A STEERING "PROPULSOR"

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 18, Issue 12, 8 February 1907, Page 6

A STEERING "PROPULSOR"

(Apparatus Applied to ©t*u»ship« Wbieh It Both Propellor and Bud* dev—Only for Small Boat*. Unlike the ordinary tteaiuship, the fish forces itself through tho water and altera iti course by means of the same organ, the tail. Several inventors, though, have tried to perform both funo tioni with one piece of apparatus. fhe first application of the ideaat least of late years—was made to the submarine. Some French boats of that class have been provided with a peculiar joint in th<> propeller shaft, just outside tjie stern, so that the screw itself can be swung from side to side. By changing the angle at which the thrust is made against the water, the boat is steered and rudder* are made unnecessary. From a short report made to the department of commerce at Washington from the American consul at Birmingham, it would appear that the same system has been tried on boats which are meant to travel on the surface only, likr naphtha launches. An English firm is introducing the invention, but the latter is of French origin The "propulsor," as it is called, can be applied to any boat already in existence, if it is not too large. How the connections are made is not explained, but the consular report says that it is possible to dispense with the necessity of boring a hole through the stern post, and of supplying a perman ent propeller shaft and stuffingbox. It can be attached to a boa! and removed from the same with out any modification of the boat itself. Anyone taking this "steer ingpropulsor"toa lake, river or the seaside may attach it to any boat he finds there that is within its range of power. As the propeller can be completely turned around. a reverse action is given. The Automotor Journal states that a given number of these transfer able propulsors have been adopt ed by the navies of France, Russia and Japan, and that a 12-horse power propulsor has been success fully applied to a launch, 'which towed a 300-ton canal barge with a load of 150 tons of sand.