Edward Shorter (inventor)

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Edward Shorter (* before 1800; † February 4, 1836 ) was an English mechanic, inventor and Freeman of London . He was best known for his invention of a ship propeller. One student was James Lowe .

In July 1800 he patented a ship's propeller , which he called the perpetual sculling machine , which was driven by eight sailors. This enabled a ship to be maneuvered in port when there was no wind. The drive shaft was guided horizontally above the waterline through the stern of the ship. A joint was attached to the shaft so that the propeller dipped into the water at an angle. On July 4, 1802, Captain Frederick Whitworth Aylmer and Captain Richard Goodwin Keats of the British Navy testified that the heavily loaded cargo ship Doncaster could be moved at a speed of 1.5 knots off Gibraltar with the help of the invention . The Doncaster was the first British ship to be moved by means of a propeller. Two months later on September 2, 1802 in Malta , Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton also testified that the propeller was in working order. The certificate of successful testing of the propeller near Malta is now in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow .

On March 21, 1803, he received a patent for an invention that would enable a steam engine to be connected to his propeller. In January 1804 he registered a mechanical device as his invention, with which one could lift loads easier and cheaper.

literature

  • John Carlton: Marine Propellers and Propulsion , 2007, p. 4 ( limited preview in Google Book search)
  • John Bourne : A treatise on the screw propeller , London 1855, p. 12 ( online )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mechanics' Magazine , London 1845, p. 316 ( limited preview in Google book search)
  2. ↑ James Lowe (1798-1866) and his daughter Mrs Henrietta Vansittart (1833-1883)
  3. ^ The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle , London 1855, p. 319 ( limited preview in the Google book search)
  4. ↑ John Carlton: Marine Propellers and Propulsion , Oxford 2012, p. 2 ( limited preview in the Google book search)
  5. ^ Edgar Charles Smith , A Short History of Naval and Marine Engineering , Cambridge 1937, p. 65
  6. ↑ David Dehane Napier: An Autobiographical Sketch with Notes , Glasgow 1912, p 64 ( online )
  7. ^ The Repertory of Patent Inventions. Volume 17, Second Series. WH Wyatt, 1810, p. 270 , accessed August 21, 2016 .
  8. ↑ The Philosophical Magazine , Volume 21, p. 95 ( limited preview in Google Book Search)
personal data
SURNAME Shorter, Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English mechanic, inventor and Freeman of London
DATE OF BIRTH before 1800
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 1836