NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Chasing Shackleton
From: Stan K
Date: 2014 Jan 17, 18:32 -0500
From: Stan K
Date: 2014 Jan 17, 18:32 -0500
Brad,
Comparing your photo to the on of Worsley holding the sextant, it is still hard to tell if they are the same scopes. However, comparing the relative sizes of the objective lens and the horizon shades, I'd say that it could very well be the same model.
As to whether the flickr photo is Worsley's sextant or not, the photo may be the same as the one at http://www.sebcoulthard.com/navigational-instruments.html. The caption reads "Sextant, pocket chronometer, and pocket watch used by Sir Ernest Shackleton & Frank Worsley during the voyage of the James Caird (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)". It also says
Instruments used by Shackleton & Worsley
‘Heath & Co.’ sextant (owned by Lt. Huberht Hudson, navigator onboard Endurance)
So you be the judge. Is it Hudson's sextant that was used aboard the Endurance, or was it used by Worsley aboard the James Caird? The only place where it says "Shackleton's Sextant and Chronograph" is with the flickr photo, which also omits mention of the watch. The sebcoulthard photo also mentions Worsley, so I suspect the flickr photo only says Shackleton because many more people are familiar with that name than with Worsley.
According to http://www.jamescairdsociety.com/, the Caird is normally preserved and exhibited at Dulwich College, but it has made the rounds. I can't find anything about the sextant being exhibited with it as a rule, even at the Dulwich College site, although when the Caird was at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, "To the stern of the Caird, in a glass case, was the sextant used by Frank Worsley in his incredible navigational feat."
Stan
Comparing your photo to the on of Worsley holding the sextant, it is still hard to tell if they are the same scopes. However, comparing the relative sizes of the objective lens and the horizon shades, I'd say that it could very well be the same model.
As to whether the flickr photo is Worsley's sextant or not, the photo may be the same as the one at http://www.sebcoulthard.com/navigational-instruments.html. The caption reads "Sextant, pocket chronometer, and pocket watch used by Sir Ernest Shackleton & Frank Worsley during the voyage of the James Caird (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)". It also says
Instruments used by Shackleton & Worsley
aboard the James Caird:
‘Heath & Co.’ sextant (owned by Lt. Huberht Hudson, navigator onboard Endurance)So you be the judge. Is it Hudson's sextant that was used aboard the Endurance, or was it used by Worsley aboard the James Caird? The only place where it says "Shackleton's Sextant and Chronograph" is with the flickr photo, which also omits mention of the watch. The sebcoulthard photo also mentions Worsley, so I suspect the flickr photo only says Shackleton because many more people are familiar with that name than with Worsley.
According to http://www.jamescairdsociety.com/, the Caird is normally preserved and exhibited at Dulwich College, but it has made the rounds. I can't find anything about the sextant being exhibited with it as a rule, even at the Dulwich College site, although when the Caird was at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, "To the stern of the Caird, in a glass case, was the sextant used by Frank Worsley in his incredible navigational feat."
Stan
-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Morris <Bradley.R.Morris@gmail.com>
To: slk1000 <slk1000@aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Jan 17, 2014 3:40 pm
Subject: [NavList] Re: Chasing Shackleton
From: Brad Morris <Bradley.R.Morris@gmail.com>
To: slk1000 <slk1000@aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Jan 17, 2014 3:40 pm
Subject: [NavList] Re: Chasing Shackleton
Hi Stan
Here is the sextant with the requested star scope mounted. The optics on this create an erect (non-inverting) image. They are, IMHO, spectacular optics.
One must be careful with the online image of "Shackleton's Sextant". He was indeed a licensed master and undoubtedly had his own sextant. In my opinion, it would be somewhat ridiculous if Shackleton did not possess a sextant. However, and this is the important distinction, Worsley was the navigator on the expedition, not Shackleton.. So when the display says "Sir Shackleton's Sextant" it is not Worsley's sextant! Worsley's sextant is exhibited with the James Caird.
Brad
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