Victorian Naval Forces Muster

Kynaston Lanthrop Murray

Chief Electrician

To rank with but after Lieutenants in the Naval Forces and with Lieutenants in the Naval Reserve, according to date of Commission. Victorian Government Gazette, 28 March 1879.

A pair of heliographs having been made to Mr Murrays order for the use of the electrician to the Victorian naval forces, one of these instruments was exhibited by him at the meeting, and its uses fully explained. The instrument is mounted on a light tripod stand, and is extremely portable. A small round mirror, 4in. in diameter, is placed in position to reflect the sun's rays to the distant spot, and signals are then made by means of a Morse key attached to the mirror, which, of course, is easily adjustable in any direction. Signals can be sent in the ordinary Morse telegraph alphabet at a speed of 15 words per minute to a distance of 40 miles on a bright day. It was with this ingenious and beautuul instrument that siguals were sent to the British troops encamped in Ekowe during the late Zulu war. A sighting rod is employed in connexion with the heliograph to show the sending operator that his flashes are going in the required diection, and should he find that, owing to the apparent movement of the sun, the line of the refected ray is out of the true, he is provided with a means of adjustment by which he can shift the mirror so as to rectify any defect. The helogriiphs exhibited by Mr Murray are the only ones yet manufactured in this colony, and on this account are more than usually interesting. The electricians of the naval forces under him have had a good deal of practice with them lately, and have quite mastered the manipulation of the instrument. Allusion was made by Mr Murray to the well known systems of signalling by flags and lamps, and at the conclusion of his paper he was accorded a special vote of thanks.

The Argus, 30 July 1880

Listed in the Victorian Defence Forces List, Naval Branch, 1 January 1890 as being on the Unattached List.

Listed in the Victorian Defence Forces List 1 September 1887 as being on the Unattached List as Chief Electrician.

Mentioned in the Victorian Government Gazette dated 25 September 1896 as having been removed from the Unattached List.

Name inscribed on the Silver Soup Tureen presented to Paymaster James Arthur Thompson by members of the crew of HMAS Cerberus connected with the Torpedo Accident in 1881.