Ritchie Navigation
Pembroke, Massachusetts manufacturer of magnetic compasses for recreational and commercial vessels since 1850, plus wind indicators, compass accessories and inflatable PFDs.
Pembroke, MA · Company
About
Physicist Edward Samuel Ritchie founded the company in 1850. In 1861 he supplied samples, including the first liquid-filled compass, to the U.S. Naval Observatory, and by 1900 the company had sold over 30,000 compasses to merchant vessels. In 1951 the Marine Compass Company, founded in 1910 by Louis A. Sherman, bought E.S. Ritchie & Sons, and the company remains privately held by the Sherman family in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
Construction features include built-in compensators at the cardinal points (and on the intercardinals in many models), the NiteVu night lighting system, internal gimbals, PowerDamp dial designs and low-viscosity Ritchie Dampening Fluid filled by a vacuum-drawn process. An in-house machine shop makes many of the metal assemblies.
Products · 12 of 12
- SportAbout Handheld
- Voyager and Navigator Wheelmark Compasses
- Compass Mounts and Adapters
- Bombora Gear Inflatable PFDs
- Tactician Sailing Compass
- SuperSport Venture / Venture
- Globemaster Compasses
- Helmsman, Explorer, Kayaker and Trek Compasses
- Compensator Module
- Feather Vane Race 1
- Compass Parts and Service
- Ready to Boat
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