
2 9 c m
40cm
actual image size: 32cm x 21cm
Description
This basic model represents a screw driven steam launch constructed at Wapping, London, in accordance with Francis Pettit Smith's (1808-1874) patent of 1835. On trials, when one turn of her two turn wooden propeller was accidentally broken away, the launch was observed to increase her speed. Smith, originally a farmer by occupation, never profited financially from his lifetime devotion to the cause of screw propulsion, but was knighted in 1871.
Image Details
Image Ref.
10326594
© Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library