Henry Wimshurst | |
---|---|
Born | 1804 |
Died | 21 August 1884 |
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Shipbuilder |
Known for | Construction of Archimedes, world's first screw-propelled steamship |
Henry Wimshurst (1804–1884) [1] was a 19th-century British shipbuilder. Wimshurst was in business at Ratcliffe Cross Dock in east London. [2] [3] He is remembered primarily as the builder of Archimedes, the world's first propeller-driven steamship. [4]
While Wimshurst cannot take credit for Archimedes' revolutionary propulsion system—which was the invention of Francis Pettit Smith—he was an "ardent supporter" of Smith and his technological breakthrough. [5] He would later claim to have proposed an improved, two-bladed version of Smith's original propeller which was subsequently installed on the vessel. [6]
After completing Archimedes in 1839, Wimshurst built a second screw-propelled steamship in 1840, Novelty, described as the world's first screw-propelled cargo ship [7] and the first screw-propelled ship to make a commercial voyage. [5]
Wimshurst himself had an inventive turn of mind, and filed a number of patents during the course of his career. In 1854, he built an experimental rotary steam engine, which when installed in a 300-ton screw-propelled ship, reportedly achieved an rpm of 45 and a top speed of 14 mph in tests conducted by the firm of Boulton & Watt. By comparison, a pair of conventional direct-acting engines later installed in the same ship achieved an rpm of 28 and a top speed of only 8 mph. [8] A few years prior in 1850, Wimshurst developed an instrument for measuring the power exerted by a propeller shaft—a forerunner of the torsion meter, an instrument for measuring the power transmitted by turbines. [9]
Henry Wimshurst was the father of James Wimshurst, [1] a late-19th century inventor who developed the Wimshurst machine and an early device for generating X-rays. He also had a daughter Emily Harriet who married Charles Umney, one of the most prominent chemists and druggists of his day. Emily died in Milan in 1912.