THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE

OF NAVIGA TION
The Principles and Practice
of Navigation
BY

A. FROST
Master Mariner, M.RIN.

GLASGOW
BROWN, SON & FERGUSON, LID.
4-10 DARNLEY STREET
 Copyright in all countries signatory to the Berne Convention
All rights reserved

LIST OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
The earth-its shape. The figure of the earth. The measurement of I
position on the earth's surface. Latitude and longitude. Geocentric and
geographical latitude. Change of position on the earth's surface-
difference of latitude. Difference of longitude. The measurement of distance
on the earth's surface-the nautical mile. The geographical mile. The
measurement of direction. Courses and bearings. Variation and deviation.

CHAPTER 2
First Edition - 1978 The mercator chart. The rhumb line. The scale of distance on a mercator 20
chart. Meridional parts. The construction of the mercator chart. Natural
Revised - 1983
scale.
Revised - 1988
Reprinted - 1993 CHAPTER 3
The Loxodrome. Parallel sailings. Plane sailing. Mercator sailing. The 30
Reprinted - 1994 middle latitude and mid lat sailing. I

Reprinted - 1997
CHAPTER 4
Great circles. The vertex. Great circles on a mercator chart. Convergency. 42.
The curve of constant bearing. Great circle sailing. Composite great circle
sailing. The gnomonic chart. Making good a great circle track.

CHAPTER 5
The celestial sphere. The measurement of position on the celestial sphere. 70
The apparent motion of the sun on the celestial sphere-the ecliptic.
Greenwich hour angle and local hour angle. The Nautical Almanac.
Altitude and azimuth. Celestial latitude and celestial longitude.
Conversion between co-ordinate systems. The PZX triangle.

CHAPTER 6
Correction of altitudes. Dip. Refraction. Formulae for dip and refraction. 88
Semi-diameter. The augmentation. Parallax. Its reduction for latitude.
Parallax in altitude. Total correction tables.

CHAPTER 7
Time. The solar day. The sidereal day. Variation in the length of the solar 108
day. Mean solar time. The equation of time. Universal time. Atomic time
and co-ordinated universal time. Sidereal time. Calculations on time.
Precession of the equinox nutation. The year. The civil calendar.

CHAPTER 8
The earth-moon system. The motion of the moon on the celestial sphere 128
ISBN 0 85174 542 3 in SHA and in declination. The phases of the moon. Retardation in the
ISBN 0 85174 444 3 (Revised First ~dition) meridian passage of the m~on. Retardation in moonrise and moonset. The
©1997-BROWN, SON & FERGUSON, LTD., GLASGOW, G41 2SD moon's rotation. Librations of the moon. Eclipses. The ecliptic limits. The
Printed and Made in Great Britain recurrence of eclipses.
v
vi THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF NAVIGATION

CHAPTER 9
Planetary and satellite motions. Universal gravitation. Artificial satellites. 142
The solar system. Relative planetary motion. Phases of planets. Retrograde
motion of planets. The relationship between relative motion of planets
and the 'v' correction.

CHAPTER 10
Figure drawing. The stereo graphic projection. The equidistant projection. 161
Sketch figures to illustrate navigational problems. The solution of
theoretical problems by spherical trigonometry.
THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF NAVIGA TION
CHAPTER 11
The motion of the heavens. The earth's motion within the solar system 182 For All Courses Leading to Department of Trade Certificates of
and its effect on the apparent motion of the heavens. The effect of a change Competence
of latitude on the apparent motion of the heavens. The length of daylight
to a stationary observer. The seasons. The effect of the earth's orbital 1. The earth, the measurement of position, direction, and
motion on the apparent motion of the heavens-the change of declination distance.
of the sun. Rates of change of hour angle. Rates of change of altitude. 2. The Mercator Chart and its use in navigation.
Twilight. Variation in the length of twilight. Finding the times of sunrise 3. The sailings.
and sunset and the limits of twilight by solution of the PZX triangle. 4. Great circles-great circle sailing and the gnomonic chart.
CHAPTER 12 5. The celestial sphere, the measurement of position on the sphere
The celestial position line. Methods of obtaining a position through which 199 -the nautical almanac.
to draw the position line. The Marcq St Hilaire method. The longitude by 6. Correction of altitudes.
chronometer method. The meridian altitude method. 7. Time and its measurement.
8. The earth moon system.
CHAPTER 13 9. Planetary motion.
The calculation of the position line. The elements of the PZX triangle. 218 10. Figure drawing.
The Marcq St Hilaire method. The longitude by chronometer method. 11. The motions of the heavens.
Noon position by forenoon sight and meridian altitude. The ex-meridian 12. The plotting of position lines.
problem. Ex-meridian tables.
13. The reduction of sights.
CHAPTER 14 14. Meridian observations.
Meridian altitudes. Finding the time of meridian passage. The longitude 238 15. The pole star problem, pole star tables.
correction. Finding the latitude by meridian altitude. Lower meridian 16. Amplitudes and azimuths.
passage. Maximum and meridian altitudes.

