As various European countries race to join in on global exploration voyages, it was clear that improvements in navigation would be needed. This extended to the speed of ships, materials used in ship building, and the tools that explorers could use for more accurate navigation. The earliest explorers had made glaring mistakes in the past, having arrived in one territory thinking it was another, and so on. These inventions thus allowed for more precise exploration of new lands, leading to cultural diffusion and a phenomenon later known as the “Columbian Exchange”. Show  Three tools are of particular importance to this time period: lateen sails, the astrolabe, and the magnetic compass. Lateen sails were triangular sails which allowed ships to sail directly into the wind, versus the formerly used square sails that did not allow ships to sail into the wind. Sailors had to wait out harsh winds because their square sails could not take them through the force, yet with the lateen sails - which featured a 45° angle - could cut through the winds. Ships also subsequently went faster as a result. Although lateen sails were invented many centuries before the Age of Exploration, it was not until this time that ship builders began to use them on larger caravel ships that could cross long distances. The second invention of note was the astrolabe, which looked like a compass, but was actually used to pair astrology with navigation. This device allowed sailors to measure the angles of the sun so that they could know their latitude, meaning their position north or south of the Earth’s equator. The astrolabe could also be used to tell time by utilizing the position of the sun in the sky. Early wooden astrolabes were invented in Ancient Greece. Astrolabes were further developed in the medieval Islamic world, where Muslim astronomers introduced angular scales to the design, adding circles indicating azimuths on the horizon. In the Middle Ages, metal astrolabes were created. These avoided the warping that large wooden ones were prone to, allowing the construction of larger and more accurate instruments. Finally, the magnetic compass was an improvement upon the standard compass and is more closely associated with the compasses that are in use today. The magnetic compass relies on the magnetic pull from the magnetic north pole, and was a tool that the explorers acquired from China. Simply put, it was a vital invention that was crucial for sailors to know in which direction they were going, which made for a more efficient and safer voyage. With the help of modern technology, such as our phones’ highly accurate GPS mapping systems, most of us can easily find our way through the world – no matter our starting point. About 4,000 years ago, however, in the time of the ancient Phoenicians, pioneering mariners would bravely set sail with nothing but a handful of primitive charts and the sun’s position in the sky to guide their travels across the oceans. More impressive still, around 400 AD, Polynesian sailors were able to journey thousands of kilometers to Hawaii in canoes, navigating by observing the behavior of seabirds, the pattern of waves and the angle of constellations.
For much of our history, our methods of navigating the seas haven’t been a great deal more advanced than those used by the Phoenicians, Polynesians and other early sailors. Up until quite recently, seafarers mainly relied on visual cues - the sun and stars, plus imprecise maps of landmarks onshore – to find their way. There was a glaring flaw in this approach: in clouds or fog, the skies became invisible, and while far out at sea, it was impossible to see the shoreline. Even after the widespread adoption of the compass in the 13th Century, which offered sailors a fallback in low-visibility conditions, navigation remained haphazard for hundreds of years to come. After a catastrophic naval disaster off the Cornwall coast in 1707, where a compass-related mishap resulted in the loss of nearly 1,500 lives, British authorities challenged scientists to devise more reliable means of calculating a ship’s position. Large rewards were offered, leading to a flurry of activity among inventors. A useful invention emerged: the sextant, an instrument that allowed sailors to determine their latitude by calculating the distance between celestial bodies. Divining longitude was still an issue, however, as it required sailors to know the exact time at a reference location, back on shore. The problem was that clocks in the 1700s were drastically affected by rough conditions at sea and tended to become inaccurate after short periods of sailing.
Determined to overcome this obstacle, British clockmaker John Harrison spent three decades refining an invention he dubbed the marine chronometer. By 1761, he had perfected this shock- and motion-stabilised clock, which allowed seafarers to accurately gauge the hour at a reference point during long spells at sea. This made the reliably accurate calculation of longitude a reality for the first time. Considered to be one of the biggest tech game-changers of its era, the chronometer empowered Britain to secure supremacy at sea, rapidly expanding its empire, not least by facilitating Captain James Cook’s 1768 to 1771 journey around New Zealand and Australia. Thanks to this ground-breaking device, by the late 1700s, Britannia ruled the waves. But the United Kingdom’s great rival France refused to be outdone. In 1815, to ensure his sailors were equipped with timekeeping equipment at the very least equal to that of their British adversaries, King Louis XVIII appointed watchmaking maestro Abraham-Louis Breguet as the official chronometer-maker to the French Royal Navy.
