CHAPTER VI
J. D. van Manen
P. van Oossanen
Section 1
Powering of Ships
1.1 Historical. A moving ship experiences resist-
ing forces from the water and air which must be over-
come by a thrust supplied by some thrust-producing
mechanism. In the earliest days this consisted of man-
ually-operated oars, which gave place in turn to sails
and then mechanical devices such as jets, paddle-
wheels and propellers of many different forms (Todd,
1946).1
The earliest propulsive device to use mechanical
power seems to have been of the jet type, using a
prime-mover and a pump, patents for which were
granted to Toogood and Hayes in Great Britain in 1661.
Water is drawn in by the pump and delivered stern-
wards as a jet at a higher velocity, the reaction pro-
viding the thrust. At the speeds so far attained by
ships, the jet is materially less efficient than other
forms of propellers, and its use has been restricted to
special types of craft.
In 1801 there appeared the first steam-driven side-
paddle ship, the Charlotte Dundas; built by Syming-
ton for service on the Forth-Clyde Canal in Scotland.
Six years later came the famous Clermont, con-
structed by Robert Fulton for passenger service on
the Hudson River in New York.
The period from this time until about 1850 was the
heyday of the paddle steamers. The first of them to
cross the Atlantic was the American Savannah in
1819—a full-rigged ship with auxiliary steam power—
and then followed a line of familiar names, including
the Canadian Royal William, the famous first Cun-
arder Britannia in 1840, culminating in the last Cun-
ard liner to be driven by paddles, the Scotia, in 1861.
These side paddle-wheels were far from ideal for
sea-going ships. The immersion varied with ship dis-
placement, the wheels came out of the water when the
ship rolled, causing erratic course-keeping, and they
1
Complete references are listed at end of chapter.
Propulsion
rine engineer's point of view, they were too slow-run-
ning, involving the use of large, heavy engines.
Because of the slow rate of turning they were rea-
sonably efficient as a propulsive device, but their other
operational weaknesses ensured their rapid decline
from popularity once the screw propeller was proved
to be an acceptable alternative. They have had a useful
field among pleasure steamers and tugs plying in riv-
ers and other protected waters. In such craft the draft
does not change much and restrictions of draft due to
shallow water prohibit the use of large screw propel-
lers. Side paddles also give good maneuvering char-
acteristics, but these latter can now be obtained by
other means of propulsion which do not suffer from
the drawbacks of paddle-wheels.
Paddles have also been fitted at the sterns of many
ships, as in the well-known river boats on the Missis-
sippi and other American rivers. Such "stern-wheel-
ers" are still in use, mainly as passenger carriers.
The first proposal to use a screw propeller appears
to have been made in England by Hooke in 1680, and
its first actual use is generally attributed to Colonel
Stevens in a steam-driven boat at New York in 1804.
In 1828 a vessel 18 m (60 ft) long was successfully
propelled by a screw propeller designed by Ressel, of
Trieste, obtaining a speed of 6 knots, but this success
was not followed by the Trieste engineers or ship-
owners (Baker, 1944). The first practical applications
came in 1836 by Ericsson in the U.S. and Pettit Smith
in England.
The screw propeller has many advantages over the
paddle-wheel. It is not materially affected by normal
changes in service draft, it is well protected from dam-
age either by seas or collision, it does not increase the
overall width of the ship, and it can be made to run
much faster than paddles and still retain as good or
better efficiency so that smaller, lighter, faster-running
engines can be used. It rapidly superseded the paddle-
wheel for all ocean-going ships, the first screw-pro-
Go to Contents
128 PRINCIPLES OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE
pelled steamer to make the Atlantic crossing being the
Great Britain in 1845.
From that time the screw propeller has reigned su-
preme in the realm of marine propulsion. It has proved
extraordinarily adaptable in meeting the incessant
quest for propellers to deliver more and more thrust
under increasingly arduous conditions. While other de-
vices have been adopted for certain particular types
of ships and kinds of service, the screw propeller still
has no real rival in the field of ship propulsion.
