NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: The shipwreck of Admiral Shovell
From: Geoffrey Butt
Date: 2009 Jul 6, 18:56 +0100
From: Geoffrey Butt
Date: 2009 Jul 6, 18:56 +0100
This thread ended nearly 2 years ago, but I have recently revisited it to use the incident as an example of navigational practices at that time in a talk I am giving. What puzzles me is the frequently repeated statement that Admiral Shovell called together navigators to discuss their position before proceeding up the Channel (as they thought) on the evening of 23rd October. Commander May's analysis of the 44 surviving log books makes no mention of a discussion of the squadron's position being recorded in those books. Had the authors been involved in any comparison of estimated position the resolution of the discrepancies between them would surely have been referred to in the logs. If the Admiral only consulted navigators aboard his own vessel, or the small group of vessels which perished, then there would be no surviving record; in which case there wouldn't be a source for the story of a conference either. Can anyone shed any light on this - or is it another popularized myth, like the hanged seaman story? Perhaps the act of heaving-to to take soundings was interpreted by non-seafaring authors as evidence of the need for a chat! Thanks, if you can help. Geoff --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Navigation List archive: www.fer3.com/arc To post, email NavList@fer3.com To , email NavList-@fer3.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---