The Propeller <I>Indiana</I>’s “Philadelphia Wheel”
date: label: Date made
content: 1848
name: label: possible patentee
content: Loper, Richard
label: maker
content: Spang & Company
notes: label: Description
content: <I>Indiana</I>'s propeller was manufactured by Spang & Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, as stamped on one of the blades. This firm, a large iron manufacturing company centered in Pittsburgh, PA, was founded in 1828 and was one of the earliest and largest manufacturers of iron products in the United States.
label: Description
content: The hub of the propeller is cast iron; the blades are rolled iron. One of the intact blades is chipped and dented, suggesting a collision. Another blade is missing outside the yellow line, which marks where a large section broke loose, probably from hitting an object in the water. This piece struck the <I>Indiana</I>'s sternpost, literally “shivered her timbers,” and started the leak that sank the ship. The blade broke off completely when the ship struck the lakebed and was found at the wreck site, buried in the sand under the stern post. It is reproduced here in fiberglass.
label: Description
content: The closest design is by Richard Loper of Philadelphia, who registered three propeller-related patents in 1844 and 1845 and licensed his ideas to shipbuilders Reany, Neafie & Co., also of Philadelphia. Contemporary accounts state that Loper’s design was the most popular in the Great Lakes region, and some Lakes propeller manufacturers even advertised his design as the “Philadelphia Wheel.”
topic: label: Subject
content: Engineering
label: Subject
content: Building & Architecture
label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Energy & Power
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: Transportation
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content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Michigan Department of State, Michigan History Division (through Bruce J. Andrews)
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1030.05
label: catalog number
content: 1979.1030.05
label: accession number
content: 1979.1030
objectType: label: Object Name
content: propeller
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cast iron (hub material)
label: Physical Description
content: rolled iron (blades material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 in x 1 in x 115 3/4 in; x 10.16 cm x 2.54 cm x 294.005 cm