Cloudesley Shovell

Sir Cloudesley Shovell (c. November, 1650 – 22 or 23 October 1707), English admiral, was baptised at Cockthorpe in Norfolk, in 1650. Rising through the officer ranks he became a popular British hero, whose celebrated naval career was brought to an end in a disastrous shipwreck in the Isles of Scilly. Member of Parliament for Rochester, Kent, from 1695 until his death.

Longitude

The disaster of the fleet wrecking itself in home waters brought great consternation to the nation. Clearly, something better than dead reckoning was needed to navigate in dangerous waters. This led to the Longitude Act which offered a very large prize for anyone who could find a method of determining longitude accurately at sea. After many years the consequence of the prize was that accurate clocks were produced which became used throughout the world for navigation at sea.

Related Topics:
Dead reckoning - Prize - Longitude

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~