Steering Room and Steering Gear Room

Drawing section "Proposed Diagrammatic Arrangement of Steering Stations and Leads", C&R 14346, Newport News 53734, 31 March 1911 The 1911 design is the appearance as of 1945 (less a steam steering stand that was never installed, which I removed)

Steering Room

Three means to turn the screw gear in the Steering Gear Room which then turns the rudder

Manual  Four wooden wheels, 7 foot diameter ("Hand Stg Gear").  The main clutch in Steering Gear Room would disengage the rudder shaft and the Hand Gear Clutch would engage the steering wheels Electrical:  "Electric Stg Stand" (also from Pilot House and Conning Tower).  Electrical control went to a 150hp electric motor with the motor clutch disengaging the rudder shaft on the right then rotates the shaft on the left going to the screw gear Steam Steam powered rudder shaft (coming in on the right from the Steering Engine Room) continues to the screw gear

Photo courtesy of Tom Scott

Steering Gear Room

Operating the Rudder Screw Gear

Today, the rudder angle indicator show's 14 1/2 degrees starboard and photos in Todd's Shipyard shows the rudder turned to starboard.

Shaft (top) from the steering wheels in the Steering Room or the lower one (steam or electric)

1. Turns the drive gear 2. Rotating the threaded shaft 3.  Sliding the assembly (forward or back depending on direction of the threaded shaft) 4. Pulling one pivot arm in one direction and pushing the other in the opposite direction 5.  Turning the rudder head which turns the shaft the rudder is connected to