Thread: Whats This

Surveying in the Early Midwest

theres a nice simple drawing of an even more primative one on that page.

Looks like either range finder or inclinometer to me ,but i'm no expert-If it's naval then it probably isn't an inclinometer as ther aren't many mountains at sea.- Don

I've seen similar items at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich ..Looks like a Brass Gun Sight ..W Ottway made telescopes and sights for early HMS warships in the first world war..I used to live near Greenwich as a kid and my dad being ex Merchant Navy used to take me most weekends for a walk round the museum.

Originally Posted by dm_td5

Some clearer pics might help. W.Ottway made a lot of military gun sights but also surveying, telescopes and other equipment. The No 148 is the model number so if you can trace that down you should be able to find out exactly what it was for. Pretty sure the D with the arrow refers to Ministry of Defence.

Pics were taken at night ill try and get some better ones thru the day light

It is a clinometer for measuring or setting vertical angles, but is almost certainly a gunsight - if it were a surveying alidade the rear sight would be in the middle vertically, and it would have at least one side of the base straight, probably with a parallel rule.

Best guess is that it is a simple sight for some sort of artillery piece, perhaps an howitzer. The thumbscrew attaches it to a pad on the frame, and the position of the front sight is set for the range.

John

My pennyworth is that gunsights were carried seperately to protect them from damage, so thats part of the puzzle in place.
Oh. the insignia is definately army.
Cheers,
DAVID

Originally Posted by JDNSW

It is a clinometer for measuring or setting vertical angles, but is almost certainly a gunsight - if it were a surveying alidade the rear sight would be in the middle vertically, and it would have at least one side of the base straight, probably with a parallel rule.

Best guess is that it is a simple sight for some sort of artillery piece, perhaps an howitzer. The thumbscrew attaches it to a pad on the frame, and the position of the front sight is set for the range.

John

The thumb screw is for height adjustment = spirit level , The whole thing pivots on the base which the thumb screw butts up too when turned either way , if you like

Originally Posted by Disco Pom

I've seen similar items at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich ..Looks like a Brass Gun Sight ..W Ottway made telescopes and sights for early HMS warships in the first world war..I used to live near Greenwich as a kid and my dad being ex Merchant Navy used to take me most weekends for a walk round the museum.

Do you have family or freinds in the UK , That could get some more infomation on this , if possible