History
The Voith Schneider propeller was originally a design for a hydro-electric turbine. Its Austrian inventor, Ernst Schneider, had a chance meeting with an employee of Voith's subsidiary St. Pölten works; this led to the turbine being investigated by Voith's engineers. Although it worked no better than other water turbines, it was found that Schneider's design worked well as a pump; by changing the orientation of the vertical blades, it could function as a propellor.
In 1928 a prototype was installed in a 60-hp motor launch named Torqueo (Latin:I spin) and trials were carried out on Lake Constance. A number of German minesweepers (R boats) were fitted with VSPs; the first of these was the R8, built in 1929 by Lürssen. By 1931 VSPs were being fitted in new vessels on Lake Constance run by the German State Railways. The first such ship to use the Voith Schneider propeller was the excursion boat Kempten. Two German 1935-type M class minesweepers M1 and M2 were fitted with VSPs.
The first British ship to use Voith Schneider propellers was the double-ended Isle of Wight ferry MV Lymington, launched in 1938. Some 80 ships had been installed with VSPs by the end of the 1930s, including the 1938 German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin (two auxiliary units in the bow), and the Japanese submarine cable laying ship Toyo-maru (also 1938).
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Lift forces imparted to the VSP from the water body
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Path of a blade in the water
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