The discussion here has touched upon paddlewheels a time or two recently, and I was wondering if anybody has ever done an in depth study on them, particularly regarding their efficiency at low speeds compared to conventional propellors. No, I am not contemplating building a paddlewheeler... just idle curiousity. It seems to me that they should work well until they are turning fast enough to cavitate up a froth and fling water up at the sky. I understand the other drawbacks... big, bulky, kinda fragile, noisy, but they have a certain charm about them, and a split wheel with both sides independently powered would be fairly maneuverable, especially with flanking rudders forward. As a bonus, a paddlewheel would probably catch fewer crab traps than a screw prop, and be better in extremely shallow water.
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