William Edward May

William Edward May (10 November 1899 – 26 April 1989) was a Royal Navy officer noted for his work in the development of gyro and magnetic compasses, and as a historian of compasses and marine navigation.

Biography May was educated at the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth. He went to sea in 1915 as a Midshipman on and saw action at the Battle of Jutland. He worked as a surveyor in HMS Merlin and HMS Flinders, and qualified in navigation in 1923. In 1924, he married Mary Elspeth Margaret James. In 1927 he took a position as gyrocompass inspector with the instrument maker S G Brown Ltd.

In 1929, May was appointed to the Admiralty Compass Observatory, being Superintendent of Gyro-compasses at Devonport from 1933 to 1936, Malta from 1936 to 1939, and Portsmouth from 1939 to 1942. From 1942 he was responsible for organising installation and services for gyro-compasses as well as for training. Many of May's papers are in the archive of the Royal Museums, Greenwich.

Selected publications

Sword presented to Lord Nelson by the City of London after the Nile. From Swords for Sea Service Volume 1; Volume 2.

(Revised edition, originally published in 1974)