Jackson&Co
Cadet
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2012
Why was the CSS Mississippi designed with single engines turning each of its 3 screws, but later the CSS Columbia had a 2 engines turning a single propeller? The individual engines on both ships are nearly identical in size, as were the screws. Almost all 'modern' US warships of the era had a pair of engines turning a single screw. What are the advantages? And if there are advantages, why didn't the the engines builders in 1861 New Orleans do the same? Was it simply because they never built paired engines of that type before and didn't have the necessary patterns or the experience? How difficult, or how long would it have taken them to develop this ability? If it is a relatively simple thing to do, did the engineers error by thinking that a single piston engine could compensate by 'hard firing' without producing undue problems such as excessive vibration, and that the main concern of the Tift brothers was building the Mississippi's engines as quickly as possible?
Bringing the