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Base of a brass pocket compass.
The base of a pocket compass from the 1845 British Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. The compass has a glass insert, discoloured from rust. The lid of this compass is AAA2332.
The pocket compass was found at the boat site in Erebus Bay by Captain F. L. McClintock’s sledge team on 30 May 1859, as part of the search expedition led by McClintock. The site had been visited and partially investigated by Lt. William Hobson on 24 May but his report does not list everything he saw or removed. McClintock records ‘two brass pocket compasses’ [McClintock, Voyage of the Fox (1859), page 366.]
The pocket compass was displayed at the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, case 2, No. 50 ‘Pocket compass’. The item is shown with its lid in ‘Stereoscopic slides of the relics of Sir John Franklin’s Expedition’ photographed by Lieutenant Cheyne RN, at the United Services Museum, Whitehall, No. 5 (middle, right side).
The pocket compass was found at the boat site in Erebus Bay by Captain F. L. McClintock’s sledge team on 30 May 1859, as part of the search expedition led by McClintock. The site had been visited and partially investigated by Lt. William Hobson on 24 May but his report does not list everything he saw or removed. McClintock records ‘two brass pocket compasses’ [McClintock, Voyage of the Fox (1859), page 366.]
The pocket compass was displayed at the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, case 2, No. 50 ‘Pocket compass’. The item is shown with its lid in ‘Stereoscopic slides of the relics of Sir John Franklin’s Expedition’ photographed by Lieutenant Cheyne RN, at the United Services Museum, Whitehall, No. 5 (middle, right side).
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Object Details
| ID: | AAA2208 |
|---|---|
| Collection: | Polar Equipment and Relics |
| Type: | Pocket compass |
| Display location: | Not on display |
| Creator: | Unknown |
| Events: | Arctic Exploration: Franklin's Last Expedition, 1845-1848; Arctic Exploration: Franklin Search Expedition, McClintock, 1857-1859 |
| Vessels: | Fox (1855) |
| Date made: | Before 1845 |
| Credit: | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. |
| Measurements: | Overall: 13 x 57 mm |