A housing for a ship's compass (8)
I believe the answer is:
binnacle
'a housing for a ship's compass' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for binnacle that I've seen before include "Casing for ship's compass" , "Container for ship's compass" , "Clean bin to hold ship's compass" , "It houses a ship's compass" , "Compass location" .)