27 and 28. Mr. David Adamsasked the First Lord of the Admiralty (1) whether, in view of the increasing possibility of the detention of merchant vessels, owing to insistence upon certain methods of adjustment or type of compasses, he will give instructions that certified compass adjustors may have liberty to use customary approved methods as circumstances may require;
(2) whether he is aware that the trade department of the Admiralty recently circularised shipowners informing them that certain heeling error coils required for the adjustment of compasses would be supplied free provided the compasses were of patterns made by two named firms only; and whether, as these coils can readily and simply be adjusted to fit any of the usual compasses, he will secure the withdrawal of the circular in question?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty (Sir Victor Warrender)As the answers to these Questions are rather long, I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate them in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following are the answers:
§ In reply to Question 27: Although the Admiralty have not insisted upon any particular method of compass adjustment or type of compasses, and the customary 1336 approved methods for compass correction are still followed as far as practicable, these methods are no longer wholly applicable in ships fitted with degaussing coils. Owing to the effects of degaussing, magnetic compasses have to be corrected by the fitting of special electro-magnetic coils which have been designed by the Admiralty and are fitted to all compasses as part of the degaussing equipment. The ritual for adjusting these coils has been laid down in a brochure which has been freely distributed for the guidance of all compass adjusters and others concerned.
§ In reply to Question 28: Heeling error coils cannot be readily and simply fitted to any compass as my hon. Friend suggests. They have to be designed for each type of binnacle and when a coil has been so designed it can rarely be used in a binnacle of another type. When it was decided to fit these coils in merchant ships the only heeling error coils already designed were for the Admiralty binnacles and for those made by the two firms to which my hon. Friend refers. These types could only, therefore, be mentioned in the circular. Other compass manufacturers have now responded to the Admiralty's offer of assistance in designing coils for their own binnacles, and as soon as this has been done the circular in question will be amended to include their names.