Can anyone tell me what this is?

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Namtaws

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Hi not to sure if I’m on the right forum etc. but found this in my father-in-law’s garage,
Any ideas I’ve looked everywhere and can’t work out what it is?
It has a Plessey rader signage that’s it and comes with a really long wireIMG_4083.jpeg
 
veshengro

veshengro

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No idea what it is exactly, but putting two and two together and coming up with five..Plessey had a Naval Development section which was involved in defence projects. Guessing now, that device has a screw connector that looks as if it connected to a pole of some description and as the whole device looks like it was designed to run captive underwater, perhaps it was attached underwater to a vessel and recorded speed/ sonar effects and other information transmitted back along the cable?? In short some sort of test device?
 
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Namtaws

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That’s really good of you to reply and helpful I just didn’t want to throw it away clearing out my father in laws garage I also found a old brass ships log not quite sure what to do with them to be honest!
 
veshengro

veshengro

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Brass log? Is the name Walker shown anywhere on it ? A towed Log I take it you mean? If so there are Nautical Antique Dealers who buy that sort of item.
 
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Namtaws

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He used to have a boat at Wroxham Broads when he was younger and has a few boat related bits scattered in his garage
 
veshengro

veshengro

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There is a real but limited market for such items. People restoring or owning older vessels could be interested. Can I suggest you collect all those items and perhaps find a Nautical Antiques Dealer. It's important that you do gather all the 'Bits'. That Walker Log for instance, there may be a 'Shoe' or brass fitting that allows it to attach to a wooden Taff Rail. In my experience those shoes are quite difficult to track down, so if you have one it will be of benefit. There may also be an item that looks like a small Torpedo with fins on it, that is the Rotator that goes with the Log instrument, so keep them together.
Apart from any financial value, those items are getting harder to find and are part of Nautical History, so it would be a pity just to scrap them. Try someone like this..https://www.trinitymarine.co.uk
No connection at all, just an ex Seafarer who's job once included regularly Streaming one of those logs, long before technology took over.. 😊
 
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While I have used a Walker in the past, that unit I have never heard of. Mine was purely mechanical. The first item looks very interesting. There must be somebody who can suss out it use. The mounting system is quite complicated for a simple submerged unit . How thick are the cables that come out of it?
 
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bedouin

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It looks to me as if the propeller is intended to be turned by the water rather than being powered - and the mounting doesn't look appropriate for transmitting mechanical force.

I would go along with it being some form of scientific measuring device - perhaps intended to be a few feet down below the surface. Could be just for generating electricity but it looks a bit large/over engineered for something that straightforward
 
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