The worldwide evolution of visual time signals for mariners during the period up to 1947 is explored in this paper. The emphasis is on their external appearance and how they were regarded by mariners for rating chronometers. The first accurate signals were established by the 1830s and the number of different locations increased steadily throughout the nineteenth century. The signals included time balls and time guns as well as many other devices under control by an astronomical observatory. By 1880, signals were widely distributed, Keywords: Time balls, time lights, time guns although some earlier signals had been either withdrawn or replaced. Lists of signals prepared by the British Admiralty from 1880 onwards provide a record of over 200 visual signals for mariners that is reviewed for the first time in this study. The lists did not include time signals that were inland and unavailable to mariners, nor did they include signals of unknown veracity at minor ports. The lists did indicate when signals might be unreliable. Some locations used more than one type of signal. Results are presented in a series of tables for different geographical areas, colour coded by signal type for selected years. These are complemented by maps showing locations listed between 1880 and 1947, indicating the type of signal that existed at the time of withdrawal or in 1947 if it was still extant. Although wireless time signals were widespread after 1920, visual signals continued to be provided at many locations worldwide and a significant number were still extant or re-established after the end of the Second World War. The total number of listed visual signals reached 220 in 1922 and declined to 64 in 1947. There were 53 listed time balls in 1880, 129 in 1919, 69 in 1939 and 26 in 1947. Electric time lights first appeared as principal signals in 1909 and replaced or complemented many time balls, giving a maximum of 41 light signals in 1934. The largest number of listed time guns was 49 in 1915.
...More
Article
Roger Kinns;
(2017)
The time light signals of New Zealand: yet another way of communicating time in the pre-wireless era
(/isis/citation/CBB586228966/)
Book
Cossons, Neil;
Jenkins, Martin;
(2011)
Liverpool: Seaport City
(/isis/citation/CBB001421824/)
Article
Kinns, Roger;
(2011)
The Hobart Time Ball and Time Gun: A Critical Review
(/isis/citation/CBB001221516/)
Book
Deakes, Christopher;
Stanley, Tom;
(2010)
A Century of Sea Travel: Personal Accounts from the Steamship Era
(/isis/citation/CBB001421454/)
Book
Taylor, Miles;
(2013)
The Victorian Empire and Britain's Maritime World, 1837--1901: The Sea and Global History
(/isis/citation/CBB001422534/)
Article
Richard De Grijs;
(2023)
Astronomical tent observatories: Relics of a bygone era
(/isis/citation/CBB744892047/)
Book
José Mária Moreno Madrid;
Henrique Leitão;
(2020)
Atravessando a Porta do Pacífico - Roteiros e Relatos da Travessia do Estreito de Magalhães 1520-1620
(/isis/citation/CBB195235044/)
Book
Hoving, A. J.;
Wildeman, Diederick;
Witsen, Nicolaas;
(2012)
Nicolaes Witsen and Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age
(/isis/citation/CBB001422453/)
Book
Gorski, Richard;
(2012)
Roles of the Sea in Medieval England
(/isis/citation/CBB001421498/)
Book
Antonio Sánchez;
Joaquim Alves Gaspar;
Alexandra Curvelo;
(2016)
A Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal: Uma Viagem pelo Conhecimento — Catálogo da Exposição Digital
(/isis/citation/CBB857078662/)
Chapter
Ruthy Gertwagen;
(2014)
Nautical Technology
(/isis/citation/CBB980289770/)
Article
Robert M. Schwartz;
(2018)
The Transport Revolution on Land and Sea: Farming, Fishing, and Railways in Great Britain, 1840-1914
(/isis/citation/CBB174070664/)
Book
Amélia Polónia;
Cátia Antunes;
(2016)
Seaports in the First Global Age – Portuguese Agents, Net works and Interactions (1500-1800)
(/isis/citation/CBB792858779/)
Article
Stott, Paul;
(2014)
The Use of Benchmarks in the Popular Reporting of Commercial Shipping: Is the Titanic an Appropriate Measure to Convey the Size of a Modern Ship?
(/isis/citation/CBB001422514/)
Book
Jones, James Ellis;
(2012)
The Maritime Landscape of Roman Britain: Water Transport on the Coasts and Rivers of Britannia
(/isis/citation/CBB001422450/)
Book
Paine, Lincoln. P.;
(2013)
The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World
(/isis/citation/CBB001422669/)
Book
Stagg, Ronald John;
(2010)
The Golden Dream: A History of the St. Lawrence Seaway
(/isis/citation/CBB001421492/)
Book
Buraselis, Kostas;
Stefanou, Mary;
Thompson, Dorothy J.;
(2013)
The Ptolemies, the Sea and the Nile: Studies in Waterborne Power
(/isis/citation/CBB001422623/)
Article
Ekberg, Espen;
Lange, Even;
Nybø, Andreas;
(2015)
Maritime Entrepreneurs and Policy-Makers: A Historical Approach to Contemporary Economic Globalization
(/isis/citation/CBB001422659/)
Article
Kerby C. Alvarez;
(2023)
Observing the heavens, marking time: The astronomical work of the Observatorio Meteorológico de Manila, later reorganized as the Philippine Weather Bureau, 1891–1945
(/isis/citation/CBB495169639/)
Be the first to comment!