Among the more common variants of the propeller,
the use of a shroud ring or nozzle has been shown to
have considerable advantages in heavily loaded pro-
pellers, the ring or nozzle being shaped so as to deliver
a forward thrust to the hull. The principal advantage
is found in tugs, where the pull at the bollard for a
given horsepower may be increased by as much as 40
percent or more as compared with that given by an
open propeller. At low towing speeds, a considerable
advantage is still found, but this disappears with in-
creasing speed, and when free-running the drag of the
nozzle results in a loss of speed. In ships other than
tugs, the advantage can be extended to higher speeds
by using thinner nozzles, with some loss of thrust at
the low speeds, and such arrangements in association
with special forms of stern lines have been claimed to
give good propulsive efficiencies. Good maneuverabil-
ity can be obtained in such craft by arranging for the
nozzle to swivel, and so act as a very efficient rudder
by controlling the direction of the propeller race.
Another type of propeller was used in the USS
Alarm as long ago as 1874 (Goldsworthy, 1939). This
ship carried a fixed bow gun and had to be turned to
aim the gun. To keep the ship steady in a tideway,
where a rudder would be useless, a feathering paddle-
wheel rotating about a vertical axis, invented by Fow-
ler in Great Britain in 1870, was fitted at the stern,
completely submerged (White, 1882). It was quite suc-
cessful as a means of maneuvering the ship, but its
propulsive efficiency was low. The modern version of
this propeller consists of a large disk set flush with
the lower surface of a flat counter and carrying a
number of projecting vertical blades rather resembling
spade rudders. As the disk revolves about a vertical
axis, each of these blades turns about its own vertical
axis, being so adjusted to the flow that the total thrust
from all the blades is concentrated in one direction.
This resultant "thrust-direction" can be controlled by
varying the blade motions, so as to drive the ship
ahead, astern or sideways. The device therefore lends
itself essentially to craft which need to have great
ability to maneuver. It also enables the equivalent of
a large diameter, orthodox propeller to be fitted to
ships which have to operate in shallow water, and the
propeller can be driven through gearing by relatively
light, high-speed diesel engines. Although its efficiency
is not as high as that of the orthodox propeller, and
its maintenance is probably more costly, the foregoing
advantages have resulted in many applications to river
steamers, tugs, and ferries. The vertical axis propeller
is discussed further in Section 10.5.
1.2 Types of Ship Machinery. In selecting the pro-
pelling machinery for a given vessel, many factors
must be taken into consideration, such as the weight,
the space occupied, its first cost, reliability, length of
life, flexibility and quietness of operation, cost of up-
keep, cost of fuel consumed and last, but not least, its
suitability for the type of propeller to be used. It is
beyond the scope of this text to consider all the various
drives which have been developed to meet these fac-
tors, but a brief review of their advantages and dis-
advantages will not be out of place.
The reciprocating steam engine with two, three, or
four cylinders dominated the field of ship propulsion
until about 1910. Since then it has been almost entirely
superseded by the steam turbine in the very high and
intermediate-power ranges, and by the diesel engine
in intermediate and low ranges.
The steam reciprocating engine has exceptional con-
trollability at all loads, is easily reversed (an important
consideration in ships) and its most efficient range of
revolutions per minute (RPM) matches that of the
screw propeller. On the other hand, the complete plant
is relatively heavy, occupies much space, and the out-
put of power per cylinder is limited. Also, the steam
cannot be expanded effectively to the low pressures
obtainable in modern condensing apparatus, so that
the fuel consumption is rather high, an average figure
for a triple-expansion engine utilizing superheated
steam being about 0.70 kg of oil per kWhr (1.15 lb per
hphr).
The first marine turbine was installed by Sir Charles
Parsons in the Turbinia in 1894, a torpedo boat which
attained a speed of 34 knots. Thereafter turbines made
rapid progress and by 1906 were used to power the
epoch-making battleship HMS Dreadnought and the
famous Atlantic liner Mauretania.
