U.S Navy Pelorus 1942 Compass

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

This is fine relic and outstanding 1942 U.S. Navy Pelorus compass. This navigation instrument is used to take relative bearings of terrestrial objects in determining a vessels position. There are two sighting vanes which are aimed at a terrestrial object with the bearing read off the compass card. these bearings are compared to the vessel's compass heading which then give the magnetic bearing to the object. Bearings of two objects, taken sequentially, will fix the vessel's position. Similar observations of a rising or setting sun when on the prime vertical allow for determining compass error. A third arm, with a polished black glass reflector, allows similar sights to be taken of celestial bodies when on the horizon. The instrument consists of a compass rose with North in the form of a Flur De Lis as the zero indicator with the cardinal points having directional coordinates "lettered as N,S,E,W" that are further subdivided by diamonds shaped markings which further divides the circle into NE,SE,SW,NW. The outside ring is in the customary Navy increments of one degree, with a notation each ten degrees. The glass compass rose is set inside a bronze ring on gimbals and is weighted so that it remains level during the ships movements. Originally, it would have been mounted on the vessel's conning tower or bridge wings or housed in a case. read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.