NAUTICAL COMPASSES

A short history of the compass development is given here in Miscellaneous/History. You will find more technical details about ships compasses in the excellent book COMPASS, A Story of Exploration and Innovation by Alan Gurney (W.W. Norton & Co. NY, 2004) - For more books, see also Miscellaneous/History &  Bibliography. 
A real and in some aspects also virtual museum for nautical compasses is the (British) National Maritime Museum. Concerning modern ships compasses, go to the website of the Hong-Kong company AMEE & Co. :  NAUTICAL COMPASSES.
A
ADMIRALTY (Compass Dept.)
AIRGUIDE
ASKANIA 		B
BAMBERG, Carl
BARKER
Barlow's plate
BAUDUF
B.E.N.
BIANCHETTI
Binnacle
C
CARAC
CASELLA
CHETWYND
CHINA
CLARKE, Clement
CREAGH-OSBORNE
CREAK
CROW

D
D.C.
DENT
Deviation card
DUCHEMIN
DORBIGO
E - F
Flinders bar
G
GIMBAL
Gyro-compass

H
HOULLIOT

 I - J
JOHNSON
K
KADLEC
KELVIN HUGHES (Kelvite compass)
Kriegsmarine (German Navy)

 L
LE ROY
LUDOLPH
LYTH
M
MAGNAGHI
McGREGOR
MORIN		 N
NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA

O
OBSERVATOR
Overhead Compass (see Telltale)
P - Q
Pelorus
PLASTIMO
PLATH

 R
RITCHIE
ROUX
 S
SAURA
SESTREL
SIMMS
SISTECO
STEWARD
SUUNTO

 T
Telltale Compass
THOMSON William
Traverse Board
U V
VION		 W
WILKIE		 X - Y - Z

- A -

ADMIRALTY, Compass Dept.

The Admiralty was a department of the Royal Navy (see WIKIPEDIA) created in 1842.  The history of the Admiralty's Compass Department is thoroughly portraited in the book Steady as she goes (A. E. Fanning, 1986). It was headed by a Superintendent of Compasses. The most famous ones were Johnson, Creak, Chetwynd, Creagh-Osborne etc. This dept. was also responsible for the aircraft compasses of the Naval Fleet until WW1.
The Board of Admiralty was abolished in 1964 and its functions integrated into the Ministry of Defence.

AIRGUIDE

PROFILE - Former U.S. manufacturer (more information HERE).
See also pocket and lapel and wrist compass.



(Click on the picture
for an enlarged view)

Pictures J. Houcke
 No. 92 Course Monitor (1958) - Technical Data
- Dimensions (height x diam. basis) : 5 x 4-1/2" (13  x 11 cm)
- Weight : c. 1  pound (500 gr)
- Serial no. of parts: P-4549 and P-4551
- Divisions: no divisions and cardinals but only the six letters (every 60 deg.) ABCXYZ. The Y points North.
The pointer's position can be adusted within +/-30°. The abbreviated axiis are engraved on the base rim: NS and EW for North-South and East-West in a 90 deg. angle. (Copies of description and advertisement available on request).
The normal compass was called NAUTILUS (no. 90).

NOTE: This item was meant to be used in addition to the normal compass. As soon as the boat was on course, the index pointer was set on the nearest letter representing thus a target easy to follow.
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ASKANIA

PROFILE - German manufacturer (more information HERE).
See also Wrist and Marching compasses



(Click on the pictures
for enlarged views)

Pictures Holger "beutelbuch*de"

PELORUS

Technical Data
- Dimensions (L x H): ca. 20 x 20
- Diameter disk: 15 cm
- Weight: ?
- Manufacturer: Askania VEB (East -Germany) between 1948-1954
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- B -

BAMBERG

PROFILE - Carl Bamberg was a German compass manufacturer in Friedenau near Berlin (for more information click HERE).
See also Pocket and Aeronautical compasses.



Model 1903
Side view cut-away

Click on the images for enlarged views
Description (in German)

Source: Library of the University of Michigan (via Googlebooks HERE).
 Technical Data
- Height:
- Diameter:
- Weight:


 


This compass features a simple "M" no. printed on the card. The same one is known with the Imperial crown engraved on the side (see Kriegsmarine below). It was thus decommissioned after WW1 and re-used in the Merchant Navy.

