Lot 87

John Sweetman Eiffe

The Neptune

A very fine London ship's chronometer with 7 days power reserve indication

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HMS Neptune
The HMS Neptune, built in Deptford in 1797, was a 98-gun second rate ship of the Royal Navy. Commanded by Captain Thomas Freemantle, it played an important role in the battle of Trafalgar, being stationed third in the line lead by Vice-Admiral Horation Nelson on the flagship Victory. After the battle, it was the Neptune that towed the crippled Victory, bearing Nelson's body, back to Gibraltar. In 1809 the Neptune served as the flagship for Rear Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane leading the fleet that captured the French colony of Martinique in the West Indies.

John Sweetman Eiffe was one of the first chronometer makers to propose auxiliary compensation to correct for "middle temperature error". He wrote to Sir George Airy, the Astronomer Royal, in 1835 with details of a form of auxiliary compensation. Eiffe was later awarded 300 pound by the Royal Society for his contribution to compensating for middle temperature error. Few examples of his work survived and he does not appear to have arrived at a final form for his balance. He called his chronometers by name: "Arctic Circle", The Hydrographer', the "Off She Goes", "The North West Passage'", "The Fool on the Strand" and "The Neptune".