Foreign Car Ship

Japanese: 外車船 - がいしゃせん

An early steamship with paddle wheels on either side of the center of the ship, or one paddle wheel at the stern, which is turned and propelled by a reciprocating steam engine. Also called a paddle steamer. Ships using this method, using human or animal power as the motive force, existed in ancient Egypt and China. When steam power came into use in the 18th century, Patrick Miller attempted in 1788 to fasten two ships side by side, place a paddle wheel between them, and run the wheel with a steam engine. After that, many people came up with various types. However, most eventually settled on a pair of wheels on either side, and only those for rivers were fitted with wheels at the stern. Other ideas included an eccentric shaft system that allowed the paddle surfaces to remain vertical underwater.

Eventually screw ships were developed, and after the paddle steamer Alecto (880 tons) was defeated in a tug-of-war in 1845 by the screw steamer Rattler (880 tons), which had almost the same horsepower (220 horsepower), paddle steamers rapidly gave way to screw steamers.

[Torao Shigezai]

Structure of paddle ship
A paddle steamer for rivers. There is an engine room in the center of the main deck, and a paddle wheel (water wheel) with a diameter of about 10m is turned by a steam engine to move the ship forward. Above the main deck is the passenger deck, and above that are two decks, each equipped with a salon, guest rooms, and a kitchen. To prevent the hull from bending due to the weight of cargo and passengers, several iron pillars are set up in a row in the fore-and-aft direction on the main deck, and both ends of chains are passed through the top ends and fixed to the underside of the bow. The vertical strength of the hull is increased by tightening the chains. Paddle steamers have low sides, which gives them the advantage of being easy to navigate in shallow rivers. © Shogakukan Library ">

Structure of paddle ship

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

船の中央両側に水かき水車をもつか、船尾に1個の水かき水車を備えて、これを往復動蒸気機関によって回転させ推進する初期の汽船。外輪船ともいう。この方式で原動力に人力または動物の力を用いた船はエジプトや中国において古く存在した。蒸気力が18世紀に利用されるようになると、1788年にパトリック・ミラーPatrick Millerが、2隻の船体を並べて固定し、その間に水かき水車を備え、これを蒸気機関で動かすことを試みた。その後多くの人によりいろいろの方式が生まれた。しかし、やがて大部分は左右1対(つい)の水車の方式に落ち着き、河川用のものだけが船尾に取り付ける形となった。また水かきの面が水中では垂直を保つような偏心軸の方式なども考案された。

　やがてスクリュー船が生まれ、1845年に外車船アレクト号（880トン）がスクリュー船でほとんど同馬力（220馬力）のラットラー号（880トン）に綱引きで負けてのち、外車船はその地位を急速にスクリュー船に譲るに至った。

［茂在寅男］

外車船の構造
河川用外車船。主甲板中央に機関室があり、直径約10mの外輪（水車）が蒸気機関によって回され、前進する。主甲板上部には旅客甲板が、さらにその上には2段の甲板があり、それぞれにサロンや客室、厨房を備えている。貨物や旅客の重さで船体がたわむのを防ぐため、主甲板上に数本の鉄柱を前後方向に並べて立て、その上端に通した鎖の両端を船首下部に固定し、その鎖を締め付けることによって船体の縦強度をましている。外車船は舷側が低いため、浅い川でも航行しやすいという長所があった©小学館ライブラリー">

外車船の構造

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