All pictures courtesy Ian Bell
Click on the images for enlarged views		 Technical Data
- Height:
- Diameter:
- Weight:
- Divisions: 360 deg. for direct reading and printed inverted for reading through a prism (see PLATH's bearing measuring device).

The plant's name "Berlin-Friedenau". The manufacturer's logo and name are printed on the card (pic. at left).

   
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BARKER

PROFILE - Francis Barker & Son was a British manufacturer (more information HERE and in our LINKS).
See also Marching, Escape, Pocket, Survey and Wrist compasses.



Catalogue for the year 1930

All photographs by courtesy of TradeMarkLondon.com

Comment: This compass is a very rare item. It was made by Francis Barker during his apprenticeship when he was 15. His signature on the card underside and even his fingerprints on the balancing wax can be seen. Read the full story here: TRADEMARKLONDON.com 

Liquid and dry-card steering boat compasses in slide lid oak box - 1st half of 19th C.

Technical Data
- Bowl and rings: brass
- Point: steel or iridium
- Cap: sapphire or agate
- Diameter (card): avlbl. from 3 to 8 in.
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Barlow's plate

PROFILE - Professor Peter Barlow (Royal Military Academy) designed in 1819 a disk-shaped device representing the metallic mass of a ship and which was placed near the compass to correct it. It was not as good as Flinders' bar but was installed for many years in ships during the 19th C.
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BAUDUF, J. Pierre

PROFILE - Former French compass maker located in Marseilles.



Picture courtesy Jaypee - Musée de la Marine, Marseille

Detail view

(Click for enlarged view)
 Technical Data
Built ca. mid 18th C.
- Divisions : rhumbs - see CARDINALS
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B.E.N.

PROFILE - French company, Division of AMSYS - see Bianchetti below

BIANCHETTI

PROFILE - Former French company created in 1826 and located in Marseilles also known as Ateliers Julien.
Partly taken over by BEN (Bianchetti Electronique Nautique) in 1962.

Binnacle

(Description given in the late 19th c.)
A binnacle is a waist-high case or stand on the deck of a ship, generally mounted in front of the helmsman, in which navigational instruments are placed for easy and quick reference as well as to protect the delicate instruments. Its traditional purpose is to hold the ship's magnetic compass, mounted in gimbals to keep it level while the ship pitched from waves. A binnacle may be subdivided into sections and its contents typically include one or more compasses and an oil lamp or other light source. Other devices such as a sand timer for estimating speed may have been stored in the binnacle as well.
For examples see DENT, KELVIN, PLATH.
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- C -

CASELLA

PROFILE - British manufacturer (more information HERE)



Picture Michael Curtis
(Click for full screen view - Note: long download time due to large size picture)
 Casella Catalogue (c. 1876)

Casella catalogue showing two of the SHIPS' COMPASSES pages.
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CHETWYND

PROFILE - Captain Louis Wentworth Pakington Chetwynd (b. 15 December 1866, d. 18 April 1914, Coombe Neville, Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey) was Superintendent of the Compass Dept. at the Admiralty during the early 20th C. He resumed the work of other inventors (see Crow, Creak) and patented several compass systems (see also Wrist compasses). Among his improvements was the design of a smaller compass card in the bowl. This solved the problem called the "swirl error" caused by the moving liquid during quick movements (like course changes and heeling) of the ship. He became 1912 managing director with Dent & Co. and Johnson Ltd.



(Click on the pictures for enlarged views)

Technical data
..
Drawings at left: A. Schück, Der Kompass (1911)
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CHINA

PROFILE : Chinese compass, XIXth C. Description given by J. Klaproth in Lettre à M. le Baron A. de Humboldt, p. 103 and foll., online HERE):
"The 24 Tcheou (rumbs or steering directions) consist of the twelve signs of the 12-signs-cycle*, eight of the 10-signs-cycle** (see below) and four of the eight kua" (trigrams, see Compass types / Religion-China).
* (Usual on Japanese compasses)
** Note: Klaproth marked these with an asterisk (* - see table below). The two signs nunused are Ki (..?) and Wo (...?) .



