- L -
PROFILE - J. B. Le Roy was an instrument maker (octants,
telescopes, barometers) who worked from 15 Mulcaster
Street, St. Helier, Jersey - about 100 metres from, and in sight of the
local main harbour - in the first half of the 19th century.
This compass has a turned wood bowl and press-on lid.
The bowl interior is painted white, with a black lubber
line. The exterior is painted black with decorative lateral
lines. It has a hand drawn, 64 point maritime
card dial with a brass cap. It is balanced
underneath
(
click
on link for pic.)
with sealing wax. The dial is signed around the perimeter of the
central brass cap "J. B. LE ROY - 15 MULCASTER ST - ST. HELIER'S -
JERSEY".
The North Fleur de Lys marker has gold leaf covering the
central plume, and beneath can be seen the compass and dividers symbol
of Freemasonry. The East marker is decorated (
see
Miscellaneous/Cardinal points).
Pictures
courtesy
TradeMarkLondon.com
(Click
on images for enlarged views)
|
|
Technical
Data
- Dia. (overal with lid): 6-3/64" (155 mm)
- Card dia.: 4.133" (105 mm)
- Height:
. open: 3 - 21/128"
. closed: 3 - 51/64" (95 mm)
- Weight: 528 gr
|
PROFILE - W. LUDOLPH GmbH & Co. KG (Bremerhaven) is a German
company manufacturing nautical and aeronautical compasses (see also
this latter category and
Divers
Compasses). More information
HERE.
Examples of older compasses and sighting devices below:
PROFILE - A.B. (Aktie Bolaget) LYTH is a Swedish company founded in
1861 by Georg
Wilhelm Lyth
(see their website: www.lyth.se).
See also Marching Compasses.
- M -
PROFILE - G. B. Magnaghi was an Italian captain who
designed
an entirely regulated compass system with two reels made of brass on
which was wound iron wire instead of Thomson's (Kelvin's)
spheres.
(Source:
Compass,
Alan
Gurner)
PROFILE - D. McGregor & Co. Ltd were
Scottish Chronometer
makers to the Admiralty (Glasgow, Greenock, Liverpool) throughout the
19th C.
Makers of navigational instruments, and marine barometers.
1868: Silver medal international Maritime exhibition at le Havre
(France), for
binnacles and liquid compasses. The Polar anti-vibration compass, and
standard compass sold to 11 commercial shipping lines and the Argentine
navy, (but not royal navy, who were locked into an arrangement with
Thomson / Lord KELVIN.)
Also dry card compasses of std pattern.
3 compass patents, 1875, 1880, 1893.
Also a pelorus used as a ‘compass verifier’, with
patented enameled dial.
1876: agents for Thomson compass.
(No
other info
momentarily available - Thank you for helping us completing
this description)
Thomson-type card in the bowl
(Click
to view
dial)
|
All
pictures by
Diarios San Cayetano |
Technical
Data
- Dimensions (diam. x height):
280 x 170 mm (11" x 6.69")
- Weight : 9.5 kg (21 lbs)
Markings on the compass card:
- Standard Compass
- Serial No.: 3142
- Latest improved
“Illuminated”.
The lower surface is made of glass. |
Profile - Former French company (more information
HERE).
See also the categories Survey & Artillery compasses, Marching
compasses and Pocket compasses
Model designation: Opticompas
SRPI
- MORIN (France). Late 20th century.
Bearing compass. Sighting is made from the side through a prism. The
capsule is protected by a soft rubber envelope with sharp angles
representing the winds. By removing a white plastic protection disk
placed under the box, one can look at a map through the transparent
capsule and read the angle values of a second dial (90° offset)
visible from above by means of a magnifying glass.
Model: Opticompas
Compare with VION's model 'MINI' (survey & artillery)
(Click
on images for
enlarged views) |
 |
Technical Data
- Dimensions: 90 x 90 x 40 mm.
- Weight: 170 g (210 g with protection box).
- Softrubber protection and plastic transport casing |
- N -
PROFILE - British manufacturer (more information
HERE).
N&Z produced ship equipment. The pocket compasses
signed
N&Z displayed on this website were generally made by other
manufacturers like Barker or Steward. The case and
telescopic gimbals were much propably supplied by Barker. These models
feature telescopic
gimbals, you pull it out to activate the gimbals (see also Pocket
compasses / Negretti & Zambra).
- The first one was manufactured by
F.
Barker & Son and branded by Negretti & Zambra. It
appears in
the Barker Trade Catalogues of the period.
- The second one is signed on the dial centre NEGRETTI
&
ZAMBRA - LONDON and marked with N&Z's logo on the clamping
ring. Brass case covered in pigskin leather with
leather hinge.
All
pictures courtesy TML
- O -
PROFILE - NV Ltd OBSERVATOR was a Dutch manufacturer located in
Rotterdam, created
in 1924, bought by Kelvin Hughes in 1996 (read in WIKIPEDIA:
John Lilley &
Gillie). They produced also other
instruments like sextants. See also their Marching compasses.
|
 Detailled
view of the logo
Pictures
courtesy
www.megaherz-org
|
Technical
Data
The cardinals are in Dutch:
Z = Zuid (south)
Made in the 1920s/30s |
- P -
Portrait : C. F. Petersen était un
facteur de compas
domicilié à Sankt-Pauli (Hambourg, Allemagne).
