| As It Was | ||||||||
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| Review | ||||||||
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“As it Was” is a regular column published in our sister journal Hydro since its inception in February 1997. Most have been researched and written by everyone’s favourite hydrographer, the evergreen Rear Admiral Steve Ritchie, whose fertile mind has conjured up a variety of historical snippets related to hydrography, which have become a highlight of the journal. All but seven of the 48 selections have come from the pen of Admiral Ritchie. The seven are equally interesting and informative texts on related aspects of offshore surveying, contributed by Nick Emerson, David Cartwright, Tony Rice, Atle Midthassel, Peter Speak, David Philip and Nigel Kelland, all of whom have made a major contribution to various aspects of surveying at sea or oceanographic study. Most individual items are contained within two pages of the book, even with the included illustrations, so one may open it anywhere and find a piece from which one is guaranteed to learn something of interest. So as well as acquaintance with Steve Ritchies’s own hero, Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer and his sixteenth century chartmaking, and other eminent historical hydrographic figures like Prince Albert of Monaco, Captain James Cook and Henry Bayfield, we also read about underwater trilateration for marine archaeology (Nigel Kelland), early North Sea rig positioning (David Philip), the 14th century Chinese Admiral Zhen He (Nick Emerson), and Edmund Halley’s First Map of the Tides (David Cartwright). Add to these, items on the Tavistock theodolite, the 45 degree Prismatic Astrolabe, the Tellurometer, measurement of baselines at sea, seismic refraction shooting, and assorted very early charts, and one has a fascinating potpourri of historical gems guaranteed to interest anyone with the slightest connection to surveying at sea. Of course those who have subscribed to or otherwise taken Hydro since 1997 will have seen and no doubt read all the pieces included in the book – and many others besides. The latest three from Admiral Jan Kreffer and Captain Barrit, who were former hydrographers of the Netherlands and United Kingdom respectively, along with another contribution from Tony Rice. While technical papers may become dated as time passes, historical records will always remain interesting and it is useful to assemble such an entertaining series in a book which may grace one’s bookshelf long after the journals have been discarded. Who knows, in another six years we may have another book to keep the first one company, provided Steve Ritchie and his associates keep digging through the archives. Geomatics World (July/August 2004) Reviewer: Alan Haugh As the editor I took up the privilege of writing this review myself. One may say that it is already incestuous for this journal to review a publication in the same stable but this book and its collection of stories deserves as wide publicity as possible. Readers of the Review may note that we usually try to start off with an historical article, although this one unusually happens to lack one. However the need to include an historical article is based on the argument that most people find history interesting, while technical articles will normally attract only those who are specialists in the particular field described. Hydro international has approached the interest in history through the articles described in this book. They are in the main, relatively short and above all easy to read and well illustrated. With ten issues of Hydro international now being produced each year it is easy to ‘lose’ some particular article that interested the reader under a pile of back issues. It was therefore a good idea to compile all the historical articles in a single volume and that is what we have here. One can hardly discuss this book without discussing its principle author, the ‘Old Hydrographer’. It is normal for most of us to think of writing history as the years go on but Steve Ritchie has spent a large portion of his life writing history, besides the many other major contributions that he has made to the profession of hydrography. Having now reached a very venerable age he continues to pour out a mass of historical writings and this volume represents another fine record of his achievements. Steve, of course, is not the only writer here but he, it must have been, who persuaded the other authors to make their various contributions and no doubt, carefully encouraged them to write in a style that would provide a reasonably consistent style. He does not stop. In April he was at the History of GEBCO Conference and recently he has returned from the History of Oceanography Conference in Kaliningrad. Perhaps we will see another volume soon! ‘As it Was’ includes just under fifty articles covering a wide range of history in hydrography’s broadest meaning. This includes not only chart making and the surveys needed to produce the charts but oceanography and geophysics. Instruments used in all these fields are the subject of some of the articles. Geographically, as might be expected, it has no limits, from Far East to Far West and the practitioners coming from many countries. The articles are all short and most readable. References are limited to a few notes that will lead the interested