Liquid-filled marine compass
Compás magnético de aguja en baño de líquido
- Date
- 1862 · confidence medium
- Place
- Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Credited to
- Edward Samuel Ritchie (preceded by Francis Crow)
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A compass with the card immersed in alcohol or oil, damping ship motion and gunfire shock. Ritchie's version was adopted by the US Navy.
Francis Crow patented a liquid-damped compass in 1813; Ritchie is associated with the practical version of 1862.
What it led to
- stable shipboard compasses
- navigation compasses for aircraft and tanks
- the gyrocompass as successor