Re: Compass (and War)


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Posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on September 12, 2003 at 09:41:03 from 195.93.32.8 user ACB.

In Reply to: Re: Compass (and War) posted by Peter Ceresole on September 12, 2003 at 07:18:52:

I am pretty sure that the prismatic hand bearing compass as we know it today, held at eye level with a handle on the base, with an oil damped card marked in degrees, such as the Sestrel Radiant, is an invention of WW2. I think this because my father (Lt Cdr RNVR, 1939-45) "liberated" one when demobbed, and it was in use aboard family boats until replaced by a Sestrel in 1972!

However, there certainly were prismatic compasses in use for surveying long before then, because in "The Riddle of The Sands", a book very well known to AR, Davies asks Carruthers to bring one, with directions to buy it at Potters, in the Minories, the well known Admiralty Chart Agents and nautical instrument suppliers.

A glance into Worth's "Yacht Cruising", (pub. 1911, by Potters, 4th edn 1935, the "yachtsman's Bible" of AR's generation) shows that the 0-90 degrees notation was common at that time, but was condemned by Worth who recommended 0-360 degrees.


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