Posted by Jon on October 26, 2007 at 13:24:15 from 199.159.117.116 user Jon.
In Reply to: Time Ball, was Signal Stations posted by John Wilson on October 26, 2007 at 10:22:10:
The "Noon fix" is pretty much a nautical standard; I'm sure Captain Flint would have plotted this; if he wasn't initially so inclined, Peter Duck would have "encouraged" this, most prudent, behaviour.
Halifax, NS, maintains the tradition of a "Noon Gun", fired from the Citadel daily for timekeeping purposes. I don't recall whether this was intended primarily, as was the "Town Clock", to keep the military and naval personnel stationed thereabouts punctual, or whether it was provided for the convenience of the general populace and mercantile fleet. A flagstaff at the Citadel was also used to send military communications to outlying forts and to notify the populace of incoming ships, bringing us back around to the semaphores.