Tools for Logbook Readers
Search for place names
- Search place names in New American Practical Navigator, Bowditch, 1861. Search more than 3,300 places around the world, and view the complete original. These are historical names, as they were used in 1861.
- Search place names in the American Offshore Logbook database (AOWL), 1788–1920. More than 580 places named in 1,380 logbooks transcribed for the AOWL project. These are a mixture of modern and historical names.
- Search place names in the World Historical Gazetteer. These entries include both modern and historical names, including places from the Getty Thesaurus of Geographical Names.
- Where the Whalers Went, on the British Southern Whale Fishery website, includes links to place name entries in J. W. Norie’s 1835 Complete Epitome of Navigation and to a Gazetteer of Obsolete Names of Pacific Islands created by the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, based on works from 1870 through 1972.
Display positions on a map
Enter the latitude and longitude of the vessel’s position. Click “Map this” to display it on the map below. Repeat for additional positions if desired. If degrees are entered with minus sign or decimals, they will be converted to whole degrees, decimal minutes, and ‘N’, ‘S’, ‘E’ or ‘W’ as appropriate.