:

That was interesting but still doesn't answer my question. I note that it shows an example of an island being shifted 1/2 NM but Howland was shifted one whole nautical mile.

In 1936 officers from the Coast Guard cutter Itasca went ashore on Howland island and took sextant shots to determine the position of the island. The coordinates that they found were 0° 48' north, 176° 38' west and these were published in Bowditch (1938 ed.)  and are still published in H.O. 126. The newest chart shows the longitude to be 176° 37' west, one full nautical mile to the east. The chart states that this was due to shifting horizontal datums. But my question is really simple, what is the longitude of the center of the island as determined by celestial navigation, not by satellite? Were the Itasca's officers simply wrong and they should have also calculated the new value if they had been accurate? What would a celestial navigator determine the longitude of the island to be if he took the observations tomorrow?

gl