3-047-038 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Voyage to China: bridge of a steam-ship on the Red Sea, 1872. '...the officer of the watch and the steersman at the wheel...In the old sailing-ships, the officer of the vessel was on the poop or quarter-deck...[however] when the officer was on the bridge and the man at the wheel was far away at the stern, orders were misunderstood...which in some cases led to accidents. To obviate this, the wheel is now generally placed on the bridge, so that the officer can give his orders direct, and he is also on the spot to see that they are carried out, while the man himself can see the reason of the order, and hence acts more intelligently. He has the binnacle with the compass lighted up before him, which he is supposed to watch so as to keep the ship true to her course...The officer paces along the bridge, keeping his eye on the horizon, and watching every speck that appears; as he passes the binnacle, he glances at it, to see that the course is right. There is a chart to tell him where land or rocks may be expected, and he has the means of giving a signal to the engineers below. The safety of all depends on the constant watchfulness of these two men'. From "Illustrated London News", 1872.