What is the name of a ships compass?

binnacle
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.

What is a binnacle on ships?

The compass on ships is often mounted in a binnacle which is a stand or housing. Its delightful name Binnacle derives from Latin habitaculum meaning “little dwelling place”. This “little house” helps to protect the delicate compass from the elements.

What is a ships compass housed in?

A binnacle is the housing for a ship’s compass. The idea behind a binnacle is to counter the magnetic deviation caused by the ship being made of iron so that the compass can point to magnetic north.

What is ship magnetic compass?

A Magnetic compass is a critical piece of marine navigational equipment. Simply put, a magnetised needle, suspended freely, points North because of the forces caused by the Earth’s magnetic field. Once North is known, the other directions are easily found. The Magnetic Meridian is at an angle to the True Meridian.

Who is the manufacturer of the nautical compass?

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:

Where are compasses made in the United States?

Compass maker Brunton is bringing manufacturing back to the US. Back in May of 2012, Brunton’s executives made a bold decision to cease their Chinese baseplate compass manufacturing operations and restart production in Brunton’s Riverton, Wyoming plant. This means that all new Brunton baseplant compasses are now 100% USA made.

How are magnetic compasses used on a ship?

The binnacle houses the main magnetic compass on a ship which is mounted in gimbals to keep it level while the vessel rocks with the motion of the water. Magnetic compasses point to magnetic north instead of the geographic North Pole. Sometimes there was an oil lamp or, later, an electrical light source, mounted under the compass.

Who is the manufacturer of the Barker compass?

Bought compasses most probably made by F. BARKER and sold them under his name. Büchi Optik AG is a Swiss maufacturer located Kramgasse 25, Berne. It was created in 1871 by Adam Friedrich Büchi*. The products scope was very large and covered fine mechanical and optical instruments like microscopes, mono and binoculars etc. (see advert. at r.) .