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Roller ship

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level, and was about 40 by 12 metres; it contained the engines as well as the crew housing. Bazin predicted the ship would be able to make about eighteen knots, perhaps pushing twenty at full power, but hoped that a ship of similar build with the power that could propel a convention ship to 20 knots could achieve speeds of 47 knots; many observers estimated, however, that the design was theoretically capable of thirty-two knots based on the size and power of the wheels and on early model tests. This compared very favourably with contemporary steamships; the fast
59: 103: 183: 28: 82:: they tapered to a point, like the hulls of ships. Indeed, when pushed forwards through the water, without any rotational movement, they behaved exactly like a conventional hull. When rotated, however, they proved in testing to be much more efficient, due to the propulsive force being expended both vertically and horizontally. It was found that the overall speed ought to be roughly two-thirds the speed of rotation of the wheels. 546: 74:
could be reduced and – in theory – the vessel could be made to move much faster for a given amount of power. As envisaged by Bazin, the main hull was lifted out of the water, with large hollow discs attached to each side. These discs would provide the buoyancy of the ship, as well as part
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on August 19, 1896. It had three pairs of discs ten-metres in diameter and three-metres thick; each pair was independently driven by a fifty-horsepower engine and, under normal conditions, about one-third submerged. The main hull was supported just above the axes of these discs, 4m above the sea
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could break thirty. The fuel consumption was also anticipated to be sharply reduced; a full-scale vessel was predicted by Bazin to consume only 800 tons of coal for a thirty-knot Atlantic crossing, compared to 3000–4000 tons for a 22-knot crossing by a conventional liner.
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in early 1897, the design was found to be unworkable. When the rollers rotated through the water, each one brought up so much water adhering to it that it was braked heavily, causing them to rotate much more slowly than anticipated and with a much greater consumption of fuel.
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Bazin died on January 21, 1898, a few weeks after announcing he had overcome these problems, and revealing plans for an ocean-going liner, with four pairs of discs, which would be able to cross from Le Havre to New York in sixty hours.
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in a rough triangular layout, with a flat deck mounted above them; there was apparently no other propulsion. The project was a complete failure, perhaps due to the lack of any propulsion other than the paddles.
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was a test ship, meant to test the design. If its test succeeded, a roller ship with 4 disc pairs was to be constructed to transport passengers from
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of its propulsive power. These wheels were independently driven, with a separate screw lowered into the water from the hull to propel the boat.
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of the late nineteenth century, which attempted to propel itself by means of large wheels. Only one such vessel was constructed —
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The idea briefly resurfaced in the 1930s, with proposed designs for a large "tricycle" liner appearing in
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An early attempt to produce such a ship was made in the early 1880s by Robert Fryer, who built the
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at a cost of some £14,000 after twelve years of experimentation. It consisted of three
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of the day could manage slightly over twenty knots, whilst high-powered military
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inventor Ernest Bazin after five years of model-based tests and launched at
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The principle behind the design was similar to that of the slightly later
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Das Rollenschiff des Ernest Bazin/ Ernest Bazin's roller ship
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The steampunk dream machine that lies buried beneath Toronto
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an analogous attempt (like adapting paddle wheels) to flight
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An artist's impression of a full-scale Bazin roller liner
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The first and only operational roller ship, the 280-ton
