The American Practical Navigator (colloquially often referred to as Bowditch), originally written by Nathaniel Bowditch, is an encyclopedia of navigation. It serves as a valuable handbook on oceanography and meteorology, and contains useful tables and a maritime glossary. In 1867 the copyright and plates were bought by the Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy. As of 2019 it is still published by the U.S. Government and is available free online from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the modern successor agency to the 19th Century Hydrographic Office. The publication is considered one of America's nautical institutions.[citation needed]
The most popular navigational text of the late 18th century was The Practical Navigator by John Hamilton Moore of the Royal Navy, first published in 1772. To have exact tables to work from, Bowditch recomputed all of Moore's tables, and rearranged and expanded the work. He contacted the US publisher of the work, Edmund March Blunt, who asked him to correct and revise the third edition on his fifth voyage. The task was so extensive that Bowditch decided to write his own book, and to "put down in the book nothing I can't teach the crew." On that trip, it is said that every man of the crew of 12, including the ship's cook, became competent to take and calculate lunar observations and to plot the correct position of the ship. The New Practical Navigator was published in 1799, followed by a second edition in 1800.
By 1802, when Blunt was ready to publish a third edition, Nathaniel Bowditch and others had corrected so many errors in Moore's work that Blunt decided to publish it as the first edition of a new work, The New American Practical Navigator. The current edition of the American Practical Navigator traces its pedigree to that 1802 edition. Edmund M. Blunt continued to publish the book until 1833; upon his retirement, his sons, Edmund and George, assumed publication. The elder Blunt died in 1862; his son Edmund followed in 1866. The next year, 1867, George Blunt sold the copyright to the government for $25,000. The government has published Bowditch ever since. George Blunt died in 1878.
Nathaniel Bowditch continued to correct and revise the book until his death in 1838. Upon his death, the editorial responsibility for The New American Practical Navigator passed to his son, J. Ingersoll Bowditch. Very few significant changes were made under him. Editions from 1837 through 1880 are nearly identical in content. Ingersoll Bowditch continued editing the Navigator until George Blunt sold the copyright to the government. He outlived all of the principals involved in publishing and editing the Navigator, dying in 1889.
The U.S. government has published some 52 editions since acquiring the copyright to the book that has come to be known simply by its original author's name, "Bowditch". Since the government began production, the book has been known by its year of publishing, instead of by the edition number. After the first major revision, a total overhaul of the book's content completed in 1880 under the direction of Commander Philip H. Cooper, USN, the name was changed to American Practical Navigator. Much of Bowditch's original content, including his methods for clearing lunar distance observations, were dropped in 1880 (though a new method for clearing lunars remained in an appendix until the early 20thcentury). After numerous incremental revisions and printings in the period from 1914 to 1944, Bowditch was extensively revised between 1946 and 1958.
Nathaniel Bowditch
The present volume, while retaining the basic format of the 1958 version, reorganizes the subjects, deletes obsolete text, and adds new material to keep pace with the extensive changes in navigation that have taken place in the electronic age.
The 1995 edition of the American Practical Navigator incorporates extensive changes in organization, content, and format. Recent advances in navigational electronics, communications, positioning, and other technologies have transformed the way navigation is practiced at sea, and it is clear that even more changes are forthcoming. The changes to this edition of Bowditch are intended to ensure that this publication remains the premier reference work for practical marine navigation. Concerted efforts were made to return to Nathaniel Bowditch's original intention "to put down in the book nothing I can’t teach the crew." To this end, many complex formulas and equations have been eliminated, and emphasis placed on the capabilities and limitations of various navigation systems and how to use them, instead of explaining complex technical and theoretical details. This edition replaces but does not cancel former editions, which may be retained and consulted as to navigation methods not discussed therein. The current edition (as of June 2017) is Edition 53, a two-volume, all-digital version released by NGA in 2017.
The Bicentennial Edition (2002) incorporated Volume 1 and Volume 2 into a single printed volume, with the goal of putting as much useful information before the navigator as possible in the most understandable and readable format, a single, hard-bound volume. While that edition saw widespread use in civilian, military and commercial fleets, it sacrificed some data on classical celestial navigation and on advances in satellite and electronic navigation to meet the compressed requirements of the physical form. Twenty years later, with a resurgence of interest in celestial navigation and the large-scale adoption of electronic navigation, NGA returned Pub. No. 9 to a two-volume format to encompass the expanded material. The NGA's latest printed edition is available in both two separate volumes but also offering a version where it incorporates both volumes into one book. The latest edition was issued in 2019 with freely downloadable PDFs available in the NGA's official website updated to June 2021.
