Turbinia
{{short description|First steam turbine-powered steamship, built in 1894}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:Turbinia At Speed.jpg |Ship caption=Turbinia at speed in 1897 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|government}} |Ship name=Turbinia |Ship namesake= |Ship owner= |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder= |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=2 August 1894 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service=1927 |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit=1960s |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname="The Ocean Greyhound" |Ship fate= |Ship status=Museum ship |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type= |Ship displacement={{convert|44.5|LT|t|lk=on}} |Ship length={{convert|104|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|9|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|3|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship power=*1 water-tube boiler
|Ship propulsion=*Three-stage axial-flow direct-acting Parsons steam turbine driving two {{convert|12|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} outer shafts, each with three {{convert|18|in|mm|adj=mid |
| diameter}}, {{convert|24|in|mm|adj=mid |
pitch}} propellers, and one inner shaft with three propellers
|Ship speed={{convert|34.5|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship notes= }} |
Turbinia is 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.
Development
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 in 1897.{{cite web|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/cp17446/parsons-marine-steam-turbine-company-limited|title=Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company Limited 1897-2012|access-date=27 January 2024|website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk}} 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{{Cite web|url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-67214|title=Turbinia (1894); Service vessel; Yacht; Experimental yacht | Royal Museums Greenwich|website=www.rmg.co.uk}} in the North East of England.
The Admiralty was kept informed of developments, and Turbinia was launched on 2 August 1894.{{cite web|url=http://www.100objectsne.co.uk/objects/view/26|title=A History of the North East in 100 objects|access-date=12 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617221355/http://www.100objectsne.co.uk/objects/view/26|archive-date=17 June 2013|url-status=live}} Despite the success of the turbine engine, initial trials with one propeller were disappointing.{{Cite web|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/cp137567/turbinia|title=Turbinia | Science Museum Group Collection|website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk}} 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.{{cite web|title=Turbinia|url=http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5652.pdf|work=(ASME-sponsored booklet to mark the designation of Turbinia as an international engineering landmark)|publisher=Tyne And Wear County Council Museums|access-date=13 April 2011|author=Adrian Osler|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928063911/http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5652.pdf|archive-date=28 September 2011|date=October 1981|url-status=dead}} In trials, this achieved a top speed of more than {{convert|34|kn|km/h mph}}, so that "the passengers aboard would be convinced beyond all doubt Turbinia was Charles Parsons' winning North Sea greyhound".
The turbines were directly driven, as geared turbines were not introduced until 1910. Even after the introduction of geared turbines, efficiency of even the largest axial steam turbines was still below 12% and Turbinia was even less efficient. Despite this, it was a dramatic improvement over predecessors.{{Cite book |title=The Design of High-Efficiency Turbomachinery and Gas Turbines |first1=David Gordon |last1=Wilson |page=14 |publisher=MIT Press |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-262-23114-5}}
Demonstration
Parsons' ship turned up unannounced{{Cite web|url=http://www.birrcastle.com/turbinia.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222704/http://www.birrcastle.com/turbinia.asp|url-status=dead|title=Turbine - Birr Castle Demesne|archivedate=27 September 2007}} at the Navy Review for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria at Spithead, on 26 June 1897, in front of the Prince of Wales, foreign dignitaries, and Lords of the Admiralty. As an audacious publicity stunt, Turbinia, which was much faster than any other ship at the time, raced between the two lines of navy ships and steamed up and down in front of the crowd and princes, while easily evading a navy picket boat that tried to pursue her, almost swamping it with her wake.
Photographer and cinematographer Alfred J. West took several photographs of Turbinia travelling at full speed at the review. He was subsequently invited by Sir Charles Parsons to film and photograph the vessel within the River Tyne and the adjacent North Sea; the pictures captured remain the defining image of Turbinia at speed.{{cite web |url=http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/engage/blog/turbinia-at-speed-but-whos-on-the-conning-tower-2/ |title="Turbinia" at speed – but who's on the conning tower? |publisher=Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums |last=Whitehead |first=Ian |date=13 June 2013 |access-date=22 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222204510/http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/engage/blog/turbinia-at-speed-but-whos-on-the-conning-tower-2/ |archive-date=22 February 2015 |url-status=live}} A discussion of the Alfred West pictures by Ian Whitehead. Mr Whitehead was the Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums curator charged with Turbinia{{'}}s care in 2013. As part of the TWAMWIR residency he generated this official museum blog examining these materials.
