Nautical Ship Wheels - Together with the anchor, the ship's wheel is the recurrent symbol of ships and sea. It was introduced somewhere in the beginning of the 18th century. Before that, ships were steered with the tiller. Larger ships of that age had the tiller linked with block and tackle systems to the rudder which made steering cumbersome. The wheelstand was most often placed close to the rudder on the aftdeck and nearly always in the open air. Only later with the introduction of steam ships built from iron and steel, the wheel was moved to the "bridge", and the command center was from then called the "Wheelhouse".