Turbinia was the first steam turbine-powered steamship. Built as an experimental vessel in 1894, and easily the fastest ship in the world at that time, Turbinia was demonstrated dramatically at the Spithead Navy Review in 1897 and set the standard for the next generation of steamships, the majority of which were turbine powered. The vessel can still be seen at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, while her original powerplant can be found at the London Science Museum.

Development

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the modern steam turbine in 1884, and, having foreseen its potential to power ships, he set up the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company with five associates in 1893. To develop this he had the experimental vessel Turbinia built in a light design of steel by the firm of Brown and Hood, based at Wallsend on Tyne in the Northeast of England.

The Admiralty was kept informed of developments, and Turbinia was launched on 2 August 1894. Despite the success of the turbine engine, initial trials with one propeller were disappointing. After discovering the problem of cavitation and constructing the first cavitation tunnel, Parsons' research led to him fitting three axial-flow turbines to three shafts, each shaft in turn driving three propellers, giving a total of nine propellers. In trials this achieved a top speed of over , so that "the passengers aboard would be convinced beyond all doubt Turbinia was Charles Parsons' winning North Sea greyhound".

The turbines were directly driven, as geared turbines were not introduced until 1910. Even after the introduction of geared turbines, efficiency of even the largest axial steam turbines was still below 12 percent. Turbinia was even less efficient, with its direct drive turbine moving with a tip speed of just 30 meters per second. Despite this, it was a dramatic improvement over predecessors.

Demonstration

Parsons' ship turned up unannounced at the Navy Review for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee at Spithead, on 26 June 1897, in front of the Prince of Wales, Lords of the Admiralty and foreign dignitaries. As an audacious publicity stunt, Turbinia, which was much faster than any ship at the time, raced between the two lines of navy ships and steamed up and down in front of the crowd and princes, while easily evading a Navy picket boat that tried to pursue her, almost swamping it with her wake.

Photographer and cinematographer Alfred J. West took several photographs of Turbinia traveling at full speed at the Review. He was subsequently invited by Sir Charles Parsons to film and photograph the vessel within the River Tyne and the adjacent North Sea and the pictures captured (one of which is shown at the top of this page) remain the defining image of Turbinia at speed.

From this clear demonstration of her speed and power and after further high speed trials attended by the Admiralty, Parsons set up the Turbinia Works at Wallsend, which then constructed the engines for two turbine-powered destroyers for the Navy, and , which were launched in 1899. Both vessels were later lost but although the loss of these trials ships slowed the introduction of turbines, the Admiralty had been convinced. In 1900 Turbinia steamed to Paris and was shown to French officials and then displayed at the Paris Exhibition.

The first turbine-powered merchant vessel, the Clyde steamer , followed in 1901. The Admiralty confirmed in 1905 that all future Royal Navy vessels were to be turbine-powered, and in 1906 the first turbine-powered battleship, the revolutionary , was launched.