Vue de dos du disque fait de lettres commerciales
découpées et collées.
Les bâtonnets magnétiques sont enrobés
de papier et collés parallèlement de part et
d'autre du centre de rotation. On reconnaît les gouttes de
cire assurant l'équilibrage statique. |
Le repère Nord est une fleur de lys et le point
cardinal Est (O) est également
décoré (voir DIVERS/ Points
cardinaux)
|
Photos
A. Brandenburg |
Fiche
technique
Diamètre : mm
Matériau : bol et cylindre en bois
Date : env. 1850-1900
|
PROFILE - French company created in 1963 (more details on this
company's website www.plastimo.com)
The compass in its box |
 |
Model
..xy (1950's ?)
The North mark looks like a simplified fleur-de-lis (three diamonds) on
top of an arrow.
Technical Data
Diam.: ca. 150 mm
Pictures
courtesy Jaypee |
(Photo
courtesy Jaypee -
click on pictures for
enlarged views) |
Exploded view of a CONTEST compass
Graphic
courtesy PLASTIMO
|
Technical
Data |
PROFILE
- The company C. PLATH was a German manufacturer. It was officially
created
in 1862 (read its short history on this
website
- German, English translation
in progress).
The products are still
being
sold under this label but the company's owners changed several
times
since 1962. See also Aeronautical Compasses. Their formerly most famous
product
is used as the company's logo, a seaman looking through a
sextant.
Picture at right:
The company's
logo (a
sun-shooter, on the cover of the
booklet printed in 1962 for the firm's 100th anniversary
Picture at left: Example of a 1887 patent for a light-weight paper
compass rose with springs to compensate variations due to dampness
changes (photocopies available)
(Click on the images for enlarged
views)
C. PLATH also produced many compasses like the one
below but also small standard artillery compasses type like our
Voigtländer
signe example (engraved M.W.B. for
Minen-Werfer-Bataillon)
as
well as various compass-related tools like peloruses and other bearing
measuring aids. In the late 19th c., PLATH also developed
several light-weight compass roses with
hanging
magnets (drawing out of the book
Der
Kompass, Schück,
1911) based on
Thomson
(Lord Kelvin)'s design. He
tried in vain to
have it also recommended like his
competitor
Hechelmann's
version
in the
standard book
on compasses of the
Deutsche
Seewarte, the
department of the Admiralty of the
German Imperial Navy in charge of compasses.
- R -
PROFILE - E. S. Ritchie is a U.S. Manufacturer. Ritchie
patented in 1862 (no. 36,422) a liquid compass system similar to
Francis Crow's
1813 design (GB pat. no. 3,644). Ironically, Ritchie's patent no. is
almost identical to Crow's one, if you add the last two digits (2 + 2 =
4)!
History: visit Ritchie's official website
HERE.
Detail view (all the patent's figures HERE)
Click
on image
for enlarged view
|
Technical
Data
A - Bowl
B - Glass plates
C - Pivot
D - Compass card
E - Air-tight vessel
G - Magnets
H - Conic frustrum
I - Elevator
a - Cap
y - Flange
z - Screw |
A typical rose of winds
with RITCHIE's
logo
(Pic. courtesy oaty1)
|
PROFILE - Former compass maker located in Marseilles already active
during the 18th C. (note: the "x" is to be pronounced).
In the 19th C., his instruments
were signed
Joseph
ROUX, hydrographe sur le
port, à la boussole couronnée.
Picture
courtesy
Jaypee - Musée de la Marine, Marseille |
Detail view
(Click
for enlarged view)
|
Technical
Data
Built 1743
- Divisions : rhumbs - see CARDINALS
|
- S -
PROFILE - Japanese company (see this company's own website:
http://www.nichigosan.co.jp/saura/htm/company.htm).
Its products are also sold by CARAC Co. Ltd. (see pictures of a hand
bearing compasss:
http://www.sailing.dittybag.net/antiques/shbcompass/page_1.htm)
PROFILE - Sestrel is the Trade Mark brand of Henry Browne
& Son who were
important British compass makers. This company was sold to John Lilley
& Gillie Ltd* (products: magnetic compasses MK2000 &
MK2002)
and SIRS Navigation (both in UK) in 1993.
HENRY
BROWNE & SON, Ltd was
established in (18..?) in
Barking,
London (Essex). They were respected English
instrument makers
that had been making fine quality compasses,
ship's clocks, inclinometers, sextants, and chandlery
items for over 140 years. Their “Dead
Beat“ compass design is well dampened and
serves to reduce oscillations. It is reported that this design compass
was fitted to many Allied ships during WW II. Over the more recent
years, there has been a consolidation of British instrument makers and
the firm of Henry Browne & Son has changed hands a number of
times. At last count, it became part of Lilley &
Gillie for what may be the second time.
