NEW INVENTION

Hokitika Guardian, 12 June 1937, Page 6

NEW INVENTION

PROPULSION OF SHIPS. BLA DES . REPINE 'SCREWS. . .. • • LONDON, June 5. A new system of ship propulsion by blades instead of screws has been , invented by a German. Trials havo proved so successful that Britis i steamship companies# l botli with :flo«g experience of. paddles and screws,, have nia ed orders, for passenger-carrying vessels to be fitted'with the new system. In. maritime j cirlets it is ■though that the invention imiiy?.prove; as revolutionary’ as was ■ the introduction or screws. '■ - 1 . This new system, . known as - the V oith-Schneideiy Ufter its. inventor, is entirely novel. It consists of a circular group of vertical curved blades: projecting from beneath the cut-awify counter stern of- the vessel: TKese/are geared to the shaft of the main engine,jwhich can be of any type, but is usually a Diesel, and not only does the whole group of blades revolve im eithei direction, but each blade is separate y movable on its own axis. Operation From Bridge Thus, with a simple set of threw combined controls t operated by\ bin. man on the bridge, the ship can be made to go fast or slow, ahead, astern, or even sideways—like a crab—and ‘ can also be steered in any direction, no rudder being .required. There are ■ six blades in the propellor group, and j with twin groups a vessel of up to about 200 ft. length- can make a com- . plete turn in less than a - minute and in little more than its own length. The chief, advantages are greater . propulsive efficiency ..with less . power than either screw or paddle, ease, of manoeuvring, more manoeuvring eapabilities —namely , sideways- . movement —and reduction of time lag between the giving of a bridge order and its execution, due'td the'direc,t c^iitrdl. The companies which ate pioneering this invention in Great Britain ure ! the’ Southampton, Isle of :Wigh|; .and South of England Steam Packet Cornpany and the Southern R ail way j.; 5 Isle of' Wight Company has placed , with John -'T.’Thornycroft and ~ Company,’ Southampton, 'an, order, for a ‘ passengerv vessel-195ft. #lpu^.by- 3011. ' beam, . fitted with two -600. b.p. engines, ;bacli ; (giving; 1 V oitii-Schnejclef -propellor. ; Tins : »»‘U * Will have a speed of 15 knots- and'wiH ' be employed iii the regular-service be-, tween Southampton and Cowes. I J- . * * **:-./ /' '• • • i > popularity on Continent. t yf;• s Tlio 'Southern Railway has ordered a f slightly smaller vessel ’from William Denny- Dumbarton, it will measure 148 ft. by 3Gftv, and will have two 200 b.p. Diesel engines, each driving a six- b aded propellor. It will be 1 used as a passenger and motor-car ' i'erry between> Lymingtou and Yarr mouth, Isle of Wight. •. ! r Voith-Schneider propulsion is; iddal - for navigation in crowded and narrow 2 waterways, and for this reason it has 1 already attained'considerable popular--i" ity on the Continent in the last .year, , Germany has.several tug and'small pas- -■■ senger vessels" fitted - with'-, the invens tion on Lake Constance. aiftt the Rhine; 1 France his a few passenger launches 1 on the Loire at Nantes; and early this s summer six Voith-Schneuier motor “gondolas” will be. in service on the r canals of Venice. .1 .' ■ . - '