File:EB1911 Ship, Cunard Liner, Mauretania, with Turbinia alongside.jpg
From this clear demonstration of her speed and power and after further high speed trials attended by the Admiralty, Parsons set up the Turbinia Works at Wallsend, which then constructed the engines for two prototype turbine-powered destroyers for the Navy, {{HMS|Viper|1899|6}} and {{HMS|Cobra|1899|6}}, that were launched in 1899. Both vessels were lost to accidents in 1901, but although their losses slowed the introduction of turbines, the Admiralty had been convinced. In 1900, Turbinia steamed to Paris and was shown to French officials, and then displayed at the Paris Exhibition.
The first turbine-powered merchant vessel, the Clyde steamer {{ship|TS|King Edward||6}}, followed in 1901. The Admiralty confirmed in 1905 that all future Royal Navy vessels were to be turbine-powered, and in 1906, the first turbine-powered battleship, the revolutionary {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|6}}, was launched.
''Crosby'' incident
On 11 January 1907, Turbinia was struck and nearly cut in two by Crosby{{Efn|The website Tyne Built Ships lists a vessel, Crossby (note double-s), being launched at Hebburn on 11 January 1907.{{cite web|title=Crossby 1907|website=Tyne Built Ships|access-date=25 September 2020|url=http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/C-Ships/crossby1907.html}}}} – a ship being launched across-river from the south bank of the Tyne. She was repaired and steamed alongside {{RMS|Mauretania|1906|6}} (also a turbine-powered vessel) after the launch of the great ocean liner. However, mechanical problems prevented Turbinia from accompanying Mauretania down the River Tyne to the sea.
As a museum ship
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The company decided to slow down the deterioration of Turbinia by lifting her out of the water in 1908, and in 1926, the directors of the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company offered the ship to the Science Museum, London.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/138/turbinia|title=Turbinia · National Historic Ships UK|access-date=30 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508045624/http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/138/turbinia|archive-date=8 May 2015|url-status=live}} Turbinia was sectioned in to two halves, the rear complete with engines and propellers, was put on display in the South Kensington museum in London, which did not have the space to accommodate the full ship. The fore section was presented in 1944 to Newcastle Corporation, and placed on display in the city's Exhibition Park. In 1959, the Science Museum removed the aft section of Turbinia from display, and by 1961, using a reconstructed centre section, Turbinia was reassembled and displayed in the Newcastle Municipal Museum of Science and Industry. In 1983, a complete reconstruction was undertaken.{{Cite web |url=http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/people/cp137567/turbinia |title=Turbinia | Science Museum Group Collection |access-date=7 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073708/http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/people/cp137567/turbinia |archive-date=8 April 2018 |url-status=live}}
On 30 October 1994, 100 years after her launch, Turbinia was moved to Newcastle's Museum of Science and Engineering (later renamed the Discovery Museum) and put on display to the public in March 1996. Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, in 2000, the vessel was the focal point of a year-long, £10.7 million redevelopment programme at the Discovery Museum. The gallery around Turbinia was the first area to be refurbished, with the main part of the work involving raising the roof by one storey to create viewing galleries on three levels.
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Les |title=Royal Navy Torpedo Vessels |date=2023 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-1-3990-2285-9}}
External links
{{Commons category|Turbinia (ship, 1894)}}
- [http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/125/noflash/1875-1900/turbinia.html Turbinia profile]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080110063209/http://www.universityscience.ie/pages/scientists/sci_charles_parsons.php Profile of Charles Parsons]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060303183339/http://www.imarest.org.uk/inews/2000oct Article from Institute of Marine Engineers "Bulletin"]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150530224613/http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5652.pdf Tyne And Wear Museum Service booklet on Turbinia from 1981]
- [http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5425199870_47b5cf5aba.jpg Photo of Turbinia after colliding with the Crosby]
- [http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/discovery/collections/turbinia.html Turbinia at the Newcastle Discovery Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902015032/http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/discovery/collections/turbinia.html |date=2 September 2012 }}
- [http://www.100objectsne.co.uk/objects/view/26 Turbinia profiled in "A History of the North East in 100 objects"]
- [http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/engage/blog/turbinia-at-speed-but-whos-on-the-conning-tower-2/ Turbinia at speed – but who’s on the conning tower?"], a detailed Museum originated blog entry by Ian Whitehead, the Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums curator charged with Turbina's care in 2013.
{{1907 shipwrecks}}
{{National Historic Ships}}
{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919)}}
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Category:Museums in Newcastle upon Tyne
Category:Museum ships in the United Kingdom
Category:Ships and vessels of the National Historic Fleet
Category:Ships preserved in museums
Category:Steam turbine-powered ships