author to further reading. Perhaps it is a pity that a publication that so well describes history and hence provides a record of progress, was published with soft covers, even though the design of the cover is most attractive. It is unfortunate that the title does not appear on the spline. This last remark comes from hearing an author recently discuss the importance to his sales of having the title so presented. Nevertheless between the covers the text, illustrations and layout are most attractive. Although this book will primarily find its readers in the hydrographic and oceanographic communities it should excite interest from a broader audience as it describes man’s struggle to conquer the seas, not by military conquest but by scientific endeavour. Reviewed by Adam J. Kerr, Editor-in-Chief, The International Hydrographic Review, UK Steve Ritchie, a member of the Surveying Branch of the Royal Navy for 35 years, commander of four surveying vessels, Hydrographer of the R.N, Rear Admiral, and President of the Directing Committee of the International Hydrographic Bureau 1972-1982, tells us in this attractive new book from Lemmer, that in 1996 the editor of the new magazine Hydro INTERNATIONAL “...suggested... that I might contribute a regular Column to describe how things were done before the advent of such aids as electronic ship fixing, GPS and side scan sonar etc. And so it came about that ‘As it Was - by the Old Hydrographer’ became a regular feature from the first issue of ‘Hydro INTERNATIONAL’ in February 1997.” The new book is a selection of his essays and those of seven other authors invited to contribute to the column. The result is a delightful compilation of 48 historically-based essays, all well illustrated, on a wide variety of topics ranging from ancient periploi to position determination of undersea pipelines. The range of topics is broad and eclectic - Chinese voyages in the Indian Ocean, early charts and atlases, eighteenth century determination of the shape of the Earth, biographical information on hydrographic explorers, the Challenger and other expeditions, underwater technology, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, determining the greatest depth of the Pacific, and the destruction of Ripple Rock (British Columbia) in 1958, to select only a few. Each essay has historical depth, and with each is a list of further reading. This is a splendid book for evening reading - and also for authoritative and colorful introductions to many topics of interest to historians of hydrography and the marine sciences. (Eric Mills, History of Oceanography) This collection of 48 Old Hydrographer columns from the journal Hydro International is a fascinating series of stories on nautical charts and charting around the world, beginning with a description of Greek sailing directions called “periploi”, penned between 95 A.D. and 130 A.D. The story continues up to the use of electronic aids such as Decca in the 1940s, the Tellurometer in the 1950s, and underwater trilateration in the 1960s. Most of the articles have magnificent illustrations of original documents, giving us a glimpse of live history. As a mariner, a hydrographer and a sailing directions compiler, I was particularly interested to read that sailing directions is indeed the senior partner in navigation as those Greek periploi predate the earliest recorded mention of charts by some 1,200 years. Each early mariner jealously guarded his own personal navigational notes throughout his career, and our modern charts have their roots in the sketches the mariner drew in his own notebook. An interesting aside here is that the reason the master was boss is that he was the only one who knew where they were and thus the only one that could get the ship back home. One of the articles is a fascinating account by Captain Nick Emerson of the seven voyages in the early 1400s of the Chinese seaman and explorer Zheng He, also known as Sanbao. The article ends with an interesting thought: was this Sinbad? The tales of charts include a 13th Century Mediterranean portolan, the 1513 chart of Piri Reis, and the more formal charts of the 18th Century that would even now be quite familiar to most present-day mariners. One article tells of the Dutch mariner Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, who published in 1583 what were probably the first charts produced by a mariner for other mariners; for over 100 years these were the best charts available. The next article mentions that the Dutch made an interesting point 100 years later, during the Second Dutch War, using those same charts to sail their warships into the Thames and Mersey estuaries. This prompted Samuel Pepys, of diary fame, to persuaded King Charles II that it might be a good idea to carry out their own surveys of British coasts and harbours and to produce a set of British charts. Thus was the naval officer Greenvile Collins appointed as the first Hydrographer to the King, though another article points out that the French, thirty years later, were the first to actually set up a national Hydrographic Office. Greenvile Collins’ work resulted in 1693 in an atlas of 47 charts and 26 pages of sailing directions, along with tide tables and coastal views. That same year, France published the Neptune François, thought by Samuel Pepys to be a finer product. The French authorities, incidentally, were not very happy