A Forgotten Innovation: The Strange Saga of the Roller Boats

When you think of a boat or ship images of large sleek vessels cutting through the waves. However, during the late 1800s and early 1900s several inventors attempted to create what they believed would be an industry changing idea, the Roller Boat. Join me as we uncover the forgotten story of these incredible designs and why they became buried by time.
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Researched and written by Baron Von Teapot
Narrated and edited by @ConeOfArc
Sources:
Dumpleton, B. Story of the Paddle Steamer.
n.a. (1897). The “Bazin” roller boat. Nature, 55(1425). 379-380.
amzn.to/3YTZy9t
Specifications and Drawings of Patents Issued from the U.S. Patent Office: books.google.c...
www.nonvaleurs...
www.shippingwo...
www.maritimehe...
web.archive.or...
web.archive.or...
www.maritimehi...
ottawarewind.c...

[@sailsandsalvos]

If you enjoyed this video be sure to subscribe for more and check out the rest of the videos already available on the channel. I personally would recommend starting with this one on the story of how Brazil and France almost went to war over lobsters: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h32cl4auarCJbLM

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

can you make a doc about the invention of simping as psychic vampires against pimping? thanks

[@hyfy-tr2jy]

Revolutionize the industry....i see what you did there

[@higldeepigldee]

As an inventor I believe this video is a valuable aid in demonstrating the cautionary warning to would be inventors. Inventors fall in love with their ideas.

[@user-vp1sc7tt4m]

Absolutely! I learned when I was in my teens to create physical models for testing and apply my understanding of physics before going further with any mechanical design idea. So far, I haven't come up with anything that passes the test. I have saved a lot of money!

[@-danR]

@@user-vp1sc7tt4m Exactly what I was thinking. These 19th century inventors seemed bent on building their pipe-dreams at full scale, ready to make money.

[@flybobbie1449]

We had a chap building an airship. Aluminium frame like large greenhouse. Twin gas cylinders. He told us it would be like a submarine, height control by moving gas into and out of cylinders. Just as he finished the frame on two occasions gales blew the structure down. I think he gave up.

[@jiyushugi1085]

As do some investors.....

[@DonnyHootieHoot]

Who you talkin' 'bout Willis? Signed: Stockton Rush.

[@thadsgudenuff]

At various times in my life I have worked as a marine carpenter and rigger. From time to time I have also been surprised by my own susceptibility to motion sickness. That rolling pin vessel of a ship looks like a motion sickness nightmare device! Imagine being inside, not being able to see the horizon, random movement in every possible direction and the noise! OMG!!! I can’t imagine what the inventor could have been thinking.

[@bricaaron3978]

And then imagine a malfunction in which the inner and outer hulls become locked together, lol. _Roll, roll, roll your boat...._

[@saabtech3510]

I can only think that the man had never been to sea. Should have marketed it as an amusement park ride for thrill seekers.

[@Mounhas]

Life for a stoker is my idea of hell, especially on the huge liners.

[@mrbrisvegas2]

@@Mounhas In many cases the stokers on liners worked in exchange for free passage. So only a few days work.

[@ArtyMars]

The only thing more ridiculous is that he believed it would be fast, 59 knots is an absurd estimate 😂

[@jamesmchenry4708]

I did mention on the original video that in the '80s, Monster trucks on 66" or larger tires tended to not only float but propel themselves...slowly...across bodies of water in sanctioned events. One, Tennessean John Moore's first "No Problem!," was even registered as a boat in Florida, and featured the addition of a propeller taken off the rear axle.

[@horrido666]

M113 APCs use little paddles on the vehicles track to propel themselves when they swim. The problem with both the monster trucks and AFVs who use this is the speed. Its brutally slow.

[@TheDiner50]

More tanks than you might imagine would also take to the water and propel themselves. And I do really mean tanks as in Combat Vehicle Heavy Armored Tanks. Not completely sure about modern tanks. But cold war vehicles? Even WW2 tanks. If the tank is meant to withstand chemical warfare? Then having a water and preferably gas tight hull makes kinda sense. Many vehicles would be made to carry the snorkel and swim suit as part of the tanks main kit in combat. Pulling/setting up a very tall water screen (it is a tank that weigh allot) to get enough bouncy to float. Then with the tracks or a extra propeller shaft put out to move the tank in the water. The tank would be completely under the water level. Yet the water screen would still allow the tank to not sink to the bottom. The driver and crew would have to somehow operate the controls. If not with ropes then you better be quick to get out from the driver seat when your water screen fails. The thing sinks like a rock! This vehicles where quite literally made to in less then a hour be ready to drive into a lakes/rivers and paddle over to the other side and drive up onto land again. Bridges being blown up to stop you? Then you better hope the water is calm and slow moving... Your going into the water with the tank. The supply trucks etc? They get to setup camp and have a coup of pea soup.

[@Einwetok]

@@horrido666 Better make sure your pumps work first (1/2 of ours didn't), or you WILL become a submarine. Have fun cleaning out under the floor plates after.

[@Einwetok]

@@TheDiner50 Tanks aren't gas tight, they use an overpressure and filter for NBC protection. Re water: They drive on the bottom after some prep. Some can go 3 meters deep. Some IFV's and a couple of light tanks can float in calm water or slow currents.

