Screw propeller
Hélice naval
- Date
- 1836-1839 · confidence high
- Place
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Francis Pettit Smith and John Ericsson
- People
- 👤 Francis Pettit Smith1808–1874👤 John Ericsson1803–1889
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A submerged screw propeller replacing the paddle wheel, more efficient and less vulnerable to rough seas and enemy fire. With the 'Archimedes' (1839) and the SS Great Britain (1843), it became established in ocean-going shipping.
Smith (London) and Ericsson (London, then New York) took out almost simultaneous patents in 1836; earlier precedents include Josef Ressel in Trieste (1827) and Bushnell and Stevens in the United States.
What it led to
- Screw-propelled warships and ironclads
- Regular transoceanic shipping and imperial trade routes
- Mass transatlantic emigration
Built on
Made possible
- Iron-hulled ship1821-1843
- Steam-powered airship1852
- SS Great Eastern (double hull and giant ship)1858-1859
- Kanrin Maru (Japanese steam corvette crossing the Pacific)1860
- Ironclad warship (Gloire and Warrior)1859-1860
- Propeller cavitation (Barnaby and Thornycroft)1894
- Hydrofoil (Forlanini)1906
- Dreadnought battleship1906
- Voith-Schneider propeller (vertical-axis)1926
- Ducted propeller1931 (Stipa) / 1934 (Kort)
- Nuclear-powered submarine (USS Nautilus)1954
- Dynamic positioning of ships1961
- Large iron hull (SS Great Britain)
- Powered submarine