SCREW PROPELLER DESIGN IN THE 19TH CENTURY GREAT LAKES: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF RICHARD F. LOPER’S PHILADELPHIA WHEEL

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Darby Robbins (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: Over the course of the mid- to late-1800s, screw propulsion emerged as an economically viable competitor to sail- and sidewheel-propelled commercial vessels in the United States’ coastal and interior maritime industries. One of the earliest propeller designs to receive widespread acclaim belonged to Philadelphia merchant and inventor Richard Fanning Loper. His design quickly gained popularity in the Great Lakes region, where the logistical and economic concerns present in the United States’ East Coast commercial shipping industry did not hinder early interest and adoption of screw propulsion. \nDue to the fragility of contemporary screw propellers and the financial incentive to recover salvageable steam engine machinery from wrecked and abandoned vessels during the period, propellers were frequently broken or removed from Great Lakes vessels long before any historical or archaeological examination could take place. With the relative scarcity of 19th century propellers, the historical record becomes an invaluable tool in investigating the overall development of screw propeller design as the region shifted towards a new style of \nsteam propulsion. This thesis utilizes a combination of contemporary source material and quantitative statistical information gathered through use of archival databases documenting vessels in operation around the Great Lakes region to outline the application of Richard Loper’s “Philadelphia wheel” screw propeller design in the U.S. Great Lakes in the mid- to late-19th century. Measuring the overall popularity of Loper’s propeller design allows for a greater understanding of early development and use of screw propellers in the Great Lakes and elsewhere.

Additional Information

Publication

Thesis

Language: English

Date: 2023

Subjects

Richard Loper;Philadelphia wheel;Great Lakes;Great Lakes shipbuilding;19th century maritime history;19th century Great Lakes;Screw propeller;Steamship development

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