Nautical instruments

Excelsior III Ship-log with Rotator – Walkers, Birmingham

A ship-log records the distance travelled through the water. With the time in hours between the observations, it gives the ship’s speed in knots.

This is a nice set with clock, line, rotator, sinker weight and towing ring in a pine case with instruction for use in the lid. The log is fixed at the stern of a ship with a rope. The recorder would have been connected with a line to the rotor at the end of the line. Open govenor wheel is mounted on a drive spindle. The enamel face with two dials.

Thomas F. Walker (1837–1921) patented a log in 1878, the Walkers patent taffrail ship-log. It was one of the first logs in which the recorder was placed on board the ship rather than being part of the rotator. The Excelsior Mark III was made between 1926 and 1936.

Catalog: NM.4-8
Date: ca. 1926-1936
HWD case: 13x40x17 cm (5.1×15.7×6.8 in)
Signed: Walker’s Mark III Excelsior Yacht-log, nr Q4270
Origin: England
Condition: complete, in good and working condition, wear consistent with age and use