User:Sic Transit/Orlop

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'''Navigation''' is the process by which a ship (or other vehicle) gets from one place to another. The process requires planning, recording, and controlling the movement of the ship. An essential attribute is being able to calculate ones position. This requires a variety of increasing sophisticated techniques, including [[dead reckoning]], [[pilotage|piloting]], and [[celestial navigation]]. (Modern navigation is based on positions established by electronic data from satellites.)
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'''Saturn''' is the sixth planet from the sun and along with [[Venus]], [[Mars]], and [[Jupiter]] is visible for use to the nautical navigator.  
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By the time that [[Jack Aubrey]] takes command of the [[Surprise]] in 1800, most of the tools and techniques for successful navigation were developed, particularly where the fleets of the period operated. The [[compass]] provided general direction for travel and wind although magnetic variation as the cause of inaccuracy was not fully understood.<ref>''C.f.'', Aubrey's comments re. the soundings he had taken of St. Martin's "during the year ninety-seven: 'the variation of the compass had altered thirty-one seconds eastwards since then and some of the soundings would need revision'". O'Brian, Patrick. ''The Letter of Marque''. (c)1988 by Patrick O'Brian. First American Edition, 1990. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, NY: p. 136</ref> Charts, in large measure were more or less reliable and becoming more detailed as navies rushed to produce detailed records of their new territories . Distance was measured by [[log]] whose margin of error for dead reckoning was insignificant in relation to the stately ship speeds.  [[Latitude]] as a measure and device was solved, and its increasing precision was the product of better tools culminating in the [[sextant]], more or less in its final form in about 1730. The [[Nautical almanac]] first published in 1767, provided the data to facilitate celestial navigation. The position of  [[Longitude]], had long been problematic and resolved only by the most complex of complications comparing the position of the moon relative to stars, known as [[lunars]]. Longitude too was finally solved with Harrison's chronometer as established by Cook's circumnavigation of 1779. Readily available accurate time pieces solved longitude.  
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The planets, in the order of their distances from the sun, are [[Mercury]], Venus, (inner planets), the earth, and the outer planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, [[Uranus]], [[Neptune]]. Mercury is too near the sun to be consistently visible, while Uranus and Neptune require a telescope to be viewed. Uranus was only identified as a planet in 1781 by virtue of a telescope and Neptune was discovered in 1846.  
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Nonetheless the knowledge, its skillful application and the tools were variously available to ships though out the period. In addition long periods of bad weather could make precise celestial navigation impossible leaving the ultimate safety of the ship to dead reckoning and seamanship.  All mariners were most conscious of the potential dangers, particularly when closing with land.  All British sailors would have known the fate of Sir Cloudesley Shovell's fleet which he drove onto the rocks of the Scilly isles by mis-judging his actual position.
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For the sea going navigator the solar system effectively consisted of the sun, moon and four planets.
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Patrick O'Brian reflects these concerns and realities in the novels of the Aubryiad. Jack Aubrey's navigational concerns are indicative of his role and responsibilities and are one aspect that provides the novels historical texture and content. Patrick O'Brian as a creative author also uses these concerns to develop characters, plot, context and lyricism. To paraphrase Freud, sometimes [[Saturn]] is just Saturn, and a means to provide navigational context; at other times O'Brian's celestial objects are much much more.
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Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturnus, equated to the Greek Kronos, the titan father of Zeus.
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==References==
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<references/>
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'''In the Canon'''
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O’Brian uses navigational and nautical terminology to provide verisimilitude and atmosphere. As such the celestial bodies appear frequently and Saturn has a predominant and particular role.
 +
 
