Nautical instruments
This part of the collection includes mainly navigational instruments from the early sailing period, the time when ships were made of wood and men were made of steel.
Early stadimeter made of brass in full working order. It’s complete with box of mahogany and adjustment instructions in the lid. That the instrument is made of untreated brass, the case is made of mahogany and the no. 352, indicates that it is a very early instrument. Felt has not yet been used.
The stadimeter or optical range finder, was developed in the 1890’s by Bradley Allen Fiske and designed to determine the distance to other warships. Like a sextant, the stadimeter uses a system of mirrors to measure the angular distance of two ends of a distant object (e.g. height of a light house, length or height of a vessel). The difference with the sextant is that the user can set a reference scale to a known dimension of that distant object. The stadimeter allows the user bring the two ends of the known object into coincidence, after which the distance to the object can be read from its drum micrometer.
Catalog: NM.6-52
Date: 1918
HWL: 12x27x13 cm
HWL case: 16x32x17 cm
Origin: USA
Condition: in good and working condition, wear consistent with age and use
Signed:
STADIMETER
U.S. NAVY. BUREAU OF ORDNANCE
Mark III, MOD 1, ND. 352
1918 INSPEC. C.H.D. (ANCRE)
MADE BY KEUFFEL & ESSER CO.
NEW YORK
From the 17th century onwards people had made many attempts to devise a mechanical log which would automatically record the ships distance done.
Edward Massey invented a mechanical log in 1802 with four blades which was used by the Admiralty from 1807-1815. When dragged behind the ship the log vins rotates and the revolutions were transformed in miles on the dials, to be read after the log was brought in. The design of Massey was further refined by Thomas Walker and Son, who took out a patent for the A1 Harpoon Log in 1861. Heath & Co., instrumentmakers in London from 1845-1910, made only a few harpoonlogs based on Walkers patent of 1861, also with stabilizer. (more…)
Circle sextant, Borda circle, reflecting circle, circumferator, repeating circle, this instrument is known among several names. In Paris Chevalier de Borda published a description of his instrument in 1787. The instrument can measure angles greater than 180 degrees. At sea, it is used in determining lunar distances. (more…)
Romantic and well preserved early 19th century, dry card whaling compass with a hand-made 32-point rose without graduation. On the rose the name of the maker, North with star, eagle and crown, East – direction of Jerusalem – with simple decoration. (more…)
A ship-log records the distance travelled through the water. With the time in hours between the observations, it gives the ship’s speed in knots.
A very rare and complete yachting taffrail log. Hardly used. With clock, line, rotator, sinker weight and two shoes in a mahogany case. The log is fixed on a shoe at the stern of a ship. The recorder would have been connected with a line to the rotor at the end of the line. The governor wheel is fitted in an open end housing. The enamel face with two dials.
Catalogue: NM.6-36
Date: appr. 1950
HWD case: 16x36x22 cm
Signed: Loch Vion yachting, case and rotator: E. Vion, Paris
Origin: France
Condition: in very good condition, wear consistent with age and use
Course Corrector of the United States Maritime Commission fixed in original wood box. The divice is a ten inch disk of three rings and has an indicator arm with two thumb screws.
The device is used to assist calculating true, magnetic or compass course base upon variation and deviation.
Catalogue: NM.6-35
Date: 1940 – 1950
HWL case: 4.5x30x30 cm
D corrector: 25.5 cm
Signed: not signed
Origin: USA
Condition: in good and working condition, wear consistent with age and use
Making position by observation of stars is done at twilight. With partly cloudy skies it can be difficult to find the right stars. This star globe helps with it. In the lid of the box there is a paper label with instructions for use. Inventor of this outil is Vincent John English.
The wooden deck box of mahogany is brass-hinged and dovetailed with two clasps for locking. The globe is mounted in a brass meridian circle. The brass horizon circle carries a azimuth ring with four vertical quadrants and a cursor. With red and blue crayon gras pencils, brass pointer and key. The whole is a bit more modest than the Hughes globes. Diameter respectively 180 and 140 mm. Cary star finders are very rare.
Catalog: NM.6-33
Date: 1895 – 1898
HWD case: 20.5×20.5×20.5 cm
D globe: 140 mm
Globe signed: Cary & Co, Makers tot he Admiralty, 7 Pall Mall, Lond
Horizon ring signed: Cary London Pat. N0 21540
Origin: England
Condition: very well, complete and in working condition, wear consistent with age and use
The hand log was first described in 1574 (Sharp, p 5). It consists of a wooden chip with peg, the log line, a reel and a 28 (long) or 14 second (short) sandglass. The chip in the shape of a circle sector and weighted with lead, is fitted with two lines to the peg, the end of the log line forms the third. After a stray line of about thirty meters, the log line is equally divided into parts of 23 feet 9 inches (7.20 meters) to start with a flag or bunting. Thus at every 47 feet 3 inches knots are placed to denote the number of miles. The chip is thrown astern of the ship and remains static whilst the line is paid out and the ship sails away from it. The number of knots sailed out in 28 or 14 seconds indicates the speed of the ship in miles per hour or knots. Using the short glass doubles the number of knots counted.
Catalogue: NM.6-31
Date: ca. 1850
HD reel: 96 x 62 mm
Signed: not signed
Origin: unknown
Condition: 28 seconds, complete and in working condition
Well preserved dry card and gimbaled brass tell-tale compass. The rose is made up of several layers of paper with 32 points. North with beautiful fleur de lis. On the rose, the letters E and W are painted over the old letters. Originally the rose will not be English. The inside of the binnacle is painted dirty white.
Catalogue: NM.6-20
Date: 1870 -1900
HD binnacle: 9.0 x 16.0 cm
Signed: not signed
Origin: unknown
Condition: perfect