NAVIGATION INSTRUMENTS
Welcome to our selection of antique navigation instruments. This category is for navigation instruments that don't fit into any of our other specific categories: antique sextant, antique octant, ship logs, compass binnacles. In the antique navigation instrument category you will find Station pointers, parallel rules, sounding leads, pelorus, rolling rules etc.
Below is our selection of antique navigation instruments.
ANTIQUE NAVIGATION INSTRUMENT
Antique Pelorus, British Admiralty pattern, bezel engraved Heath & Co Ltd, New Eltham, London, No.133. Contained in the original hardwood box.
Box dimensions L 20cm x D 20cm x H 13.5cm.
A Pelorus is a navigational instrument used by the ships navigator to aid the safe navigation of a ship. It is used to determine the angular distance between objects (point of land, lighthouse, buoys, another ship, stars and planets) and the ship's bow. The Pelorus can be used to measure relative bearing (relative to the ship's bow= 0 degrees) or be used to measure true/magnetic/ compass headings if you know the ship's heading (ship's heading plus Pelorus angular bearing).
Old advert for British Admiralty Royal Navy pattern ship's pelorus by Heath & Co, London.
ANTIQUE NAVIGATION INSTRUMENT
Antique Station pointer by Henry Hughes.
Brass navigation Station pointer by Henry Hughes, in original fitted hardwood case and complete with original instruction booklet.
ANTIQUE MARITIME DEPTH SOUNDING INSTRUMENT
Antique Wigzell's Patent Sea Sounding Instrument. A remarkable depth sounding instrument based on water pressure. The instrument is contained in the original pine box and is complete with fathom scale. The original instructions are also present on the inside of the box lid.
The instrument is comprised of a clear tube mounted inside a brass housing. The housing is secured onto a lanyard which is attached to a long line for lowering to the seabed, a sounding lead is attached to the bottom lanyard. It can then be lowered over the side of the vessel, the increase in pressure forces water up into the tube and once hauled back on deck the water column can be measured against the fathom scale. Length of box 68cm / 26.75 inches.
ANTIQUE NAVIGATION INSTRUMENT
Antique navigators parallel rule.
Ebony and brass parallel rule, used for chart navigation. Circa 1850's. Length: 24 inches / 61 cm.
ANTIQUE CLIPPER SHIPS WEATHER GLASS
A rare antique clipper ships weather glass or water barometer, they are also sometimes referred to as a Cape Cod glass or storm glass. This item was used to detect changes in the atmospheric pressure, a low pressure caused the level in the glass to fall and the neck level to rise indicating an imminent storm. A drop or fall in the glass level was known as a "falling glass" and was an indication of impending storms. The term "falling glass" is referred to in many factual stories about sailing ships and even features in traditional Sea Shanties: Chorus from the pumping shanty STRIKE THE BELL - "Strike the bell, second mate, Let us go below, Look away to windward, You can see it's going to blow, Look at the glass, You can see that it has fell, We wish that you would hurry up, And strike, strike the bell "
The hanging eye is worn from being hung and the back of the glass has wear marks where it has swung with the motion of the ship. The rear of the weather glass is etched with a picture of a Clipper Ship and the words SA CLIPPER SHIP, WEATHER GLASS, GERMANY. These items were hand blown and date to around late 1800's. Height: 20cm / 8 inches.
ANTIQUE NAVIGATION INSTRUMENT
Antique navigators rolling rule by Harling.
Brass navigation rolling rule by Harling, in original fitted wooden case. Length:
ANTIQUE NAVIGATION INSTRUMENT
Antique Paget Angle Sextant by H.Hughes, London.
Complete in original fitted case.
The Paget sextant was designed around 1892 and brought on the market by H. Hughes and Son.
ANTIQUE NAVIGATION INSTRUMENT
Antique navigators parallel rule.
Ebony and brass parallel rule, used for chart navigation. Circa 1850's. Length: 17 inches / 43cm.
ANTIQUE NAVIGATION INSTRUMENT
Antique ship's depth sounding lead.
A ships sounding lead / depth finding device, recovered from a shipwreck. Made from lead with an eight sided tapering design, complete with tallow hole to sample seabed composition.
Length 34cm / 13.5 inches.
ANTIQUE NAVIGATORS SEXTANT
We have dedicated category for antique ship's sextants.
ANTIQUE COMPASS BINNACLES
We have dedicated category for antique ship's compass binnacles.
ANTIQUE SHIP LOGS
We have dedicated category for antique ships logs.
ANTIQUE NAVIGATORS OCTANT
We have dedicated category for antique ship's octants.