Commander W.E. 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.

May was educated at the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth.

He went to sea in 1915 as a Midshipman on HMS Temeraire and saw action at the Battle of Jutland.

In 1927 he took a position as gyrocompass inspector with the instrument maker S G Brown Ltd.[1] 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.