Military
6
A stand or binnacle for a magnetic or compensating type compass held the compass in a chamber at the top under a hood. Below it, magnetized coils corrected compass errors caused by the ship's magnetism, and iron balls on the arms also compensated for the ship's magnetic field. This type of compass pointed to the magnetic rather than geographic North Pole, unlike the ship's gyrocompass. BB55 relied on gyrocompasses for navigation, while magnetic compasses served as backup. This particular compass was used for navigation, and the steering compass is located on the bridge.
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