[Illustration: Steering from Bearing Repeater.]
[Illustration: The Coracle of ancient Britain, still used in Wales.]
At the time of the battle of Coronel on the west coast of South
America, H. M. S. _Invincible_ was being overhauled at the Portsmouth
Dockyard in England. She was immediately ordered with one other large
British ship to South American waters under the command of Admiral
Sturdee, to re-enforce the British fleet, and then to find and destroy
the German ships which had defeated the British at the battle of
Coronel. When the overhaul of the _Invincible_ was completed and she
was ready to leave the docks, it was at first planned to delay sailing
until the ship could be swung and the magnetic compasses compensated.
It was decided, however, that although the compasses were badly in
need of adjustment it was necessary to save every minute in order to
reach South American waters before the German ships could find and
destroy the British ships remaining in those waters. The _Invincible_
therefore sailed without adjusting her magnetic compasses and navigated
entirely by the Sperry Gyro-Compass from Portsmouth to the Falkland
Islands. When an azimuth was finally taken the magnetic compass was
found to be out about 22 degrees. The _Invincible_ arrived at the
Falkland Islands just in time to coal before the German fleet appeared.
If H. M. S. _Invincible_ had not had a Gyro-Compass the probabilities
are that she would not have reached the Falkland Islands in time to win
the battle which took place almost immediately upon her arrival.
Figure 49 shows a British submarine, a sister ship of the E-11, that
entered the Sea of Marmora through the Dardanelles for the purpose of
destroying Turkish and German shipping. The E-11 put a torpedo right
into Constantinople harbor. The Second Officer of the E-11 in relating
this exploit, stated that they steered by the “Sperry” all the way in
and out. His remark was that, “It never let me down.”
In this exploit, and many others of a similar nature, the Gyro-Compass
was used for all navigation. These extremely daring and hazardous
operations would not have been possible without this instrument.
A similar British submarine left Harwich on the east coast of England,
and during a period of three weeks made seven patrol trips, and without
once seeing the sun, finally returned to Harwich and picked up the buoy
at the mouth of the harbor without the least difficulty. The navigation
in this case was carried out entirely by the Gyro-Compass.
[Illustration: Repeaters on Test.]
Figure 54 is a photograph of H. M. S. _Lion_, the flagship of Admiral
Beatty in the battle of Jutland. This ship was provided with the Sperry
Gyro-Compass equipment early in the war. During the Jutland engagement
a fire broke out in a magazine of the _Lion_ immediately below the two
Master Compasses which were located in one compartment. It became so
hot that the lead sheathing was melted off the electric cables and one
of the Gyro-Compasses was heated until its parts fused. Notwithstanding
this same heat the other compass functioned throughout the entire
action. Of the ships engaged in the battle of Jutland practically all
except the destroyers were equipped with the Gyro-Compass. Every one of
them performed perfectly throughout the action except in the case of
the _Lion_ on which one was destroyed by fire.
Hundreds of Sperry Gyro-Compasses are veterans of many battles and
encounters under heavy gunfire and adverse conditions.
[Illustration: The Power Boat, small, able, reliable, comfortable.]
[Illustration: 40. R. M. S Bergensfjord. 41. R. M. S. Aquitania. 42. S.
S. Lenape. 43. S. S. Conneaut. 44. Yacht Lyndonia.