[@wickedcabinboy]

@@Einwetok - And bring a change of underwear as well. 🤢

[@treavorwhitlock5606]

I have no idea why Knapp would think that design would prevent seasickness. It's still going to be moving up down and side to side, probably absolutely terrifying in heavy seas

[@garethrobinson2275]

I suspect he knew this but at the time the fashion was more 'fake it till you (don't) make it'. Using Queen victoria as an excuse for your financial monstrosity was another funding pump.

[@ColasTeam]

@@garethrobinson2275 At the time and today!

[@BooBaddyBig]

It's basically similar to a catamaran. Catamarans are a bit more stable than monohulls, so it's not completely daft to think it would be more stable.

[@MacShintersbane]

@@BooBaddyBig It's a monohull.

[@AlanRipman]

Definitely not comparable to a catamaran 😢​@@BooBaddyBig

[@cpiche4733]

Although not a maritime enthusiast, found this to be an exceptional show and tell of a concept I never heard of. Thank you and yes have driven all over Toronto and never knew of the roller boat being buried under the highway. Was years ago in Baddeck Nova Scotia at the Alexander Graham Bell museum where they had both the original and remake of the 1917 Hydrofoil that remained the fastest ever built for almost half a century.

[@Bobrogers99]

In all my 86 years I have never heard of these roller ships. Thanks for teaching me something new!

[@mr.g5593]

I'm only 55 but we can always learn something. 👍😁🇸🇯

[@TXDude]

Upon first glance, and being told what you're looking at is a sea-going passenger ship, you can tell that Ontario roller ship was also CONCEIVED by an engineer, not just designed. He obviously never served in the navy or merchant marine if he insisted that passengers would feel no movement at all. It takes a mighty big ship, with thrusters, to do that and to my knowledge, the commercial application of thrusters weren't a thing until the late 1970s. Any shipbuilder of the 19th century could have told the engineer that people WILL feel movement, no matter how many times he shouted, "But I'm an engineer! I know I'm right!"

[@______IV]

I used to manage some condos at a ski resort. I got a call from one of our guests asking for help with a clogged kitchen sink. When I got there, there were 3 guys in their late 20s early 30s standing at the sink looking like lost puppies. The sink was full of milky water and they told me it had been plugged all day and they couldn’t figure out why. So I proceeded to stick my hand into the water and feel around for what was blocking the drain. It was the removable rubber drain plug they put there that morning apparently. Then one guy said: "You’re not going to believe this, but we’re all engineers." I did believe them.😂

[@musaran2]

Makes one wonder WHERE he though the movement came from?

[@aBoogivogi]

There is one other way that was near term accessible, but to this date passenger submarines has yet to catch on. Can't remember how far down you need to go, but at some point the rolling on the surface gives way to the calmness of the ocean

[@DadInaShed317]

@@aBoogivogi I'm a former submariner and I remember sailing under a hurricane south of Japan once. we were several hundred meters underwater and you could still feel the motion of the surface. In normal weather, though it is completely still at those depths, not even just calm it's an otherworldly calm and very quiet but you know with a few dozen atmospheres of pressure above your head. As for the idea of passenger submarines, I think it's a terrible idea, most people like being able to go outside, see the sun, and breathe fresh air. besides that submarines are expensive and incredibly dangerous if not extremely well maintained, I don't think it would ever be viable to run one for profit.

[@kevineckelkampe2r]

​@@DadInaShed317 I was on the uss kentucky, I remember once being like 300 ft down and the storm above was still rocking that boat.

[@davedismantled]

"The difference between theory and practice, is so much greater in practice than in theory."

[@pigpuke]

"In theory, 'in theory' is the same as 'in practice'. In practice, it is not."

[@roybatty2030]

As the French say, it’ll be fine in practice but will never work in theory.

[@jamesandrews8698]

Never heard this , tysm lol. Poetry

[@Daveinet]

What is crazy is that no small scale prototypes were ever created and tested. Only full scale designs. Why would investors invest without a low risk proof of concept?

[@iamnegan1515]

I'm sure they must have made mini prototypes.

[@FUKdjt8645]

The narrator said they had small prototypes to acquire funds for the full-size. Keep up!

[@aquafox8732]

@@iamnegan1515 maybe they performed better, as friction drag due to skin rugosity is greater at low reynolds numbers...

[@jonathanandrew2909]

It was the Industrial Revolution. Lots of investments occurred. A lot of them were bad ideas, but a lot of wealth also was created. And it would’ve been a big payoff if investors owned the patents on a ship that transported faster.

[@joshhayl7459]

​@@aquafox8732 🟦…The design of a proper Paddle-Ribbing for those water-tires Could have changed history.

[@Bigtonymullins]

I don’t think we should be too hard on these guys. It was a different world and looking back with the knowledge that is available to us gives a high advantage. They didn’t have all of that. The incredible thing is that they tried them out and built them. How many of us would be able to design and build a massive rubbish roller ship with only limited knowledge and research. Not many

[@thadsgudenuff]

I can appreciate your perspective here. I’ll even say the first one with the six wheels was a decent attempt at iterative design. But the Canadian rolling pin thing, no. That guy was an idiot. Probably a very persuasive idiot, but an idiot just the same!