The turbine delivers a uniform turning effort, is em-
inently suitable for large-unit power output, and can
utilize very high-pressure inlet steam over a wide
range of power to exhaust at very low pressures. The
thermal efficiency is consequently reasonably high and
the fuel consumption of large turbines is as low as
0.30 kg of oil per kWhr (0.49 lb per hphr). Under over-
load conditions a turbine delivers approximately con-
stant power for a given throttle setting.
On the other hand, the turbine is nonreversible and
its rotational speed for best economy is far in excess
of the most efficient rpm of usual propeller types.
These drawbacks make it necessary to install separate
reversing turbines and to insert gears between the
turbines and the propeller shaft to reduce the speed
of the latter to values more suitable to the propeller.
The mechanical geared drive has been used most
widely up to the present. It permits the operation of
engine and propeller at their most economical speeds
Go to Contents
 PROPULSION
with a power loss in the gears of only 2 to 4 percent.
A separate astern turbine is still required, which adds
to cost, complexity, and power loss.
The reduction in RPM between turbine and propeller
shaft can also be attained by electrical means. The
turbine in such an installation is directly coupled to a
generator, both running at the same high speed for
efficient operation. The generator supplies a motor di-
rectly mounted on the propeller shaft, driving the lat-
ter at the RPM most desirable for high propeller
efficiency. This system eliminates any direct shafting
between turbines and propeller, and so gives the naval
architect greater freedom in laying out the general
arrangement of the ship to best advantage. In twin-
screw ships fitted with two sets of turboalternators,
considerable economy can be achieved when using half
power, such as when a passenger ship is cruising, by
supplying both propulsion motors from one turbine.
The turboelectric drive also eliminates the reversing
turbine, gives great flexibility and rapidity of maneu-
vering, and prevents racing of the propeller.
These advantages are gained, however, at the ex-
pense of rather high first cost and somewhat greater
transmission losses.
Internal-combustion engines used for ship propul-
sion are generally reciprocating engines operating on
the diesel2 principle (compression ignition) which have
taken their name from the man who first developed
them for practical use. They are built in all sizes, from
those fitted in small pleasure boats to the very large
types fitted in modern supertankers and passenger
liners. The engines in the latter ships develop over
2500 kW per cylinder, giving output as high as 30,000
kW in 12 cylinders (40,200 hp). They are directly re-
versible, occupy relatively little space, and have a very
low fuel consumption, an average figure being around
0.20 kg of oil per kWhr (0.328 lb per hphr). They are
used in large single units directly coupled to the pro-
peller or in sets of small units driving the propeller
through electric or gear transmissions. Opposed to
these advantages are the facts that diesel engines are
usually heavier and more expensive, both in first cost
and in upkeep than steam plants of corresponding size.
The torque produced by a diesel engine is limited by
the maximum pressure that may be developed in each
cylinder. Therefore, when the engine is producing max-
imum torque, it produces maximum power only at max-
imum rpm. Consequently a diesel may produce a power
directly proportional to the RPM for any throttle set-
ting.
This limitation leads to the problem of matching a
diesel engine and a propeller. The resistance will in-
crease with time because of fouling and the propeller
thrust decreases for the same reason. Therefore the
2
After Rudolf Diesel, a German engineer (1858-1913).
129
load on the prime mover will increase to maintain the
same speed. This requires the designer to select the
adequate propeller particulars (such as pitch) so that
later, in the life of the vessel, the engine does not
become overloaded or that it never produces its full
capabilities, see Kresic et al (1983).
More recently, gas turbines have been developed in
which the fuel is burned in compressed air and the
resulting hot gases passed through the turbine. The
gas turbine originated in aeronautical applications, and
its progress has depended mostly upon the develop-
ment of metals which could withstand the high pres-
sures and temperatures. It has the advantages of
dispensing with boilers, being light in weight and giv-
ing a smooth, continuous drive. It is expensive in the
quantity of fuel burned. One good operational char-
acteristic is that it can quickly be brought on to full
load without a long, warming-up period, some 15 min
usually being sufficient after the warning to "raise
steam" from cold. Marine gas turbines were fitted to
a small number of merchant ships. But they are now
frequently used in naval ships, sometimes associated
with a diesel, steam turbine or smaller gas turbine.
