maritime

  [1] Background Whilst latitude had been known and calculated for centuries the same cannot be said for measuring longitude, that essential east and west component of a ship’s position. The early navigators exploring and discovering new worlds relied on what became known as latitude or parallel sailing. Not knowing their longitude they followed a southerly course, often along a known coastline before sailing a constant latitude east or west to their destination. Christopher Columbus’s first voyage illustrates this method. [2] On his first voyage (the blue line on the map), in 1492, he followed the known voyage to the Canary Islands where he carried out repairs before setting out on a westerly parallel course until he discovered an island in the Bahamas. For his return voyage he went northerly until he reached the latitude of Lisbon when he started his easterly latitude sailing. It is important to remember that navigation was relatively crude in this period and charts covered...