THE EFFECT OF PROPELLERS ON THE STEERING OF VESSELS. 421 



to give evidence at the trial may be taken to indicate the cause to which 

 they attributed the collision. The case, however, was only in part heard, 

 for after the evidence for the plaintiffs a compromise was effected, and 

 the pilot withdrew all assertion that the wheel chains had been jammed, 

 thus admitting that the failure to steer had been brought about by the 

 reversal of the screw. 



The other case is the well-known accident to the Kilrfurst. In this 

 it is admitted that the order was to starboard the helm and reverse the 

 screw of the Konig Wilhelm, and this order was avowedly given with 

 the view of bringing the vessel round to port. All the experiments of 

 this Committee, however, go to prove that with a reversed screw and a 

 starboard helm such a vessel as the Konig Wilhelm would have turned 

 to starboard rather than port. This was what, according to all the 

 evidence, did actually happen, and was the final cause of the catastrophe. 

 But it appears that those in charge of the Konig Wilhelm arrived at 

 the conclusion that the men at the wheel (and these would be many), 

 although they all aver that they heard the order and obeyed it, in reality 

 turned the wheel the wrong way. Considering, therefore, that it was 

 not one man but a number of men at the wheel, and that the vessel 

 behaved exactly as she would have behaved had the order been obeyed, 

 as the men say it was, the conclusion of the Court seems to be most 

 improbable, and, for the sake of future steering, most unfortunate. 



The Committee are now of opinion that the work for which they were 

 originally brought together has been fully accomplished. The importance 

 of the effect of the reversed screw on the action of the rudder has been 

 fully established, as well as the nature of its effect completely ascertained. 

 Also for two years the Committee have urged the results of their work 

 upon the attention of the Admiralty, and the various marine boards, and 

 although they regret that as yet they have failed to obtain the general 

 recognition of the facts brought to light which their vital importance 

 demands, they consider that this will surely follow, and that as a Com- 

 mittee they can do no more than publish the reports of the trials, and the 

 conclusions to which they have been led. 



Full accounts of the experiments made previously to this year have 

 been given in the two previous Reports, and those which the Committee 

 have received this year are given at length at the end of this Report. The 

 following is a summary of the conclusions which have been established ; 

 and it is interesting to notice that the conclusions drawn by Professor 

 Reynolds from experiments on models have been fully confirmed by the 

 experiments on full-sized ships : — 



Summary of the Results of the Trials of the Effect of the Reversed Screw 

 on the Steering during the time a vessel is stopping herself. 



It appears both from the experiments made by the Committee, and from 

 other evidence, that the distance required by a screw steamer to bring 

 herself to rest from full speed by the reversal of her screw is independent, 

 or nearly so, of the power of the engines, but depends on the size and 

 build of the ship, and generally lies between four and six times the ship's 

 length. It is to be borne in mind that it is to the behaviour of the ship 

 during this interval that the following remarks apply. 



The main point the Committee have had in view has been to ascertain 

 how far the reversing of the screw in order to stop a ship did or did not 



