[sla29970]

A detailed look at the negotiations that led to leap seconds shows that they were not for maritime celestial navigation. During the process several different times the celestial navigation folks set a limit on how far radio broadcast time signals could deviate from astronomical time, and every one of those limits was violated as the negotiations proceeded. By the time the draft recommendation was given to 12th Plenary Assembly of the CCIR it allowed for leaps of multiple seconds, and that draft was amended on the floor to leaps of only one second before they voted to approve.