This binnacle is of a type commonly fitted on commercial vessels. The binnacle is of the type originally designed by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907) comprising a wooden pedestal and a brass hood with a glazed aperture and a light fitting. It has a heeling error gauge in the side of the pedestal and two soft iron spheres on brackets to counteract the effects of the ship's iron on the compass. Doors in the pedestal give access to the corrector magnets held inside. The liquid compass is mounted on gimbals. The card is made of glass or plastic and is graduated both in degrees and compass points. The lubber line is on a plate attached to the compass bowl.

The binnacle was installed on the 'Sir William Hardy', the first diesel electric trawler built in Britain in 1955. The environmental campaign group Greenpeace bought the trawler in 1978 and renamed it the 'Rainbow Warrior'. In 1985, French agents sank the ship in Auckland Harbour, from where the binnacle was recovered. It was presented to the Museum by Greenpeace in May 1987.