In celebration of Nathaniel Bowditch and his work writing the American Practical Navigator, in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts there is the Salem ferry, named after Bowditch, a high speed catamaran takes people to Boston and is pictured as it is approaching its dock off Blaney Street, Salem Maritime National Historic Site.
Contents
Title page, first edition
Part I
Fundamentals, includes an overview of the types and phases of marine navigation and the organizations which support and regulate it. It includes chapters relating to the structure, use and limitations of nautical charts; chart datums and their importance; and other material of a basic nature.
Part II
Piloting, emphasizes the practical aspects of navigating a vessel in restricted waters.
Part III
Electronic Navigation, covers the primary means of positioning of the modern navigator. Chapters deal with each of the several electronic methods of navigation, organized by type.
Navigational Mathematics, includes chapters relating to such topics as basic navigational mathematics and computer use in the solution of navigation problems.
Part VI
Navigational Safety, discusses aspects of the new distress and safety communications systems now in place or being implemented in the next several years, as well as navigation regulations, emergency navigation procedures, and distress communications.
Part VII
Oceanography, contains chapters on practical oceanography of use to the mariner.
Part VII
Marine Meteorology, incorporates weather routing and forecasting methods as well as color plates of the Beaufort Sea States.
Famous Users and Usage
Due to it usefulness as both a navigational tool and as a practical oceanic handbook, The American Practical Navigator was famously used by TheHornet (clipper) and The Essex (whaleship). On the Hornet it was used to help save fourteen of the thirty-one person manifest, after they were forced by an onboard fire to abandon ship. Crowded onto a lifeboat with a sextant and a copy of The American Practical Navigator this group of men were able to navigate their way from a thousand miles west of the Galapagos Islands to Hawaii in forty-three days.[1] Likewise, the Essex while off the west coast of South America was attacked by a whale and its crew shipwrecked. They were fortunate enough to get into longboats with a multiple compasses, quadrants, and a copy of The American Practical Navigator. As a result they were able to navigate their way to Henderson Island (Pitcairn Islands) where they were able to find some food and water. Ultimately, many of them would die or resort to cannibalism in an attempt to reach Easter Island and a supposed rescue. The ships captain George Pollard Jr. would later describe The American Practical Navigator as one of "the probable instruments of our salvation."[2]
Sources
Portions of this article originated from the preface of The American Practical Navigator, a document produced by the government of the United States of America.
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, marine navigation, aeronautic navigation, and space navigation.
Nathaniel Bowditch was an early American mathematician remembered for his work on ocean navigation. He is often credited as the founder of modern maritime navigation; his book The New American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, is still carried on board every commissioned U.S. Naval vessel.
In meteorology, Buys Ballot's law may be expressed as follows: In the Northern Hemisphere, if a person stands with their back to the wind, the atmospheric pressure is low to the left, high to the right. This is because wind travels counterclockwise around low pressure zones in the Northern Hemisphere. It is approximately true in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, and is reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, but the angle between the pressure gradient force and wind is not a right angle in low latitudes.
Fakaofo, formerly known as Bowditch Island, is a South Pacific Ocean atoll located in the Tokelau Group. The actual land area is only about 3 km2, consisting of islets on a coral reef surrounding a central lagoon of some 45 km2. According to the 2006 census 483 people officially live on Fakaofo. Of those present 70% belong to the Congregational Church and 22% to the Catholic Church.
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch is a novel by Jean Lee Latham that was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1956.
The Nathaniel Bowditch House, sometimes called the Bowditch-Osgood House and the Curwen-Ward-Bowditch House, is a historic house and National Historic Landmark at 9 North Street in Salem, Massachusetts. With a construction history apparently dating to 1759–60, the house is distinctive as having been owned by three families important in the maritime history of Salem. Its landmark designation in 1965 stems from its association with Nathaniel Bowditch (1773–1838), the founder of modern navigation, who lived here from 1811 to 1823. The house now serves as the headquarters of Historic Salem, Inc., which was responsible for its rescue from demolition and eventual restoration.
In celestial navigation, lunar distance, also called a lunar, is the angular distance between the Moon and another celestial body. The lunar distances method uses this angle and a nautical almanac to calculate Greenwich time if so desired, or by extension any other time. That calculated time can be used in solving a spherical triangle. The theory was first published by Johannes Werner in 1524, before the necessary almanacs had been published. A fuller method was published in 1763 and used until about 1850 when it was superseded by the marine chronometer. A similar method uses the positions of the Galilean moons of Jupiter.
