How to Convert Nautical Miles to Feet

Ships typically use nautical miles to measure distance at sea.

The moving substrate of the sea posed an interesting challenge when measuring distance before the Global Positioning System came about. There were often no rigid starting or ending points, so measuring detailed distance required a different kind of reference. Therefore, the nautical mile was adopted, which is calculated from the distance of one longitudinal degree on the Earth's meridian. Although there is some discrepancy in this actual measurement, the United States officially adopted 6,076.115 feet as one nautical mile.

Instructions

1. Determine the number of nautical miles you wish to convert.

2. Multiply this measurement by 6,076.115 to convert to feet. As an example, 5 nautical miles is 30,380.575 feet.

3. Round off the number. In the example, you might round off to the nearest whole number, which would be 30,381.

References

• Colorado State University: Adoption of International Nautical Mile
• California State University: Conversion Factors