The New Hampshire Gazette

LONDON.

June 30. Tuesday last at Woolwich was tried an Experiment, on board the Hector man of war of 40 guns, by order of the Right Hon. the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, to row a ship in all dead calms at sea, or on stagnate waters; and to assist the sail in all slack winds, and to gain to windward of an enemy's ship, and also to tack briskly about in an engagement, &c. which experiment was attempted to be made, by twelve oars of a new contrivance, hanging perpendicular on starboard and larboard side of the ship, whose shanks of 12 feet long, have 8 feet of that length merged in the water, with blades of 2 feet broad by 8 long, jointed to them, which are compelled to move like pendulums, on both sides, by 12 or 16 men, who turn a small machine on the ship deck, whereby so great a force, and so regular a motion, is communicated from within the ship by four hempen ropes, or rather iron chains, to the whole 24 oars, so mathematically disposed on her outsides, as to make 5 or 6 strokes backward, and as many forward along her sides in a minute, truly analogous to the strokes made by the shanks and webs of a swimming water-fowl; by reason that when those shanks are drawn forward, their blades being jointed to them, do all in one instant of time close themselves, and divide their way in that direction for a space of 8 feet at their points in 8 feet deep of water; and having finished that stroke, they all in an instant spread to an open of two feet broad, and press backwards on such columns of water, for a like space of 8 feet at their points, as to row the ship forward in all the necessitous cases above-mentioned: And this small machine having been kept in one continual rotation by those men, was raised to such a degree of velocity at this first attempt, as moved the ship, for that small space or interval of time, as happened between the strong flux and reflux of the tides at Woolwich, in presence of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, several Commissioners of the navy, all the officers of his Majesty's dock yard, and a great concourse of other persons; but the oars went too low to stem the tides, as being but the first imperfect attempt, and yet they may be made to move much quicker by an easy improvement.