Two-Day Marine Chronometer, c. 1840 (Inv. 38217) ‘Chronometer’ is the title given to clocks accurate enough to be used at sea. This one comes from the Museum’s collections, we wonder if it was similar to those Catilin saw at the Greenwich Maritime Museum.
Name: Caitlin
Age: 24
Occupation: Student
From: Kent
Object: Nautical Clock
Story: When I was about 8 I went to Greenwich Maritime Museum with my parents. They spent ages explaining how the clocks has helped sailors navigate the globe, which I found really boring. Their lecture was rewarded a few weeks later when my school held a science competition and my essay on how the nautical clocks at Greenwich helped sailors travel the work won me first prize – a book on science, a box of magnets and a huge bag of sweets (which lasted far longer than the book!).