hi there one and all
This is the only picture I can dig out at the minute, but, I am sure I may have a photograph of an 'open topped bridge' with steering wheel, binnacle shown - from when I built the Cervia - I cannot lay me hands on the pic at the min.
Just food for thought though, sometimes steering wheels were on the large side and were operated by two men. The reason for this being there was no assistance from a steam engine in the very early days; helping out with steering.
The other thing is - on many old ships they had a small steerng wheel on the 'open topped bridge' which was mechanically linked to a larger steering wheel below decks. The larger steering wheel could be dis-engaged from the steering engine and it would only be used in cases of an emergency because it could over-ride the steering engine.
aye
john