Another of Weems' inventions was the second-setting watch. At sea, celestial sights had to be taken with the aid of a hack watch which was set to the ship's chronometer. It was difficult, however, to set the watch exactly, which meant 6•rkll No. 5145705. that it differed slightly from the chronometer, lfe r .. • , ''"f which in turn differed from Greenwich Mean Time. Weems reasoned that the dif ficu lty in setting the watch came from the fact that at the time it was almost impossible to set the second hand exactly. However, if the second hand could not be set to match the dial perfectly, it might be possible to make the dial movable, so that the dial and the second hand were synchronized at the right time. -NWE .t \ ~>
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Weems Chronology and Accomplishments •Born 1889 • 1908, entered the US Naval Academy, graduated in 1912 • 1919 served aboard beacon ship during transAdantic flights • 1920, member of Olympic wrestling team in Antwerp • 1925, won the South Atlantic amateur light-heavyweight wrestling championship •1928, founded Weems System of Navigation in Coronado, California (where Weems was stationed at the time) • 1928, taught celestial navigation to Charles Lindbergh • 1929, developed Lunar Ephemeris for Aviators and served as an Instructor of Navigation at the Naval Academy •1933, published ''Air Almanac" and Star-Altitude Curves • 1933, retired with the rank of Commander •Recalled to service for 3 years, promoted to Captain, and served as Convoy Commodore in 1942 •Published Air Navigation, and authored Line of Position Book and 15 other books on various aspects of navigation •Designed the Weems Plotter •Created the second-setting watch, first constructed by J. Jessop Jewelers in San Diego, and later made in quantity by Longines •Developed a complete celestial navigation system and a sunset-sunrise computer • 1945, helped establish the US Institute of Navigation • 1948, flew to the North Pole •1950, flew around the world •1959, joined scuba diving expedition to explore Port Royal in Jamaica • 1960, sold Weems & Plath • 1961, recalled to service for 6 months at age 71 to help develop a system for space navigation •1979, died at the age of ninety on June 2 •1981 , The Institute of Navigation created an annual award in his honor For Continuing Contributions to the Art and Science ofNavigation •2003, inducted to the Annapolis Maritime Hall of Fame, posthumously SEA HISTORY 108, AUTUMN 2004