| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Laid down | 1844 |
| Launched | 1845 |
| In service | 1845 |
| Out of service | 1845 |
| Fate | rebuilt as USS Water Witch (1847) |
| General characteristics | |
| Length | 100 ft (30 m) |
| Beam | 21 ft (6.4 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 6.5 knots (12.0 km/h; 7.5 mph) |
USS Water Witch was a steamer designed and constructed by the U.S. Navy with an experimental propulsion system that never quite worked, the Hunter wheel.
The first Water Witch, a steamer built in 1844 and 1845 at the Washington Navy Yard, saw little active service. It was originally constructed to serve as a water supply vessel for the Norfolk, Virginia, station, but it was not used for that purpose because its draft was too deep for it to pass through the locks of the Dismal Swamp Canal to obtain fresh water. Consequently, it was fitted as a harbor vessel and tug.
However, its unique, but poorly conceived, Hunter Wheel propulsion system caused it to fail in that mission as well. In order to rid steamers of their vulnerable above-water paddle wheel housings and to increase their broadside weight, Lt. W. W. Hunter had devised and patented a system of placing the wheels inside the hull of the ship at a right angle to the keel making their rotations horizontal rather than vertical. The paddles extended their full length outside the hull for maximum contact with the water for propulsive purposes; and, inside the hull, they were encased by a cofferdam which kept the water from entering the ship proper. Unfortunately for Lt. Hunter, the wheels lost much of their power pushing water through the encased area inside the hull, forfeiting between 50 and 70 percent of their potential power.
That fact was recognized before the ship had served a year, so it was condemned and sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it had arrived sometime before 21 November 1845. Its modifications there were so extensive that, in spite of the fact that it retained its name, the new creation is regarded as a second, distinct ship—USS Water Witch (1847).
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.
A propeller is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working fluid such as water or air. Propellers are used to pump fluid through a pipe or duct, or to create thrust to propel a boat through water or an aircraft through air. The blades are shaped so that their rotational motion through the fluid causes a pressure difference between the two surfaces of the blade by Bernoulli's principle which exerts force on the fluid. Most marine propellers are screw propellers with helical blades rotating on a propeller shaft with an approximately horizontal axis.
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships came into practical usage during the early 1800s; however, there were exceptions that came before. Steamships usually use the prefix designations of "PS" for paddle steamer or "SS" for screw steamer. As paddle steamers became less common, "SS" is assumed by many to stand for "steamship". Ships powered by internal combustion engines use a prefix such as "MV" for motor vessel, so it is not correct to use "SS" for most modern vessels.
A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S or PS ; however, these designations are most often used for steamships.
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.
Steam frigates and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. There were some exceptions like for example the French Napoléon class steam ship of the line was meant to stand in the line of battle, making it the world's first steam battleship. The first such ships were paddle steamers. Later on the invention of screw propulsion enabled construction of steam-powered versions of the traditional ships of the line, frigates, corvettes, sloops and gunboats.
USS Alligator, the fourth United States Navy ship of that name, is the first known U.S. Navy submarine, and was active during the American Civil War. During the Civil War the Confederate States Navy would also build their own submarine, H. L. Hunley.
USS Wolverine (IX-64) was a training ship used by the United States Navy during World War II. She was originally named Seeandbee and was built as a Great Lakes luxury side-wheel steamer cruise ship for the Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Company. Seeandbee was launched on 9 November 1912 and was normally used on the Cleveland, Ohio, to Buffalo, New York, route with special cruises to other ports. After the original owners went bankrupt in 1939 Seeandbee was purchased by Chicago-based C & B Transit Company and continued operating until 1941.
USS Scourge was a steamer warship in service during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). She was the third United States Navy ship of that name.
USS Allegheny – the first United States Navy ship to be so named – was a large iron-hulled steamer that served as an American gunboat in the South Atlantic Ocean as well as in the European area. When the American Civil War occurred, Allegheny served the Union cause honorably, doing her part by supporting the Union Navy – because of her large size and operational condition – as a receiving ship.
Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a watercraft through water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting of an electric motor or internal combustion engine driving a propeller, or less frequently, in pump-jets, an impeller. Marine engineering is the discipline concerned with the engineering design process of marine propulsion systems.
Demologos was the first warship to be propelled by a steam engine. She was a wooden floating battery built to defend New York Harbor from the Royal Navy during the War of 1812. The vessel was designed to a unique pattern by Robert Fulton, and was renamed Fulton after his death. Because of the prompt end of the war, Demologos never saw action, and no other ship like her was built.
The Hunter Wheel was a device intended to improve the propulsion of steam-powered ships and evaluated in the middle 1840s. At the time, as ships were transitioning from sail to steam engine power, the understanding of the principles of hydrodynamics and efficient use of steam was in its infancy.
The first USS Union was a steamer designed and constructed by the U.S. Navy as an experimental improved version of its current steam-powered ships which were not considered as efficient as they should be.
USS Water Witch was a steamer in the service of the United States Navy. She participated in the Mexican–American War which lasted from 1846 to 1848.
The roller ship was an unconventional and unsuccessful ship design of the late nineteenth century, which attempted to propel itself by means of large wheels. Only one such vessel was constructed—Ernest Bazin, named for its inventor —which was found to be impractical.
SS Archimedes was a steamship built in Britain in 1839. She was the world's first steamship to be driven successfully by a screw propeller.
A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are:
The revenue cutter George M. Bibb was an iron-hulled steamboat built at Pittsburgh in 1845, named after the then-Secretary of the Treasury George M. Bibb, which served on blockade duty during the war with Mexico in 1846, and was transferred to the U.S. Coast Survey in 1847. Its engines were salvaged for a second Bibb that is sometimes considered to be a rebuild of the George M. Bibb.
Steam-powered vessels include steamboats and steamships. Smaller steamboats were developed first. They were replaced by larger steamships which were often ocean-going. Steamships required a change in propulsion technology from sail to paddlewheel to screw to steam turbines. The latter innovation changed the design of vessels to one that could move faster through the water. Engine propulsion changed to steam turbine in the early 20th century. In the latter part of the 20th century, these, in turn, were replaced by gas turbines.
This glossary defines the various types of ships and accessory watercraft that have been used in service of the United States. Such service is mainly defined as military vessels used in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, as well as the defunct, incorporated, or renamed institutions such as the United States Revenue Cutter Service. Service of the United States can also be defined in this context as special government missions in the form of expeditions, such as the Wilkes Expedition or the North Pacific Exploring and Surveying Expedition. The scope of the glossary encompasses both the "Old Navy" of the United States, from its beginnings as the "Continental Navy", through the "New Navy" and up to modern day. The watercraft included in the glossary are derived from United States ships with logbooks published by the National Archives and Records Administration.