page_title: Turbinia
section_title: Demonstration
hierarchical_section_title: Turbinia / Demonstration
caption_attribution_description: English: The steamship Mauretania was an ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by Wigham Richardson and Swan Hunter for the British Cunard Line in 1906. The Turbinia, alongside, was the first steam turbine-powered steamship; built as an experimental vessel in 1894.
context_page_description: 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 would be turbine powered. The vessel is currently located at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, while her original powerplant is located at the Science Museum in London.
context_section_description: Parsons' ship turned up unannounced at the Navy Review for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria at Spithead, on 26 June 1897, in front of the Prince of Wales, foreign dignitaries and Lords of the Admiralty. 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; the pictures captured 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, HMS Viper and HMS Cobra, that were launched in 1899. Both vessels were later lost but although the loss of these trial 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 TS King Edward, 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 HMS Dreadnought, was launched.
caption: Turbinia alongside RMS Mauretania
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Tag 0x0301": "20000/9091", "Image Tag 0x5110": "1", "Image Tag 0x5111": "3780", "Image Tag 0x5112": "3780"}