What Is This Tool?
This tool enables conversion between the UK nautical mile (NM UK), a traditional maritime distance unit, and the US survey chain, a unit historically used in American land surveying.
How to Use This Tool?
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Enter the value in nautical mile (UK) units that you want to convert.
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Select the target unit as chain (US survey).
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Review the converted value to assist with your historical or surveying research.
Key Features
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Converts length from nautical mile (UK) to chain (US survey) with a precise conversion rate.
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Useful for interpreting historical maritime and land surveying documents.
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Browser-based and easy to use for reconciling UK and US legacy measurements.
Examples
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1 NM (UK) converts to 92.1210278788 ch
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2 NM (UK) converts to 184.2420557576 ch
Common Use Cases
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Interpreting distances on historical UK Admiralty charts and navigation records.
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Converting legacy maritime or land surveying data to modern units for GIS mapping.
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Analyzing and comparing older navigation instruments or cadastral surveys involving UK and US systems.
Tips & Best Practices
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Ensure units selected match the historical context of your data for accurate interpretation.
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Use the tool to help reconcile measurements from different legacy systems in research or legal work.
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Double check conversions when working with approximate or rounded historical values.
Limitations
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Slight differences between UK nautical mile and international nautical mile definitions may affect results.
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The US survey chain unit is largely outdated and replaced by metric measurements.
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Historical documents may contain rounded or approximate values, limiting exact conversion precision.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is a nautical mile (UK)?
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The UK nautical mile, historically known as the Admiralty nautical mile, is exactly 6,080 feet or 1,853.184 metres, slightly longer than the international nautical mile.
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What is a chain (US survey)?
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The US survey chain is a length unit equal to 66 US survey feet, traditionally used for land surveying and subdivided into 100 links.
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Why convert between NM (UK) and US survey chain?
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Converting between these units helps interpret historical documents and geographic data that use different traditional measurement standards from the UK and US.
Key Terminology
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Nautical mile (UK) [NM (UK)]
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A maritime unit equal to exactly 6,080 feet or 1,853.184 metres, used in historical UK navigation.
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Chain (US survey) [ch]
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A traditional US surveying length unit measuring 66 US survey feet, used in cadastral and land boundary surveys.
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Conversion Rate
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The factor used for calculating equivalent length from one unit to another; here, 1 NM (UK) equals 92.1210278788 ch.