Another famous SESTREL product is their landing compass (example: see
Aeronautical compasses, Air Ministry 06)
* See the company's story in Wikipedia.
PROFILE - This unsigned item features the same card and fleur
de lys as the compass
made by Fr. Barker during his apprenticeship at Simms'. We assume that
this
compass was a very early model made by this manufacturer. Several other
similar compasses are known that were made at the end of the 18th
century.
Pictures
courtesy G. Tremblay |
Click
on the pictures for enlarged views |
|
Technical
Data
- Diameter : 90 mm
- Height: 70 mm
- Case: 140 mm (cube)
- Weight: approx. 1 lb.
The case is made of metal but the base was cut out and replaced by a
wooden disk fixed with two screws on the side. This disk supports the
pivot. |
(SPERRY - gyrocompass pat. 1,279,479)
PROFILE - SISTECO
Ltd was a Finnish manufacturer. It was bought by SILVA in 1990.
SISTECO built among other instruments this bearing compass
SIGHT MASTER (picture at
right -
click to enlarge) and a
military marching
compass (see this category).
PROFILE - J. H. Steward Ltd was a British
manufacturer (more information
HERE).
See also Marching Compasses
Tell-tale
gimballed
compass
|
Underside
Pictures courtesy Jaypee - priv. coll.
Click
on images for enlarged views
|
Upper
side
|
Technical data
- Dimensions (?)
- Card design: SINGER's
pattern (northern half in black paint on mother of pearl)
|
PROFILE - Finnish company (see SUUNTO's own website)
(Picture Jaypee
- click
on the picture for
an enlarged view) |
Technical
Data
|
Bearing compass
(compare to MORIN and WILKIE)
Picture courtesy
D. Montón Farrioli |
- T -
Special compass hung above the captain's bunk. This way he can check
the vessel's course while lying in his berth.
Pictures
courtesy Jaypee
(Click for enlarged
views) |
Antique
French telltale compass
(Musée de la Marine, Paris)
|
Technical
Data
Brass, paper, wood, glass
Signature: Jean-Charles Chesse, La Rochelle, 1768
|
See
KELVIN.
Definition - A traverse board is a navigation tool
that was
used in ancient times to record the information given by the
compass. In the traditional Navy (sail ships), the helmsman had to
record the ship's course indicated by the compass every full hour
(example at right) or half-hour, i.e. four or eight times. He used to
this aim an hour glass. The traverse board featured hence the
same face (rose of winds) as the compass with the cardinal
points
(see menu: Miscellaneous) and wind areas (16 or 32 like on the item at
r.). The helmsman only had to place small wooden pegs into the
corresponding holes.
Further hole blocks were used to record other parameters like the speed
so as to permit computation of the ship's theoretical position (dead
reckoning) by the officer.
(For
more information
read the relevant entry in Wikipedia).
Picture
courtesy V.
Lepage
(click for enlarged view)
U - V
PROFILE - Former French company (more information
HERE).
The company's
logo on the cover of the
catalogue
for ship compasse 1959 is
a griffin. This catalogue also shows
two aeronautical compasses: the models
V
47 and
V.A. 82.
See also aeronautical compasses.
 |
 |
Technical
Data
- Diameter: 103 mm
- Depth: 45 mm
- Weight (compass alone): 300 g
- Material: Bakelite |
Compass
with
sighting vanes (pelorus function) and prism
 |
Pictures Lydie &
Jaypee
(Click on images for enlarged views) |
Technical
Data
- Dia.: mm
- Height : mm
View with sight folded:
 |
- W -
PROFILE - Former German company
(more information
HERE)
Catalog (1972)
|
 |
Bearing
compass
Technical Data
- Dimensions: 75 x 50 x 16 mm
- Weight: 38 gr |
 |
 |
Technical
Data... |
-
X -
PROFILE - Equipment without its manufacturer's label.
Click
on image for view of the
compass rose |
Screws
for the adjustment of the
magnetic deviation
|
Instructions for the correction (see the table under
the
window, on image at left) |
Technical
Data
- Dimensions : ... mm
• Height: 5.25" / 133 mm
• Depth: 3.25" / 83 mm
• Width (incl. knob-like protrusions): about 8" / 230
mm
- Weight: 7.5 pounds / 3 kgs
Pictures
Don Calanese
|
Detailled
view of the logo
PROFILE
- The company C. PLATH was a German manufacturer. It was officially
created
in 1862 (read its short history on this website
- German, English translation
in progress).
The products are still
being
sold under this label but the company's owners changed several
times
since 1962. See also Aeronautical Compasses. Their formerly most famous
product
is used as the company's logo, a seaman looking through a sextant.
Pic.
r.: Sir Wm. Thomson: Device to take bearings at stars, esp. the sun (Handb. d. naut. Instr. d.
Kaiserl.
Admiralität, Berlin,
quoted in Der
Kompass by Schücker)
PROFILE - Sestrel is the Trade Mark brand of Henry Browne
& Son who were
important British compass makers. This company was sold to John Lilley
& Gillie Ltd* (products: magnetic compasses MK2000 &
MK2002)
and SIRS Navigation (both in UK) in 1993. 