The latter are used for general cruising purposes, and
the gas turbine is available at little or no notice when
there is a demand for full power, both plants being
connected to a common propeller shaft by clutches and
gearing. The principal marine application so far has
been to small and large destroyers and frigates and
to smaller, high-speed craft, such as patrol craft and
hydrofoils.
Nuclear reactors have been installed on many naval
ships and in a few merchant ships and ice breakers.
They replace the boilers being used, through a heat
exchanger, to raise steam which is then passed to a
turbine in the normal way. They-also eliminate most
of the weight and volume of fuel oil. The reactor can
operate at full load indefinitely during the life of the
charge of nuclear fuel, which enables the ship to main-
tain high speed at sea without carrying a large quan-
tity of consumable fuel. The weight saved, however,
cannot as a rule be devoted to increase dead-weight
earning capacity, for the weight of reactor and shield-
ing will equal or exceed that of the boilers and fuel
for the normal ship.
1.3 Definition of Power. The various types of ma-
rine engines are not all rated on the same basis, in-
asmuch as it is inconvenient or impossible to measure
their power output in exactly the same manner. Steam
reciprocating engines are usually rated in terms of
indicated power (P1), internal-combustion engines in
terms of indicated power or brake power and
turbine in shaft power The term horsepower is
still sometimes used, where 1 hp = 0.7457 kW. In
English units 1 hp = 550 ft-lb per sec.
Indicated power is measured in the cylinders by
means of an instrument (an indicator) which records
continuously the steam or gas pressure throughout
Go to Contents
130 PRINCIPLES OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE
the length of the piston travel. From the resultant
indicator card the mean effective pressure is measured
and P1 is calculated for top end and bottom end sep-
arately:
where
The total of the engine is found by adding those
calculated separately for all the cylinders.
Brake power is the power measured at the crank-
shaft coupling by means of a mechanical, hydraulic or
electrical brake. It is determined by a shop test and is
calculated by the formula
where
Q is brake torque, kN-m n
is revolutions per sec
Shaft power is the power transmitted through the
shaft to the propeller. It is usually measured aboard
ship as close to the propeller as possible by means of
a torsionmeter. This instrument measures the angle
of twist between two sections of the shaft, which angle
is directly proportional to the torque transmitted. For
a solid, circular shaft the shaft power is given by
where
The shear modulus G for steel shafts is usually taken
as
For exact results, particularly with bored shafting,
it is customary to calibrate the shaft by setting up the
length of shafting on which the torsionmeter is to be
used, subjecting it to known torques and measuring
the angles of twist, and determining the calibration
constant can then be calculated di-
rectly from any observed angle of twist and revolu-
tions per second as
There is some power lost in the stern tube bearing
and in any shaft tunnel bearings between the stern
tube and the site of the torsionmeter. The power ac-
tually delivered to the propeller is therefore somewhat
less than that measured by the torsionmeter. This de-
livered power is given the symbol
As the propeller advances through the water at a
speed of advance it delivers a thrust T, and
the thrust power is
Finally, the effective power is
1.4 Propulsive Efficiency. The efficiency of an en-
gineering operation is generally defined as the ratio
of the useful work or power obtained to that expended
in carrying out the operation.
In the case of a ship the useful power obtained is
that used in overcoming the resistance to motion at a
certain speed, which is represented by the effective
power
The power put in to achieve this result is not so
easily defined. In a ship with reciprocating engines, it
can be measured by the power developed in the cyl-
inders themselves as given by the indicated power, P1.
The overall propulsive efficiency in this case would be
expressed by the ratio
In the case of turbines it is usual to measure the
power in terms of the shaft power delivered to the
shafting abaft the gearing, and the overall propulsive
efficiency is
Since mechanical efficiencies, gear losses and shaft-
transmission losses all vary from ship to ship, accord-
ing to the type of machinery and general layout, and
even in a given ship with the load at which the ma-
chinery is operating at a particular time, it is difficult
to define the hydrodynamic efficiency of a hull-propel-
ler combination in terms of such an overall propulsive
efficiency.
