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Last night I watched the Peter Weir/Russel Crowe epic Master and Commander:
Far Side of the World and thought I would share some observations as they
pertain to navigating and ships. I am an out and out Patrick O'Brian fan and
have read the entire Aubrey/Maturin  series twice - all 20 or so books - so
be warned of bias.

NAVIGATION
In the books O'Brian portrays the sacred rite of the noon sight thus: The
first officer or navigator on a British warship, often with the aid of
practicing midshipmen, would daily observe the sun for meridian passage. At
the point when the sun finally begins to sink after culmination the officer
turns to the Captain and says:

"He's away. Noon Sir?" Note that the officer is asking the captain a
question.

The captain would reply:
"Thank you Mr Smith. Make it so."

The ships bell would then be rung signifying noon and the nautical day would
begin.

This sequence was repeated in virtually all O'Brian's books and was hinted
at in the film. I love O'Brian's suggestion that the officer has to ask the
Captain whether it is, in fact, noon. The passage of the sun across the
meridian was not enough to presume that noon had occurred. On an English Man
O' War it was noon when the captain said so and not a minute before or
after. However I have a question: Why was noon regarded as being at the
point when the sun began to fall. This technically was well past noon
although it would have but a negligible impact on the calculation of
latitude. Was this just a flight of fancy on O'Brian's part or did this
actually happen? Possibly our English contributors could assist here.

SEXTANTS/QUADRANTS
At the point in the movie where the noon site is being taken, Aubrey is
instructing the ship's gentlemen - its young midshipmen - on the art of
taking noon sights. There are about 9/10 of them all armed with a sextant or
quadrant. About four of them are wielding sextants. Since the film is set in
1805 I find this a bit difficult to believe. At that point the sextant was
only coming into common use and would I believe have been a fairly rare and
expensive item. I doubt if any English  warship would have carried four of
them and certainly they would not have been entrusted to the tender care of
a midshipman, who was only one rung up the totem pole from a common seaman.
Am I right in this hypothesis?

Furthermore, I read recently that until well into the 1800's, the noon
sight - requiring less exactitude - was taken with the cheaper and more
robust quadrant. The sextant was preserved almost exclusively for the more
demanding lunar Distance where precision was vital.   If this is so then the
foredeck scene on Lucky Jack Aubrey's ship was well adrift.

HISTORICAL ACCURACY
My understanding of how Napoleonic era naval actions involving Frigates or
Men o' War were fought is that the action, once joined, was only terminated
when one side "struck its colours" i.e. hauled down its flag to indicate
surrender. Hostilities  immediately ceased and etiquette required that once
struck, the colours could not be hauled up again and fighting recommenced by
the losing side. Capitulation, by striking the colours was a constant theme
in O'Brian's books, where he showed it occurring in the American and French
as well as the British navy.

In the critical scene after the English ship "Surprise" had taken the larger
French Man o' War, "Archeron", Jack Aubrey the English captain asks an
officer "Have they struck yet?"

The officer replies "Yes Sir, they have hauled  their colours."

"Good" says Russel Crowe/Aubrey"

However, in a long shot of the two ships supposedly on the day following the
battle, the captured French ship is shown with the French naval ensign still
hauled aloft with the British ensign flying beneath. I suggest that this is
factually incorrect for a couple of reasons. Once colours were hauled they
were only run up again in the defeated ship if the defeated captain wished
to recommence the contest. Also I do not believe that an English naval
captain would ever have allowed the English  ensign to fly on  the same pole
as the French ensign with the French flag ascendant, especially in a
captured warship.

I am not a naval historian but would appreciate any light the list could
throw on any of these matters.

It's a good flim go and see it. However be warned. An American film directed
by an Australian with an Australian leading man trying to play the part of
an Englishman will not please everyone.

Kieran Kelly
Sydney
Australia

   

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