CHAPTER 15
The pole star problem. Pole star tables. Latitude by pole star. 256

CHAPTER 16
The azimuth problem. The ABC tables. Compass error by ABC tables. 262
Amplitudes. The observed altitude at theoretical rising and setting. The
amplitude formula. Compass error by observation of the amplitude.

APPENDIX 1
Specimen practical navigation papers. Specimen principles of navigation 274
papers.

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES 279

INDEX 289
EXTRACTS FROM THE Nautical Almanac 295
 CHAPTER I
THE EARTH

The earth is a flattened sphere, which is rotating about one of its

diameters, referred to as the axis of rotation. The two points where
the axis meets the surface of the earth are called the poles of the
earth. The circle drawn around the earth midway between the poles
so that every point on it is equidistant from each pole is called
the Equator.
The flattening is around the poles, and is caused by the tendency
of the mass of the earth to fly off the surface at a tangent to the
circle which it describes about the axis. This causes an acceleration
away from the centre of the circle around which any mass is moving.
Thus in Figure 1.1 a mass M tends to move along a direction
M. M'. Any mass on the equator therefore is accelerated away from
the centre of the earth, C.
A mass m at some point off the equator, tends to move along a
direction m. m' and is therefore accelerated away from L, the
centre of its rotation. This acceleration can be resolved into two
directions one directed away from the centre of the earth, and the
other at right angles to this direction along the surface of the earth
towards the equator. Thus any mass not on the equator has
tendencies to move away from the centre of the earth and towards
the equator. This means that the earth's rotation is causing a
2 THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF NAVIGATION
shifting of mass towards the equator and a bulging outwards of
the equatorial mass away from the earth's centre. The earth is
therefore distorted into an oblate spheroid, which is the solid
formed by rotating an ellipse about its minor axis. Any cross
section of the earth taken through the poles therefore will be an
ellipse.
If we imagine all the irregularities of the land surfaces planed
off so that we have a sea level earth, it is this figure that would
be the ellipsoid. This is given the name of the geoid. Describing
the geoid as an ellipsoid is an oversimplification. In fact any cross
section of the geoid departs from a perfect ellipse. The ellipse to
which this cross section approximates to is called the reference
ellipse. The amount by which the geoid departs from the reference
ellipse is small but measurable by modern gravimetric readings. In
recent years much has been learned about the true shape of the
earth by the study of perturbations in artificial earth satellites.
The Measurement of Position on the Earth's Surface .~
Great Circle. This is a circle on the surface of a sphere, whose plane
passes through the centre of the sphere. It is, therefore, the largest
circle that can be drawn on a sphere of given radius. Between any
two points on the surface of the sphere there is only one great circle
that can be drawn, except if the two points are at opposite ends of
a diameter. In this case there is an infinite number of great circles
that can be drawn through them. The shortest distance between
two points on the surface lies along the shorter arc of the great
circle between them.
lliEMRlli 3
Poles of a great circle. These are the points on the sphere which are
90° removed from all points on the great circle. Each great circle
will have two poles, the line joining which will be perpendicular to
the plane of the great circle.
Small Circle. This is any circle on the surface of a sphere which is
not a great circle. The plane does not pass through the centre of
the sphere and the circle therefore does not divide the _sphere into
two equal halves.
Secondary great circles. Any great circle which passes through the
poles of another great circle is said to be secondary to that circle,
which is then referred to as its primary. Thus it could be said that
the great circles that pass through the poles of the earth's rotation
are secondaries to the earth's equator. It does not specifically refer
to this special case however. It is a general term which may be used
with reference to any great circle on a sphere and those great circles
that cut it at right angles, hence passing through its poles.
To define a position on any plane surface we can assume two
axes of reference at right angles to each other. The definition of
any point is obtained by stating the distance of the point from each
of the two axes of reference. In mathematics the axes are usually
called the x-axis and the y-axis, and the distances of the point from
these lines are called the co-ordinates of the point. So defined the
position is unambiguous.
On a spherical surface such as the earth the two axes of reference
are two great circles, and instead of linear distance we use angular
distances.
The co-ordinates used to define a position are called LATITUDE
and LONGITUDE.
LATITUDE. The axis from which this co-ordinate is measured
is the equator, the plane of which is perpendicular to the earth's
