Here's the simple way to verify a dropped Octant is still working: set to zero and look at a star or the horizon. If the mirror is misaligned it will be obvious and can be corrected in most cases. This isn't to say that a navigator can fix a bent octant, but at least it's possible to know that it isn't working right.
My old celestial text book (Crawford, 1972) devotes half a chapter to testing for such problems, and methods to adjust it back to normal, without needing any special equipment. It seems certain to me that Noonan would be familiar with the methods.