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Chronometers, precision watches and timekeepersThe National Maritime Museum has around 400 chronometers, precision watches and timekeepers in its collection. The most famous of these are the sea-clocks by John Harrison (1693–1776), known today as H1–H4. Browse the entire collection or: View by:
About this collectionThe National Maritime Museum has around 400 chronometers, precision watches and timekeepers in its collection. The most famous of these are the sea-clocks by John Harrison (1693–1776), known today as H1–H4. The marine chronometer as devised after Harrison's seminal work became a vital part of every ship's toolkit up to the 1970s. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG) played a crucial role in testing, rating and certificating the chronometers of the UK Royal Navy. Since the 1930s the Museum has built an unrivalled collection of chronometers (as well their smaller counterparts and deck-watches) from around the world. The H1–H4 clocks were Harrison's response to the biggest scientific problem of the 17th and 18th centuries: marine navigation, or the longitude problem. One solution was known to be the use of accurate, robust clocks on ships at sea, keeping 'home time' to compare with 'local time' to give one's position east or west of the home port. Lincolnshire carpenter, John Harrison, was the first person successfully to make clocks accurate and robust enough to go to sea. H4 won him the great Longitude Prize of £20,000. Researchers are welcome to study items but an appointment must be made in advance. Please contact the E-library for further information. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8312 6516 |