axis of rotation. Every point on this great circle will be at an angular
distance of 90° from each of the earth's poles.
A parallel of latitude. This is a small circle on the surface of the
earth whose plane is perpendicular to the earth's spin axis, and
therefore parallel to the plane of t.he equator.
The latitude of any point can therefore be defined as the arc of
a secondary to the equator which is contained between the equator
and the parallel of latitude through the point being considered. It
is measured 0° to 90° North or South of the equator in degrees
minutes and seconds of arc.
Thus all positions on the same parallel of latitude have the same
latitude. The latitude of the equator is 0° and that of each pole is
90° N. or S.
LONGITUDE. The axis from which this co-ordinate is measured
is a semi-great circle which runs between the two poles of the earth
and passes through an arbitrary point in Greenwich. This line is a
secondary to the equator and is called the Prime Meridian.
4 THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF NAVIGATION
There are an infinite number of semi-great circles that can be
drawn between the poles. Each one of these is called a meridian.
Given a position on the earth there is one meridian that passes
through it. The meridian that passes through the antipodal point
of the position is called the anti-meridian of that position. A
meridian and its anti-meridian together form a great circle which
is a secondary to the equator.
The longitude of any point can be defined as the lesser arc of
the equator or the angle at the pole, between the meridian of
Greenwich and the meridian through the point being considered.
It is measured from 0° to 180° on either side of the prime meridian
and named east or west.
Geographical Latitude
The fact that the earth is not a true sphere means that the definition
of latitude given must be modified. The geographical latitude is the
latitude of a position as observed. This assumes that the earth is a
sphere with radius the same as the radius of curvature of the
meridian at the position being measured. As the earth is an oblate
spheroid the shape formed by a meridian and its anti-meridian is
an ellipse. The radius of curvature of the ellipse will be greatest at
the poles and least at the equator.
In the figure let L be the centre of curvature of the meridian at
O. LO is therefore the radius of curvature of the meridian at O. It
will cut the earth's surface at 0 in a right angle and is therefore the
vertical at O. The geographical latitude is angle OLE'. This will
equal angle OFE.
The geographical latitude of an observer can be defined therefore
as the angle between the vertical at the observer and the plane of
the equator.
Geocentric Latitude
This is the angle at the centre of the earth between the line joining
the earth's centre to the observer and the plane of the equator. In
the diagram the geocentric latitude will be angle OCE.
The term latitude in navigation means geographical latitude or
latitude as observed. The difference between the geographical and
the geocentric latitudes is zero at the equator and the poles and
maximum in 45° N. and S. The difference here will be about II' of
arc.
The geocentric latitude is given approximately by the formula:
4>-11'6 sin 24>
where 4> = the geographical latitude.
Thus in geographical latitude 60° the geocentric latitude becomes:
60° - 11·6 x sin 120°
= 60° -(11·6 x 0,866)
= 60° - 10,04'
= 59° 49'96'
6 THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF NAVIGATION
D. lat. is named according to the direction travelled, North or
South.
The d. long. between any two positions on the earth's surface is
the lesser arc of the equator contained between the two meridians
which pass through the two positions. This is illustrated in Figure
1.5. From the figure it can be seen that if the two positions are on
the same side of the Greenwich meridian then the d. long. will be
THE EARTH 7
the numerical difference between the longitudes, i.e. the greater
minus the smaller. If they are on opposite sides of the Greenwich
meridian, i.e. if the longitudes are of opposite name, then the
d. long. will be found by the sum of the two longitudes. If how-
ever the d. long found by this means is more than 180°, as the
d. long. is defined as the LESSER arc of the equator between two
positions, then the d. long. is obtained by subtracting the result
from 360°. The d. long. is named East or West according to the
direction travelled.
Note
D. lats and d. longs are usually required in minutres of arc. The
number of degrees is therefore multiplied by 60 and the odd
minutes added on to express them in this manner. To get from A to
B a vessel must sail to the south and to the west. D. lat. is therefore
named S., and d. long. W. For both d. lat. and d. long. the rule in
this case is 'same name take the difference'.
 THE EARTH 9
R THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF NAVIGATION
EXERCISE IA
2. Find the d. lat. and d. long. between the two positions
20° 10,4' N. 13° 04-5' W. and 5° IS'O' S. So40'S' E. Find the d. lat. and d. long. between the following positions:
initial position Final position
Pas. A 20° 10,4' N. 13° 04-5' W.
Pas. B 5° IS'O' S. So40'S' E. 1. 40° 10,6' N. 9° 25·2' W. 47° 15,7' N. 21° 14,3' W.
u
2. 35° 15,6' N. 22° 12,4' W. 50 25,9' N. 11 37,7' W.
0

