Ship Compass

Entry

Compass in a binnacle.

The glass is missing. The cylindrical copper compass kettle is weighted with a lead ring around it, which can be set at various heights. An unusual suspension arrangement replaces the gimbals: the entire bowl’s weight rests on the pivot, which balances with a small ball on the top of a pole that stands in the bottom of the chest; the suspension has a spring in the pole against vertical shocks. The centre of the mica compass card is transparent and shows the two curved compass needles. The half cardinal points are indicated and a paper rim subdivides them into eighths. The binnacle has a pendulum inside, which serves as a clinometer viewed through a glass at the front. The pendulum has a pointer at the upper end for the compass. Because the compass bowl is suspended on one single point, it can turn, and so the course is to be read from the pointer of a quadrant, which moves with a similar motion as the bowl, but does not turn. Two small doors in the sides near the bottom allow access to the bottom of the compass, to dismount it. A spare spring is added. The pivot was broken and a new one was made, which was broken in turn. The old one was then repaired.