SS Archimedes
SS Archimedes | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Archimedes |
| Namesake | Archimedes of Syracuse |
| Owner | Ship Propeller Company |
| Builder | Henry Wimshurst (London) |
| Cost | £10,500 |
| Launched | 18 October 1838 |
| Completed | 1839 |
| Maiden voyage | 2 May 1839 |
| In service | 2 May 1839 |
| Refit | As a sailing ship, date unknown |
| Fate | Reportedly ended career in Chile–Australia service, 1850s |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Steam powered schooner |
| Tons burthen | 237 |
| Length | 125 ft (38 m) |
| Beam | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
| Draught | 8–9 ft (2.4–2.7 m) |
| Depth of hold | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Installed power | 2× 30 hp (22 kW), 25–30 rpm twin-cylinder Rennie vertical steam engines, with 37-inch cylinders and 3-foot stroke |
| Propulsion | 1× full helix, single turn, single threaded iron propeller operating at 130–150 rpm, auxiliary sails |
| Sail plan | Three-masted, schooner-rigged |
| Speed | About 10 mph (16 km/h) (under steam) |
| Notes | World's first screw-propelled steamship |
SS Archimedes was a steamship built in Britain in 1839. She was the world's first steamship to be driven successfully by a screw propeller.
Archimedes had considerable influence on ship development, encouraging the adoption of screw propulsion by the Royal Navy, in addition to her influence on commercial vessels. She also had a direct influence on the design of another innovative vessel, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain, then the world's largest ship and the first screw-propelled steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.