Impact of Benjamin Franklin's Charts of the Golf Stream on the Shipping Industry
The Gulf Stream is a gigantic current that flows from the Mexican Gulf, past the Florida Peninsula, U.S. East Coast and up to Cape Hatteras. The current then flows across the Atlantic towards Iceland, British Isles, and to Norway. Viewed from the Straits of Florida, the stream has a width of approximately forty miles. Its speed can go as high as five miles per hour (4.3 nautical knots). As the current flows into North Atlantic, the width widens and can increase to up to hundreds of miles at some points (Richardson 51). The amount of water carried by the Gulf Stream is more than all the amount of water carried by all the rivers in the world combined together. The flow of the current is aided by the Coriolis Effect, the differential heating of water by the sun and the wind current. As the stream moves, its volume exerts more pressure into the water, thereby accelerating the velocity of the current (Richardson 53).
The presence of Gulf Stream with its shift running waters made it very hard to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. Some ships lost direction while others were disabled due to the current. The Spanish treasure ships which were ferrying treasure from the “New World” to the European countries were disabled and many were wrecked in the early 16th century. Some of the treasures were later discovered in the cost of Florida. In the 17th century, several Spanish ships were wrecked on Bermuda and in Port Royal Jamaica. William Phips, a treasure hunter, discovered large amount of treasure in the north coast of Hispaniola, in the 20th century. In 1549, Hernando de Escalante Frontaneda ship wrecked as it sailed from Havana along the Gulf Stream (De Vorsey 107). Wrecking alone was not the problem associated with the strong Gulf Stream current. Even those ships that survived the wreck took a very long time to cross the Atlantic Ocean. With the Charting of the Gulf Stream, the instances of wreckage and loss of ship was highly reducing. On the other hands, sailors took a considerably shorter time to cross the Atlantic.
Ponce de Leon first discovered the Gulf Stream and recognized it as an ocean current in 1513. He realized that the current was more powerful than the wind making his ship drift in the opposite direction than what he intended. Anton de Alaminos also realized the existence of the current and started to use it to his advantage in sailing. As the main captain for Ponce de Leon he used the current to accelerate his movement as he sailed from the Gulf of Mexico (Stommel 73). The Spanish had realized the existence of the Gulf Stream but they decided to keep it a secret to other sailors. However, American merchants, captains of fishing ships and whale hunters had obviously known the existence of the current.
The current was first known as the Northeast Current before Benjamin Franklin, in 1762, named it the Gulf Stream. Walter Hoxton was the first person who endeavoured to explain the behaviour of the current. He was the first person to draw a marine chart which incorporated the Gulf Stream in 1735 (Stommel 73). At various points of the, then, Northeast Current, he estimated and plotted the velocities. In his chart, he also included longitudes and latitudes. Hoxton also described the origin and the changes in velocities of the current as it passes various points. The British ignored Hoxton’s description and chart and commissioned Benjamin Franklin to start plotting new courses of the current and create a new chart.
Working together with his nephew Timothy Folger, who took part in the wailing industry for several years, Benjamin Franklin was able to come up with a new and more detailed chart. When Folger went to visit his uncle Franklin in England, he overheard him complaining about the time taken by the mailing voyage from England to America. Folger then told him that the sailors definitely just do not know the existence of the Northeast Current and how to how to prevent it from restraining the movement of the ship. He said that when the sailors know the current into details they will be able to use it to their advantage and even reduce the time of travel by more than just three weeks. The knowledge will also prevent the loss of other ships as they are redirected by the force of the current. The two sat down and drew a more detailed chart of the Gulf Stream (Withers 63). The chart also included the details of the stream which included the different directions of the current, the velocity of the current and the width of the stream. Numerous copies of the printed charts were distributed. However, the British did not take them seriously, maybe because they could not believe that the colonial fishermen could know more about the ocean than their highly trained sailors.
When the American Revolutionary War commenced, Franklin stopped distributing the charts so that they could not share such important information with the colonialists. When Franklin was traveling to Paris to negotiate a treaty with the French Government, he tested the various temperatures of the Gulf Stream. Franklin realized that the temperature of the Gulf Stream was higher than that of the surrounding water. This was an important breakthrough in identifying the specific points where the Gulf Stream occupied. Using this new information, Franklin commissioned Le Rouge to modify the chart which was initially drawn by Timothy Folger. The new chart provided for a more detailed location and specifications of the Gulf Stream. They supplied the new charts to the French sailors who were supplying the firearms to the American Colonies. The original copies of the charts disappeared and were only retrieved in 1978 by Philip L. Richardson (De Vorsey 107). Richardson was working with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. When he travelled to Paris on that year, he visited Bibliotheque Nationale where he found the charts. It is believed that the charts were obtained and kept by the French between 1978 to 1778.
George-Luis Le Rouge was a French Military Engineer and a surveyor. He wrote several books, most of which majored in geography. He also made several translations of English books to French. He is the only cartographer with whom Benjamin Franklin worked with directly. On September 1780, Le Rouge Hutchins’ maps and books to Franklin in Paris. He wanted Franklin to allow him to be the sole sales agent of Hutchins’ maps. Le Rouge must have met Hutchins when he came to Paris, France on 1779 (Cohn 126). However, Franklin could have not given him the guarantee for sales as he had no authority to offer such guarantees. Le Rouge, therefore asked for another favour. He asked Franklin to give him the authority to make copies of Hutchins maps. He also wanted to translate the maps to French. Franklin evidently agreed to this. The three letters from Le Rouge to Franklin was evident that the two had a cordial relationship. Even though these letters did not touch on the Gulf Stream Charts, the deal to print more copies and to translate the maps to French was ongoing. One of his letters to Franklin asked him to proofread the map before he could continue working on it. Through the relationship between Le Rouge and Franklin, more copies of the map were produced and translated to French (Cohn 126).
