Steam in the Navy 97 



named the Recruit and the Weser. Both 

 vessels were double-ended and they had 

 a coal capacity for 2,000 miles steaming. 

 When fully loaded they drew only seven 

 feet of water, which made them extremely 

 useful for shallow rivers or harbours. 

 They had oscillating engines, making 33 

 revolutions per minute. The speed was 

 over ii knots. Steam was supplied from 

 tubular boilers. The paddle-wheels had 

 a diameter of 17 ft., they had a tonnage 

 of 334, beam 26 ft., and a length, on the 

 load water-line, of 178 ft. 



The Recruit and Weser had two masts, 

 giving each a sail area of 415 square yards. 

 From the latter details you will see that 

 sails still played a goodly part in the means 

 of propulsion, despite the advance of steam. 



It is strange to find that the screw pro- 

 peller for steam-driven vessels owed much 

 to a farmer named Francis Pettitt Smith. 

 He patented the idea, which he had 

 experimented with in model form, and 

 was joined in his patent by John Ericsson. 