[@jtinz74]

But why build a massive rubbish roller ship when you can first test the design with a small one? Steam engines easily be scaled down.

[@VincentTorneyPlus]

We are hard on 'em 'cause we love 'em. #SpareTheRodSpoilTheShipWright

[@Ophanim_Cherub1.4]

Organizing men with sheer determination and will.is a beautiful sight

[@SagaSeaCraft]

Even during the late 1700's, hydrodynamic theories and laws were provided by physicists and mathematicians of the day that given a little research on the part of these roller-boat designers, these designers would have understood that their short-waterline lenticular floats (wheels) were much too short of a displacement waterline-length to provide any sort of water-borne speed increases relative to the ships of the day. They could have easily calculated the wave-creating properties and drag coefficients of their designs and understood that these wheeled designs would fail, especially with the quite advanced mathematics of the day. It's amazing that investors were so gullible.

[@hm5142]

I have been an experimental physicist for over 50 years, and have learned that most of my ideas are wrong in some way. I think this lesson in humility could be very helpful for the non-physicists in the world as well.

[@HDSME]

I have no degrees but I have million ideas that never worked !

[@donmacquarrie9161]

I'm an inventor with several successful working prototypes.....no one's interested in new ideas I find

[@Aaron-TheHandsome]

​@@donmacquarrie9161 pitch it to bezos, branson, musk, and the shark tank🦈🌊 lol😎👍🏼😂✌️

[@fangslaughter1198]

@@hm5142 I’m a fabricator. I always work methodically. When a “mistake ” happens 80% of the time I will find an improvement. We learn far more from mistakes than successes.

[@Bizarreparade]

I am a goat farmer and I noticed that you are wrong most of the time. I find this very helpful. Thanks!

[@marklangridge2734]

"In the modern era we would refer to this behaviour as 'Simping'" I chuckled. nicely put.

[@andrewvelonis5940]

But who's "we"? I've never heard that expression before.

[@sonjastarr1364]

I've never heard it either.

[@For_What_It-s_Worth]

11:28 - 12:07 Used on the internet when discussing modern men/women relationships. I believe it is the “verb-ization” of the noun _simp,_ from _simpering_ meaning being obsequiously ingratiating; spinelessly fawning. Now, simp is a term used for a human male who toadies up to and completely accommodates any and all desires of a female of the species in order to gain &/or stay in her good graces.

[@KevinOpar]

It is definitely common parlance today.

[@For_What_It-s_Worth]

I think the word comes from “simpering”.

[@jaimehudson7623]

As a fan of unusual cars and aircraft designs, I found this video amazing and fascinating. Proud Mary Keep on Rolling!

[@tsbrownie]

I see the operational issue: they needed to wait for water to freeze.

[@TCW-hw6iw]

If you contact the Brockville Museum in Brockville Ontario you will find that there is a lot of history around a roller boat that sank just east of that city. The wreck was eventually relocated by a local diver, but it was beyond salvage but still identifiable. Seems the roller concept sprung up in the imaginations of more than a few inventors. There is a reason new hulls are made in small precise scale and tested extensively before investing huge amounts of money.

[@olliefoxx7165]

When I read the title my first thought was the "Roll on Roll Off" ships. I thought this must be the story of their beginning. Boy was I wrong! This is WAY better. Never knew these ships existed. Fascinating! Got to hand it to the men of those times, they were visionaries and they were doers.

[@anvilsvs]

We've actually had working roller boats in the form of ATVs for quite a long time now. They're not very efficient in the water, but they do float and move.

[@derrickpaulson3093]

When I was a kid my dad had a six wheeler and took us across the lake in it. Same idea.

[@hansnelsen3960]

Container ships today only go 16 or 18 knots. The 19th century had some very advanced engineering. Its very surprising that these inventors were able to build such huge prototypes without testing them on a small scale, and then on a middle sized scale, since this was certainly happening in other ship yards of the day with more conventional designs. Were these just dilettantes with imagination and tons of money? Naval architecture of the day was not primitive. It sounds like these inventors were insanely ignorant that they might believe such craft would eliminate pitching in a sea way, or lower hydrostatic resistance. Bizarre!

[@brianhaygood183]

The speed was worth the fuel in those days. Today if we want our cargo fast we put it on an airplane, so there is very little incentive for a few extra knots across the water. The exception would be aircraft carriers, which dwarf any of these things in size and can still do well over thirty knots.

[@musaran2]

Water skin effects don't scale well. All the more reason to test progressively.

[@mikemotorbike4283]

the crypto scam of their day

[@billlawson5571]

Models would surely have shown the basic problems with these devices, before they were developed to full scale? I’m sometimes amazed at how we got here? it Boggles the mind!

[@imasudonem]

For sure. I know documentation is sparse on these things, but surely they must have tried some models? A smallish steam engine and a 1/8 size model would have told them all of this stuff. And by the time the Canadian guy was building his, hadn't propellers shown that paddle wheels were terribly inefficient? It looks like delusion more than anything, although maybe with a hint of fraud here and there.

[@Sashazur]

At 5:00 it said there were several models. Not sure how big or true to the final design.