A much more meaningful measure of efficiency of
propulsion is the ratio of the useful power obtained,
to the power actually delivered to the propeller,
This ratio has been given the name quasi-pro-
pulsive coefficient, and is defined as
(1)
The shaft power is taken as the power delivered to the
shaft by the main engines aft of the gearing and thrust
block, so that the difference
between and represents the power lost in
friction in the shaft bearings and stern tube. The
ratio is called the shaft
transmission efficiency.
In this text, the propulsive efficiency is defined as
follows:
Propulsive efficiency = quasi-propulsive coefficient
times shaft transmission efficiency or
Go to Contents
 PROPULSION
or
(2)
The shaft transmission loss is usually taken as about the turbines, diesel or steam-reciprocating engine, as
2 percent for ships with machinery aft and 3 percent
for those with machinery amidships, but no very exact
information exists on this point. It must be remem-
bered also that when using the power measured by
torsionmeter, the answer will depend on the position
Section 2
Theory of Propeller Action
2.1 Momentum Principle. Propellers derive their
propulsive thrust by accelerating the fluid in which
they work. This action is in accordance with Newton's
laws of motion, which state that force is required to
alter the existing state of motion of any material body
in magnitude or direction, and that the action of any
two bodies upon one another is equal and opposite.
Newton's first law is expressed by the equation
(3)
where
F = force exerted on body
m = mass of body
= resulting acceleration of body
Integrating between 0 and t seconds,
we get
(4)
where v1 and v2 are the velocities at the beginning and
end of the time interval. The expression
is called the impulse of the force in the time interval
zero to t, and the product of mass and velocity is called
the momentum. The equation states that the impulse
of the force in a given time interval is equal to the
whole change in momentum produced by the force
during this interval. In the special case when F is
constant during the time interval, Equation (4) reduces
to
Furthermore, when the time interval is 1 sec,
131
of the meter along the shaft. To approach as closely
as possible to the power delivered to the propeller, it
should be as near to the stern tube as circumstances
permit. It is often assumed that = 1.0.
The necessary brake power or indicated power in
the case may be, can be estimated in a particular design
from the proper values of gear efficiency, mechanical
efficiency and load factors. Values of these will be
found in textbooks, handbooks and papers on marine
engineering.
Hence in the case of a constant force the change in
momentum in unit time is equal to the force which
produced it.
Momentum and impulse are vector quantities, and
to determine the direction and magnitude of the final
velocity when the direction and magnitude to the force
and of the initial velocity are given, the rules of vector
composition must be applied.
2.2 General Discussion of Propeller Theories. The
physical explanation of propeller action can be stated
in rather simple terms, as shown in the preceding sec-
tion, but the precise mathematical analysis presents
considerable difficulties. As a result a satisfactory pro-
peller theory which could explain all the observed facts
and be useful for practical calculations was not de-
veloped until comparatively recent times.
The early propeller theories followed two indepen-
dent lines of thought. In the first of these, the mo-
mentum theories, the production of thrust was
explained entirely by momentum changes taking place
in the fluid. In the second, the blade-element theories,
the propeller thrust was obtained by analyzing the
forces acting on the various sections of the blades and
then integrating these over the propeller radius.
The momentum theories were based on correct fun-
damental principles, but gave no indication of the pro-
peller form which would produce the calculated thrust.
The propeller was idealized as an "actuator disk" or
some similar conception, which could cause an instan-
taneous increase in pressure in the fluid passing
through it. They led, however, to the important con-
clusion that the efficiency of an ideal propeller has an
upper limit which varies with the loading. The blade
element theories, on the other hand, were capable of
predicting the effects of various changes in propeller
form, but led to the incorrect result that the efficiency
of an ideal propeller was unity.
The difference between the two groups of theories
was not dispelled until the circulation theory developed
Go to Contents