[MOC] The Ernest Bazin Roller Ship

[greg3]

Following from my last topic The Knapp Roller Ship I thought I'd tackle another experimental ship from the late 1800s... The Ernest Bazin.

Named after it's inventor, the ship (like the Knapp ship) was an attempt to improve the speed, efficiency and comfort of sea travel by reducing the amount of the hull in contact with the water. Bazin's solution was to have a large platform which sat on several pairs of large hollow lenticular discs. Propulsion was provided by a conventional screw propellor and separate engines rotated the discs which according to Bazin's experiments would eventually allow the ship to reach speeds of up to 60mph!!

The prototype was launched from Saint Denis in 1896. It had 3 pairs of discs, each 10m in diameter and 3m thick which supported a platform 40m by 12m carrying the engines and crew quarters. The ship crossed the English Channel and then travelled around the British coast visiting several ports. Unfortunately, the vessel's performance failed to live up to the predictions - mainly because it's engines proved to be underpowered, a situation made worse by the weight of water each wheel lifted as it rotated. Eventually, it ended up moored on the Thames as a visitor attraction before being scrapped!!

In 1898, Basin claimed to have solved the design issues and began planning a much larger transatlantic liner which would run on 4 pairs of discs - unfortunately he died just a few weeks later and the idea of ships on discs died with him...

Ref. pic

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

My version - Turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it'd be but I'm pretty pleased with the end result. It's a combination of photos of the actual vessel and drawings/paintings (which seem to show it with a raised wheelhouse above the bridge)

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

As you see I had trouble with having the main structure studs down and the superstructure studs up... the only thing holding it together is the rigging!! (works pretty well though!!)

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Front view

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Rear view - contemporary descriptions say that Bazin had used a directional water jet in place of a conventional rudder (but I couldn't find any reference pics so i just made something up!!) 

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

All at sea...

Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr

Thanks for looking.... 

 

Edited October 24, 2016 by greg3

[Vorkosigan]

Nice job, your two MOCs of obscure roller ships highlight an interesting time in the history of science and technology.