The most important impact of the chart made by Franklin was in the shipping weapons to America during the American Revolution period. Franklin made a treaty with the French Government which agreed to supply the colonial states with the required weapons for fighting. These weapons were to be shipped via the Atlantic Ocean. With the proper knowledge of the Gulf Stream, the sailors were able to take shorter route to reach America. The British on the other hand had very little knowledge of the current (Ulanski 23). As a result, the Americans were able to win the Revolutionary War with the help of the timeliness of French supplies.
The other important impact of the chart of the Gulf Stream was that it reduces the time taken by ships to travel from European countries to America. With the wastage of time in the way, the traveling cost increased in terms of the resources, food and fuel. With the availability of the charts, the sailors are able to avoid traveling against the current and also use the current to increase their acceleration thereby reducing the cost and time spent in sailing (Ulanski 23). Currently, a more modified map has been developed from the original work of Franklin and these maps are used so that the sailing across the Atlantic Ocean is not deterred by the current.
The other reason why Franklin made the charts was to improve the mail package system between the America and England. By then, Franklin was the Deputy Postmaster general. All the mail packages from England to all British colonies were transported using ships. Those ships that went through the Atlantic Ocean took a longer time than those that went to other parts of the world. Some ships were even lost and never found for good. Being the Deputy Postmaster General, it was his duty to ensure that all the mails reach their destination in time. By charting of the Gulf Stream, the mailing ships found it easier to sail a cross the Atlantic reducing the voyage time and the instances of wreckage.
The Franklin’s chart also detailed the climatology of the ocean. It provided the weather patterns and the currents which were experience within and around the Gulf Stream. These changes in weather pattern were seasonal hence were not easily predictable without well elaborated climatic study. With the presence of the charts, the sailors could predict the weather patterns they are about to experience in the course of their voyage. With this knowledge the captains of the ships could easily recommend the appropriate routes for sailing by avoiding storms and hurricanes that may lead to ship wreckage.
Without the knowledge of the Gulf Stream, the sailors use to fall behind, even while traveling in fleets. At some points of the Gulf Stream, the current is so strong and was able to redirect the direction of the ship (Chang et al. 830). By so doing, the ships would lose their initial direction and sometimes were never found again. The loss of ships also led to the loss of life of the crew as some were crushed due to strong currents caused by the Gulf Stream. With the use of the Franklin Chart and the current maps, the sailors will always know the exact positions of the current, the speed of the current and the direction of its flow. This will help them to know how to direct the ship so that it is not redirected by the swift current.
Another positive impact of Benjamin Franklin’s chart for the shipping industry is that it enables the ships to stay within the required territories. There are territorial boundaries within the sea, such as the African West Coast and strait of Gibraltar, every ship has limited right of access to limited territories. Without the chart, Ships were carried by the current to unsafe territories which could lead to hijacking of the ship or territorial conflicts. With the knowledge of the Gulf Stream the sailor could prevent being carried away by the current, thereby maintaining their course within the safe territorial boundaries. This reduced the instances of territorial conflicts and ship hijackings.
At some points of the Gulf Stream, the speed of the current goes as high as five miles per second, 4.3 nautical knots. Such high water current could lead to shipwrecks. Before the charting of the Gulf Stream, there were several instances of ship wrecks. Merchants would only count for the safety of their ships upon reaching the harbour. This, therefore, made intercontinental trade very risky. As a result, merchants levied very high prices of the imported goods to cover for the anticipated risks. When the Gulf Stream was charted by Benjamin Franklin, sailors were able to avoid the strong currents, hence the instances of ship wrecks reduced significantly. The risk associated with the importation of goods reduced. As a result, the prices of imported goods become cheaper thereby increasing the purchasing power of the Americans.
The knowledge of the Gulf Stream was first important for the whalers. As they pursue the whales, they had to go across the current, into the current, against the current and along the current. The whales know that the currents could be their hiding place so as to prevent the fishermen from getting them. Without the proper knowledge of the current, they could easily be curried away or lose the whale at the least.
Currently, there have been speculations to use the current to generate hydroelectric power. By knowing the specific points of the Gulf Stream with the highest velocity, scientists are anticipating that the current can turn be used to turn turbines, which will eventually generate six thousand Giga watts (Chang et al. 829). Benjamin Franklin’s detailed Gulf Stream Charts helped pave th way for charting of sea currents worldwide. The Charts had positive impacts on the Maritime industry in the past, which still hold to this day.
Copy of Benjamin Franklin’s Gulf Stream Chart (1)
Work Cited
Chang, Yu-Chia, et al. "Ship routing utilizing strong ocean currents." Journal of Navigation 66.06 (2013): 825-835.
Cohn, Ellen R. "Benjamin Franklin, Georges‐louis le rouge and the Franklin/Folger chart of the gulf stream." Imago Mundi 52.1 (2000): 124-142.
De Vorsey, Louis. "Pioneer charting of the Gulf Stream: the contributions of Benjamin Franklin and William Gerard de Brahm." (1976): 105-120.
Richardson, Philip L. The Benjamin Franklin and Timothy Folger charts of the Gulf Stream. Springer, New York, 1980.
Stommel, Henry M. The Gulf Stream: a physical and dynamical description. Univ of California Press, 1958.
Ulanski, Stan. The Gulf Stream: Tiny Plankton, Giant Bluefin, and the Amazing Story of the Powerful River in the Atlantic. Univ of North Carolina Press, 2008.
Withers, Charles WJ. "Science at sea: charting the Gulf Stream in the late Enlightenment." Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 31.1 (2006): 58-76.
