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Frank wrote-


"Well, what positions were on record for Elephant Island at that time? 
Presumably Worsley was well aware that positions in this region could only 
be trusted to the nearest five or ten nautical miles. That's good enough for 
their purposes."

Yes. They had to accept what they could get. Any error in Elephant Island, 
latitude or longitude, would transmit, through consequent chronometer error, 
to a continuing error in longitude. We are trying to assess the extent that 
such error contributed to his overall longitude error, which he assessed, 
(perhaps retrospectively) in his log entry for 7 May as "about 20 miles", as 
South Georgia was neared.

Frank added "some quotations from an old guide book to the southern ocean 
(google a phrase to find it):"

Frank omitted to provide a title and date for that "old guide book". I have 
tried the googling that was suggested, without success.

Worsley is likely to have carried on Endurance up-to date charting of the 
area, though we don't know which charts had made their way to Elephant 
Island. I would expect that all charts relevant to their likely escape-route 
would have been taken. It would make an interesting study to discover what 
these might have been, in 1915. (Worsley described the best charting of 
South Georgia as being German, to my surprise.) Anyway, to Worsley, charts 
are likely to have been more relevant, accurate, and up-to-date than an "old 
guide book", unspecified.

My copy of Norie's Navigation has the Tables section dated 1914, and in 
that, a position is given for "Elephant Island, summit", at S 61� 11', W 51� 
50', but this is particularly unhelpful, as Elephant Island has three 
well-separated summits, 10 miles or so apart, of similar height.

George.
contact George Huxtable, at  george@hux.me.uk
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK. 


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