How does the steam engine ship advance?

1In the 1940s, an inventor made a new type of steam engine boat, which used a steam engine to turn a propeller installed under water to push forward.

The main power of both ships comes from steam, but which ship has better performance? In order to distinguish the winners and losers of the two ships, the British Admiralty held a special tug-of-war on the river on April 1845.

On the day of the game, the shore was crowded with spectators who heard the news. They saw two ships of similar size parked in the middle of the river, with steam engines of similar power on board. The only difference is that on the port and starboard sides of the ship, there is a big wheel half out of the water; There is a completely submerged fan propeller under the stern of another ship. The stern of the two ships is opposite, and an extremely strong cable is tied in the middle. Just wait for their steam engines to start, and the two ships will sail in one direction and the other and start a tug-of-war at the same time.

After the game started, both ships set off at full speed. At first, the two ships were evenly matched and deadlocked. After a while, people were pleasantly surprised to find that the ship with propeller began to move forward slowly and the speed gradually accelerated. The boat with wheels was slowly pulled by the opponent. This time, the screw boat won by an absolute margin.

After watching this strange tug-of-war, people realized that propeller boats are much faster than motorboats. So, people began to use propellers instead of wheels. But to this day, we still call all kinds of ships that use machinery as power ships, although these ships have no wheels now.