Sextant

Description:

Sextant probably made for use in World War I. Brandis termed it a "U.S. Navy surveying sextant, 6 inch radius, reading 30 seconds of arc." New it cost $120. The frame is anodized brass. The silvered scale is graduated every 20 minutes from -5° to +185° and read by vernier with tangent screw and magnifier. The inscriptions read "BRANDIS & SONS, BROOKLYN, N.Y." and "5670." The words "U.S. Navy-N-4705" are scratched onto the arc. The serial number inside the wooden box is 3946.

Ref: Brandis & Sons Mfg. Co., Catalogue No. 20. Instruments of Precision (Brooklyn, n.d.), p. 298.

Date Made: ca 1917

Maker: Brandis & Sons, Inc.

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: New York, Brooklyn

Subject: World War I

Subject:

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences, Navigation, Measuring & Mapping

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: C. Richard Hoshaw

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 1991.0446.01Catalog Number: 1991.0446.01Accession Number: 1991.0446

Object Name: sextant

Physical Description: brass (overall material)mahogony (overall material)glass (overall material)Measurements: radius: 6 in; 15.24 cmoverall in case: 5 1/4 in x 9 3/4 in x 10 in; 13.335 cm x 24.765 cm x 25.4 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-4ff5-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_1087501

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.