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Fog Signal Patent Model
From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This patent model accompanied William B. Barker's patent for a fog signal that received patent number 216,820 on June 24, 1879. The patent contains a dial, marked off with the points of the compass, on which the operator designates his ship's heading. A pedal activated the fog horn that announced both the ships presence and heading. The horn sounded a repeating pattern of three or four blasts. The pattern "long, short, short," for example, would reveal that the vessel was headed on a bearing between north and northeast. "Short, short, short, long" meant a heading between west and southwest.
National Museum of American History’s own descriptionCredit lineFog Signal Patent Model. 1879. Barker, William B.. National Museum of American History. CC0.