[@roybatty2030]

As you may know, modelling is more complex than it appears, requiring careful dimensional analysis and not simply scaling everything down. Maybe they didn’t understand those engineering techniques back in the 1890s and their simple scale models were successful.

[@KingfishStevens-di9ji]

Many inventions are just a vehicle to scam investors

[@hypothalapotamus5293]

Well, we live in a time where people pushed an electric truck down a really long hill to fool investors.

[@joeyj6808]

Of all the naval innovations I have heard of, this is definitely one of them.

[@True_you_coming_through]

Ha ha, well said!

[@MrWombatty]

What comes to my mind is those vehicles which have a roller-screw on each side, that enable them traverse soft-soils, marshes, water, and snow!

[@forestpepper3621]

"Roller Boats" are NOT totally extinct. They exist today as small, pedal-powered recreational boats that can sail around in calm waters, such as small lakes. I'm sure I remember seeing one or two of these things over the years. Mostly just for fun, with little practical value.

[@rogerramjet7729]

Haven't seen them for a while, but remember large tricycles that used to be paddled across smooth water at Lakes entrance, Australia as a kid.

[@sonjastarr1364]

My friend and I rented a similar boat on a lake one time. Two seats side by side each with a mechanism like a recumbent bike's pedals in front, powering big fat "wheels". Problem was my friend was about four times stronger than me and we went in circles! Good times.

[@rapturedreamvision7205]

If they had been shaped like swans, the roller boats might have been more successful.

[@andrewvokes6242]

​@@rogerramjet7729 I remember I took a girl from Traralgon on a date to Buchan, and we stopped in Lakes Entrance on the way home and trundled around on the water for a while on one of those paddle-trikes.

[@peterlarkin762]

Roll, roll, roll your boat....

[@rjserra5535]

Roller boats look like a fun science project for a model drone boat. It would be interesting to see some design modifications could be made that would make the concept faster without using more power and fuel.

[@CB-fn3me]

I love Knapp's idea of a 800' (240m) long Steam powered Roller Boat. I suggest the name 'SRB Rolling Joint'. Imagine sitting there in your small sail powered fishing boat in dead calm watching that thing coming towards you like a gigantic steamroller. That would be a sight to behold and trying to escape getting steamrolled would be impossible as you don't have an engine and there's no wind.

[@horrido666]

Why?

[@ThunderhawkVeronicaLazerwolf]

To see your doom cresting the horizon. It's like a tidal wave with passengers. Getting Knapp'ed.

[@pigpuke]

Under marine law, the sail boat has right of way. The steamship would be responsible for avoiding a collision and any damages that happen as a result of one.

[@cjvilleneuve1566]

Never let youre ego dictate youre passion, you will end up quickly burning the candle by the 4 side ....what a time in history this period was,, i wish i was from that era.

[@The_ZeroLine]

It’s so awesome to see photos of prototype tech from this era that were actually built. Beyond any other issues, I think his roller prototypes was chronically underpowered.

[@PutItAway101]

Discussion of the topic begins at 2:45, if you already know what a ship is...

[@TheOtherBill]

I didn't make it that far because the constant movement of the still photos was making me seasick.

[@horrido666]

I guess the inverter didn't know the first law of thermodynamics. Instead of 'parting the water' once, his design parted it six times. That's a lot of energy.

[@MultiCappie]

from the -d- to the -u- to the -n- to the -n- to the -i- to the -n- to the -g- to the -space- to the -k- to the -r- to the -u- to the -g- to the -e- to the -r-.

[@For_What_It-s_Worth]

​@@MultiCappie You didn’t leave a space after the last “n-dash”, - , before the period. [ An -, “m-dash” as it is called, is typed by two adjacent n-dashes, which immediately fuse into the longer m-dash.] The markup symbols themselves need the “marking-up” of bracketing by preceding/following spaces, which was inherent in all the prior uses in that line. If I put n#-dashes around text without the spaces, like this-#, no strike-through. The identical copy/pasted line with only the replacement of the # with spaces will give this semantically self contradictory but typographically illustrative line: “If I put n -dashes around text without the spaces, like this- , no strike-through.” The same holds for *bold* markup with asterisks (*), _italicized_ with … “low dashes ??” (_), and the underscoring (which I think is the fourth, but I forgot what character does it…☹). These can be *_-nested-_* for combined effect.

[@For_What_It-s_Worth]

@@MultiCappie ​ @MultiCappie You didn’t leave a space after the last “n-dash”, - , before the period. [ An -, “m-dash” as it is called, is typed by two adjacent n-dashes, which immediately fuse into the longer m-dash.] The markup symbols themselves need the “marking-up” of bracketing by preceding/following spaces, which was inherent in all the prior uses in that line. If I put n#-dashes around text without the spaces, like this-#, no strike-through. The identical copy/pasted line with only the replacement of the # with spaces will give this semantically self contradictory but typographically illustrative line: “If I put n -dashes around text without the spaces, like this- , no strike-through.” The same holds for *bold* markup with asterisks (*), _italicized_ with … “low dashes ??” (_), and the underscoring (which I think is the fourth, but I forgot what character does it…☹). These can be *_-nested-_* for combined effect.