Picture Jaypee - Musée de la Marine, Paris
(Click for enlarged views)
 Technical Data
Dimensions
- Diameter: c. 150mm
- Height: c. 100mm
- Divisions: 24 Tcheou

(See also MISCELLANEOUS/
Cardinals-China and Religion/Chinese Tradition)

Table: the 24 Tcheou.
(Klaproth, Lettre à M. le Baron A. de Humboldt)

The ten celestial stems
(Book ? - Appendix A.III)
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CLARKE Clement

PROFILE - Clement Clarke was a famous British optician who built microscopes and various diagnostic equipment. The company was established in 1917 (Wigmore Street, London). Clarke signed Mark VI pocket compasses* probably manufactured by F. Barker & Son or some other compass maker like Dennison during WW1. In 1986 the group was acquired by Boots Plc and in 1989 was purchased by the Swiss based company Haag-Streit AG located in Berne.
* See www.compasscollector.com



(Click on the picture for an enlarged view)
 Technical Data
Dimensions (approx.): 150 x 150 x 70 mm
Additional instruments: two levels, clinometer in the lid,
- Sight: two vertical tabs with a pin-hole each in the left and right case walls. A foldable two-piece telescope. Centimeter ruler on the lower front case wall.

NOTE: This bearing compass is a (worthless) contemporary reproduction (see MISCELLANEOUS / Fakes). One can tell this by some details like the magnetic needle's bright red point and the green central jewel in the cap.  The clinometer's arrow point is also at least very unprecise.  It is highly improbable that Clarke ever produced such an antique C19th instrument.
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CREAGH-OSBORNE

PROFILE - Captain Frank Osborne Creagh-Osborne (1867/1943) was Superintendent of Compasses (successor of Captn. Chetwynd) at the Admiralty and a British inventor. (more details HERE).

CREAK

PROFILE - Captain Ettrick William Creak was Superintendent of the Compass Dept. at the Admiralty. He developed in the 1880's a liquid compass that worked better than Sir William Thomson's dry card system but he was unsuccessful at his attempts to have it chosen as the Admiralty's Standard Compass because of Thomson's lobby.

CROW

PROFILE - Francis Crow was a watchmaker and silversmith of Faversham (Kent, Great-Britain). He was awarded in 1813 a patent (GB no. 3,644) for a liquid dampened compass with a lens-shaped floating card. This revolutionary idea was realized only much later (c. 50 years) by the U.S. manufacturer Ritchie.



CROW's liquid compass
(descrition: patent)

 (Click on the picture for an enlarged view)
 Technical Data
A - Copper bowl filled with alcohol
B - Float or lens made from copper and painted on top with the points of the compass.
C - Magnetic needle
D - Thick glass top
E - A ring of copper to prevent float from being thrown from the point or center of action
F - A weight to keep the float in a horizontal position and to adjust the pressure on the point of action to about twenty-four grains (36 gramms)
G - The lubber's point
H - The arm or point of suspension coming from the bowl which is supported by the gimbal ring in the  usual way.
I  - Inverted hollow cone
J - The point of action which is riveted on a copper plate and cemented to the interior surface of the glass top.
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- D -

D.C.

PROFILE - D. C. ? Logo: an anchor and the initials - Department of Compasses ?
 

DENT 

PROFILE - (Edward John) Dent & Co. was established in 1814. The company still exists today. Its website (www.dentlondon.com) only describes clocks and watches. See also the Dent-made Air Compass Pattern 259 designed by Capt. Creagh-Osborne.

The Pattern 24 is the earliest one, dating from around 1890/1900. It is the first model of liquid compass to be officially adopted as a service compass by the Royal Navy. It was first introduced on the early turbine torpedo boats of the time.  The pattern 24 is significant because it broke the effective monopoly that the Kelvin dry card compass had held for many years previously.