Passage planning or voyage planning is a procedure to develop a complete description of a vessel's voyage from start to finish. The plan includes leaving the dock and harbor area, the en route portion of a voyage, approaching the destination, and mooring, the industry term for this is 'berth to berth'. According to international law, a vessel's captain is legally responsible for passage planning, The duty of passage planning is usually delegated to the ship's navigation officer, typically the second officer on merchant ships.
Sailing Directions are written directions that describe the routes to be taken by boats and ships during coastal navigation and port approaches. There are also products known as Sailing Directions, which are books written by various Hydrographic Offices throughout the world. They are known as Pilot Books, because they provide local knowledge of routes and landmarks, which would typically be provided by a local marine pilot. As such, they are used frequently by naval and government vessels, who are exempted from 'Compulsory Pilotage' in many ports.
A notice to mariners advises mariners of important matters affecting navigational safety, including new hydrographic information, changes in channels and aids to navigation, and other important data.
United States Coast Pilot is a ten-volume American navigation publication distributed yearly by the Office of Coast Survey, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Ocean Service. The purpose of the publication is to supplement nautical charts of the waters of the United States.
Bowditch may refer to:
Nautical publications is a technical term used in maritime circles describing a set of publications, either published by national governments or by commercial and professional organisations, for use in safe navigation of ships, boats, and similar vessels. Other publications might cover topics such as seamanship and cargo operations. In the UK, the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, the Witherby Publishing Group and the Nautical Institute provide numerous navigational publications, including charts, publications on how to navigate and passage planning publications. In the US, publications are issued by the US government and US Coast Guard.
Distances Between Ports is a publication that lists the distances between major ports. Reciprocal distances between two ports may differ due to the different routes of currents and climatic conditions chosen. To reduce the number of listings needed, junction points along major routes are used to consolidate routes converging from different directions.
The World Port Index contains a tabular listing of thousands of ports throughout the world, describing their location, characteristics, known facilities, and available services. Of particular interest are the applicable volume of Sailing Directions and the number of the harbor chart. The table is arranged geographically, with an alphabetical index.
Radar navigation is the utilization of marine and aviation radar systems for vessel and aircraft navigation. When a craft is within radar range of land or special radar aids to navigation, the navigator can take distances and angular bearings to charted objects and use these to establish arcs of position and lines of position on a chart. A fix consisting of only radar information is called a radar fix.
The Radio Navigational Aids publication contains a detailed list of selected worldwide radio stations that provide services to the mariner. The publication is divided into chapters according to the nature of the service provided by the radio stations. The services include Radio direction finder and Radar Stations; stations broadcasting navigational warnings, time signals or medical advice; communication traffic for distress, emergency and safety including the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) and long range navigational aids. It also contains chapters describing procedures of the AMVER System, and the interim emergency procedures and communication instructions to be followed by U.S merchant vessels in times of crisis. A new edition of Publication 117 is published annually. This publication is available in its entirety on the website and there are also database queries available for much of the data contained within.
Joseph Blunt was an American lawyer, author, editor, and politician from New York. In 1858, he was appointed New York County district attorney.
Hornet was an 1851 extreme clipper in the San Francisco trade, famous for its race with Flying Cloud.
George Pollard Jr. (1791–1870) was the captain of the whalers Essex and Two Brothers, both of which sank. Pollard's life, including his encounter with the sperm whale that sank Essex, served as inspiration for Captain Ahab, the whale-obsessed character in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.
References
Chase, Owen. Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex, of Nantucket; Which was Attacked and Finally Destroyed by a Large Spermaceti-whale, in the Pacific Ocean; with an account of the Unparalleled Sufferings of the Captain and Crew During a Space of Ninety-Three Days at Sea, in Open Boats in the Years 1819 & 1820. New York: W.B. Gilley, 1821.
Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.
Brown, Alexander Crosby, ed. Longboat to Hawaii: An Account of the Voyage of the Clipper Ship Hornet of New York, Bound for San Francisco in 1886, as Recorded in the Journals of Captain Josiah A. Mitchell, master, Henry Ferguson, passenger, Samuel Ferguson, passenger: Together with Observations on the Burning of the Vessel by Mark Twain. Cambridge, MA: Cornell Maritime Press, Inc., 1974.
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