Navigators calculated longitude by measuring the difference between their local noon and noon in Greenwich, England. To stay on course, they needed precise timekeeping. In the second half of the 18th century, ships began carrying chronometers, which kept time very accurately. James Cook carried four on his second voyage to New Zealand in 1772–75. This example in Wellington Museum dates from about 1820.
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Museum of Wellington City and Sea
Photograph by Melanie Lovell-Smith
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