Admin Table of Contents
- 1 Why was the traverse board important?
- 2 Which items improved navigation in the 1500’s?
- 3 Who developed the traverse board?
- 4 How was the Portolani used during the Age of Exploration?
- 5 What tools made exploration easier in the 15th century?
- 6 When was the traverse board used for navigation?
- 7 What did the Navigators use to track their position?
Why was the traverse board important?
The traverse board is a memory aid formerly used in dead reckoning navigation to easily record the speeds and directions sailed during a watch. Even crew members who could not read or write could use the traverse board.
How did the traverse board impact the age of exploration?
Age of Discovery The Traverse Board was used to record the direction a ship was sailing along with the corresponding speed of the ship for the same four hour period.
The instruments navigators used varied and included the quadrant, astrolabe, cross staff, hourglass, compass, map or nautical chart, and other devices. The compass was known to be in China as early as the 3rd century B.C. It was not in use in Europe until about the 12th century and was common by the 15th century.
What replaced the traverse board?
log board
The officer of the watch would have decided the measured or estimated speed, from which all directions and distances made good would be calculated. As literacy increased among seamen the traverse board was replaced by the log board on which the courses and distances were written up.
Who developed the traverse board?
The circular section of this traverse board has eight holes along each compass point and eight lead pegs attached with string to the central wooden peg….Object Details.
| ID: | NAV1698 |
|---|---|
| Creator: | Unknown |
| Date made: | circa 1800 |
| Credit: | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London |
| Measurements: | 305 x 214 x 38 mm |
What helps a compass rose in navigation?
16-point compass roses are constructed by bisecting the angles of the principal winds to come up with intermediate compass points, known as half-winds, at angles of difference of 22 1⁄2°….Modern depictions.
| Compass point | North-East |
|---|---|
| Abbr. | NE |
| Heading | 45° (45°×1) |
| Traditional wind | Greco or Grecale |
How was the Portolani used during the Age of Exploration?
The portolani is a descriptive atlas of the Middle Ages, giving sailing directions and providing charts showing rhumb lines and the location of ports and various coastal features.
How did the astrolabe help European explorers?
One of these was the astrolabe, a portable device used by sailors to help them find their way. By measuring the distance of the sun and stars above the horizon, the astrolabe helped determine latitude, an important tool in navigation.
What tools made exploration easier in the 15th century?
Read on to learn more about the tools early explorers used.
- Stars and the Astrolabe.
- Cross-staffs and Back-staffs.
- Lodestones and Compasses.
- Sandglasses and Chip-logs.
- The Quadrant Device.
- The Traverse Boards.
Where was the traverse board made?
The circular section of this traverse board has eight holes along each compass point and eight lead pegs attached with string to the central wooden peg….Object Details.
| ID: | NAV1698 |
|---|---|
| Date made: | circa 1800 |
| Credit: | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London |
| Measurements: | 305 x 214 x 38 mm |
The traverse board was used as a memory aid by navigators as early as the 17th century. It is interesting to note that the use of the traverse board was adopted by the navigators from northern Europe and England and was used as late as the beginning of the twentieth century.
Where are the eight holes on a traverse board?
The upper portion of the board was marked out in the 32 points of the compass. Notice there are a series of eight holes radiating out from the center to each of the 32 points of the compass on the outer circle. A set of eight pegs is attached to the center of this circle.
Compass and log helped navigators keep track of position. They used a lead line to determine water depth and bottom type. A heavy piece of lead at the end of a long marked line had a cavity in its bottom, which, when coated with grease or tallow, brought up a bottom sample.
What kind of tools were used for navigation?
Tools such as an hourglass, a quadrant, a compass and a nautical chart were vital for effective navigation. Navigation is based largely on the spherical coordinates latitude -angular distance north or south of the equator – and longitude – angular distance east or west of a generally accepted reference location, such as the Greenwich Observatory.