From what I know the vast majority of nautical travel is measured in knots. It just feels a little ancient for this world of technology. Wether it’s a ship or amphibious craft the speed is always knots. We have pretty reliable GPS and satellite nav nowadays even to the point you can buy a GPS speedometer for less than $50 for your car. I completely understand the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” philosophy but surely it would make life just that little bit easier for sailors and captains to have their speed in MPH/KPH?
In: 579
To secure the boat from floating away.
Jokes aside, knots mean nautical miles per hour and they are used to measure travel over the surface of a sphere (Earth) as an angle. Ships traveled far enough over water such that the curvature of the Earth factors into their speed and distance. A nautical mile is equal to 1 minute of latitude. 60 nautical miles is 1 degree of latitude.
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