- Home
- / John Harrison
- / What was the key problem of long-distance sea travel before Harrison's invention?
What was the key problem of long-distance sea travel before Harrison's invention?
Pirates
Bad Weather
Food Shortages
Calculating Longitude
Answer
Before Harrison's invention of the marine chronometer, calculating longitude at sea was a major problem for long-distance sea travel. This was because there was no reliable way to measure longitude, which is the angular distance of a point east or west of the Prime Meridian. As a result, sailors often had difficulty navigating accurately, which could lead to shipwrecks.
Time and Triumph: The John Harrison Quiz
Subscribe Now!
Learn something
new everyday
Playing quizzes is free! We send 1 quiz every week to your inbox