Quote from Ted Scaplehorn on 8 December 2020, 17:50

LNRS Member Arthur Jennion has asked:

"I have recently been able to visit an old friend from my Philatelic association, he showed me the item photographed. It is made of solid brass very heavy, it looks to be a telegraph of some sort obviously with a Mersey connexion. Stamped on the bottom is MERSEY No27.

 

The outer case is square with an inner column hexagonally shaped, there has been at some time a “T” handle fitted to the spindle.  

 

If you can identify this I would be obliged if not could you send it on to the engineers in our society, in the hope they might just know what it is and if possible, what type of  vessel it was used on.

 

My friend is an electrical engineer he recovered the object from a skip when working on a contract job in Mersey Docks many years ago, having asked permission to take it."

It occurs to me that 'Mersey No 27' might refer to the grab dredger of the same name, which had an unusual diesel-electric propulsion system involving three diesel generators connected to four electric motors.  The inner column seems to be calibrated for '2 Engs' and '3 Engs' so I wonder if this is some sort of power meter, but I'm not sure exactly what it might be measuring.  Could it relate to the lifting capacity with different engine combinations?  Answers on a postcard please...

Ted