Longitude: book review

[SpeedyPhill]

In my efforts to enthuse OF-members about the fascinating problem of longitude and the birth of (precise) Marine chronometers on either sides of the English channel, let me further express excitement about Marine chronometers carried on some amazing voyages such as:
1831 - 1836 : 2nd voyage of HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin, a 1742 days long voyage carrying 22 chronometers around the world !
1787 - 1790 : a botanical mission carried out by Royal Navy HMS Bounty, a remarkable voyage that ended with a mutiny...
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[SpeedyPhill]

250 years ago... September 1773, Royal Navy ships "Racehorse" and "Carcass" returned from their voyage to the North Pole
Capt Constantine Phipps commanded "Racehorse" and carried a Larcum Kendall chronometer in a cushioned box.
Capt Skeffington Lutwidge commanded "Carcass" and carried a John Arnold chronometer in a gimballed box. A 14 years old Horatio Nelson served onboard "Carcass" as a coxswain!
Dr Charles Irving joined the expedition to test out his seawater distillation kit, which was later used on most naval expeditions.
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[SpeedyPhill]

As this forum is hosted "Down Under", a last post commemorating the explorers carrying Marine chronometers 200+ years ago...
Between 1800-1803 French hydrographer Nicolas Baudin conducted an expedition to Australia (New Holland) in order to map the western coast of the continent. Baudin captained "Géographe" and Capt Jacques Hamelin commanded "Naturaliste" as the expedition had a suite of nine zoologists and botanists among whom Jean-Baptiste de la Tour.
Arriving in Australia, Baudin meet Capt Matthew Flinders, known for the first inshore cicumnavigation of Australia onboard "Investigator", continued to Sydney and Tasmania. Each ship carried two chronometers made by French horologer Louis Berthoud.
https://theconversation.com/friday-...audin-and-art-in-the-service-of-science-62038

 

[SpeedyPhill]

For those who have asked, yes all of the mentioned books can still be found, the older hardcover versions are harder to find but the 21st century editions can be found for a fiver (paperback) or a tenner (hardcover versions).
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From a very young age I enjoyed going through big old Atlasses and large military map books. Following the story of the sea trials and later the common use of Marine Chronometers is just fascinating, even more so as one could visit some of these places in his/her life time.
220 years ago, French French hydrographer Nicolas Baudin completed an expedition to Australia (see post here above), a voyage that lead to the completion of the first complete map of Terra Australis by French Navy officer Louis claude de Freycinet in 1811.
Of course French ships carried their own Marine Chronometer... fascinating stuff !.
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[SpeedyPhill]

There have been numous books written on Captain James Cook's voyages, but a dedicated Atlas with 128 detailed maps is the best book to have in order to learn precisely how he sailed the world. A good Atlas is always a must-have to visualize how the English & French Marine chronometers sailed the 18th & 19th century world.
. Two suggestions 📖
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[SpeedyPhill]

Well 100 years ago Royal Navy LtCmdr Rupert Gould (1890-1948) published his famous book " The Marine Chronometer " (preface December 1922) but we didn't have to wait a century for a worthy reprint as in 2013 the ACC Antique Collectors' Club brought out their 365 pages version... and again in 2016. An amazing book with great color photographs as both reprints almost sold out immediately.
Booklet on the right is a 4th edition (1978) 28 pages transcript of LtCommander Rupert Gould's lecture text given to the Society for Nautical Research on Febuary 21, 1935.
(Photo: MoonwatchUniverse)
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[SpeedyPhill]

For those who understand the language of Voltaire, take a look at the books by French author Catherine Cardinal.
(some were translated in English & Italian)
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[SpeedyPhill]

250 years ago...
I truly appreciate the symbolism in this engraved drawing on the frontpage of Ferdinand Berthoud's book on Horloges Marines (1773)
Traité des horloges marines contenant la théorie, la construction, la main-d'oeuvre de ces machines et la maniére de les éprouver, pour parvenir par leur moyen à la rectification des cartes marines et à la détermination des longitudes en mer. (Paris 1773).
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The Greek Goddess Athéna, associated with (Marine) warfare & handicraft, holds a portrait of French King Louis XV while pointing at all the items made possible thanks to Marine Chronometers, hydrographic maps, trade at sea and the determination of longitude at sea.
Ferdinand Berthoud's weight-driven Horloge Marine n° 6 can be seen near the anchor on the terras by the sea.
(Image: CNAM)
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[SpeedyPhill]

