9

Shipboard Compasses

On board a vessel at sea, there are three principal references for

direction: the ship's longitudinal axis, the magnetic meridian, and the
true or geographic meridian. The horizontal direction of one terres-
trial point from another, expressed as an angle from 0000 clockwise
to 3600 , is termed a bearing. Bearings measured using the ship's
longitudinal axis as the reference direction are called relative bear-
ings, indicated by the abbreviation R following the bearing. Those
based upon the magnetic meridian, determined by use of the mag-
netic compass, are referred to as magnetic bearings, abbreviated M.
And bearings given with reference to the geographic meridian, de-
termined by the use of the ship's gyrocompass, are true bearings,
abbreviated by the letter T. The ship's head, or heading, can be
thought of as a special bearing denoting the direction in which the
ship is pointing; it can be expressed either with reference to magnetic
or true north, or with respect to the north axes of the magnetic or
gyrocompasses. No matter what reference direction the navigator uses
for the ship's head and other bearings, however, they must first be
converted to true bearings before they can be used in the navigation
plot.
In practice, relative bearings are not normally used for navigation
purposes; they find their most extensive use in relating an object's
position relative to the ship's bow, for purposes of visualizing the
physical relationships involved. Ordinarily they are estimated visu-
ally, but if the ship's gyro system becomes inoperative, exact relative
bearings to land or seamarks can be shot with a bearing circle or
alidade. In order to use relative bearings in a navigation plot, the
navigator must have a method of determining the ship's true head
when the gyro is inoperative, so as to be able to convert the relative
bearings to true.

The Magnetic Compass

Virtually all vessels, from the smallest of recreational craft to the
jumbo tanker and aircraft carrier, are fitted with at least one magnetic
compass. On most small boats and vessels that operate mainly in

R. R. Hobbs, Marine Navigation 1 : Piloting

© United States Naval Institute Annapolis, Maryland 1981
inland and coastal waters, the magnetic compass is the primary ref-
erence for direction and course headings. Most ocean-going vessels,
including almost all Navy warships, have one or more gyrocompass
systems installed to serve this purpose, but even on these ships, the
magnetic compass serves as an important back-up in case of gyro
failure, and as a primary means of checking the accuracy of the gyro-
compass at regular intervals while under way. Even though the mod-
ern gyrocompass is extremely accurate, highly reliable, and easy to
use, it is nevertheless a highly complex instrument requiring periodic
expert maintenance, dependent on an electrical power supply, and
subject to electronic and mechanical failures of its component parts.
The magnetic compass, on the other hand, is a comparatively simple,
self-contained mechanism that operates independent of any electrical
power supplies, requires little or no maintenance, and is not easily
damaged.
Most older commercial ships and Navy warships having a secondary
conning station carry two magnetic compasses. The main one, located
in close proximity to the helmsman's station in the pilot house or
bridge is called the steering (abbreviated "stg") compass. The other,
usually located in or near the secondary conning station, is often called
the standard Cstd") compass. They are usually the same configuration
of magnetic compass, differing only in name for reference purposes.
Many newly constructed merchant and Navy ships, however, carry
only one steering compass, because they are fitted with two redundant
gyrocompass systems for which the probability of simultaneous failure
is so low that a second magnetic compass is considered to be unnec-
essary. Figure 9-1A is a photograph of a U.S. Navy standard No.1

Figure 9-1A. The Nar;y standard No.1 7-inch magnetic compass.

152 Marine Navigation 1: Piloting