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The canon opens in Master and Commander in the pillared octagonal room in [[Port Mahon]] in which Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin and Saturn make their first appearances.
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“Jack Aubrey looked out of the long, elegant windows into the night: Saturn was rising in the south-south-east, a glowing ball in the Minorcan sky.” (M&C, omnibus HC version, page 7)
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O’Brian’s celestial observation is inaccurate.  Saturn at that place and time would not rise in the SSE; indeed it would set in the west after midnight in mid April 1801. Subsequent observations of Saturn a few chapters later are equally inaccurate. The apparent explanation is poetic license.  Deeper analysis suggests that POB also uses Saturn symbolically;  to represent Stephen Maturin’s relationship to Jack Aubrey and as a reflection of Maturin’s personality.
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In M&C Aubrey’s observation of Saturn results from his first encounter of Maturin, when his unalloyed enjoyment of the music - Locatelli’s  - is spoiled by Maturin’s hostility.
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“...Saturn was rising in the south-south-east, a glowing ball in the Minorcan sky. A nudge, a thrust of that kind; so vicious and deliberate was very like a blow. Neither his personal temper nor his professional code could patiently suffer an affront and what affront was graver than a blow? “
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Maturin subsequently joins the Sophie as ship’s surgeon and reports on board. The next morning Jack Aubrey is on deck and notes that:
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“what he had taken for a far stern lantern or an uncommonly big top-light was old Saturn, low on the horizon and tangled in their rigging." (M&C, omnibus HC version, page 83)
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 +
Saturn may represent Maturin’s personality or mood. A saturnine mood is melancholic as well as morose and unsociable. Straight off, in their first encounter, Maturin’s behaviour towards Aubrey, as well as his dark demeanour and dress may reflect his character. Marturin’s jab, delivered by tangled arms and elbows, releases the mood of melancholy in Aubrey.
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“ ...
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In Surgeon’s Mate, as the Shannon enters Halifax, to joyful celebration of its victory over the Chesapeake, Admiral Colpoys thinks Aubrey’s surgeon companion is called “Saturnin”. On meeting the doctor he is the contrasting mood of choleric resentment,  
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“ ...a small sallow man in a blood-stained black coat, dirty linen and an ill fitting wig, ...Stephen looked at Aubrey with his strange pale eyes, red-rimmed now after days and nights of almost incessant exertion,” (SM, omnibus HC version, page 2201)
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 +
Further Saturn references in the canon are:
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In Post Captain, Maturin is to be set ashore on his first intelligence mission. "accustomed to the darkness he could make out the horizon well enough, a lighter bar
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against the black sky, with Saturn just dipping now. "  (PC, omnibus HC version, page 305)
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In HMS Surprise, Aubrey awaits Maturin’s return on the enemy coast;
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"Saturn came up behind the Pleiades; up and up, nearly ten degrees from the edge of the sea. He heard stones rattle on the cliff-path above. With at lift of his heart he looked up..." to learn that it is not Maturin but Joan Maragall coming to tell him that Maturin has been captured. (HMSS, omnibus HC version, page 54)
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In Desolation Island , The Leopard in danger of floundering and destruction seeks a refuge in the southern ocean. Aubrey and Maturin have been isolated in their duties and cares which underlines the pleasure each takes from the others company.  Maturin, who “ missed those brief periods” is pleased to be invited to join Aubrey.
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“ As he traversed the quarterdeck he noticed a relative kindness in the air - it was distinctly above freezing - and a peculiar brilliant star quite near the moon.”
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In the great cabin Maturin recites Herapath’s Chinese poem about the moon. Aubrey replies:
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"I have just been gazing at her too, with my sextant: a perfect lunar, with old Saturn there, as clear as any bell. I have my longitude to within a second. What do you say to the Mozart B minor?"
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The lunar fixes their position and leads them to refuge, and restoring their harmony. (DS, omnibus HC version, page 1827)
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In Fortune of War, Aubrey, Maturin, and Diana Villiers escape from Boston in a small boat to the Shannon. Aubrey and Maturin have bickered and Aubrey concentrates on sailing. Aubrey looks back.
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"Boston was waking up - lights showing the shape of the waterfront, when he glanced astern. But they would not be needed long: Saturn had set, following the moon to
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rise in Tartary, and already there was a lightening in the east." (FOW, omnibus HC version, page 2138)
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In Far Side of the World, Maturin is angry that Aubrey refuses to stop at the Galapagos.
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"'I have known that fellow hang about in port. [...]  His soul to the Devil, false, hypocritical dog; but he is probably unaware of his falsity--pravum est cor omnium, the heart is perverse above all things and unsearchable. Who shall know it?'" Yet although
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Stephen was of a saturnine and revengeful temperament ..."  (FSOW, omnibus HC version, page 250)
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  In the Yellow Admiral, Aubrey  once again has to land Maturin on an intelligence mission.
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"He had seen Stephen off like this many and many a time, but his grief and anxiety never grew less. As he went he noticed a dim star or two in the zenith and by the time the boat rejoined , with Bonden's report [...] there was a fine sprinkling of them, with Saturn in the
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middle,..." ( YA, omnibus HC version, page 139)
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Aubrey’s anxiety over Maturin’s fate continues particularly as he fails to rendezvous with Maturin. Subsequently it becomes clear that Maturin has safely returned.
 +
"A certain lightening in the east and it was first day at last. And they had their bearings, Vega some time before, through the tearing clouds, and old Saturn. The sea however was no less; the wind even more contrary. Jack bore up at last and sailed for Cawsand." ( YA, omnibus HC version, page 162)

Revision as of 16:03, 5 August 2008

Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun and along with Venus, Mars, and Jupiter is visible for use to the nautical navigator.

The planets, in the order of their distances from the sun, are Mercury, Venus, (inner planets), the earth, and the outer planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Mercury is too near the sun to be consistently visible, while Uranus and Neptune require a telescope to be viewed. Uranus was only identified as a planet in 1781 by virtue of a telescope and Neptune was discovered in 1846.

For the sea going navigator the solar system effectively consisted of the sun, moon and four planets.

Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturnus, equated to the Greek Kronos, the titan father of Zeus.

In the Canon

O’Brian uses navigational and nautical terminology to provide verisimilitude and atmosphere. As such the celestial bodies appear frequently and Saturn has a predominant and particular role.

The canon opens in Master and Commander in the pillared octagonal room in Port Mahon in which Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin and Saturn make their first appearances.

