Military Issue Compasses

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The compasses we were issued were always calibrated in "MILS" as opposed to degree's. If I remember correctly 6400 MILS was equal to 360 degree's.

Are MILS still used?
 
I have no idea if RN or RAN ships were fitted with MILS or degree's compasses.

Last I knew they were still used for Artillery direction. I have a small Artillery theodolite that I used for underground survey, and that was where I first ran into them.

I just had to consult Google and it looks like it is still the case, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_mi

I surprised, I would have thought you blokes would have been trained using MILS
 
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Yes it is, especially for Artillery... :smil:

I'd suppose long range snipers need more accuracy

I'd love to lay my hands on one of our old prismatic compasses. When they were handed out, we had to sign for them, then sign them back in. As if we'd nick one:mrgreen:
 
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Mils are still used here in Canada for land nav, and probably a myriad of other things within the Army. Don't see it too much in the Air Force or the Navy.
 
I have no idea if RN or RAN ships were fitted with MILS or degree's compasses.

I surprised, I would have thought you blokes would have been trained using MILS
No, it was always degrees, minutes and seconds for us although I can't speak for the Gunnery side of things where they are doing indirect fire under the direction of a spotter. Most of our naval "goonery" is either direct (line of sight) fire or radar controlled.

As I said, I first ran into mils when I bought an old Artillery theodolite in a surplus store many years ago (I couldn't afford a real survey theodolite). It made it interesting doing my surveys as everything had to be converted for my reports to the department of mines. In the end I got friendly with the local Council overseer and he would let me borrow their old Pentax which saved me some time.

I must go and check where mine is now that you've mentioned it, I put it in it's box and put it away about 15 years ago:)

(30 mins later) Yep, it's still there, although looking a bit more battered than I remember it. I should give it a birthday, it's probably an antique now. Made by AWA (Amalgamated Wireless Australia) in 1942. Although it is not clearly visible, there is a magnetic compass within the main body You can see the glass covering and the white slash at the top is the luminous needle. Under the objective lens is a small knob which when depressed uncages the needle, and if you rotate it it will allow you to set the local Variation scale. It is a very robust, yet beautifully made device and certainly deserves far better treatment than I have given it. It's only real drawback being that the monocular sight is only 3X magnification, a factor that made it very suitable for the purpose for which I used it where illumination was often at a premium.

cf7ecd74.jpg
 
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I'd suppose long range snipers need more accuracy

A gun that is 1 MIL(S) off firing at a target 20km away will miss the target by about 20 meters, and 1 MIL(S) isn't very much (A full circle = 6400 MILS)... :cool:

And that formula is also quite handy for fire direction, spotting targets etc. manually for forward observer teams..
1 MIL at 1000 meters = 1 meter.... Just need a couple of known points in the terrain and you can direct fire manually using only a pair of binoculars with a MILS scale printed on the lense... :smil:
 
All ADF land navigation is done using Mils. Air Force and Navy use degrees. Except where an Air Force Combat Controller is calling artillery, when he uses Mils. Confused?
 
A gun that is 1 MIL(S) off firing at a target 20km away will miss the target by about 20 meters, and 1 MIL(S) isn't very much (A full circle = 6400 MILS)... :cool:
Good lor, I did remember rightly 6400 mils = a full circle:mrgreen:


And that formula is also quite handy for fire direction, spotting targets etc. manually for forward observer teams..
1 MIL at 1000 meters = 1 meter.... Just need a couple of known points in the terrain and you can direct fire manually using only a pair of binoculars with a MILS scale printed on the lense... :smil:

The only time I got close to guns bigger then 7.62, was delivering 105's or 155's rounds to RA Batteries on exercises.
 
All ADF land navigation is done using Mils. Air Force and Navy use degrees. Except where an Air Force Combat Controller is calling artillery, when he uses Mils. Confused?

Arty and Mortar FDC's are set up to run on Mil's so that's not surprising. Calling NGFS you can use Mil's or degrees magnetic or true, because the FSCC is set up to use any of them.
 
We had a saying to help remind recruits how to work out the magnetic variation between true (grid) north and magnetic north and vice versa.

They were told to look at the date of printing at the top of the map, its magnetic variation at the time of printing and the annual variation, then calculate the amount of magnetic variation. They were told:-
To covert “Mag to grid, get rid (of the variation)” and “Grid to mag, add (the variation)”
 
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We declination diagrams on our map sheets that gives the declination for that particular map / area and we adjust the compass.

maps_ch4_clip_image002.jpg
 
If I remember correctly (bearing in mind this was over 30 years ago and memory fades) on our maps, grid north was true north while yours show Grid, True and Magnetic. But I could be wrong
 
If I remember correctly (bearing in mind this was over 30 years ago and memory fades) on our maps, grid north was true north while yours show Grid, True and Magnetic. But I could be wrong

Grid north can be the same as true north, but it depends on where you are in the world (where the map is). :smil:
 
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