about the reluctance of their officers to purchase their Neptune François and devised a brilliant plan to ensure that each officer bought one. (Keep quiet about this ploy, though, lest our budget-conscious employers hear about it.) Particularly interesting to Canadian mariners is the article on Joseph Bouchette’s survey of Toronto Harbour in 1792 and the building by the Canadian Hydrographic Association of a replica of Bouchette’s launch. There is a fine colour photograph of the launch in action in Toronto Harbour on the inaugural re-enactment survey of Toronto Harbour; this was a highlight of the Canadian Hydrographic Conference there in June 1993, complete with colour commentary by the redoubtable Admiral Ritchie himself, garbed in appropriate period attire. This article is followed by the story of Henry Bayfield and Phillip Collins, who worked out of Penetanguishene on the Great Lakes Survey in the 1820s; in the fullness of time, this became the forerunner of the Canadian Hydrographic Service. The story of surveying the Rajang River in Borneo in 1947 was of particular interest to me as I was on a ship anchored at that same bend in the river in 1958 on my first trip as a cadet with the Ben Line; we were at anchor there for ten days loading three thousand tons of sawn timber. There were no aids to navigation at the time so each evening one of us cadets would go out in a small boat to set up oil lamps on tree stumps at three locations at the edge of the jungle for the night watch to use for anchor bearings, then we’d go back in the morning to retrieve the lamps and get them ready for the next night. I well remember watching for the red ants mentioned by Admiral Ritchie and have vivid memories of interesting movements in the nearby jungle and mangrove swamp. All in all, this is a wonderful book, worthy of a near-to-hand place on every seafarer’s bookshelf. I really look forward to the publication of a second collection of such articles. J.H. Weller Burlington, Ontario, Canada, Light House Service. This welcome compilation of ‘As it Was’ columns from the first six volumes of Hydro INTERNATIONAL was keenly anticipated, particularly as the contents were predominantly researched and written by our Founding President. In addition there are seven contributions from ‘guest authors’ to provide a total of thirty reprints – evidence of the author’s well-known powers of persuasion. Each article provides an interface between academic historians and those who may be tempted to learn something of the rich background of seafaring as it was before the advent of today’s electronic wizardry. The results are brief, tantalising snippets of navigation history, most with a recommendation for further reading, reflecting the ‘Ritchie’ enthusiasm for the subject (indeed, his many enthusiasms for many subjects) and come across with great clarity as he plots a course, using a variety of different archives, from pre-Christian era sailing directions to the early days of acoustic positioning in the North Sea (by one of his guest authors). Your reviewer’s favourites are ‘The Voyages of Admiral Zhen Ho’ – who may well be the origin of Sinbad the Sailor – and ‘The Station Pointers’; this little treatise of such a vital part of life as a hydrographic surveyor was not only fascinating, but there was an old photograph of the bridge team on board a surveying ship taken while ‘ship sounding’ – with once well-known figure in the world of hydrographic plotting a fix. It is a short step from reading casually about past events simply because they are of passing interest, to becoming hooked as an avid amateur historian, researching documents in such repositories as the British Library or Public Records Office and then developing papers for publication in learned journals. Unfortunately, such results tend to remain in academic circles and it is only when a visionary with the skills of Steve Ritchie transposes such learned inference into readable tales of the past that they find their way to a wider readership. If the visionary is also able to call upon a long lifetime’s fund of personal hands-on experience we have the added bonus of an interpreter who knows exactly what he is writing about. Admiral Ritchie fist started surveying in 1936 and his subsequent career in the Naval Surveying Service encompassed just about every facet of hydrography, including command of (among other ships) the second HMS Challenger during her famous world oceanographic cruise 1950-51 and five years as Hydrographer of the Navy before a further ten years as President of the Directing Committee of the International Hydrographic Bureau in Monaco. This publication is handsomely produced at a sensible price and well worthy of inclusion in any member’s personal library. Hopefully, it will lead readers into a deeper understanding of how our predecessors devised new techniques for charting and navigation to make seafaring safer for all. As a Society we have been most fortunate in having the support and encouragement of Admiral Ritchie from the outset; it is therefore good to know that he is still busy researching more articles for ‘As it Was’ and bullying others into making their own contributions. Watch this space for another six volumes worth of historic hydrographic highlights. The Hydrographic Journal (October 2003) by Mr. Geoffrey Haskins |
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