Freedom From Compensation

After the nav­i­ga­tor has made cal­cu­la­tions for the dev­i­a­tion er­rors of the Mag­ne­tic Com­pass, they must be ap­plied by means of man­i­pu­la­ting the soft iron globes and com­pen­sa­ting mag­nets. This is an op­er­a­tion re­quir­ing such a high de­gree of skill that only trained men called Com­pass Ad­just­ers are qual­i­fied for the work.

The oc­cas­ion­al turn­ing of a thumb nut is the only com­pen­sa­tion nec­es­sary in the use of a Sper­ry Gy­ro-Com­pass. No tables or curves are re­quired. The ship’s Nav­i­gat­ing Of­ficer makes this ad­just­ment with ease.

A Ship of the Line, the dreadnought of former days.