| View single post by Ablejack | |||||||||||||
| Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 04:09 am |
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Ablejack
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If I recall, it was Drake that developed the marine chronometer. A big problem was that clocks were regulated by pendulums which obviously would not function aboard. There was a huge reward for the first developer. The spring driven marine chronometer had to be very accurate in order to determine where you were as far as East/West. You take a reading when the sun sets and you know what time the sun sets at greenwich time. You can always tell which how far North/South you are by the stars. Before the chronometer it was dead reckoning for East/West position calculated by an estimated speed over time. /Navy Vet //Recreational sailor  Yikes!
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