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amplitude
The angle between the point at which the sun rises and sets, and the true east and west points of the horizon. Amplitudes were used historically to find the error of the magnetic compass in order to ...
azimuth
The angle made by a line on the surface of the Earth with magnetic meridian. In radar terminology, the direction at right angles to the direction of radar propagation.
Bermuda Triangle
An area of the western Atlantic Ocean where a large number of ships and aircraft are said to have mysteriously disappeared; the name is recorded from the 1960s.
binnacle
The wooden housing of the mariner's magnetic compass and its correctors and lighting arrangements. The change from bittacle to binnacle came in about 1750, although the former name did not entirely ...
box the compass
Recite the compass points in correct order; the phrase is recorded from the mid 18th century, and box may come from Spanish bojar ‘sail round’, from Middle Low German bōgen ‘bend’, from the base of ...
bridge
An elevated platform built above the upper deck of a powered vessel, from which a ship is normally navigated and from where all activities on deck can be seen and controlled by the captain or officer ...
cardinal points
North, south, east, and west, so elevations facing these points are cardinal fronts.
chart
A map primarily intended for navigation, one of the earliest being the plane chart, hence plain sailing. In very general terms, two types of nautical chart are used at sea, the straightforward ...
Christopher Columbus
(c. 1451–1506)Genoese navigator and explorer, celebrated as the first European to discover America. His great interest was in what he called his “Enterprise to the Indies”, the search for a westward ...
compass
A small magnet pivoted at its central point to revolve in a horizontal plane. In the earth's magnetic field the magnet (called the compass needle) aligns itself so that its north-seeking end points ...
compass error
The amount by which the magnetic compass direction differs from the true direction, the sum of variation and deviation. It is named east or west according to whether the compass points to the right ...
Compass, Magnetic Reference library
The Oxford Companion to World Exploration
A magnetic compass is an instrument used to determine the direction toward the earth's North Magnetic Pole by means of
compass-rose
In cartography, a compass-rose is the pointed star at the centre of a depicted compass dial that is a common feature of medieval and early modern maps and portolans. Derived ...
course
1 The horizontal angle between the intended direction of travel of a vessel and a reference direction, generally north. The angles between true, magnetic, and compass north and the path of the vessel ...
deviation
N.(in marine insurance) The departure of a ship from an agreed course. A ship must follow the course specified in a voyage or mixed insurance policy (see time policy); if no course is specified, the ...
Elmer Ambrose Sperry
(1860–1930),American inventor, best known for his application of the gyroscopic principle in producing a gyroscopic compass which, unlike a magnetic compass, is unaffected by iron or steel and always ...
flowers of the wind
An old expression for the engraving of the wind-rose on the earliest charts and maps, and extended after the introduction of the magnetic compass to include the compass rose on charts.
gaussin error
A magnetic compass error temporarily induced through the soft iron in a ship when it has been steering one course for a long time, or has been lying in one direction alongside a pier or wharf. It can ...
gyroscopic
An electrically driven compass that owes its directional properties to a perfectly balanced wheel, or rotor, that spins at high speed symmetrically about an axis. The operation of the gyro compass ...
hand-bearing compass
A small hand-held magnetic compass for taking bearings from the ship. Mostly used in coastal navigation.
