Object Details
- Weems, Philip Van Horn
- Bausch & Lomb
- Description
- This instrument was developed for the Navy by the Aeronautical Instrument Section of the National Bureau of Standards in 1924, and produced by the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company. The instrument bears a plaque that reads “BUBBLE SEXTANT / U.S. NAVY / BUREAU OF STANDARDS / MODEL NO. 2 / 1924 / NO. 4.” Phillip Van Horn Weems, who donated this example to the Smithsonian, noted that "Six sextants were made at the time for $250,000 each. Bausch & Lomb lost money on the deal but naturally recuperated on later orders and on later models. I drew this sextant from the storeroom in North Island, at the Naval Air Station, San Diego, and made numerous tests with it, along with Byrd, Lindbergh, Ellsworth, etc. etc."
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Credit Line
- Weems Memorial Library
- ID Number
- AF.59069-N
- catalog number
- 59069-N
- accession number
- 242229
- Object Name
- octant
- sextant
- Measurements
- overall: 6 in x 8 3/4 in x 7 in; 15.24 cm x 22.225 cm x 17.78 cm
- associated place
- United States
- See more items in
- Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Naval
- Time and Navigation
- Measuring & Mapping
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_451566
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a2-8add-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