Regarded as the greatest horologist (an expert in the study of time) of his era, Breguet had long been the favoured watchmaker of European nobility. In 1801, he patented the tourbillon, a mechanism that counteracted the negative effects of gravity on the accuracy of pocket watches. Similar principles came into play ensuring the marine chronometers on French naval vessels were immune to the motion of the ocean, maintained accurate time and thus, served their vital purpose in the calculation of a ship’s position.
Marine chronometer No. 3196 Today, of course, the crews of oceangoing vessels are able to use radar and GPS to find their position, plot their route and locate obstacles above and below the water. According to Captain Thomas Donati, who helms 45-metre super yacht M/Y Forever, “If a sailor from the 18th Century were to visit the wheelhouse of this yacht, they would be most impressed by the equipment we have for navigating at night, when it’s most risky and difficult.
Captain Donati explains: “Many years ago, when they used a sextant and navigated with the stars, they had to constantly do calculations. Now with GPS satellite navigation, you always know your exact position, and you don't need to make calculations all the time.” Nevertheless, Captain Donati always uses physical charts in addition to the GPS, especially when navigating near the coast. “It’s better to be sure,” he says. At maritime academies Istituto Tecnico Nautico Artiglio in Viareggio and Istituto Nautico Fiorillo in Carrara, Captain Donati studied the traditional methods of navigation. “You don’t use those skills too often on a modern yacht,” he says. “But still, you need to go to school and learn the old ways to travel at sea and be safe.” By way of example, he recalls a journey 10 years ago, when he was at the wheel of a 95-foot motorboat travelling from Barcelona in Spain to Bandol in France. “I had an experience where all the navigational systems shut down,” Captain Donati says. “The owner was asking, ‘What do we do?’ I said, ‘We just do it like people in the old times: use the compass and chart.’ And you know what? We arrived in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time.” Breguet’s Marine collection of luxury timepieces isn’t merely a sporty yet classic homage to Abraham-Louis Breguet’s contribution to the nautical world. The line also echoes Captain Donati’s philosophy of maritime navigation: respect and honour the methods and codes of the past, while embracing the best of today. “Our Marine collection pays tribute to the accomplishment of a man who was not only a watchmaker but a true scientist,” says Breguet CEO Lionel A. Marca. “We sought to reflect this important part of our history in a modern spirit, reinterpreting history in a contemporary way. This is what we are committed to doing at Breguet, day after day.” Perhaps the most visible demonstration of this thinking can be seen in the launch of new titanium iterations in the 2021 Breguet Marine collection. “Materials remain one of the most fascinating aspects of innovation in our business,” A. Marca says. “It seemed essential to us to include titanium in our Marine line. This material has its place there, especially because of its resistance to salt air and corrosion, but also for its lightness and hardness.”
Breguet Marine collection He notes that the Marine collection boasts numerous “delicately integrated” design cues linked to maritime navigation. “We wanted to make several references to this universe, without overloading our timepieces with information,” A. Marca says. For example, he points out that the counterweight of the second hand of certain models recalls the “Bravo” symbol of the maritime flag, for the “B” of Breguet, and that the engraved guilloché pattern on the dial of certain references represents the shape of the waves.
Guillochage Breguet Marine 5547 It goes without saying that these watches honour the legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet and the seafarers of old. What navigational feats an ancient Phoenician sailor would have achieved with one of these timekeeping masterpieces affixed to their wrist, one can only guess. What invention allowed sailors to locate their location at sea?Sextant: In the 18th century, the sextant was invented independently by Thomas Godfrey in America and John Hadley in England. This advanced tool for celestial navigation allowed mariners to calculate their latitude extremely accurately.
What technique did seafarers use to look at the stars for navigation?A sextant is a traditional navigational tool. It measures the angle between two objects, such as the horizon and a celestial object such as a star or planet. This angle can then be used to calculate the ship's position on a nautical chart.
What technology helps mariners find their way at sea?The Global Positioning System (GPS) has changed the way the world operates. This is especially true for marine operations, including search and rescue. GPS provides the fastest and most accurate method for mariners to navigate, measure speed, and determine location.
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