1918 Survey Magnetic Compass for U.S. Engineer Corps Antique Nautical Objects

Rare magnetic nautical surveying compass, brass, late 19th century signed Elliott Bros London complete with leather case. This is a small compass, 7 cm diameter, typically used in re...

Rare mahogany wood binnacle compass. Inside there is a liquid compass mounted on a universal joint signed D. Baker Melrose Mass Pat. 22 Sept 1896 and marketed by the Chas Company. C....

Nautical magnetic compass, made in the USA in the 1930s. Bon état. Housed in its original box with wooden slot lid and mounted on gimbal. Box measures 12x12x8.5 cm - inches 4.8x4.8x...

Brass nautical magnetic compass, signed Sestrel London from the second half of the 19th century and housed in its original wooden box with slot lid, fitted with pins and handle bras...

Large brass and glass nautical magnetic compass, signed KELVIN HUGHES DIVISION S. Smith & Son (England) Ltd Manufactured in Great Britain circa 1940, mounted on custom-made wood an...

Large brass and glass nautical magnetic compass from the early 1900s, mounted on custom-made oak and brass board. Compass diameter cm 24.5 - inch 9.4, height with base cm 21 - inch 8...

Late 19th Century Ships Binnacle by W. Hartmann. Binnacles are an important navigation tool. They are often in the helm of the ship and allow sailor to maintain the correct course. This beautiful example has an octagonal case made from oak with brass fittings and removable copper dome...

This WWI poster features a US sailor after disembarking from a ship and ready for battle. In the background are powerful warships setting the scene. Below th...

An antique 1850's nautical map with hand-painted color accents entitled “Chesapeake Bay; Sheet no. 2: Head of the Bay to the Mouth of the Potomac River”....

Presented is U.S. Coast Survey nautical chart or maritime map of Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay from 1856. The map depicts the region from Susquehanna, Maryland to the northern Outer Banks in North Carolina. It also shows from Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia to the Atlantic Ocean. The map is highly detailed with many cities and towns labeled throughout. Rivers, inlets, and bays are also labeled. Various charts illustrating more specific parts of the region are marked on the map using dotted lines. The lines form boxes, and the corresponding chart number and publication date are given. Extensive triangulation surveys were conducted the length of Chesapeake Bay and are illustrated here. Hampton Roads, Virginia is labeled, along with the James, York, and Rappahannock Rivers, which were all extensively surveyed. The chart was published under the supervision of A. D. Bache, one of the most influential and prolific figures in the early history of the U.S. Coast Survey, for the 1856 Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey. Alexander Dallas Bache (1806-1867) was an American physicist, scientist, and surveyor. Bache served as the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey from 1843 to 1865. Born in Philadelphia, Bache toured Europe and composed an important treatise on European Education. He also served as president of Philadelphia's Central High School and was a professor of natural history and chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon the death of Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, Bache was appointed Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey. The Office of the Coast Survey, founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin...

Pre World War I Nautical Compass by E.S.Ritchie Nautical compass mounted by a brass gimbal into a copper brass bound case with sloping glazed aperture with heavily bevelled glass. Flat brass bezel with five holding screws signed ‘E.S.Ritchie’ and numbered 5779. Side opening compartment for a lighted wick with drawer beneath. The compass is mounted in a heavy painted brass bowl with very fine copper pivot supporting the floating direction card. A diaphragm is located in the base of the bowl for temperature compensation. c.1910 E.S.Ritchie founded the business in 1850 to manufacture mechanical, electrical and scientific instruments. In 1857 he turned his attention to navigational instruments and begun making marine bearing compasses for the U.S.Navy before the American civil war. At the time the British admiralty dry mounted nautical compasses were considered by all navies and commercial shipping companies as the highest technological standard of the day, however, in 1860 Ritchie had received a US patent for the first successful and practical liquid-filled marine compass for general use. A major step forward in the technology of the compass. With the damping provided by the liquid, together with gimbal mounting, the floating card of the Ritchie compass...

Vintage T. Cooke of London prismatic compass. Brass case with pierced sight line in the lid, folding prism, metallic gold tone face, and short stand able to be screwed onto a tripod ...