Compasses

• As per Chapter V of SOLAS 74, as amended, a magnetic compass is a compulsory part of the
shipborne navigational equipment.
• This is in addition to the gyro compass and suitably placed repeaters on the ship.
This is so primarily because of the reliable dependence one can place on the magnetic compass,
as a standby compass in the event of failure of electrical power on board.
The regulation also stipulates that the magnetic compass should be properly adjusted and a
table or curve of deviations is available on board at all times.
 Compasses
The oldest and most familiar type of compass is the magnetic compass, which is used in different forms in
aircraft, ships, and land vehicles and by surveyors. Sometime in the 12th century, mariners in China and
Europe made the discovery, apparently independently, that a piece of lodestone, a naturally occurring
magnetic ore, when floated on a stick in water, tends to align itself so as to point in the direction
of the polestar.
Types of Magnetic compass/ Standard compass

Wet card compass

Dry card compass
The Dry Card Compass
• compass card is made of rice paper.
• Silk thread used to attached the card
• very light and is not affected by temperature changes
• Diameter 254 mmmm (10 Inches)
• Cover aluminum ring
• The weight of the card is usually around is grams

In Olden days there used to be a dry card compass, use in

navigation. It is now part of history
Wet card compasses
• bowl is filled with a mixture of distilled water and
pure ethyl alcohol
• Low freezing point about -30 deg Celsius
• Small coefficient of expansion
• Does not discolored the card
• Low relative density about 0.93

The wet card compass is the most efficient type of

marine magnetic compass, by immersing the card in a
liquid, oscillations caused by vibration, rolling and pitching are
damped, without loss of accuracy. The card therefore has a
Bubble
dead beat movement which is convenient.
Magnetic Compass

Spare magnetic Compass

Compensating Binnacle
Magnetic Compass

Compensating Binnacle
Magnetic Compass

• MC Projector
• periscope
How were needles magnetized?

Needles were magnetized by stroking them with a lodestone, a lump of magnetic

rock called magnetite. The needle did not keep its magnetism permanently, so a lodestone
was carried on the ship so that the needle could be stroked whenever the magnetism wore off.

To stop the needle and card from swinging wildly on board ship, even early compasses were
gimbal mounted in a square box by an attachment with swivelling rings. This means that
the compass is hung in a way that makes it unaffected by the movement of the ship
on the sea.
Gyro compass has become one indispensable instrument in
almost all merchant ships or naval vessels for its ability to
detect the direction of the true north and not the magnetic
north.
It is comprised of the following units
• Master Gyro Compass ( Main Gyro):
Discovers and maintains the true north reading with the help of a
gyroscope.

• Repeater Compasses
( Gyro Repeaters,):
Receive and indicate the true direction transmitted electrically
from the Master Compass.
• Course Recorder:
Makes a continuous record of the manoeuvring, on a moving strip
of paper. https://www.marineinsight.com/marine-navigation/gyro-compass-on-ships-construction-working-and-usage/
Gyro Compass

Master Gyro Compass Gyro repeaters

• Control Panel:
Governs the electrical operation of the system and ascertains the running
condition by means of a
suitable meter.

• Voltage Regulator:
Maintains constant supply of the ship to the motor-generator.

• Alarm Unit:
Indicates failure of the ship’s supply.
• Amplifier Panel:
Course Recorder
Controls the follow-up system.

• Motor Generator:
Converts the ship’s DC supply to AC and energizes the Compass equipment.
Gyro compasses are linked to the repeater compasses via one transmission system. The fast-
spinning rotor attached weighs from 1.25 pounds to 55 pounds.

It is driven thousands of revolutions per minute by another electric motor. However, the most essential

part of a Gyro compass system is the spinning wheel, which is known as the Gyroscope.
 NOTE:
When the Ship swing to starboard the
compass card remains seeking the true
north only the ship head and needle align
to ships heads swing to starboard and vice
versa

Lubbers line is a reference mark on the inside of the compass bowl which is aligned with the
ship’s fore and aft axis, or Keel line of the ship. The Lubber’s line is a reference for the
reading of direction from the compass card.
Magnetic Compass
The compass was developed about 1000 years ago. The origin of the magnetic compass is uncertain, but
Norsemen used it in the 11th century. After 1840, British Astronomer Royal Sir George Airy and
later Lord Kelvin developed combinations of iron masses and small magnets to eliminate most magnetic compass
error. It was not until the 1870 that Lord Kelvin developed a reliable dry card marine

compass. The fluid-filled compass became standard in 1906.

Leon Foucault developed the basic gyroscope in1852. An American (Elmer Ambrose
Sperry) and a German (Anshutz Kampfe) both developed electrical gyrocompasses in the early years of the
20th century. The first seaworthy gyrocompass was produced in 1908 by the firm of Hermann
Anschütz-Kaempfe in Germany. It was largely made possible through the efforts of Max Schuler, who developed
the principles on which a practical shipborne gyrocompass depends.
This compass was a marvel of mechanical ingenuity.
Deviation was understood at least as early as the early 1600, but correction of compass error was not
possible until Matthew Flinders discovered that a vertical iron bar could reduce errors.

