Which navigational error grew when early 18th-century ships sailed westward lacking accurate longitude measurements?

💡 Explanation

Eastward drift results from inaccuracies in calculating a ship's position without reliable longitude measurements. Dead reckoning relies on estimated speed and course, but cumulative errors over long westward voyages resulted primarily in misjudging the eastward component of the ship's position because westward displacement was constrained by the target coastline rather than the accumulating errors.

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