Grijs, Richard de (Author)
Jacob, Andrew P. (Author)
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
Volume: 24
Issue: 1
Pages: 7-40
On 13 May 1787, a convict fleet of 11 ships left Portsmouth, England, on a 24,000 km, 8-month-long voyage to New South Wales. The voyage would take the ‘First Fleet’ under Captain Arthur Phillip via Tenerife (Canary Islands), the port of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Table Bay at the southern extremity of the African continent and the southernmost cape of present-day Tasmania to their destination of Botany Bay. Given the navigation tools available at the time and the small size of the convoy’s ships, their safe arrival within a few days of each other was a phenomenal achievement. This was particularly so, because they had not lost a single ship and only a relatively small number of crew and convicts. Phillip and his crew had only been able to ensure their success because of the presence of crew members who were highly proficient in practical astronomy, most notably Lieutenant William Dawes. We explore in detail his educational background and the events leading up to Dawes’ appointment by the Board of Longitude as the convoy’s dedicated astronomer-cum-Marine. In addition to Dawes, John Hunter, second captain of the convoy’s flagship H.M.S. Sirius, Lieutenant William Bradley and Lieutenant Philip Gidley King were also experts in navigation and longitude determination, using both chronometers and ‘lunar distance’ measurements. The historical record of the First Fleet’s voyage is remarkably accurate, even by today’s standards.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Book
Jonathan Betts;
(2021)
John Harrison and the Quest for Longitude: The Story of Longitude
Article
Wayne Orchiston;
William Wells;
(2020)
Cook's third voyage to the Pacific and early scientific astronomy on the north-western coast of America: the sojourn at Nootka Sound in April 1778
Article
Richard de Grijs;
(2022)
Historical Chinese efforts to determine longitude at sea
Thesis
Nicolàs de Hilster;
(2018)
Navigation on Wood: Wooden Navigational Instruments 1590-1731: An Analysis of Early Modern Western Instruments for Celestial Navigation, Their Origins, Mathematical Concepts and Accuracies
Article
Davies, Surekha;
(2003)
The Navigational Iconography of Diogo Ribeiro's 1529 Vatican Planisphere
Article
Boistel, Guy;
(2006)
De quelle précision a-t-on réellement besoin en mer ? Quelques aspects de la diffusion des méthodes de détermination astronomique et chronométrique des longitudes en mer en France, de Lacaille à Mouchez (1750--1880)
Article
Wolfgang Köberer;
(2022)
German Contributions to Solving the Longitude Problem in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Book
Jullien, Vincent;
(2002)
Le calcul des longitudes: Un enjeu pour les mathématiques, l'astronomie, la mesure du temps et la navigation
Article
Richard de Grijs;
(2021)
European longitude prizes. 2: Astronomy, religion and engineering solutions in the Dutch Republic
Article
Meropi Morfouli;
(2022)
Galileo Galilei, le « mesureur du temps » et les longitudes: Une interprétation nouvelle de l’instrument proposé par Galilée en 1637
Article
Ishibashi, Yuto;
(2013)
“A Place for Managing Government Chronometers”: Early Chronometer Service at the Royal Observatory Greenwich
Article
Suzanne Débarbat;
(2019)
Picard, La Hire et le Royaume de Louis XIV
Article
Gaye Danışan Polat;
(2016)
Ottoman navigators and serko haritası (quartier de réduction)
Book
Margaret E. Schotte;
(2019)
Sailing School: Navigating Science and Skill, 1550-1800
Book
Jim Bennett;
(2017)
Navigation: A Very Short Introduction
Article
Hilster, Nicolàs de;
(2014)
Observational Methods and Procedures for the Mariner's Astrolabe
Article
Richard de Grijs;
(2022)
Gravitational conundrum: confusing clock-rate measurements on the 'First Fleet' from England to Australia
Article
Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas;
Charles Burnett;
Silke Ackermann;
(2017)
Astrolabes in Medieval Cultures
Book
Günter Schilder;
(2017)
Early Dutch Maritime Cartography: The North Holland School of Cartography (c. 1580 – C. 1620)
Chapter
Joaquim Alves Gaspar;
(2021)
Navegação e cartografia náutica nos séculos XV e XVI
Be the first to comment!