PS Gemini
1850. The GEMINI was a freak. She was a “safety” iron twin hulled steamer, designed by a Mr. Peter Borrie and launched by him in the summer of 1850. Her dimensions were no less than 157.6 ft. in length by 26.6 ft., each hull being 8.5 ft. wide with a gap of 9.6 ft. between. The single paddle wheel worked in this gap, and she was intended to carry goods, passengers, cattle and all types of vehicles. It was expected that there would be a huge passenger traffic on the Thames during the 1851 London Exhibition, and it was hoped that the GEMINI would eclipse in speed and dimensions the large fleet of steamboats plying between London Bridge and Gravesend, some of which were remarkably speedy. The shape of the twin hulls afforded a large amount of deck-room with a very small tonnage, and considerably decreased the resistance to the water. The bow and stern were similar and she was expected to steam with equal facility ahead or astern, being fitted with rudders fore and aft.
According to the standard of the day, there was ample accommodation for between‡ 800 to 1,000 passengers on board, and altogether she cost her inventor some £14,000. Unfortunately for him, on her trial trip the speed was practically nil, and she found it impossible even to stem the tide. The trial was the only trip she ever made and in consequence she never plied for hire.
See Also
Sources of Information
- 'Steamers of the Thames and Medway' by Frank Burtt