[@DetroitFettyghost]

​@@MultiCappie😂

[@Rippafratta]

Still today we have engineers trying to achieve the impossible (and getting ridiculous amounts of funding). Hyperloop? The space centrifuge? Replacing natural gas with hydrogen? Personal drone taxis? All with massive and physically unsolvable problems making them incredibly expensive and/or dangerous, but, oh, the money!

[@constantinosschinas4503]

Hyperloop is early 1900s design. Yet another fraud of the master scalper, mr. Musk.

[@roybatty2030]

So true. Not forgetting electric cars. Many decisions are based on breathtaking naive assumptions and sheer ignorance.

[@u1zha]

What's physically unsolvable about a drone taxi? You maybe generalized too much the "physically unsolvable" here. You can place an order on Jetson ONE, many apparently have.

[@Rippafratta]

@@u1zha Let's talk in a few years again about this, shall we? Drone taxis are incredibly loud (and all image films about them gloss over this fact, go figure!), their weight is too high because of the battery technology. And there are other issues as well. We will never see them in the planned quantities in crowded cities.

[@NotToast859]

A personal drone taxi is just an electric helicopter. That could absolutely exist given that electric helicopters have been created. Completely impractical for 100 different reasons obviously, but nothing about that has a physically unsolvable problem.

[@luckytoastsebastian]

Sure would be a cool steam punk evil villain lair. If that stuff ever comes back in style.

[@Sashazur]

Elon Musk has entered the chat

[@ErikssonTord_2]

One version of ships that didn't roll had the entire cabin hung on massive pivots at extreme ends of the hull and was designed for Channel crossings. It worked OK rolling-wise but was horrible in heavy seas so that was scrapped pretty soon, too!

[@Sashazur]

That maybe would fix rolling, but not pitching.

[@paulgracey4697]

Both devices suffer the same problem, excess wetted surface because they remain in displacement mode. That is what high powered hydroplanes and hydrofoils avoid.... if they are built right. Some hydrofoils like the first one you show do a poor job of reducing wetted area enough to be as good as properly designed ones. All hydrofoils do require enough engine power to propel the mass of the boat in displacement high enough out of the water to greatly reduce the wetted area. Hydroplanes are more brute force in this regard. Only once on the plane does the energy required drop enough to reduce the throttle if that is even possible below full speed. Hydrofoils can often have a greater range of foil borne velocities with some savings in fuel per mile possible.

[@TheOsfania]

What percentage of a hull is realistically wetted during a voyage?

[@MVRocinanteGold]

Exactly.. these lens shaped rollers remained in displacement mode, and they acted as six individual hulls in the water. Every displacement hull has a xharacteristic called "hull speed" which is intimately linked to a mechanical property of surface waves on bodies of water. Essentially, natural surface waves are observed to have a wavelength which is proportional to wave height and wave speed. Higher waves are farther apart, and groups of them move faster across the surface. One can imagine building a canoe which is shaped to match the curve between two wave crests, and if such a canoe would be given a push to match the speed of the waves it was designed from, it would be carried along quite efficiently for considerable distance by those waves. Smaller or larger wavelengths would "uncouple" from the canoe sooner. Now, take the same canoe to flat water, and add a motor capable of propelling it to the same speed as the "design basis" waves. Soon, a V-shaped bow wave will form, and behind the moving canoe, a series of transverse waves will start following it. Those transverse waves will have a wavelength corresponding to the canoe's speed through the water. Up to a hull's characteristic hull speed, it moves quite efficiently (measured as tons of cargo times miles moved per units of fuel consumed), but displacement hulls resist being pushed faster than their hull speeds, such that massive increases in fuel/power input realize only negligible increases in speed. The 6 wheel roller boat acted like 6 boats of 10 M length, instead of a single hull (or twin pontoons) of 50 M length. Its reported top speed is just about exactly the theoretical hull speed of a 10 meter displacement hull.

[@dodgydruid]

The Royal Navy did look at these concepts seeing in them a useful semi movable sentry or post ship that could hold station far easier than a standard hull and be fitted with a stable gun platform but this was at the time when the RN was the de facto most powerful navy in earth's history and the RN had tons of relatively useful small vessels for the same job so interest dissipated somewhat. The ideas were again looked at during WW2 for placing sea forts around Britain's coastal areas but the water wasn't too deep that the RN just built permanently anchored static forts like the ones in the Thames estuary.

[@phoule76]

They were on a roll, those inventors.

[@abhayajoodha2331]

Because of 12:05, I launched a piece of chewed up ground beef out my nose. I was not expecting that.

[@arisskarpetis]

A roller ship with a zeppelin landing pad? That’s what I will probably be dreaming about tonight.

[@motosaki404]

"we would refer to this type of behavior as 'simping'". llllmfao wasnt expectin that word to make an appearance on this show. much respect

[@sailordude2094]

Amazing tech, thanks! It gives new meaning to the CCR song Proud Mary that goes "Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river." lol

[@c.l.3806]

Im an Inventor too. Rollerships only work for gliding hulls. And you need to brush off the water when the rollers leave the surface. Better use small rollers that are sitting under a gliding hull. --------------- I invented a vibrating ship hull, that should work better than rollers btw. The vibration minimizes contact time with the water surface. Leading to fast jumps. It works like stone flipping. Fast contacts with the surface are able to produce enough lift, and reduce surface drag.

