Thomas Hubbard Sumner

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Thomas Hubbard Sumner (20 March 1807 – 9 March 1876) was a sea captain during the 19th century. He is best known for developing the celestial navigation method known as the Sumner Line or line of position.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Sumner entered Harvard at age 15. In 1829, he became a sailor on a merchantman engaged in trade with China.

He "discovered" the line of position on a voyage from South Carolina to Scotland in 1837. He realized that a single observation of the altitude of a celestial body determines the position of a line somewhere on which the observer is located. This realization allowed him to reach land safely, although previously lost. Sumner published his findings six years later in 1843. The method was instantly recognized as important and a copy of the pamphlet describing the method was supplied to every ship in the United States Navy.

In 1850, he was committed to the McLean Asylum in Boston. Five years later, he entered the Lunatic Hospital in Taunton, Massachusetts where he died in 1876.

Two survey ships in the United States Navy have been named for him, USS Sumner. Also, a crater on the Moon, Sumner (crater) was named for him.

[edit] Further reading

A New and Accurate Method of Finding a Ship's Position at Sea, by Projection on Mercator's Chart, July 1843, Thomas Groom & Company of Boston, Capt. Thomas H. Sumner