Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-09-29
On Board s. S. Leviathan.

On Board >. >. LeV1athan.
Years ago the greatest ship afloat
was less than 10000 tons; its immen
sity was impressive. Today such a
ship seems but a rowboat in compari
son with the Leviathan Of $4,000 tons
Once it was necessary for liable
seamen" to imam the rigging''-climt
the rope ladders while they furled wet
sails at imminent peril of their lives
| Today there are no sails, and there is
| not even one sailor much less two
sailors) busily turning the steering
| wheel while watching the compass
and keeping the course Of the grea,
! circle of the rotating earth.
Today from a landsmans point OF
view the commander, the captain and
the chief navigator have but little tc
do, for the ship seems to follow a:
| ordered course as instinctively as a
COW coming home from the pasture al
| night follows the path of the yester
| days.
Go with the chief navigator Of the
| LeViathan to locked room and see
| the Sperry gyro-compass pilot the
vessel on it's way. Every one knows
| that a gyroscope top when once set
spinning will keep it's Identical angle
! as long as it is in motion. Two such
compasses (tops) are here to be seen
although one is enough to guide the
| great ship. The second compass is
/ used as check on No. /, but as yet
| no irregularities have occurred in
either compass since they were in
stalled AS an additional precaution
magnetic compass keeps tab on the
gyro-pilots.
The gyro-compass is Enclosed in an
| iron ball-shaped case about 80 inches
| in diameter, which swings on numerous
| pivots. This system Of pivOts Is called
| universal mounting" The compass
| dial is in two sections The circle, or
which are the figures, Is separate from
the rest of the face. No matter how
much the ship may roll and plunge
| the mercury weight inside the ball
keeps the dial always level. Both
parts of the dial are marked with
corresponding degrees las a clock dial
is marked with the hours and min
utes), and they must at all times regis
ter alike, never varying in the slight
| est degree.
| The Eyro-cOmpaSS is set to point
exactly to the true North Pole, not
the magnetic pole, for earth magnet
ism has nothing to do with the gyro
| compass. That direction Of the gyro
compass remains fixed. After the
| compass is adjusted, the navigator
sets his course. If the wind and
waves drive the ship from it's course
| (even the fraction of a degree), the
compass dial makes an electric con
! tact which sends a current of cleo.
| tricity to the -pilot-the navigat
| ing apparatus. This starts an cleo
| trio motor on the bridge which forces
| the steering wheel to the right or left
as the case may be. There is a set
| or motors on each side of the steering
machinery. If the ship has swung
| to the right, the motors continue run
ming until the wheel has steered the
ship back to it's true course. If II
swings, pendulum-lik too far to the
left, 1t breaks the electric contact OF
| the right side of the gyro-compass and
| the contact on the left side starts with
an equal set of motors, pushing the
| steering wheel in the other direction
There is a leeway Of only / degree
No mans hand touches the steering
the gyro-pilot steers automatically and
with greater than human accuracy.
| Il X 4
As the technical book explains: "By
the adoption Of this apparatus a vessel