Dave Gerr, CEng FRINA, Naval Architect

www.gerrmarine.com

How We Learned To Skim In Steps

Development of the Stepped Hydroplane
By Dave Gerr 2014 by Dave Gerr

N ow, about the desig n dope ; whe re does a fellow beg i n whe n he starts
o u t t o des ig n a h yd ropl a ne?
N aval A rch ite ct , E . Wes t on F a rmer

n the pre v ious article , we ex amined the de velop me nt of s ometh i ng we al l take f or g rante d
the se da ys p la ni ng. Ne wf a ngle d g as eng i nes
p r o vi de d the sp a rk , whi ch q ui te lite r a lly
pe rmitte d pl aning ( fly ing too, it was no acci de nt
th at the Wrigh t brothers succes s was at thi s
t im e) . St eam e ngi ne s e ve n s o phis tic a ted d ou bl e
- a ct ion , m ul ti ple -ex pans i o n , c omp o u nd m a ch inesh ad simply been too heavy for the powe r
the y produced. Their shee r mass couldnt ge ne rate the zip re qu ired for h igh-speed excite ment.
N o w, w ith g a s ol i ne m ach i ne s , al l th at wa s l e f t
was to fi nd the prope r f orm of light we ight h ull t o
mate wi th these ne wf angle d f eathe rweigh t
p owe rp l a nts a nd we d be se t. F rom 1 90 5 on,
th i ngs we re re a lly c ooki ng : mode l te st s, expe ri me nts , f alse st art s, race s and more race s, and
i ne x o r a bly r a p id p rog res s . I ndee d, th e c o n ve n tional planing runa bout, as we saw last article,
was bei ng mass p rod uce d jus t a fe w short years
l a te rby 190 9 .

F a ube r re as o ne d th at , si nce a b oa t sk immed

( pl a ne d or ge ne rate d li ft ) b y s t ri ki ng the onru sh ing wate r at a slight angle , adding more of these
angle s would ge ne rate more lift. His ang les we re
i n the f or m of m ul ti ple j og s o r ste p s in the bot t om of the h ull . Whats more , whil e the b oat was
s up p osed ly ski m mi ng a l o ng o n the se nu me r ou s
s tep s, only the i r ve ry tip s would be t ouch i ng the
waves. The rema inder of the h ul l unde rb ody
would be in contact with air and foam alone.
S i nce e ve ryb o dy k no w s tha t ai r ( and f o am) a re
l ess de nse th an wate r, re sis t ance sh oul d de c re as e d r ama t i c a l l y .
Wh at s p a rti cul arly nice about all th is , is th at
b r o ad ly spe a k ing Fa ube r was right. In fact, just
a y e a r l at e r ( 1 9 1 0 ) , a m ult i-ste p hy d ro c ompet ed
i n the Brit ish I nte rnat ional T rophy. (Powe rb oat
r a ci ng w a s h ot , h ot , h ot b ac k the n i t wa s all
ne w.) Acc ord i ng t o the Sep tembe r, 19 10 R u d de r
m ag a z i ne :
Dixie III [the U.S. defender] got the honors

but Pioneer, a Fauber hydroplane, showed by

S t e p p i ng Off
far the greatest speed possibilities.
So f a r, h owe ve r, we ve onl y c ove red h alf the
s t ory . I n fac t be s ide s
the right Re ve re nd Ramus, who we disc us se d l ast a rt ic le
the re wa s yet ano the r
i n ve nt o r tha t w o uld
i n fl ue nce pl a n ing b o at
de ve l op ment Wi ll iam
H e n r y F a ube r . F a ube r
t o ok o ut no les s th a n
nine pate nts on an alln e w ap p ro ac h t o pl a ning , the principle ones
be i ng i n 1 90 8 a nd
1 90 9.
Maple Leaf IV at speed. Look closely at the waterline to see some of her multiple steps.

