Auxiliary steering wheel, from HMS New Zealand

This ship's steering wheel comes from the British battlecruiser HMS New Zealand. It is an 'auxiliary wheel', intended for use in an emergency if the main wheel on the bridge was damaged by enemy action.

Debt to British Seamen's Fund
The inscription on the brass hub of the wheel reads: 'This hand-steering wheel taken from HMS New Zealand was presented to the New Zealand Sheepowners' Acknowledgement of Debt to British Seamen's Fund, by the Rosyth Shipbreaking Company, July 1924'.

The Fund was established to enable New Zealand's woolgrowers to direct some of the large profits they had made during World War I to assist the families of British sailors who had been killed. Sons and daughters of the British seamen were also brought to New Zealand for training as farmers.