(All pictures courtesy Nick Godridge - Click for enlarged views)

Pattern 24



 Instructions inside
the transit case's lid



  Technical Data
- Diameter:  mm
- Overall dim.: mm

The transit case
Pattern 182



 Instructions behind the door



  Technical Data
- Diameter:  mm
- Overall dim.: mm

The Pattern 182 is a boat compass. It predates the 24, but not in this form, which has the Chetwynd modified smaller diameter card.
Date: also around 1900.
Boat compass (c1870)



 Reverse



  Technical Data
- Diameter:  mm
- Overall dim.: mm
 
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Deviation Card

Since iron-hulled ships replaced large wooden ones (mid 19th C.) a correction card was necessary to steer the vessel by taking into account the magnetic influence of the metallic masses.
For pictures of modern correction cards click HERE.
According to the ancient card displayed at right, the ship would have to steer SW by her compass in order to make good a course of WSW magnetic (Source: Alan Gurner, COMPASS).
Click on picture at right for enlarged view

DUCHEMIN

PROFILE - Emile Marin DUCHEMIN (who lived 11, rue de la Bienfaisance in Paris) filed a patent in 1874 for this compass system he had developed and called BOUSSOLE CIRCULAIRE (circular compass). This device was installed in ships for the trials at sea in the vessels described in the booklet (iss. 7, 1877, 47 p., photocopy available on demand). It is also listed in Schück's reference book Der Kompass.



(Click on the picture above for an enlarged view of the drawing)

Short description together with the drawing on the title page: "an external magnetized circle (A) is connected with an inner magnetized circle (B) by means of a bar (C) made of aluminum or another metal. The magnetization is maximum at the North and South points and diminishes gradually towards the EAST and WEST points (n-n line)."

Pict. at r.: The magnetic circular needle.

NOTE: A picture of the complete compass was published in the book "L'instrument de Marine" by Jean Randier".




Above - Inscription on either side of the North mark: Boussole Duchemin Bté S.G.D.G.
Bottom - Inscr. at the South end: Dumoulin-Froment Constructeur



(Click on picture above for an enlarged view -
Pictures courtesy Jaypee)		 Technical Data
Patent no. 101.992
- Dia. (approx.): 250 mm (10 in.)
- Inscriptions on the East side:
. inner circle: N° 1616 E.M.D.
. external circle: Emile Marin Duchemin - No. 1616

Patent No. 101,992 (50 p. with additions - copy can be ordered)



(Click on pict. above for a view of the corresponding figure 2 of the patent)

NOTE: these pictures show an instrument in very sad condition. Its remains were glued onto a marble grip or foot like the religious tool called monstrance. The photographs were taken at an antiques shop in Paris.
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E - F

FLINDERS Bar

A Flinders bar is a vertical soft iron bar placed in a tube on the fore side of a compass binnacle (see picture at right, KELVIN compass). The Flinders bar is used to counteract the vertical magnetism inherent within a ship and is usually calibrated as part of the process known as swinging the compass, where deviations caused by this inherent magnetism are negated by the use of horizontal (or quadrantal) correctors.
It is named after Matthew Flinders (1774-1814) who wrote a report in 1812 on ships' magnetism for the British Navy.
Read the whole story in COMPASS by Alan Gurney (2004).
See also Flinders bar adjustment.
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- G -

Gimballed Compasses

Description - System probably invented by Girolamo Cardano (Padua 1501-Rome about 1570) who was among other specialties an Italian doctor and engineer. This system which was called after him in French and German (suspension à la cardan / kardanische Aufhängung) is designed to compensate for the movements of a vehicle (ship or aircraft) so that the compass card always remains horizontal (more details in Wikipedia).
Small compasses were also made for other usage. Examples : pocket compass (N & Z), tell-tale compass (Steward), box compass (N & Z), miner's compass, charm (see picture at right, copyright TML, click for enlarged view)
Techn. Data: Diam. spher. case: 19.5 mm; diam. mother of pearl card: 11.5 mm; weight: 12 g.

