Log, Taffrail

One taffrail log made by Thomas Walker & Son, Ltd., of England. The log has a cylindrically-shaped heavy brass body and a swivel base to allow for mounting on the taffrail of a ship. The front has protective glass that is mounted in a round brass frame. Beneath the glass, there is a gauge with a white enamel face, black graduation marks along the perimeter, and black numerals shown in increments of ten from 0 to 100. A single large pointer arrow is located at the center of the gauge. Printed text on the gauge face shows "Walker's Patent, 'Cherub' (Mark II) Ship Log." Below the large central pointer, there is a smaller gauge face and pointer which is numbered in one-tenth increments from .0 to .9 with one rotation of this gauge being equal to "1 Mile." Stamped text on the top of log body shows "Walker's 'Cherub' Ship-Log, T.W. (Mark II)" and "900." The back section of the log has a large brass eye on the end of a rotating shaft. One end of a line would have been attached to the eye and the other end would have an attached rotating spinner with brass fins. When cast into the sea behind a moving ship, the spinner rotations would be counted by the mechanical log in order to record the distance travelled and the ship's speed.