Model of the Lowe-Vansittart Screw Propeller Blades

Wood model, scale 1:4, the Lowe-Vansittart screw propeller blades, designed and fitted 1869 by Henrietta Vansittart for trial on H.M.S. 'Druid' and made by Henrietta Vansittart, England, 1869

Henrietta Vansittart was a pioneering British female inventor. She improved her father’s design of a screw propeller, to drive steam ships quickly and efficiently. Henrietta filled her home with development models built to test her ideas, such as this model of 1869. In 1882 she described trials withthe propeller, noting how 'The small amount of vibration is remarkable. The experiment of placing a tumbler of water over it was tried, and not a drop was spilt.' Like other engineers, she used her models to learn from experience, experiments and failures.