As the turbine turns - [Past Forward_by Allison Marsh]
IEEE Spectrum · 2019
A true child of the Industrial Revolution, Charles Parsons invented the modern steam-turbine generator, which revolutionized electric-power generation and marine transport. (His first prototype is shown above.) To prove the superiority of his machine, the British engineer built his own experimental vessel, the SY Turbinia. Then, in a dramatic demonstration, he used it to crash a naval parade put on by the British Royal Navy in honor of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, in June 1897. Faster than every other ship, the Turbinia could not be caught. Parsons had made his point. The Royal Navy placed an order for its first turbine-powered ship the following year and in 1905 decreed that all future war vessels would be turbine powered.