[@peoplez129]

A vibrating hull would be worse on efficiency, because while you might push the water away a little on a microscopic scale, it'll come rushing back and at least cancel things out, and more likely, make things worse. So you push water away, it comes rushing back at you, effectively doubling drag. Vibration would also be impractical for a large hull, and also cause wear and tear. On top of that, vibrating a large hull on a ship would come with other issues for the people nearby it or on the ship. You would certainly have potential for some cascading that either damages people's hearing or makes them constantly hear noise in their head from the vibrations. Eventually somewhere in that ship design, it will naturally act as a magnifier, like a speaker box, that focuses the vibrations somewhere, either on people or equipment.

[@chiliHoowah]

This reminds me of those tricycle/pedal boat things that you could always find on beaches when i was a kid in the 90s/early 00s. I suppose they were there so people could rent them for the day or something. Idk. They had large plastic wheels with little lips every few inches perpendicular to the rotation of each “wheel”.

[@ibeetellingya5683]

FYI, In addition to hydrofoils, there are other modern technologies that successfully reduce a boat's friction on water: 1. Air Lubrication Systems (ALS): Bubble layer under the hull for less drag. 2. Microbubble Drag Reduction: Fine air bubbles for even slipperier hulls 3. Advanced Hull Coatings: Special paints to prevent fouling and reduce friction, 4. Wave-Piercing Hull Designs: Slender hulls that cut through waves. 5. Energy Saving Devices (ESDs): Flow optimization add-ons for better efficiency.

[@AndersLang-i5s]

6. The Bulbous Bow. 7. New Bow geometries that cut through waves without losing energy to stamping.

[@timogul]

I would love to see some more modern efforts on these designs, like small electric versions, or computer simulations of them, to see if there is any way to work out the issues with it and actually get an advantage.

[@simacmanus4645]

I wonder if you could counter the "stickiness" Bezine's wheels with the golf-ball cavitation effect. Maybe if he'd dimpled the wheels that might have caused a cavitation effect on them and reduced the friction to allow for his theories to gain momentum. So many of these forgotten inventions and theories make me wonder "what if we took what we know today, and apply it to some of these inventions, maybe there is an ounce of truth to them?" I know that a lot of them would be completely disproved, but as James Watt said, we only need to find one method that works. 😁

[@slaplapdog]

I think the same thing about the computer control we have now applied to the Pogostick VTOL aircraft.

[@Ross-Olson]

The dimples (as I understand it) are intended to reduce air resistance, which would translate to reduced “grip” on the water.

[@roybatty2030]

The dimples on a golf ball produce a turbulent boundary layer of air, which delays the point of separation towards the rear of the ball, thereby reducing drag and improving stability. I have not done the calculations but I doubt that idea would be directly transferable to water at the much lower speeds of a ship.

[@disklamer]

The maritime museum in my town has a beautiful collection of scale models. Inventors are above scale models, they are artisans of modernity and must produce their vision larger than life!

[@HowievYT]

Thank you Baron Tea - nice to have a non AI script. Such a difference.

[@Freight_Train]

I rented a roller trike at a lake once. It was like Robert Fryer's roller ship. It was less fun than an actual paddleboat, which I had previously thought impossible. They're gone now and paddleboats are there instead. Sometimes a "great idea" is really not.

[@mattwilliams3456]

Those things were atrocious and definitely provided more entertainment for people watching from shore than those riding them.

[@doctorprepperisprepared]

I have lived for 67 years and had never seen this in history books, stories, museums or mass media in all of my life. And being an ex US sailor for six years I have never been introduced to this failed ship concept invention. This appears to me to be the best kept invention failure secret ever.

[@SlyPearTree]

I love learning about weird failed inventions.

[@mspeir]

I like Knapp's idea. Although impractical, it would be fun to build out of wood, using modern day power plants. The control issue could be rectified by splitting the hull into two seperate, water-tight sections that could rotate independently and in opposite directions. It would never be more than a hobby, "just for the heck of it!" boat, but would undoubtedly be fun.

[@rosseatsleepjdm]

Great video, look forward to more uploads!

[@whitneymacdonald4396]

What were these inventors taking and how did they convince anyone this would work? Amazing. Great video. Very entertaining.

[@ottobihrer732]

Years ago, I worked for a company, who invested a huge amount of money in a chemical process, that worked on a miniature scale and without further ado build a massive factory, which never worked, ever. They forgot, that with increasing size the forces, energy needed, processes, inputs and outputs, weights, things can change dramatically. Best explained if we look at bamboo standing 12 feet tall with a circumference of 10 inches and a weight of 64 kg. Now look at a redwood tree of 390 feet and a circumference of 100 feet and a weight of 6000 tons. See the difference.

[@paul6925]

I’m in Toronto! That roller ship would be just southeast of St Lawrence Market. I have indeed driven over top of it many times. Fascinating bit of history!

[@libbychang413]

have there been any proposals or attempts to excavate it?...

