Collection of Navigational Equipment

The Museum holds items from the lives of seafarers that bear witness to the way they performed their profession, which in the past was neither easy nor simple. Seeing as ship's navigational equipment is a broad term, the contents of the Collection are diverse; from instruments for determining angles (compasses) and for measuring angles (directional boards and devices), to instruments for measuring ship speed (speedometer), distance (rangefinder) and depth (depth gauge), all the way to instruments for measuring time (watches and stopwatches) and other navigation equipment (triangle, compass, parallel rulers). The oldest device for astronomically determining a ship's position is a quadrant from the 17^th-18^th century, then an octant from the 18^th-19^th century and sextants from 1856 and 1860. The Collection also includes a navigational compass from the 18^th-19^th century, a ship's chronometer from 1892, binoculars from the 19^th century, as well as compasses in a wooden case with magnetic balls, manufactured by Sestrel, London, and dating to the beginning of the 20^th century.

Most of the Collection consists of navigation instruments produced in the first half of the 20^th century and they are housed in the Museum's storage room.

Collection manager: Daniela Kušpilić, curator