Variation was not understood until the 18th century, when Edmond Halley led an expedition to map
lines of variation in the South Atlantic.
Variation
• The angular difference between the true meridian (great circle connecting the geographic poles) and
the magnetic meridian (direction of the lines of magnetic flux) is called variation.

• The angular difference, in the horizontal plane, between true north and magnetic north at
a particular place.

• Angle contained between the true north and magnetic north;

• It is caused by the magnetism from the earth’s magnetic field;

• It is not constant; it is different in every change of geographical position; Cannot be

corrected
 True North

Magnetic North True Scale

(True direction)
Outer ring
Magnetic Scale
(Magnetic direction)
Inner ring

Variation
Reference

Annual
Change
 True North

Magnetic North
True direction
Scale(Outer Ring)
Variation
Reference

Magnetic
Scale(Inner Ring)

Annual
Change
 Magnetic variation chart/ Isogonic Chart/ Magnetic dip Chart
Isogonic lines are lines on the Earth's surface along which the declination has the same constant value, and lines along which the declination is zero are called agonic lines
ISOGONIC CHART
A chart showing magnetic variation with isogonic lines and the annual rate of change in variation with
isoporic lines.
Isogonic lines
• A line drawn on a map or a chart joining points of equal variation (magnetic declination).
Isoporic lines
• an imaginary line or a line on a map of the earth's surface connecting points of equal annual change in
one of the magnetic elements
When working with a map and compass there are usually
three different norths to be considered: True
The Three North
North, Grid North and Magnetic North. There is
now a fourth: Google Maps North.
True North
Each day the Earth rotates about its axis once. The ends
of the axes are the True North and South poles. True
North on a map is the direction of a line of longitude
which converges on the North Pole.
Magnetic North
A compass needle points to the magnetic north pole. The
magnetic north pole is currently located in the Baffin
Island region of Canada, and from the UK, is west of true
north. The horizontal angular difference between True
North and Magnetic North is called MAGNETIC VARIATION
or DECLINATION.
Grid North
The grid lines on Ordnance Survey maps divide the UK
into one kilometre squares, east of an imaginary zero
point in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Cornwall. The grid
lines point to a Grid North, varying slightly from True
North. This variation is smallest along the central
meridian (vertical line) of the map, and greatest at the
map edges. The difference between grid north
and true north is very small and for most
navigation purposes can almost always be
ignored.
Deviation
The magnetism in the various structures of a ship, which tends to change as a result of cruising,
vibration, or aging, but which does not alter immediately so as to be properly termed induced
magnetism, is called subpermanent magnetism.
This magnetism, at any instant, is part of the ship’s permanent magnetism, and consequently must be
corrected by permanent magnet correctors.
It is the principal cause of deviation changes on a magnetic compass

• Horizontal angle contained between the Magnetic North and Compass North
• Results from the magnetic influence of the ship’s structure which deviates the compass
needle away from magnetic north; It change with a change in heading
Deviation Table/Deviation Card

is a quick reference tool posted on the vessel’s bridge to show the amount of deviation for any heading.
Over reliance on electronic navigation aids, gyro compasses, radar, GPS, DP, etc. has become a problematic
issue today.
Swinging the Compass
The “Deviation Table” is originally constructed during initial sea trials when the vessel is built or when new
magnetic compass is installed.
The objective is to minimize the effect of ships magnetic field acting on the magnetic compass through all
360° hence less overall “Compass Error” when converting a “PSC” heading/bearing to a “True” heading/bearing”.
At least annually this important task is completed by a professional or a trained Master/Mate to keep it
current.
1) Locate two transit objects (objects in line) and determine their true bearing on the chart
(2) Secure the boat at anchor so that these transits are exactly aligned. Swing the boat's head until it is pointing
due north.
(3) Read off the transit bearing on the compass and apply the variation.
(4) The difference between this result and the true transit bearing is the deviation on this heading. If the true
bearing is greater, the deviation is named east; if it is the lesser, the deviation is named west.
(5) Repeat the procedure taking transit bearings on each of the cardinal points.
(6) From the results, make up a deviation card
https://marineradvancement.com/explanationExamples/npncDeviation.pdf
Swinging the Compass or swinging the ship

Signal flags "OSCAR" over "QUEBEC“

Denotes swinging the ship
“The standard compass error is determined at least once per watch and, when
possible, after any major alteration of course; the standard and gyro
compasses are frequently compared, and repeaters are synchronised with the
master compass.”

A record of Compass Errors and Deviation

should be kept in a Compass Observation
Record Book
This Compass Observation Record Book is intended to
simplify the process of recording observations and
determining compass error for all onboard compasses.

It is primarily set up to record observations for two Gyro

and/or satellite compasses and one Magnetic compass
• Variation is caused by the earths magnetic field while Deviation is a result of the
magnetic influence of the ship’s structure.

• Variation cannot be corrected while Deviation can be reduce as much as possible,

• Variation changed in every geographical location while deviation

changed in every change in heading.
The algebraic sum of variation and deviation

The Compass Error