d. lat. 25° 2S'4' S. d. long. 21° 45,3' E.

= 152S-4'S. = 1305,3' E. 3. 10° 12,6' N. 50 03'S' E. 50 IS·7' S. 70 IS'S' W.
4. 20040,0' S. 170009,1' E. 13006,5' N. 17So 51·1' E.
Note 5. 30° 03,3' N. 152043.3' W. 42° 24,0' N. 174° 01'S' W.
Latitudes and longitudes are of the opposite name and the d. lat. 6. 11031.7' N. 17S000,0' E. 5° 14,9' S. 177° OO'S'W.
and the d. long. therefore are obtained by the sums. The direction 7. So42·6' S. 1620 41·7' W. 7° 53'S' N. 135° 27,9' E.
travelled in is south and east. D. lat. is therefore named S., and S. 15° 20,0' S. 130° 35,4' E. 33° 10,5' N. 155° 40,0' W.
d. long. E.
9. 52°10·7'S.171°0S·0'E. 27°02·3'S. 34°02·3'E.
10. 60040-5' S. 151° 23-5' W. 10° 57,7' S. 92° 47,6' W.
3. Find the d. lat. and d. long. between the two positions
10° 00,0' S. 30° 15,0' E. and 67° 40,0' N. 70° 30,0' W.
EXERCISE IB
Pas. A 10° 00,0' S. 30° 15,0' E.
Pas. B 67° 40,0' N. 70° 30,0' W. I
1. Given initial position 20° 50,5' S. 17So49,7' E., d. lat.
d.lat. 77° 40,0' N. d. long. 100° 45,0' W. 330 14,0' N. d. long. 15° 37,7' E. Find the final position.
= 4660,0' N. = 6045,0' W. 2. Given initial position 390 40,6' N. 9° 21'S' W., d. lat. 30 57' N.,
d. long. 27° 07,0' E. Find the final position.
4. Find the d.lat. and d.long. between the two positions 5° 15,6' S. 3. If a vessel's arrival position is 300 10,6' S. 4040,3' E., and the
16So15-0'E.and 17° 56·O'N.12So 16·5'W. d. lat. and d. long. made good was 720 IS'S' S. and 3S0 54,7' E.
respectively, what was the initial position?
Pas. A 5° 15,6' S. 16SO15,0' E.
Pas. B 17° 56,0' N. 12So 16,5' W. 4. A ship steered a course between north and east making good
a d. lat. of 3So 55,5' and a d. long. of 200 41·S'. If the position
d.lat. 23° 11,6' N. 296° 31-5' reached was 21° 10-4'N. 16So IS·7' W., what was the initial
= 1391·6' N. = 63° 2S-5' E. position?
= 3S0S-5'E.
The Measurement of Distance
Note The unit of distance used in navigation is the nautical mile. Subunits
The d. long. found by adding the longitudes of opposite name is are the cable which is 0·1 of a nautical mile, and the fathom which
more than IS0°. It is therefore subtracted from 360°. Note that is 0-001 of a nautical mile.
the direction of travel is east across the IS0th meridian. In navigation calculation of position is made in units of arc,
degrees and minutes. It is convenient therefore to use as a unit of
distance, the length of a minute of arc of a great circle upon the
5. A vessel steaming north and east makes good a d. lat. of 925'S' surface of the earth. Thus the nautical mile is taken as the length
and a d. long. of 1392,6'. If the initial positions was 25° 20,7' N. of a meridian which subtends an angle of one minute at the centre
46° 45·2' W. find the position at which the vessel arrived.
of the earth.
This definition however assumes a perfectly spherical earth
initial position 25° 20,7' N. 46° 45·2' W. which is not the case. It can be modified such that one minute of
d.lat. 15° 25'S' N. 23° 12,6' E. geographical latitude is equal to one nautical mile in any given
final position 40° 46-5' N. 23° 32·6' W. latitude.
10 THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF NAVIGATION
Thus redefined with reference to a spheroidal earth the nautical
mile is:
The length of a meridian between two parallels of latitude
whose geographical latitudes differ by one minute.
Consider the diagram.
- The observer is considered to be at the centre of his compass, the