“Jack Aubrey looked out of the long, elegant windows into the night: Saturn was rising in the south-south-east, a glowing ball in the Minorcan sky.” (M&C, omnibus HC version, page 7)

O’Brian’s celestial observation is inaccurate. Saturn at that place and time would not rise in the SSE; indeed it would set in the west after midnight in mid April 1801. Subsequent observations of Saturn a few chapters later are equally inaccurate. The apparent explanation is poetic license. Deeper analysis suggests that POB also uses Saturn symbolically; to represent Stephen Maturin’s relationship to Jack Aubrey and as a reflection of Maturin’s personality.

In M&C Aubrey’s observation of Saturn results from his first encounter of Maturin, when his unalloyed enjoyment of the music - Locatelli’s - is spoiled by Maturin’s hostility. “...Saturn was rising in the south-south-east, a glowing ball in the Minorcan sky. A nudge, a thrust of that kind; so vicious and deliberate was very like a blow. Neither his personal temper nor his professional code could patiently suffer an affront and what affront was graver than a blow? “ Maturin subsequently joins the Sophie as ship’s surgeon and reports on board. The next morning Jack Aubrey is on deck and notes that: “what he had taken for a far stern lantern or an uncommonly big top-light was old Saturn, low on the horizon and tangled in their rigging." (M&C, omnibus HC version, page 83)

Saturn may represent Maturin’s personality or mood. A saturnine mood is melancholic as well as morose and unsociable. Straight off, in their first encounter, Maturin’s behaviour towards Aubrey, as well as his dark demeanour and dress may reflect his character. Marturin’s jab, delivered by tangled arms and elbows, releases the mood of melancholy in Aubrey. “ ... In Surgeon’s Mate, as the Shannon enters Halifax, to joyful celebration of its victory over the Chesapeake, Admiral Colpoys thinks Aubrey’s surgeon companion is called “Saturnin”. On meeting the doctor he is the contrasting mood of choleric resentment, “ ...a small sallow man in a blood-stained black coat, dirty linen and an ill fitting wig, ...Stephen looked at Aubrey with his strange pale eyes, red-rimmed now after days and nights of almost incessant exertion,” (SM, omnibus HC version, page 2201)

Further Saturn references in the canon are: In Post Captain, Maturin is to be set ashore on his first intelligence mission. "accustomed to the darkness he could make out the horizon well enough, a lighter bar against the black sky, with Saturn just dipping now. " (PC, omnibus HC version, page 305) In HMS Surprise, Aubrey awaits Maturin’s return on the enemy coast; "Saturn came up behind the Pleiades; up and up, nearly ten degrees from the edge of the sea. He heard stones rattle on the cliff-path above. With at lift of his heart he looked up..." to learn that it is not Maturin but Joan Maragall coming to tell him that Maturin has been captured. (HMSS, omnibus HC version, page 54)

In Desolation Island , The Leopard in danger of floundering and destruction seeks a refuge in the southern ocean. Aubrey and Maturin have been isolated in their duties and cares which underlines the pleasure each takes from the others company. Maturin, who “ missed those brief periods” is pleased to be invited to join Aubrey. “ As he traversed the quarterdeck he noticed a relative kindness in the air - it was distinctly above freezing - and a peculiar brilliant star quite near the moon.” 

In the great cabin Maturin recites Herapath’s Chinese poem about the moon. Aubrey replies: 
"I have just been gazing at her too, with my sextant: a perfect lunar, with old Saturn there, as clear as any bell. I have my longitude to within a second. What do you say to the Mozart B minor?"

The lunar fixes their position and leads them to refuge, and restoring their harmony. (DS, omnibus HC version, page 1827)

In Fortune of War, Aubrey, Maturin, and Diana Villiers escape from Boston in a small boat to the Shannon. Aubrey and Maturin have bickered and Aubrey concentrates on sailing. Aubrey looks back. "Boston was waking up - lights showing the shape of the waterfront, when he glanced astern. But they would not be needed long: Saturn had set, following the moon to rise in Tartary, and already there was a lightening in the east." (FOW, omnibus HC version, page 2138)

In Far Side of the World, Maturin is angry that Aubrey refuses to stop at the Galapagos. "'I have known that fellow hang about in port. [...] His soul to the Devil, false, hypocritical dog; but he is probably unaware of his falsity--pravum est cor omnium, the heart is perverse above all things and unsearchable. Who shall know it?'" Yet although Stephen was of a saturnine and revengeful temperament ..." (FSOW, omnibus HC version, page 250) 

 In the Yellow Admiral, Aubrey  once again has to land Maturin on an intelligence mission.

"He had seen Stephen off like this many and many a time, but his grief and anxiety never grew less. As he went he noticed a dim star or two in the zenith and by the time the boat rejoined , with Bonden's report [...] there was a fine sprinkling of them, with Saturn in the middle,..." ( YA, omnibus HC version, page 139) Aubrey’s anxiety over Maturin’s fate continues particularly as he fails to rendezvous with Maturin. Subsequently it becomes clear that Maturin has safely returned. 

"A certain lightening in the east and it was first day at last. And they had their bearings, Vega some time before, through the tearing clouds, and old Saturn. The sea however was no less; the wind even more contrary. Jack bore up at last and sailed for Cawsand." ( YA, omnibus HC version, page 162)
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