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99% Invisible
99% Invisible

Where the F*** Are We?

March 03, 2026 • 47m

Summary

⏱️ 10 min read

Overview

This episode explores the deadly longitude problem that plagued 18th-century navigation, leading to catastrophic shipwrecks like the 1707 disaster that killed up to 2,000 sailors near the Isles of Scilly. The story follows John Harrison, a self-taught clockmaker who spent decades perfecting a marine timekeeper to solve longitude calculation at sea, ultimately revolutionizing navigation despite bureaucratic obstacles. The episode concludes with a fascinating exploration of traditional Polynesian wayfinding techniques that achieved similar navigational feats without any instruments.

The Isles of Scilly and the Deadly Waters

Producer Kelly Prime travels to the Isles of Scilly, a remote archipelago in the far west of the UK, known for its treacherous waters and deadly shipwrecks. The islands sit in the Gulf Stream with tropical plants blooming against the rugged North Atlantic backdrop, but beneath the surface lie at least 900 shipwrecks. Local diver Todd Stevens guides her through these dangerous waters, passing multiple wrecks just beneath the boat, highlighting why this became one of the deadliest places to travel by sea in British history.

  • The Isles of Scilly are located three hours west of Cornwall by ferry, in the far west of the UK
  • At least 900 shipwrecks litter the coasts of Scilly, with some ships sinking on top of older wrecks
  • The HMS Association, Romney, Eagle, and Firebrand all sank on the same night in 1707
  • Todd Stevens has been diving the shipwrecks around Scilly for over two decades
" It's crazy, man. It's a crazy place. There's just rocks everywhere. As you're going along, you don't realize we're passing rocks under the water all the time. "

The 1707 Naval Disaster and the Longitude Problem

On October 22, 1707, a British naval fleet led by Admiral Cloudsley Shovel crashed into the Isles of Scilly, resulting in one of the deadliest shipwrecks in British history with 1,400-2,000 deaths. The disaster occurred because the fleet was 200 miles off course, thinking they were entering the English Channel when they were actually in the deadly waters of Scilly. The fundamental problem was that navigators had no way to calculate longitude—their east-west coordinates—at sea, a challenge that had stumped the greatest minds including Isaac Newton and Galileo.

  • The HMS Association and three other ships sank on October 22, 1707, killing between 1,400 and 2,000 people
  • The fleet was 200 miles off course because they couldn't calculate their longitude
  • No one in the world knew how to calculate longitude at sea at that time
  • The greatest minds of Europe, including Isaac Newton and Galileo, had all failed to solve the longitude problem
" They didn't know their longitude because at that point, no one knew how to calculate longitude at sea. It was a problem that had plagued navigators and scientists for centuries. "

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