Mounted Walker “Cherub III” Ships Log off the Stricken Oil Tanker SS Ponus (d.1916)
The SS Ponus was a British Cargo Steamer of 5,077 tons, (similar to the one in the picture) and was launched in 1902 by Russell & Co, Port Glasgow, Yard No 492 . It was built for the Anglo-American Oil Company of London as the SS KENNEBEC but was acquired by the Admiralty and re-named SS Ponus.
On November 3rd 1916, SS Ponus was nearing the end of her voyage. She had been chartered by the
Admiralty and was travelling from Trinidad to Britain. While off of the coast of Cornwall, she encountered a gale and her anchor could not hold her in place, so the British Oil steamer, was driven ashore on Gyllyngvase beach, Falmouth in Cornwall. She then caught fire and was ablaze for 3 days, fortunately the crew were safely landed, with the aid of the Falmouth lifeboat.
Unfortunately, all attempts to get the ship off failed as she was stuck fast, after several attempts to re-float the tanker resulted only in part of her being recovered and the rest of the ship became a popular diving wreck.
The well presented Cherub patented Thomas Walker & Son ships log is mounted on Oak and has a brass provenance cartouche to the front. Thomas Walker and his son, Thomas Ferdinand Walker (1838-1921) developed the original log design (patented in 1861) into a number of improved versions.
This instrument is a recorder for determining distance travelled and thus ship’s speed. It is made of brass with a ceramic dial, with the main scale marked from 0 to 100 miles and two inset dials marked from 0 to 1000 miles and 0 to 1 mile. It has a fixing plate, on which it can turn, with which it would have been attached to a suitable part of the ship, typically the taffrail, the rail at the stern of a ship. As a result, this type of log was often called a taffrail log and the recorder would have been connected to a rotor that was towed behind the ship. The revolutions of the rotor registered on the indicator, thus measuring the distance travelled and speed.
Great piece of maritime history!
£325
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