Ship-Offshore Structure Design A towing tank is used to answer questions. Some answers come from earlier designs.
Some answers come from computer runs and scale model tests in a towing tank.
The model test cost is small compared to correcting a mistake after the vessel is built. The benefits of model tests were recognized early. In 1764 Benjamin Franklin experimented with models in a water filled tank. William Froude and his son introduced a method to estimate the ship engine power using ship models. These were tested in the first towing tank built in 1871.