![]() ![]() It also meant that the H1 was working correctly. This meant they were 60 miles off course and in danger. ![]() It was transferred to the Orford for the return, and this journey led to much better results.Īs they neared England, Harrison announced that a headland the officers had thought was the Start was in fact the Lizard. By the time they reached Lisbon however, the machine was going much more reliably. The voyage out to Lisbon began poorly for both Harrison and his clock. The aim was to put H1 to the test in a live setting. In May 1736, Harrison and H1 were taken aboard HM ship Centurion, which was about to set sail for Lisbon. John Harrison's H1 Marine Timekeeper A trial at sea It seemed that it would be successful in measuring longitude. ![]() Because of the clock's two interconnected swinging balances, it is unaffected by the motion of a ship - it is essentially a portable version of Harrison's precision wooden clocks. It was installed in Graham’s workshop, to be shown to London’s scientific community.Īt last, it seemed, here was a timekeeper that might be used to determine longitude at sea. He was most likely helped by his brother, James.Īfter testing the clock on the River Humber, Harrison proudly brought it to London in 1735. John Harrison's first attempt – H1įor the next few years Harrison worked in Barrow upon Humber on a marine timekeeper, now known as H1. Instead, he sent him to clockmaker George Graham. ![]() He was received warmly at Greenwich, but Halley felt unable to judge his work. Harrison began his time working in London with Edmond Halley, second Astronomer Royal and a Commissioner of Longitude. The Longitude Act was an act of parliament that offered money in return for the solution to the problem of finding a ship's precise longitude at sea. John Harrison arrived in London, looking for both support and the rewards promised by the 1714 Longitude Act. This would make it far more accurate than even the best watches of the time. In order to solve the problem of Longitude, Harrison aimed to devise a portable clock which kept time to within three seconds a day. These clocks achieved an accuracy of one second in a month, far better than any clocks of the time. During the mid-1720s he designed a series of remarkable precision longcase clocks. John Harrison was a carpenter by trade who was self-taught in clock making. ![]()
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