The geographical latitude of A will be angle ACE. If this angle
is 0° l' then the geographical latitude of A will be 0° l' N. and
AE will be the length of a nautical mile at the equator. C is the
centre of curvature of the meridian at the equator.
The geographical latitude of B is angle BC'E', and that of B' is
angle B'C'E'. If the difference, i.e. angle B'C'B is one minute then
the length of BB' is the nautical mile in that latitude.
The centre of curvature of the meridian at B is C', and the radius
of curvature Be', is greater than the radius of curvature at the
equator AC. Therefore the length of arc BB' is greater than the
length of the arc AE. The length of the nautical mile as defined
varies as the latitude. At the equator the length is 1842·9 metres.
At the poles it is 1861·7 metres. In practice a value of 1853 metres
(6080 ft) is used and this is considered a standard nautical mile.
The true length of the nautical mile in any latitude is given by
the formula:
1852·3- 9-4 cos (2 x Latitude)
The variation in the length of the nautical mile has no significance
in practical navigation. Any units of d. lat. are taken as units of
distance, and the distance between two places on the same meridian
THE EARTH II
but in different latitudes is equal to the d. lat. between the two
places.
The unit of speed at sea is the knot. This is a speed of one nautical
mile per hour.
The Geographical Mile
This is the length of one minute of arc of the equator, or the length
of the equator which subtends an angle of one minute at the centre
of the earth.
The equator is the only true great circle on the reference
ellipsoid, and the centre of the equator is the centre of-the earth.
The geographical mile therefore is a constant length of 1855·3 metres.
It will be equal to the length of one minute of longitude at the
equator by definition.
The Measurement of Direction
The three figure notation
plane of which represents tl).e plane of the horizon. The direction
ofthe meridian through the observer towards the north geographical
pole is taken as the reference direction and called 000°. The circum-
ference of the compass card representing the horizon is divided into
360 degrees and any direction from the observer is expressed as
the angle measured clockwise from the reference direction of 000°.
Thus the direction of east in 3-figure notation is 090° (never 90°)
Thus the direction of south in 3-figure notation is 180°
Thus the direction of west in 3-figure notation is 270°
Thus the direction of north in 3-figure notation is 360° or 000°
The 3-figure notation is used to express:
1. Course. The direction of movement of the observer.
2. Bearing. The direction of an object from the observer.
Any instrument which is designed to measure these quantities is
called a compass and to measure direction correctly the reference
or zero mark on the compass card must be aligned with the direction
of 000° on the horizon. If this is not the case then it is necessary to
find the true direction in which the compass zero points in order
that a correction may be applied to find the true direction of north.
The gyro compass
Gyroscopic compasses are liable to small errors which should not
exceed one or two degrees.
If the north point of the compass card points to the left (to the
west), of the true direction of the meridian, then all indications of
direction taken from the compass will be greater than the true value.