Turbinia - Wikipedia

Turbinia was the first steam turbine-powered steamship. Built as an experimental vessel in 1894, and easily the fastest ship in the world at that time, Turbinia was demonstrated dramatically at the Spithead Navy Review in 1897 and set the standard for the next generation of steamships, the majority of which would be turbine powered. The vessel is currently located at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, while her original powerplant is located at the Science Museum in London.

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the modern steam turbine in 1884, and having foreseen its potential to power ships, he set up the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company with five associates in 1893. To develop this, he had the experimental vessel Turbinia built in a light design of steel by the firm of Brown and Hood, based at Wallsend on Tyne[1] in the Northeast of England.

The Admiralty was kept informed of developments, and Turbinia was launched on 2 August 1894.[2] Despite the success of the turbine engine, initial trials with one propeller were disappointing.[3] After discovering the problem of cavitation and constructing the first cavitation tunnel, Parsons' research led to his fitting three axial-flow turbines to three shafts, each shaft in turn driving three propellers, giving a total of nine propellers.[4] In trials, this achieved a top speed of more than 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph), so that "the passengers aboard would be convinced beyond all doubt Turbinia was Charles Parsons' winning North Sea greyhound".

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