Historical information

The flywheel possibly belongs to a Walker's Cherub Mark III Ship-log taffrail, how the flywheel operates is a metal loop of the recording log would have been connected to the flywheel, so you could see if it was spinning properly.
After the flywheel, is the rotor that was towed behind the ship and the revolutions of the rotor would register on the indicator, thus measuring the distance the vessel had travelled.

Thomas Ferdinand Walker (1837–1921) first patented the Cherub log in 1878. It was one of the first logs in which the recorder was placed onboard a ship rather than being incorporated as part of the rotor. The Cherub Mark III series was produced from 1930 it came in two versions a thousand-mile which is quite rare and a five hundred-mile version.

Significance

This ship log flywheel was invented and made by a significant marine instrument maker and innovator of machinery Thomas Walker. It demonstrates the huge leap taken to improve navigational accuracy at sea with an instrument that was in use for decades to measure the distance travelled at sea updated versions are in use today by mariners.

Physical description

Log Governor (or Fly-wheel) from a Ships Taffrail Log, metal wheel with 6 spokes, hub has rope attached for connecting to ships log. Boss the other side for attachment to the spinner.

Inscriptions & markings

None