170:in 1934, and a much smaller four-wheeled boat in 573: 259:, by Bernard Dumpleton. Intellect Books, 2002. 366:"Ernest Bazin dead in France". Article in the 362: 360: 515:Randy Richmond & Tom Villemaire (2002). 402:"Turbo Wheel Liners to Speed Across Seas", 357: 307: 305: 286: 186:Knapp's roller boat, in Prescott, Ontario. 292:"The French Roller Ship". Article in the 302: 231: 229: 181: 101: 57: 26: 154:. However, when preparing to cross the 42:was an unconventional and unsuccessful 14: 574: 497:(2). Toronto Marine Historical Society 190:In 1897, Frederick Knapp, a lawyer in 226: 458: 521:. Dundurn Press. pp. 104–110. 239:55, 379 – 380 (18 Feb 1897). 31:Schematic design, published in the 24: 463:. Heritage Toronto. Archived from 436:. Town of Prescott. Archived from 177: 25: 618: 539: 544: 331:, Vol. 12, no. 70. (Oct. 1896). 508: 479: 452: 426: 412: 396: 257:The Story Of The Paddle Steamer 376: 337: 321: 280:Le drôle de bateau de M. Bazin 269: 249: 13: 1: 219: 283:(the funny boat of Mr Bazin) 7: 201: 10: 623: 607:19th-century introductions 518:Colossal Canadian failures 235:"The "Bazin" Roller Boat. 85: 386:56, p.500 (23 Sep 1897), 347:55, p.109 (03 Dec 1896), 53: 420:Transportation Futurists 434:"The Knapp Roller Boat" 214:Screw-propelled vehicle 370:, January 22nd, 1898. 316:Brockhaus Enzyklopädie 187: 118:, was designed by the 111: 63: 35: 564:Knapp's roller ship: 553:at Wikimedia Commons 461:"Knapp's Roller Boat" 296:, August 30th, 1896. 185: 105: 61: 30: 329:The Strand Magazine 587:Experimental ships 188: 112: 64: 36: 592:Marine propulsion 549:Media related to 487:"The Roller Boat" 459:Sullivan, Olena. 440:on 10 August 2015 333:Online copy (PDF) 192:Prescott, Ontario 18:Knapp roller boat 16:(Redirected from 614: 548: 533: 532: 512: 506: 505: 503: 502: 483: 477: 476: 474: 472: 467:on 22 March 2012 456: 450: 449: 447: 445: 430: 424: 416: 410: 400: 394: 392:10.1038/056499a0 380: 374: 364: 355: 353:10.1038/055107a0 341: 335: 325: 319: 309: 300: 290: 284: 277: 273: 267: 253: 247: 245:10.1038/055379a0 233: 21: 622: 621: 617: 616: 615: 613: 612: 611: 602:Water transport 572: 571: 542: 537: 536: 529: 513: 509: 500: 498: 485: 484: 480: 470: 468: 457: 453: 443: 441: 432: 431: 427: 417: 413: 404:Modern Mechanix 401: 397: 381: 377: 365: 358: 342: 338: 326: 322: 310: 303: 291: 287: 275: 274: 270: 254: 250: 234: 227: 222: 204: 180: 178:Similar designs 172:Popular Science 168:Modern Mechanix 156:English Channel 88: 78:The discs were 56: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 620: 610: 609: 604: 599: 594: 589: 584: 570: 569: 562: 541: 540:External links 538: 535: 534: 527: 507: 478: 451: 425: 411: 395: 375: 368:New York Times 356: 336: 320: 301: 294:New York Times 285: 268: 248: 224: 223: 221: 218: 217: 216: 211: 203: 200: 179: 176: 106:The completed 87: 84: 55: 52: 33:New York Times 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 619: 608: 605: 603: 600: 598: 595: 593: 590: 588: 585: 583: 580: 579: 577: 568:(Andrew King) 567: 563: 560: 556: 555: 554: 552: 547: 530: 528:1-55002-416-7 524: 520: 519: 511: 496: 492: 488: 482: 466: 462: 455: 439: 435: 429: 422: 421: 415: 409: 406:, June 1934. 405: 399: 393: 389: 385: 379: 373: 369: 363: 361: 354: 350: 346: 340: 334: 330: 324: 317: 313: 308: 306: 299: 295: 289: 282: 281: 272: 266: 265:1-84150-801-2 262: 258: 252: 246: 242: 238: 232: 230: 225: 215: 212: 209: 206: 205: 199: 197: 193: 184: 175: 173: 169: 164: 160: 157: 153: 152:New York City 149: 145: 140: 137: 134: 130: 125: 121: 117: 109: 104: 100: 97: 96:paddle wheels 93: 83: 81: 76: 73: 69: 60: 51: 49: 45: 41: 34: 29: 19: 551:Roller ships 543: 517: 510: 499:. Retrieved 494: 490: 481: 469:. Retrieved 465:the original 454: 442:. Retrieved 438:the original 428: 419: 414: 403: 398: 383: 378: 367: 344: 339: 328: 323: 318:, edition 14 312:Walzenschiff 311: 293: 288: 279: 271: 256: 251: 236: 196:paddle wheel 189: 171: 167: 165: 161: 144:Ernest-Bazin 143: 141: 133:Torpedo boat 129:ocean liners 116:Ernest-Bazin 115: 113: 108:Ernest-Bazin 107: 91: 89: 77: 65: 48:Ernest Bazin 47: 39: 37: 32: 408:Online copy 372:Online copy 298:Online copy 276:(in French) 124:Saint-Denis 44:ship design 40:roller ship 597:Ship types 582:1896 ships 576:Categories 501:2009-04-06 471:24 January 444:24 January 220:References 136:destroyers 80:lenticular 208:Cyclogyro 174:in 1935. 68:hydrofoil 382:Note in 343:Note in 202:See also 148:Le Havre 491:Scanner 255:p. 71, 86:History 559:Report 525:  384:Nature 345:Nature 263:  237:Nature 120:French 110:, 1897 54:Design 561:(PDF) 92:Alice 523:ISBN 473:2019 446:2019 261:ISBN 142:The 72:drag 38:The 388:doi 349:doi 241:doi 150:to 578:: 493:. 489:. 359:^ 314:, 304:^ 228:^ 531:. 504:. 495:4 475:. 448:. 390:: 351:: 243:: 20:)

Index

Knapp roller boat

ship design

hydrofoil
drag
lenticular
paddle wheels

French
Saint-Denis
ocean liners
Torpedo boat
destroyers
Le Havre
New York City
English Channel

Prescott, Ontario
paddle wheel
Cyclogyro
Screw-propelled vehicle


doi
10.1038/055379a0
ISBN
1-84150-801-2
Le drôle de bateau de M. Bazin
Online copy

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