Gyro-compass

A gyro-compass is a...

est un dispositif à mouvement gyroscopique servant à conserver à un système indicateur de direction (rose des vents) une position stable malgré les mouvements du véhicule porteur (navire, aéronef, etc.). Certains gyrocompas peuvent être asservis à un signal émis par un senseur de champ magnétique terrestre (vanne de flux). Ces systèmes ne font pas l'objet du présent musée qui est uniquement consacré aux systèmes purement magnétiques.
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- H -

HOULLIOT

PROFILE - Former French company (more information HERE). Henri Isidore Houlliot and VION were friends and decided not to compete.
VION built the big ship compasses while the small ones were manufactured by Houlliot.
See also pocket compasses and DESOMBRE.


Production scope (published in the catalogue of the Industrie Française des Instruments de Précision, issue 1901-1902)



Large business card
(130 x 84 mm)
(Click for enlarged views)
 Gimballed compass
(was offered in the 1932 catalogue of the Sté des Lunetiers (S-L)

Technical Data
- Card dia.: 30* - 120 mm (* see pocket compasses)

 
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I - J

JOHNSON

PROFILE - Lieutenant Edward J. Johnson was the 1st Superintendent of Compasses at the British Admiralty from 1842 until his death in 1853.

- K -

KELVIN

PROFILE - Kelvin Hughes Ltd was formed in 1947 by the merger between the scientific instrument manufacturing firms of Henry Hughes & Son Ltd, London, England, and Kelvin Bottomley & Baird Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland. The logos of one of the preceding companies (White, Bottomley, Thomson) consisted of the three initials WBT placed on a black & white graphic resembling the yin-yang symbol (s. WBT in the section Wrist Compasses and pic. at right). 
(Read also the full story in Wikipedia - "Kelvin Hughes" and www.kelvinhughes.com)

William Thomson(later: Sir Wm. Th. Lord Kelvin of Largs) was a physicist. He invented a famous binnacle with a compass deviation correction system. He is also famous for the very special compass card he designed in 1876 and which was standard in the Royal Navy although the superiority of liquid dampened compass card was soon proven and adopted in the U.S. and other Navies (read the full story in Compass by A. Gurney and in Steady as she goes by A. E. Fanning). Thomson wrote a document entitled Terrestrial Magnetism and the Mariner's Compass. He also was partner in several companies which built the compasses he designed.
See also below, the booklet "Instructions for the adjustment etc."

The Thomson/Kelvin compass: The original light-weight compass card had eight magnet needles (M, see drawing at left below) but a later model improved to prevent disturbance of the compass by the engines, or by the firing of guns (patent no. 4923, 1889) possessed even 14 (pict. below at right)! The central part was cut-away and the graduated rim suspended with 32 silk threads (S) attached to the cap.
More details and pictures in Land & Sea Collection.



Binnacle with adjustable soft-iron spheres

Picture Jaypee in Musée de la Marine, Paris
(Click for an enlarged view)
 Cards with 8 (left) and 14 (right) magnets

           

(Drawing at l.: A. Schück - Der Kompass) 		The Thomson compass was later produced by Kelvin & White Ltd. (1900-1913) and called hence Kelvite.
Below: Workers assembling compass cards

 
Picture Churchman cigarettes collectors cards, 1936

Literature available (photocopy, 36 pages):
Instructions for the adjustment of Lord KELVIN'S PATENT COMPASS
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KRIEGSMARINE (German Navy)

This designation refers to the German Navy after 1935 (see note). When Germany was united to form an empire in 1871, it was called Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). The compasses used on-board the German warships featured a symbol representing the state, i.e. the imperial crown or the nazi cross (swastika) and the letter M for Marine.  
The number is the catalogue reference similar to today's NATO Stock Number.
Note: After 1918, Germany was not allowed to have military ships.

 

1871-1918: Imperial crown

Techn. data: see BAMBERG compass
Click on images for enlarged views
(Picture by courtesy of Atlantikpirat/guntherprien47)
 Engraving on the rear face of a pocket compass which possibly belonged to an airship's captain during WWI
(see pocket compass BAMBERG).



(Picture by courtesy of Andrew N.)

1933-1945: Symbol of the IIIrd Reich and PLATH's logo, a sailor with a sextant
See description in PLATH below.

(Picture by courtesy of Leonardo Signirole)
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