The Screw Propeller
Earliest ships Earliest Sailing Vessels Galleys Biremes Triremes Roman Galleys Dromons Lateen-Rigged Ships Junks Viking Ships Cog Carrack Caravel Galleon East Indiamen Ships of the Line Frigates, Sloops, and Brigs Clippers Last Days of Sail Fuel powered ships Paddlewheel Steamships Innovative Ships of the Late 19th Century The Screw Propeller Iron and Steel Hulls Double and Triple Expansion Steam Engines Steam Turbines Diesel Engines The Great Ocean Liners Cruise Ships Cargo Ships Container Ships Roll-On-Roll-Off and LASH Vessels Tankers Crude Carriers Product Tankers Other Specialized Tankers Tanker Safety Fishing Vessels Trawlers Seiners Long Liners Research Vessels Hovercraft Nuclear-Powered Vessels Naval Vessels Aircraft Carriers Battleships Cruisers Destroyers Frigates Mine Craft ship design
Aircraft carrier Barge Bulk carrier Cable Layer Capital ship Cargo ship Catamaran Coaster Container ship Corvette Crane vessel Cruise ship Cruiser Cutter Destroyer Diving support vessel Drillship Dredger Ferry Frigate Floating Production Storage and Offloading Guided missile cruiser Hopper barge, Split hopper barge Hovercraft Hydrofoil Icebreaker Jetfoil Junk Landing craft Lake freighter Livestock carrier LNG carrier Lugger Minesweeper minehunter Ocean liner Packet ship Panamax Passenger ship Reefer (refrigerated ship) Research vessel RO-RO ship (roll on, roll off, Auto carrier) Sailing ship Selfdischargers Semi-submersible Sloop Steamboat supertanker Supply boat, Supply ship Survey Vessels Tanker Tender Train ferry Tugboat Ultra Large Crude Carrier Very Large Crude Carrier Yacht
SUBMARINES Submersible Craft Torpedo (weapon)
Boats and Boatbuilding INTRODUCTION BASICS OF BOAT DESIGN Buoyancy and Weight Trim and Stability Structure Watertightness
SKIN AND BARK BOATS WOODEN BOATS Lapstrake Construction Carvel Construction Plywood Construction CANVAS-COVERED BOATS ALUMINUM BOATS FERROCEMENT BOATS FIBERGLASS BOATS MEASURING AND MODELING The Half-Model Lift Models and Lofting BOAT PROPULSION Inboard Motors Outboard Motors Water-Jet Drive Surface-Piercing Propeller
Motor-Boat Racing Rowing Yachting

A welder making repairs in dry dock appears very small next to the massive ship’s propeller located just behind him. The introduction of propellers and advances in engine technology during the late 19th century brought an end to the age of the ocean-going sailing ships.

A major development in ship propulsion was the screw propeller, fully submerged rotating blades that pushed the ship through the water. The screw propeller was first used in 1840 on the Archimedes, a river-going American steamer. British shipbuilder Brunel again pioneered ship design when he adopted the propulsion system of the Archimedes for his second ship, Great Britain, in 1853. At 98 m (322 ft), Great Britain was the largest steamship of its day, the first to be made of iron, and the first seagoing ship driven by a screw propeller. Great Britain's propeller measured nearly 5 m (16 ft) in diameter and weighed more than 3 tons (The Screw Propeller, Ship Propulsion, Engine Technology Ships 19th Century).

The earliest screw propellers used on ships had two long, narrow blades, resembling the propellers of early aircraft. Soon propellers with three, four, and even more blades were in use, and ships carried two, three, or more propellers. Multiple propellers increased speed and provided alternatives in the event that one propeller malfunctioned or was lost.


auuuu.com ©2012.