SHIP'S PROPELLER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 267, 10 November 1934, Page 3 (Supplement)

SHIP'S PROPELLER.

I SOMETHING NEW ABOUT IT. When tlie first experiments were made i(i driving a ship with the propeller instead of with paddle wheels the propeller was made with many blades. It was soon found that four blades were the most that could be used with advantage, many vessels having llireebladed and even two-bladed propellers. As long ago ae IS3O a ship was litted with a pair of two-bladed propellers, each turning in the opposite direction, with the blades, of course, bent to suit the- direction. Little good came of this experiment, until nearly 100 years later, when the Italian ship the Cristoforo Colombo, of 3500 tons, wae built, and fitted with a pair of two-bladed propellers turning ii. opposite directions; it has been found that these drive the ship a quarter faster than an ordinary four-bladed pro-pellei-j. The- reports of these interesting experiments will doubtless lead to new work and may lead to still further eaviiig in power or increase in speed.