Identify this machinery?

[wedivebc]

That is either a capstan or a windlass. Straight cut gears on a propulsion turbine would be incredibly noisy

 

[inventor]

That is either a capstan or a windlass. Straight cut gears on a propulsion turbine would be incredibly noisy

Ahh, good answer. Didn't catch that.

 

[BarrelRoll]

It is a windless! It's used to bring up the anchor's sits on the bow of a ship you can see in the picture where the chain rests. The anchor chain would come up the hawsepipe across the deck to the windless through the grooves in the drum then down to the chain locker in the fore peek.

I was a Machinist Mate (Nuke) in the US Navy. I know all about both reduction gears and all things Navy.

That's definitely an anchor system, or some other very large weight reduction system. Anchor is all that makes sense to my mind at the moment.

Cool pictures!