NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: David Pike
Date: 2020 May 3, 14:35 -0700
DavidC you wrote: While browsing jstor this evening I discovered, quite by chance, that Commander FN Shearme RN and Dr WM Smart M.A. D.S.c wrote the 1922 edition of the Admiralty of Navigation. What I find interesting is that I never thought of the Admiralty Manual having an "author" and never considered that, like any other book, it would be reviewed. I intend to read the review more closely as on first glance it seems to reflect some of my thoughts about the Admiralty Manual. I had intended to post some comments about why I prefer Bowditch 1958 for research to my various copies of the Manual. Maybe I will still post those comments.
DavidC
Which copy/ies of the Admiralty Navigation Manual (ANM) were you comparing the 1922 review with? Even the Admiralty seems to have realised syllabuses needed up be updated to keep apace of technology led changes in techniques and patterns of learning. There were revised editions in 1928 and 1938 and undoubtedly more since then. By 1938 the Manual was compiled under the direction of the Captain, H.M. Navigation School Portsmouth, by the staff of HM Navigation School assisted by the Dean and Staff of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, see photographs. Between 1938 and 1952, there must have been considerable developments as a result of experience gained in WW2, so comparison of ANM 1922 with Bowditch 1958 needs to be undertaken with all that in mind, fascinating though it is. Similarly, there have been tremendous developments since 1952, particularly the arrival of GNSS, so I would guess it would be difficult to compare Bowditch 1952 with the latest 2019 (11th) edition of the ANM. DaveP