Gyrostabilizer is a large gyroscope that reduces the rolling of a ship at sea and makes travel more comfortable. A gyroscope is a device that uses rotation to produce a stable direction in space. A gyrostabilizer is mounted on pedestals bolted to the ship’s framework. A self-contained electric motor drives the rotor, a spinning wheel or ball. Gyroscopic inertia, the tendency of a spinning body to resist any attempt to change the direction of its axis of rotation, causes the gyrostabilizer to resist the rolling effect of waves beating against the ship. Many gyrostabilizers weigh hundreds of tons each. A number of ships and yachts built between World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) used gyrostabilizers. See also Gyroscope .
