page_title: Gyrocompass
hierarchical_section_title: Gyrocompass
caption_attribution_description: English: Ship's Gyro Compass on the bridge of HMCS Algonquin (DDH 283)
context_page_description: A gyrocompass is a type of non-magnetic compass which is based on a fast-spinning disc and the rotation of the Earth to find geographical direction automatically. The use of a gyrocompass is one of the seven fundamental ways to determine the heading of a vehicle. Although one important component of a gyrocompass is a gyroscope, these are not the same devices; a gyrocompass is built to use the effect of gyroscopic precession, which is a distinctive aspect of the general gyroscopic effect. Gyrocompasses are widely used for navigation on ships, because they have two significant advantages over magnetic compasses:
  they find true north as determined by the axis of the Earth's rotation, which is different from, and navigationally more useful than, magnetic north, and
  they are unaffected by ferromagnetic materials, such as in a ship's steel hull, which distort the magnetic field.
  Aircraft commonly use gyroscopic instruments for navigation and attitude monitoring; for details, see Flight instruments and Gyroscopic autopilot.
context_section_description: A gyrocompass is a type of non-magnetic compass which is based on a fast-spinning disc and the rotation of the Earth (or another planetary body if used elsewhere in the universe) to find geographical direction automatically. The use of a gyrocompass is one of the seven fundamental ways to determine the heading of a vehicle. Although one important component of a gyrocompass is a gyroscope, these are not the same devices; a gyrocompass is built to use the effect of gyroscopic precession, which is a distinctive aspect of the general gyroscopic effect.  Gyrocompasses are widely used for navigation on ships, because they have two significant advantages over magnetic compasses:
  they find true north as determined by the axis of the Earth's rotation, which is different from, and navigationally more useful than,  magnetic north, and
  they are unaffected by ferromagnetic materials, such as in a ship's steel hull, which distort the magnetic field.
  Aircraft commonly use gyroscopic instruments (but not a gyrocompass) for navigation and attitude monitoring; for details, see Flight instruments and Gyroscopic autopilot.
caption: A gyrocompass repeater
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