Navigating the British Atlantic in the Eighteenth Century: What the Logbooks Tell Us

Abstract Crossing the North Atlantic was one of the world's most important oceanic voyages by the eighteenth century. By then, ships built and owned in the British North American colonies and, late in the period, the United States were crossing this dangerous and often-fickle ocean in large num...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Itinerario
Main Author: Reid, Phillip
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2024
Subjects:
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s016511532400010x
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S016511532400010X
id crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s016511532400010x
record_format openpolar
spelling crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s016511532400010x 2024-06-23T07:55:13+00:00 Navigating the British Atlantic in the Eighteenth Century: What the Logbooks Tell Us Reid, Phillip 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s016511532400010x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S016511532400010X en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Itinerario volume 48, issue 1, page 82-97 ISSN 0165-1153 2041-2827 journal-article 2024 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s016511532400010x 2024-06-05T04:04:56Z Abstract Crossing the North Atlantic was one of the world's most important oceanic voyages by the eighteenth century. By then, ships built and owned in the British North American colonies and, late in the period, the United States were crossing this dangerous and often-fickle ocean in large numbers. The surviving logbooks of such vessels can serve as unique source material for understanding the Atlantic experience for scholars prepared to interpret and exploit them. Recording the Atlantic passages of the small schooner Sultana, the snow George, and the brig Reward in the Global Sea Routes (GSR) database creates a record for future researchers with a broad array of interests, but only after the obstacles to interpretation are overcome, to the extent possible. I will discuss what those obstacles are, laying out the information to be found in these logs, how it is entered and why, and what it has to tell us about the Atlantic and those who used it at the time. I will make the case that what is contained in these sources justifies the acquisition of the technical and historical expertise necessary to use them. Note: the snow rig was popular among mid-size ocean-going Atlantic merchant ships by the mid-eighteenth century. It is similar to the two-masted brig, as opposed to the three-masted ship, but it has a small “try-mast” just behind the main mast (the after mast), on which the mizzen sail was hoisted. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Cambridge University Press Itinerario 48 1 82 97
institution Open Polar
collection Cambridge University Press
op_collection_id crcambridgeupr
language English
description Abstract Crossing the North Atlantic was one of the world's most important oceanic voyages by the eighteenth century. By then, ships built and owned in the British North American colonies and, late in the period, the United States were crossing this dangerous and often-fickle ocean in large numbers. The surviving logbooks of such vessels can serve as unique source material for understanding the Atlantic experience for scholars prepared to interpret and exploit them. Recording the Atlantic passages of the small schooner Sultana, the snow George, and the brig Reward in the Global Sea Routes (GSR) database creates a record for future researchers with a broad array of interests, but only after the obstacles to interpretation are overcome, to the extent possible. I will discuss what those obstacles are, laying out the information to be found in these logs, how it is entered and why, and what it has to tell us about the Atlantic and those who used it at the time. I will make the case that what is contained in these sources justifies the acquisition of the technical and historical expertise necessary to use them. Note: the snow rig was popular among mid-size ocean-going Atlantic merchant ships by the mid-eighteenth century. It is similar to the two-masted brig, as opposed to the three-masted ship, but it has a small “try-mast” just behind the main mast (the after mast), on which the mizzen sail was hoisted.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Reid, Phillip
spellingShingle Reid, Phillip
Navigating the British Atlantic in the Eighteenth Century: What the Logbooks Tell Us
author_facet Reid, Phillip
author_sort Reid, Phillip
title Navigating the British Atlantic in the Eighteenth Century: What the Logbooks Tell Us
title_short Navigating the British Atlantic in the Eighteenth Century: What the Logbooks Tell Us
title_full Navigating the British Atlantic in the Eighteenth Century: What the Logbooks Tell Us
title_fullStr Navigating the British Atlantic in the Eighteenth Century: What the Logbooks Tell Us
title_full_unstemmed Navigating the British Atlantic in the Eighteenth Century: What the Logbooks Tell Us
title_sort navigating the british atlantic in the eighteenth century: what the logbooks tell us
publisher Cambridge University Press (CUP)
publishDate 2024
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s016511532400010x
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S016511532400010X
genre North Atlantic
genre_facet North Atlantic
op_source Itinerario
volume 48, issue 1, page 82-97
ISSN 0165-1153 2041-2827
op_rights https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1017/s016511532400010x
container_title Itinerario
container_volume 48
container_issue 1
container_start_page 82
op_container_end_page 97
_version_ 1802647696048128000

Similar Items