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Marc-
 Appendix III (which if I understand correctly may come from HM Naval Almanac 
Office) states "As has been noted in the body of this report the Nautical 
Almanac does not give sufficient accuracy when a position must be fixed with 
an error of less than 0.2 miles. For such use it is recommended that the data 
on....with an end accuracy of 0.05 minutes of arc...An electronic computer be 
used.."
 Certainly an error of 0.2 miles would make me happy. But apparently data 
can be carried to a much higher precision than that used to generate the 
almanac, and for a computer program to use 6 or 8 digits of precision in 
making mathematical calculations hardly takes up any extra "space" at all in 
the device these days.

 Apparently such additional accuracy would be totally destroyed by near-shore 
thermal problems. Still, the report endorses the use of computers several 
times for several reasons, among them the ability to make rapid sequential 
reductions, and the ability to use greater accuracy.

   

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