Technology ShowcaseBrazilian Navy

Person / Era 3

Vice Admiral Radler de Aquino

Francisco Radler de Aquino

A hydrographic officer, he created the Altitude and Azimuth Tables, which simplified celestial navigation and were adopted by the US government for its ships.

Born
January 23, 1878, Estados Unidos
Died
October 8, 1953
Field
Celestial navigation
Halftone printed portrait of a young man with a moustache and swept-back hair, head and shoulders, in a dark high-collared tunic.
Lieutenant Francisco Radler de Aquino, author of altitude and azimuth tables for celestial navigation, in Arthur Dias's book O Brazil Actual, 1904.Unidentified author, Dias, Arthur. O Brazil Actual. Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1904 (Internet Archive). Public domain processed image

Career

He was born in the United States and arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1891. He learned Portuguese, entered the Naval Academy and always finished top of his class. He went on to serve as a hydrographic officer.

In 1906 he worked at the Maritime Chart Office and was appointed naval attaché in Washington. He was later in charge of the Navy's chronometers at the old Morro do Castelo Observatory, where he reorganized the service.

He created the Altitude and Azimuth Tables, known in Brazil as the Radler de Aquino Tables, an advance in solving the navigational triangle in celestial navigation. The US government adopted his tables aboard its ships.

He published in the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings and The Nautical Magazine. He taught as an assistant at the Naval War College, was an honorary member of the Institute of Navigation in London and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

Timeline

  1. 1878Born in the United States on 23 January.
  2. 1891Arrives in Rio de Janeiro and enters the Naval Academy.
  3. 1906Works at the Maritime Chart Office and is appointed naval attaché in Washington.
  4. 1953Dies on 8 October.
  5. 2020The DHN's Admiral Radler de Aquino Training Center is activated.

Legacy

The Admiral Radler de Aquino Training Center (CIAARA), activated in 2020 under the Directorate of Hydrography and Navigation, bears his name and trains personnel in hydrography and navigation.

Sources

  1. "Ativação do Centro de Instrução e Adestramento Almirante Radler de Aquino (CIAARA)". Anais Hidrográficos, LXXVII, p. 213-215
  2. "Vice-Admiral de Aquino". Journal of Navigation, v. 7, n. 2, abr. 1954, p. 135
  3. "Vice-Admiral de Aquino", The Journal of Navigation, v. 7, n. 2, abr. 1954, p. 135

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