Patent Model for Steering Steam Ships

Object Details

Description: Mechanical engineer Frederck Sickels devoted his career to improving steam engines and advancing their use at sea. He was particularly interested in developing steam-assisted steering, a topic dear to many inventors as ships became larger and heavier through the middle of the nineteenth century. This patent model demonstrates Sickels's idea for a steering apparatus where steam pressure in a pair of cylinders would both control the side-to-side motion of a vessel's rudder but also hold the rudder stationary against the force of the surrounding water.

Object Name: steamboat, sickels'; steamboat, sickels', model; patent model, steering, steamboat
Object Type: Patent Model
Other Terms: steamboat; steamboat, sickels'; patent model, steering, steamboat; Maritime; Side Wheel

Physical Description: wood (overall material); brass (part material)
Measurements: overall: 12 1/2 in x 6 5/8 in x 26 1/4 in; 31.75 cm x 16.8275 cm x 66.675 cm

associated place: United States: New York, New York City; United States: New York

See more items in: Work and Industry: Maritime; Industry & Manufacturing; America on the Move; Transportation; Invention and the Patent Model; Patent Models
Exhibition: Inventing In America
Exhibition Location: National Museum of American History

National Museum of American History

GUID (Link to Original Record): https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-ffa3-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa