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Who built the first seaworthy gyrocompass in 1908?
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gyrocompass
The gyrocompass aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) ship Rainier. Gyrocompasses are navigational instruments that use a continuously driven gyroscope to accurately seek the direction of true (geographic) north.
The first seaworthy gyrocompass was produced in 1908 by the German firm of Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe.1
The development of this practical shipborne instrument was largely made possible by the efforts of Max Schuler, who established the necessary principles for its operation. While earlier work by Léon Foucault in 1852 demonstrated the effect of Earth's rotation on gyroscopes, it was not until the first decade of the 20th century that technology allowed for the construction of sufficiently accurate units for maritime use.1