TYPES OF COMPASS
The navigational compass is an instrument that gives the necessary datum line from which courses and bearings can be measured. Compass helps us to find the direction of the ship at sea.
Types of Compass. Magnetic compass and Gyrocompass.
(a) Magnetic compass. It is a magnet freely suspended in a horizontal plane which settles with one end pointing approximately to the true north. The reading obtained does not give us the true north due to various external factors such as earth’s magnetism and ships magnetic property. The north direction obtained is called the Compass North.
(b) Gyro Compass. This instrument is a rapidly spinning wheel or gyroscope, the axis of which is made to point along the meridian towards true north. Courses and bearings, which are measured using a gyrocompass, are true provided there is no error in the compass. It is measured clockwise from 000 to360.
