Battenberg's Course Indicator
name: label: maker
content: Battenberg, Louis
notes: label: Description
content: This mechanical device, designed to solve problems involving the relative velocities of two ships at sea, was invented in 1902 by Louis Battenberg in England. The inscriptions read "Battenberg’s Course Indicator U.S. Navy Mark II" and "F.A./J.Q.M. 1924."
label: Description
content: Born in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, Louis Battenberg (1854-1921) became a British citizen in 1868 and a cadet in the Royal Navy. He rose quickly through the ranks, becoming eventually Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, Admiral, and then First Sea Lord. He changed his name to Mountbatten in 1917 and relinquished his German title in favor of a British one.
label: Description
content: Ref: Gloria Clifton and Peter Ifland, "A Slice of History: The Battenberg Course Indicator," <i>Navigation News</i> (December 2000): 14-15.
label: Description
content: F. S. Miller and A. F. Everett, <i>Instructions for the Use of Martin’s Mooring Board and Battenberg’s Course Indicator</i> (Published by Authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1903).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Navigation
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: C. R. Hoshaw
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0446.02
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0446.02
label: accession number
content: 1991.0446
objectType: label: Object Name
content: course indicator
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: aluminum (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 in; 33.02 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall in box: 3 3/4 in x 13 1/4 in x 13 1/4 in; 9.525 cm x 33.655 cm x 33.655 cm