[@paul6925]

@@libbychang413 I honestly don't know! Unfortunately it's a very busy highway. People here would throw up the biggest fuss if that road ever closed. It's hard enough to get part of it closed for maintenance without being accused of starting a war on cars. Maybe they could tunnel underneath? 😅

[@rmay7]

​@@libbychang413 pretty much every single property south of Lake Shore and the Gardiner around where this would be has already been excavated in the past 20 years (converting abandoned port lands to condos and a few offices), and there's been no mention of anything found. But yes, as Paul mentions, shutting down either of the two busy stretches of road (or even possibly the commuter rail tracks to the north) isn't happening.

[@bricology]

Clearly, none of those "designers" had any clue about the characteristics of conditions in the Atlantic (or any other ocean). When dealing with series of >5m tall waves, and prevailing westerly winds, a wide cylinder would be about the worst design imaginable, and lenticular wheels would not be much better.

[@jonesey1981]

I need a baby assault tank! That art was awesome.

[@Jay-yy9ol]

Hi. No small prototypes were made before building the actual size boat? They would have revealed many issues. Bizarre. Thank you.

[@Cletrac305]

When scientists and inventors still thought all those actual sailors had been lying about rogue waves for centuries!

[@joshhayl7459]

🟦…Regarding that last boat that looked like a cylinder,..I don't think it was hard to see that there just weren't enough 'Fins' (or whatever they're called) on the outside of the boat to engage the water effectively, Like the paddles on a paddle wheel boat, just ONE row of them in the center is definitely not enough!,.. and one could see that there was room for quite a few more!

[@diezel74dan]

I really wanna try now! In a smaller scale. 😊 And with modern materials and purpulsion...

[@scottys1423]

Even if the power advantage had worked out as planned, can you imagine these top- heavy designs in rough seas?

[@tpower7382]

Fantastic video, thanks for sharing

[@roybatty2030]

It was a pretty bold idea to go straight from small models to a 250 ton ship. You have to admire the self confidence of those nineteenth century engineers. Even the more successful ones had their failures, like Brunei’s hydraulic railway and Tesla’s power generation towers.

[@peoplez129]

The wireless power towers worked, the problem is, how do you meter people? And there in lies the rub. Of course, it's a good thing we didn't move to wireless power, because we wouldn't even have computer chips today.

[@roybatty2030]

@ Actually, Tesla’s wireless towers didn’t work. Construction of a number of them had been funded by JP Morgan but when the first one was built and Tesla could not get it to work, they pulled the stopped funding. There is a Zimbabwean guy who claims to have made a similar breakthrough, harvesting radio waves to power cars, generators, etc. - invest at your peril, haha.

[@adrianvanheems8041]

What would revolutionise travel would be superfast ships, particularly across the Atlantic. If a ship could do 65 knots it would be able to sail from Southampton to New York in 2 days. This is of course a lot slower than flying but without all the aggravation and hassle involved, baggage restrictions and flight cancellations.

[@jaydeeharlee6575]

No panios land yaughts type carry on baggage

[@MisterTalkingMachine]

Hope artifacts from these things are recovered and preserved at some point

[@WastrelWay]

They thought they had a good idea. The first thing a sailor would ask is, "How do you steer it?" They also did not take into account the roughness of the ocean waves; there are reasons why boats and ships have well-fined bows and sterns, and that is one of them. The picture on the cover to Modern Mechanix looks like something that might be feasible on a small scale for quiet waterways. It would probably be very inefficient in its use of fuel, though. Turning the wheels fast is not as good as turning them slowly with more water-pushing power, such as on a paddle-wheel steamboat.

[@Ivytheherbert]

"Your Royal Highness, I have heard you do not enjoy sea travel due to the experience of sea-sickness. As such, I humbly invite you to Canada, so you may climb into a hollow metal log with no windows. I am convinced this is the solution to sea sickness for some unknown reason. Your sincerely, Your number one fan Frederick Knapp."

[@wickedcabinboy]

Clearly, nautical engineering was rudimentary, at best. Those designs were simply absurd; particularly the barrel ship. How anyone could *_believe_* that such a vessel would achieve 52 knots is a testament to human gullibility. How was it to be steered? We are not told. And we see no mechanism even suggesting a way to steer.

[@brianhaygood183]

Nautical engineering was quite advanced. That has little to do with what people who don't understand nautical engineering might have come up with.

[@wickedcabinboy]

@@brianhaygood183 - Fair enough. Ignorance is painful at times.

[@paul756uk2]

Imagine it running aground. You'd end up with the inner drum spinning round and round.

[@brentritchie6199]

People are so brave with their ideas. I can’t believe they didn’t thing a rudder having been used for thousands of years to be important.

[@johnhubert339]

FII were making a future steampunk movie, I'd definitely want a huge roller boat city in it.

[@aquafox8732]

3 months ago I thought of the same idea, put it on to do list of 3d printing stuff for testing... and just find this video, thanks a lot.

[@salec7592]

Bazin type roller ship would work only if the rollers weren't dipping too deep under surface. We see that light water polo balls easily skip over water surface with very little friction due to their rotation, but if they were encumbered and submerged up to a significant depth, the advantage would disappear and friction between rotating surface and surrounding water would be as large as (or even larger than) a classic hull cutting through water.

[@jf2369af]

Never knew until now.... So thanks

[@arydant]

I had a friend that would pitch to me all kinds of silly ideas for big projects that were inherently flawed. His persistance and obsession did result in one practical product but never made him very much money. Even when an idea is a failure, often they become even more grandiose as it that would wipe away the inherent flaw.

