Page 49 - All About History - Issue 56-17

Through History

paDDle Boat c. 4th-5th cEntury cE The Mary Rose was

carrack, but it sank
The Romans appear to have been the first to attach paddle wheels to their Henry VIII’s beloved
boats in order to propel them through the water; the wheels were attached at the Battle of the
to the outside of the craft and turned by yoked oxen in the hull. In China, Solent in 1545
paddle-wheeled vessels appeared around the same time, the paddles
being powered by foot treadles, and they were deployed as warships for
centuries. In the early 19th century, steam-powered paddle boats began to
be used on coastal trips and then on transatlantic journeys.
An ox-powered Roman
paddle wheel boat from
15th century

Cornelius CarraCk
Jacobszoon ship 15th cEntury
Drebbel It was the carrack ship that made the Age of Discovery
1572-1633, DutCh possible. These mighty vessels had three or four masts, with
Drebbel came to Britain in 1604 after square sails on the fore and main masts, and a lateen sail
news of his inventions reached James I
and he demonstrated his submarine to on the mizzenmast. They also had extremely large holds
the king on the Thames. It could reach so that they could carry provisions and mercantile goods
a depth of 4.5 metres and remain and were stable in rough seas. These factors made them
submerged for up to three hours. ideally suited for lengthy voyages and facilitated European
He went on to make secret
weapons for Charles I. colonial expansion. The first circumnavigation of the world was
accomplished in a carrack ship called Victoria.
Lionel lifeBoat 1790
Lukin After a tragedy on the River Tyne in which a ship’s crew
1742-1834, British
Lukin was a London coachbuilder, drowned in a storm, a competition was launched to design
but he paved the way for the first a lifeboat. The prize was awarded to two local men, William
lifeboat by designing an unsinkable Wouldhave, who designed a self-righting vessel made of
boat. He experimented with a Norwegian copper and cork, and Henry Greathead, a boat builder who
yawl to which he added watertight
compartments, buoyant materials suggested a wooden vessel. The committee amalgamated Greathead and
such as cork, and a false iron their ideas to produce a final design, which Greathead then Wouldhave’s first
keel to keep it upright. modified to create the world’s first purpose-built lifeboat. lifeboat ‘The Original’
He patented the design Greathead never took out a patent on his invention so that in action, 1813
in 1785.
anyone could use it.
suBmarine 1620 Submarine of Cornelius Jacobszoon Drebbel on hms Queen elizaBeth
the Thames. He later used saltpetre to create
oxygen inside the vessel
Although there had been attempts to build airCraft
submersible vessels since antiquity, the first Carrier 2014
successful submarine was designed by Dutchman HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest warship ever
Cornelius Jacobszoon Drebbel, who was in the built for the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy. This
service of James I. It was powered by oars and 280-metre long vessel has four dining areas, a
probably had floats attached to breathing tubes cinema, fitness areas and an operating theatre,
ensuring that the rowers had oxygen. The boat while its crew can number up to 1,600. The 65,000-
(submarines are always boats, never ships) was tonne aircraft carrier can also support 36 fighter
tested on the River Thames. Submarines continued jets and four helicopters. Ships have been used for
to be propelled by human power until the 1860s. airborne operations since 1806, when the Royal
Navy deployed kites from HMS Pallas to spread anti-
Napoleon propaganda leaflets over France. In 1914,
hoVerCraft 1954 HMS Ark Royal was converted from a merchant
The first attempt to create an air-cushioned craft was vessel to become the first modern aircraft carrier. © Getty
in the late 19th century and various experimental
vessels were designed prior to World War II. However, HMS Queen Elizabeth launches
it was not until 1954 that a patent was issued for the at Rosyth Dockyard
first recognisably modern hovercraft — the designer
being British mechanical engineer Sir Christopher
Cockerell. Annular jets of air formed a cushion that
reduced friction and allowed the craft to travel faster.
A working model was finally built in 1958 and this
Experimental Hovercraft SRN-1 during
amphibious vessel made its first test by crossing the
trials by the Royal Navy, circa 1963
Channel the following year.
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