Which navigational error increases when a 18th-century sailing ship experiences significant compass deviation?

💡 Explanation

When a ship experiences compass deviation, local magnetic fields distort the compass reading because metallic objects interfere with Earth's magnetic field, leading to bearing errors. Therefore bearing errors increase, rather than parallax, altitude errors, or dead reckoning issues which rely mostly on sight and estimated speed/time.

• Which risk increases when the angle of a Roman scutum shield weakens in flexion during sustained siege assault?
• Which vulnerability increased susceptibility of the 18th-century wooden warships to capsize during heavy broadsides?
• Which error is magnified when using an astrolabe with a small diameter to determine distant star azimuth?
• Which consequence results from inaccuracies in Ptolemy's geocentric model when predicting planetary positions?
• Which vulnerability increases when Roman scorpio torsion springs utilize excessively dried sinew tendons?
• Which constraint limited the agricultural productivity of early maize cultivation in the Americas prior to nixtamalization?