Captain Phlllp Weems: by William J. Cook
F
rom rhe rime char sailing vessels rendered the rowing galley obsolete until the era of steam -propelled ships, ve ry little changed in the technology of ships and rheir equipment. Huge topsails we re split into upper and lower to psails; bonnets m ade way fo r reefing systems; fore-a nd-aft sails we re cut flatrer and eventually co nstrucred with cotton duck rather than Aax linen- but these changes were nothing dras tic. Little ch anged for the mariner as he signed off one ship and o n co another. In fac t, had the mariner signed off one vessel and on co ano ther one hundred years later, he would have had few problems figuring our how co work his new ship. Navigational instruments and methods paralleled the sam e slow evoluti on as did technology for the ships themselves. The m agnetic compass can be traced co the thirteenth century. During C olumbus's transatlantic crossings, he used dead reckonin g and a quadrant. In that era, marin ers cross ing the Atlanti c sailed co a known lin e ofl arirude, then headed east or wes r, staying as close co that parallel as possible. The marine sextant was introduced in 173 1 and today's sextants differ little from th at ea rlier version . Some big names come co mind in the advancement of navigational technology and knowledge: Na thani el Bowdi tch and M atthew Fo ntaine M aury, for example. John H enry H arrison must be included also for his accurate and practi cal chronometer, which he invented and modified for more practical use in the middle of the 1700s. In the early pan of the nin eteenth century, the Sumn er method of plotting celes ti al positi on lines was introduced . Until the 193 0s, these advancements represented nearly the whole of navigational evolutio n. A mo re modern day "big nam e" in navigatio n was Captain Philip Weems (1889- 1979) who succeeded in making navigational m ethods simpler and mo re practi cal fo r all m ariners, but who also made it reasonable for use by aviators. Weem s career spanned an age where transportation changed in a relatively short time compared co hund reds of years before him . H e served o n the las t cruise of the USS Hartford, a square-rigged sailing
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ship, in 1908 and lived co assist fam o us aviators C harles Lindbergh and Douglas
USS Hartford "Wrong-way" Corrigan . After hi s retirement, the Navy as ked him back in 196 1 to assist in developing a system of navigation for space travel. Weems the Man Philip Van H orn Weems was born in 1889 and grew up on a small fa rm in Tennessee. H e was forced co feel the weight of adult respo nsibilities at an ea rly age, when his widowed mo ther passed away, leaving him and his siblings to look after themselves. In 1908, he entered the US Naval Academy and graduated in 191 2. l e was at the Academy that he first became interested in astronomy and celestial navigatio n- both would become life-long interests. In 19 19 Lt. Commander Weems was assigned co one of che m any station trackin g ships strewn across che N o rth Atlantic co aid three small planes in rheir attempt co make th e first transAtlantic fligh t. Thinking of all the time, energy, and money being expended on positioning and mai ntaining chis Aocilla, Weems felt there had co be a better way, and the experience sealed his face as one who would fo rever change che heart and so ul of celestial navigation. As a man drive n by rhe desire w adva nce rhe rechnology and methodology associated wi th navigati o n, Weems recogni zed rhe need fo r new cypes of navigati o nal instruments, and went about to purchase, modify, or design chem from scratch. On e such device was che bubble sex cant. Prove n practical by Portuguese Admiral, Gago C outinho, in 192 1, aviators could use these instruments w ith out having co see che ho ri zo n. This was important because poor visibility often m ade
viewing th e horizo n difficult co impossible. Weems invented the "second setting watch ," a timepiece with a face that could be turn ed precisely above the second hand co ensure synchro nizati on with che ship's chronometer, and che now-famous Weems plotter, which combin ed a protractor, straight edge, and parallel rule in o ne device. M o re than dedicated, Weems was focused. Over the nexr few years, he made many brilli ant observations, published numerous books and anicles related co navigation, and cook on a position as an instructor of navigation at the Naval Academy. In 1928, Weems opened his own navigation school in Coronado,
California, where he was stationed at the time. There he caught The Weems Sys tem of Navigation and sold acco utrements and publications associated with the craft. This brought on a long-las ting relationship with Ge rmany's Carl Plath. W irh each passing yea r, W eems perfected new, simpler methods of navigation,
Captain Weems (middle) and Charles Lindbergh (right)
SEA HISTORY 108, AUTUMN 2004