October 5th... we remember LtCmdr Rupert Gould as it's the 75th anniversary of his passing in 1948.
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[SpeedyPhill]

Just wanted to post a unique opportunity I had to be "alone" with the John Harrison maritime clocks at Greenwich - London.
Thanks to @Omegafanman I was invited to a " Montres Longines " event in London - Greenwich where we visited the National Maritime Museum and dined in the prestigious / historical octagonal room of the Royal observatory, commissioned by King Charles II ( 1676 ).
While everyone was at the dinner I sneeked down to film and photograph John Harrison's longitude clocks from all angles, as I didn't have HighRes photos of the backsides !
(Photos: MoonwatchUniverse)
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Edited: Oct 15, 2023

 

[SpeedyPhill]

As we commemorated the 75th anniversary of the passing of Royal Navy LtCmdr Rupert Gould, an overview of Maritime chronometers in London
See above, I recently visited London in order to photograph Maritime chronometers in high resolution.
Greenwich observatory:
H1 (1735 – John Harrison)
H2 (1742 – John Harrison)
H3 (1758 – John Harrison)
H4 (1759 – John Harrison)
Science Museum:
H5 (1770 – John Harrison)
National Maritime Museum:
K1 (1770 – Larcum Kendall exact copy in & out of H4)
K2 (1771 – Larcum Kendall simplified copy of H4)
K3 (1774 – Larcum Kendall)
I have chosen to show John Harrison's clocks from the backside as the frontsides are well-known worldwide 😉
(Photos: MoonwatchUniverse)
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[SpeedyPhill]

As this is the only topic on Marine chronometers, Horloges à longitude and the search for longitude
Another few books, as for the 250th anniversary of the Marine chronometers' testing & introduction in the British Royal Navy, I've looked into some interesting military reports and ships' logbooks.
Five years later, I've done the same for the French Navy, using some modern day publications which resume the 18th century reports of French explorers and military campaigns, focusing on world circumnavigation expeditions.
"Matériel scientifique embarqué" lists the number of instruments such as barometer, compass, octant, sextant, and both reflector & refractor telescopes. More importantly the clocks and marine chronometers (Montres Marine & Horloges à longitude).
"Comparaison Journalière des Montres" and the "Détermination de la position géographique" shows how the chronometers ran on a day-to-day basis and the logbook notes taken at noon of their position.
Moreover, as a side note, it's interesting seeing several of these time pieces being used during the American War of Independance (1775-1783).
Finally in 1833, the French Navy started to systematically buy chronometers but it would last until 1874 before chronometers were common in French merchant shipping.
The story of the disappearance of both La Pérouse's ships, after leaving Sydney in March 1788, and how the survivors' smoke signals were ingnored by HMS Pandora (searching the Bounty mutineers), their discoveries in 1828 and 1963-64 is an as fascinating read as the 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty involving Larcum Kendall's K2 chronometer!
(Photo: MoonwatchUniverse)
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[SpeedyPhill]

To end the story... the use of Marine chronometers culminated in the 19th century with the 2nd voyage of HMS Beagle (carrying Charles Darwin and Augustus Earle around the world), a 5 years circumnavigation during which longitudes were being checked (4 days rating of chronometers against astronomical observations) with no less than 22 chronometers !
Complete overview:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chronometers_on_HMS_Beagle

 

[SpeedyPhill]

