As a seafaring nation, Britain depended on accurate navigation, and determining longitude on the open ocean depended on comparing local time to the time in a place where the longitude was known.

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At a time when Portugal was a great seafaring nation Columbus worked as common seaman on a merchant ship and as a chart-maker before entering the service of King John II of Portugal.

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The new nation was a seafaring one, amassing great wealth from ship-building, whaling, fishing and maritime trade.

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Dr Jonathan Benjamin, of WA Coastal and Marine and the University of Edinburgh, said Scotland was a maritime nation with a rich seafaring history.

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