a comprehensive system for getting out weather information and storm warnings which he coordinated from his London office. He then went on to produce a daily weather forecast, something no one had ever seriously attempted to do, which was published in The Times . However, the forecasts inevitably attracted attention when they were wrong and Fitzroy was subjected to public ridicule and condemnation in the House of Commons.
Fitzroy worked himself into the ground in his efforts to improve the quality of his forecasts. Going deaf and suffering from exhaustion and depression , on 30 April 1865 Admiral Fitzroy committed suicide at his Surrey home. It was a tragic echo of the fate of the captain of HMS Beagle from whom he took over.
In 2002, when the shipping forecast sea area ‘Finisterre’ was renamed to avoid confusion with the Spanish sea area of the same name, the new name chosen by the Meteorological Office was ‘Fitzroy’ in honour of their founder.
HMS Beagle in the Straits of Magellan .
W HERE ARE WE ?
Since the early days of sail mariners had been able to calculate latitude (their north–south position) by measuring with instruments the angular height of a star or the sun above the horizon. But a reliable way of calculating longitude (their east–west position) remained elusive until the late eighteenth century. As vessels undertook longer voyages this became an increasing problem. The loss of some 2,000 seamen in October 1707 when Sir Cloudesley Shovell’s fleet sailed to disaster on the Scilly Isles brought clamours for a solution.
In 1714 the government of Great Britain offered a prize of £20,000 to anyone who could provide a solution to the problem of how to calculate longitude at sea. To administer and judge it a Board of Longitude was set up. The task was to invent a means of finding longitude to an accuracy of 30 nautical miles after a six-week voyage to the West Indies.
John Harrison was a Yorkshire carpenter by trade. He had only a limited education but developed a keen interest in machinery. Legend has it that at the age of six he was confined to bed with smallpox and was given a watch to amuse himself. He spent hours listening to it and carefully studying its moving parts. Harrison set out to tackle the problem of longitude in the most direct way – by attempting to produce a reliable clock that would not be affected by temperature, humidity and the rigours of being at sea. The idea was to be able to compare local time to that of Greenwich time, to which the chronometer would be set, and thus find the ship’s longitudinal position. It would take him 30 years of development and experimentation.
In 1735 Harrison completed the first of his timepieces, T1. It was heavy and cumbersome, but he continued his work, encouraged by an award of £500 from the Board, and fired by the gritty determination of a Yorkshireman. After two more versions, T2 and T3, Harrison completed his fourth timepiece in 1759, and with T4 he hoped to claim the prize. This was demonstrated to fall well within the accuracy range specified by the contest. However, there was disagreement within the Board and delays for further testing.
Harrison began work on T5, which he sent to George III to test, whose interest in science was well known. The king was pleased with its accuracy and appealed to the Prime Minister on Harrison’s behalf. In 1773 Harrison was awarded £8,750, but the Board insisted this was a bounty, not the prize.
In 1772 James Cook had taken one of Harrison’s ‘sea clocks’ with him on his second voyage. When he returned in 1774 he pronounced it completely satisfactory, having been able to make the first accurate charts of the South Sea Islands. Cook took the timepiece with him again on his third and final voyage.
Harrison died in 1776. The Board of Longitude was disbanded in 1828, and although the main prize was never actually awarded, Harrison had been the main winner with disbursements over time in effect
Fitzroy worked himself into the ground in his efforts to improve the quality of his forecasts. Going deaf and suffering from exhaustion and depression , on 30 April 1865 Admiral Fitzroy committed suicide at his Surrey home. It was a tragic echo of the fate of the captain of HMS Beagle from whom he took over.
In 2002, when the shipping forecast sea area ‘Finisterre’ was renamed to avoid confusion with the Spanish sea area of the same name, the new name chosen by the Meteorological Office was ‘Fitzroy’ in honour of their founder.
HMS Beagle in the Straits of Magellan .
W HERE ARE WE ?
Since the early days of sail mariners had been able to calculate latitude (their north–south position) by measuring with instruments the angular height of a star or the sun above the horizon. But a reliable way of calculating longitude (their east–west position) remained elusive until the late eighteenth century. As vessels undertook longer voyages this became an increasing problem. The loss of some 2,000 seamen in October 1707 when Sir Cloudesley Shovell’s fleet sailed to disaster on the Scilly Isles brought clamours for a solution.
In 1714 the government of Great Britain offered a prize of £20,000 to anyone who could provide a solution to the problem of how to calculate longitude at sea. To administer and judge it a Board of Longitude was set up. The task was to invent a means of finding longitude to an accuracy of 30 nautical miles after a six-week voyage to the West Indies.
John Harrison was a Yorkshire carpenter by trade. He had only a limited education but developed a keen interest in machinery. Legend has it that at the age of six he was confined to bed with smallpox and was given a watch to amuse himself. He spent hours listening to it and carefully studying its moving parts. Harrison set out to tackle the problem of longitude in the most direct way – by attempting to produce a reliable clock that would not be affected by temperature, humidity and the rigours of being at sea. The idea was to be able to compare local time to that of Greenwich time, to which the chronometer would be set, and thus find the ship’s longitudinal position. It would take him 30 years of development and experimentation.
In 1735 Harrison completed the first of his timepieces, T1. It was heavy and cumbersome, but he continued his work, encouraged by an award of £500 from the Board, and fired by the gritty determination of a Yorkshireman. After two more versions, T2 and T3, Harrison completed his fourth timepiece in 1759, and with T4 he hoped to claim the prize. This was demonstrated to fall well within the accuracy range specified by the contest. However, there was disagreement within the Board and delays for further testing.
Harrison began work on T5, which he sent to George III to test, whose interest in science was well known. The king was pleased with its accuracy and appealed to the Prime Minister on Harrison’s behalf. In 1773 Harrison was awarded £8,750, but the Board insisted this was a bounty, not the prize.
In 1772 James Cook had taken one of Harrison’s ‘sea clocks’ with him on his second voyage. When he returned in 1774 he pronounced it completely satisfactory, having been able to make the first accurate charts of the South Sea Islands. Cook took the timepiece with him again on his third and final voyage.
Harrison died in 1776. The Board of Longitude was disbanded in 1828, and although the main prize was never actually awarded, Harrison had been the main winner with disbursements over time in effect
Similar Books
