Paddle wheel ship
![ADV_Paddle Wheel_hero](/sites/default/files/styles/container_width_large_x1/public/ADV_Paddle%20Wheel_hero.jpg?itok=me8wOQKm)
Chinese history records ‘wheel ships’ powered
by foot treadle being used in the Liu Song Dynasty (420–479). By the time of the Song Dynasty (960–1276) they were a significant part of the navy and had up to eleven wheels a side.
In an age of sail, a warship that could manoeuvre in still conditions would provide a winning advantage in any naval engagement. Da Vinci sketched a number of designs for paddle wheel ships including this side-wheel design to be powered by the crew using crank handles.
In 1803 the steam-powered paddle wheeler Charlotte Dundas towed two barges along the Forth and Clyde canal in Scotland and ‘paddle steamers’ dominated cargo and passenger ship design for the next fifty years.
![ADV_Paddle Wheel_1](/sites/default/files/styles/container_width_large_x1/public/ADV_Paddle%20Wheel_small.jpg?itok=P4mXJnZw)
![ADV_Paddle Wheel_2](/sites/default/files/styles/container_width_large_x1/public/ADV_paddle_boat.jpg?itok=jVU_YRxJ)
IMAGES:
Photo: Jorg Hackeman / Shutterstock.com
Photo: Robert Pernell / Shutterstock.com