[@roberttheredeemed]

starts at 2:45 everything before that is just filler.

[@Yezpahr]

I did try to recreate this concept in Stormworks Search and Rescue, good ole times.

[@LucidDreamer54321]

As The Doors would say, “Let it roll, baby, roll. Let it roll. All night long.”

[@Mtnmanmike62]

I have two words that might have saved these inventors tons of money and heartache: Scale Model.

[@zrebbesh]

Sometimes the value of invention is to serve as a warning to others. These boats taught people things about hydrodynamics that they didn't know before.

[@consultant_researcher]

Thats so cool. These are still , useful today , as bodies of water, still exist today !@

[@robertrobert7924]

If you have not already made a video about the Winans Steam Cigar Ships, I suggest you do so. They were actually functional and were manufactured in Baltimore, MD.

[@jasonmccaslin821]

Interesting video Cone. 👍%

[@aBoogivogi]

I'm always curious when watching these videos; Like are there any uses for any of these ideas given our modern technological advancements. I imagine making scale models for instance of ideas like this today is trivial compared to back then

[@copeland7225]

I love these periods in technological development when people just try whatever goofy shit come to mind

[@paul756uk2]

One of the issues I could see with the last incarnation of this vessel is that the torque produced by the steam engine could cause the inner drum to rotate. Maybe that's the reason they couldn't get the speeds they thought possible.

[@moodberry]

Fantastic research. My hat is off to you sir! I learned something strange but true today.

[@WayneBraack]

I've never heard of this type of ship. Find it amazingly silly. 😂. Definitely subscribing. I'd like to see a video on whaleback ships someday. That roller ship in Toronto should be dug up and turned into a tourist attraction. Where I live we have the last whaleback ship in the world. And now sits on a man-made Island and is a restaurant and tourist shop.

[@sailsandsalvos]

We have another video in the pipeline on a similarly odd type of boat but the whalebacks are definitely something we'll keep in mind

[@parkerbond9400]

My favorite genre of failed intentions are ones like the flying wing that had pros and cons over other designs and just needed the technical issues fixed before they became viable. In the case of the flying wing the solution was fly by wire to fix the control issues caused by not having a separate tail section.

[@rando9574]

this is a boat, it doesnt need wings since it has wheels

[@mikedunn7795]

They should have constructed models to test the theory. Would have saved a ton of money.

[@Il-SKl]

If you listened at 5:00 he said they experimented with models for about 5 years

[@mikedunn7795]

@@Il-SKl If so,the models would have revealed the truth that the idea was BS.

[@vielstein]

This Bazin design has suvived in parts : pedal boats with rollers like those 😁.

[@leewilkinson6372]

That boat by knapp.... had to be a bar challenge. "I'll bet i can get people to pay me to build this" -ha, you're on! There's no way anyone's that supid 😅

[@mankihonda983]

Imagine not just testing this at one tenth the scale. The financiers were dumber than the inventor and the bar wasn't high.

[@28704joe]

Hindsight is 20-20

[@mankihonda983]

@@28704joe Common sense was actually common back then. Money wasn't silly.

[@28704joe]

@@mankihonda983 Your "common sense" has the benefit of hindsight. It was a age of daring ventures, people speculated to get rich just as fast as people do today.

[@mankihonda983]

@@28704joe "Never seriously invest in things you don't understand" has to have been a known concept back then? People will get burned to the bone when these latest bubbles burst.

[@Jon_dog]

This feels partially AI generated, there's a weird amount of repetition and it's verbose in a way that isn't really that useful.

[@lbochtler]

why is it, that the most awsome feats of engineering tend not to survive to this day?

[@MainlyHuman]

Its only awesome if you ignore the fact that it didn't work.

[@lbochtler]

@@MainlyHuman awesome /ô′səm/ adjective Inspiring awe. an awesome thunderstorm. Expressing awe. stood in awesome silence before the ancient ruins. (Slang) Remarkable; outstanding. from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

[@MainlyHuman]

@lbochtler yeah. Sorry but this thing really doesn't inspire sweet in me. Interest, amusement maybe.

[@billlawson5571]

Good job guys never, heard of this before !

[@cggage]

It would be an interesting project to take all this and transfer it to computer simulation models to see what they can come up with. To see if the concept is even viable. The first example of the adhesion of the water and the additional weight not being considered could all be handled within a computer simulation. This would be a fascinating project for those engineers working on their doctoral thesis.

[@rando9574]

would it, or would it be like simulating cars with square wheels to see if they are better

[@cggage]

@@rando9574 You never know what might come from the analysis! Multiple square wheels, not all in-sync, have been tested for use in climbing, odd terrain, etc. Might be worth tossing the numbers into a simulation and see what comes out. Proving it a dud is worthwhile, too.

[@davebolig1989]

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

[@jadegecko]

This feels like when a little kid wants to play with boats, but only has a toy car, and so has to come up with an excuse as to why the toy car is actually a ship.

[@molybdaen11]

Only the last one looks like it could have a survival chance in a storm.

[@giannidcenzo]

Great episode. Wild ideas