60 years ago... La Pérouse mystery solved !
Some forum members know I'm working on an extensive list of Maritime chronometers & clocks used onboard 18th century ships of exploration.
Sharing a bit of book resources on these interesting stories:
King Louis XVI also encouraged major voyages of exploration. In 1785, he appointed French naval officer Captain Jean-François de Galaup comte de La Pérouse to lead a sailing expedition around the world. 1785, August 1 La Pérouse and his 222 men, among whom scientists, astronomers & mathematicians, departed Brest in two ships, “la Boussole” and “l’Astrolabe”.
At that time, the French Navy had a stock of Maritime clocks and the ships carried Ferdinand Berthoud’s Horloges Marine à poids n° 18 & 19, Berthoud petites montres 25, 27 & 29 together with a British chronometer.
The scientific voyage visited Chile, Hawaii, Alaska, California, Mauritius, Reunion, Macau, Japan, Russia and Australia. March 1788 leaving Botany Bay near Sydney, both ships were wrecked on Vanikoro's reefs of the Solomon islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Amazingly, British Captain Edward Edwards, onboard HMS Pandora in search of the mutineers of HMS Bounty, passed Vanikoro on August 13, 1791 but ignored smoke signals rising from the remote island!
In September 1791, the French Assembly decided to send an expedition in search of La Pérouse, lead by French explorer Antoine Bruni d’Entrecasteaux with ships “la Recherche” and “l’Espérance”. Captain d’Entrecasteaux died of scurvy in Papua New Guinea.
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In 1793, during the abolition of the French monarchy, the last king of France Louis XVI was executed on the guillotine stand at the “Place de la Révolution” in Paris. Before his death he asked the question “ A-t’on des nouvelles de La Pérouse ? “ (Did anyone hear news from La Pérouse ?).
Incredibly it took until 1964 before the wreck of Lapérouse’s ship, “la Boussole”, was finally discovered in the shallow waters at Vanikoro. Finding two canons and parts of the astronomical half circle with plaque “Langlois” used for celestial navigation together with an officers’ hand held telescope confirmed the wreck in 10 to 15 meter deep waters was “la Boussole”.
The French Navy revisited the site at numerous occasions.
(Photos: MWU)
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[SpeedyPhill]

250 years ago... Larcum Kendall completed K3
After John Harrison maritime chronometer H4 was made in 1761, underwent two sea trials to Jamaica, British clockmaker Larcum Kendall was asked to show its practical use by reconstructing exact H4 copies in 1769 (K1) and in 1772 (K2). Both K1 and K2 sea clocks worked fine, with K1 the better performer (James Cook 1st voyage) and K2 with the most remarkable history (1787 HMS Bounty).
In 1774, upon request of the Board of Longitude, Larcum Kendall completed K3, a maritime chronometer which had 3 separate dials for hours, minutes and seconds. Although a marvellous instrument, tested by James Cook on his 3rd voyage, K3 never matched up to the original H4 or K1 maritime chronometers.
The remaining years of the 18th century would see Ferdinand Berthoud housing maritime chronometers in wooden boxes,the John Arnold & Thomas Earnshaw controversy and both the British East India Company & the Royal Navy adding extra logbook columns for "Longitude by Chronometer", heralding the ending of the use of the Lunar Angular Distance method.
(Photo: MoonwatchUniverse)
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[Canuck]

The Arnold #176 chronometer used by Captain Vancouver when he charted the west coast can be seen at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. I was unable to link to an interesting exchange discussing this chronometer, on the NAWCC message board. The story we were told was that this instrument disappeared for many years. When it came up for auction in London (IIRC), the Vancouver Maritime Museum decided they’d have it. I don’t recall the hammer price, but it was 5 figures, in £!

 

[SpeedyPhill]

255 years ago, 1769 was a most interesting year...
Royal Navy Lt James Cook was well underway on "HMS Endeavour" first voyage in search of "Terra Australis Incognita", having observed the transit of Venus on Tahiti (June 3, 1769) and reaching New Zealand by October 1769.
During a voyage, onboard "le Nouveau Mercure" and a Brigantine to cross the Atlantic, to the North American west coast in 1768-69, the astronomer Abbé Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche used Ferdinand Berthoud's Horloge Marine n° 3 while observing the transit of Venus over the Sun on June 3, 1769 in Baja- California. By 1771 these transit observations allowed to trigonometrically calculate the distance Earth-Sun to 150 Million kilometres.
Louis Antoine de Bougainville returned to France after a 3 years circumnavigation of the world, without Marine chronometers!
The French Navy started to systematically test Marine chronometers (Horloge à Longitude and Horloge Marine) in 1767, made by watchmakers Julien & Pierre Le Roy and Ferdinand Berthoud. Reading the original travel journals, it's fascinating how an "Horloger" (watchmaker) accompanied the officers/scientists in order to look after the fragile time pieces. Realising the vital importance of these Marine chronometers, important horological developments and the beauty of their movements/watches, it's a bit disappointing to see only a minimum of information on modern day websites of the firms continuing the legacy of these watchmakers...
www.breguet.com
www.montres-leroy.com
www.ferdinandberthoud.ch
www.ArnoldandSon.com