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[PSUBS-MAILIST] Bushnell's Turtle, revisited...
Hi Mike,
In the past 6 months I've seen a nice (full sized?)
model of the TURTLE on the internet; been looking for it lately, but can't find
it. If I do, I'll send you the URL. According to this modeler, the Turtle was a lot "flatter" than many have
depicted it; i.e. rather round and barrel-shaped when viewed from the side; and
yet, much slimmer when viewed from the front; and almost "lenticular" in the
vertical cross-section. If true, that hull shape would bring the volume /
displacement / weight way down, and improve the hydrodynamics
greatly.
I've read debates over the type of propellor it
had, too. Some say an Archemedian "helical screw" would be appropriate for
the times, and argue that the bladed "axial propellor" shown in some
diagrams didn't come into use until the time of Robert
Fulton.
(I wasn't around at the time, so I'm as much in the
dark as the next guy.)
And, as you point out, there are questions
about the TURTLE's actual dimensions.
Because the TURTLE was deliberately destroyed to
keep it from falling into enemy hands, we may never know exactly what it looked
like. Then again, someday, documentation may be found which puts the
issue to rest. Either way, it's an interesting subject; and experimenting
with what is known about the design may shed light on what is
not.
Why not build a working R/C scale model to see how
it behaves in the water?
Very best regards,
Pat Regan