Gerr Marine, Inc. | 838 West End Ave., Suite BB | New York, NY 10025 | t. 212-864-7030 | dave@gerrmarine.com

Dave Gerr, CEng FRINA, Naval Architect

www.gerrmarine.com

Page 2

First To Fly - Part 2 - How We Learned To Skim In Steps (continued)

T h e o n l y rea s o n P io nee r di d nt
win eve ry ra ce by a huge margin was repe ate d ge ar failure.
Maple Leaf IV
I n 19 12 , S.E . Saunde rs ( the
de sig ne r a nd b ui lde r of Ur sula,
see l as t a rti cle ) kno cked t o geth er a l itt le 40 -f oote r. A
mult i-ste p hy d ropl a ne name d
M a p l e L e af I V . She was a ls o
b a sed ve ry c l ose l y o n F a ube r s
mult i-ste p p a te nts , and she di d
5 5 k n o ts with a s ing le 8 00 -h p
e ngi ne a 15 7 -pe rce nt i nc rea se
in speed ove r Ur sula i n ju st 4
y e a rs , a n d t h at wit h ne a rl y t h e
s a me power! I ndee d , by c oi nc i de nce , b oth M a p le L e af a nd
U r s u l a wei g h e d i n a t e x a c t l y
the s a me 5.2 5 t ons .
M a p l e L e af I V succeeded whe re
P io ne er fel l short ; she t ook
b ac k and succe ssf ul ly de fe nded the British I nternational Trophy (the Harmsworth
T r oph y) t wice ! She w as a ls o
the f irst b oat i n h ist ory to ex ceed 50 knots. If
y o u h av e any d ou bt s ab o ut M a p le L e af s effec t i ve ness , as k y ou rse lf h ow ma ny 4 0 -f oote rs y ou
know that can sustain an ho nest 5 5 k n o ts (63
m p h ) t o d a y ? I d o u b t y o u c a n t h i nk o f m an y . I d
be s u rp ri sed i ndeed if y ou c a n think of a ny thi s
s ize th at can m ake this s o rt o f s pe e d with a
m e re 8 00 h o r se po we r .
A Th orny Boa t
Me a n whi le , b ack i n 187 7 , a fe ll ow n am e d J oh n I .
T h o r nyc r o f t ( Si r J oh n T h o r nyc r of t , t o b e p re c i s e )
wa s e xpe rime nti ng with the ne w-f a ngle d Ramu s
effect, using mode ls he t owe d al ong at the end
of a fi shi ng rod . He had s ome l i mite d suc cess,
b ut as we v e s ee nthe p owe r was nt the re and
h e a p p e a re d t o ab a n d o n t h i s s k i m m i ng mad ne s s ,
g oi ng on t o buil d the se nsi ble ult ra-narrow t orpe d o b oat s of the day. (By th e way, Th orny c rof t
l a t e r Vos p e r T h o r ny c rof t w as t o b e c o me o ne o f
the g re atest b ui lde rs of p la n i ng boa ts p le asu r e ,
c ommerci al, a nd mil it ary f or the nex t 7 5 ye ars .
S a dl y , l as t t im e I w as in P or ts m outh , E n g l a nd,
the p lant was shut d own.)
A s we al l know, howe ve r, once a cra zy i dea get s
i nt o s ome inve nt ors he ad , it j ust d oe s nt get out
agai n. (Maybe some one shou ld start and organiz a t i o n: I n ven t o rs A n ony m ou s ? T h e G ad g e t e e rs

R e c o ve ry Soc ie ty ?) A ny w ay , Tho r ny c ro ft w as n o
e x cept i o n, a n d as e ng i ne p o we r inc re ase d h e
r e t u r ne d t o the s ki m mi ng thi ng i n a big w ay . I n
the space of a few short years, around 1906 and
0 7, he built his own mode l -tes ti ng tank and ran
ex pe ri me nts on well ove r a doze n di ffe re nt mod e ls . Of c ou rse , b ac k the n , n ob od y k ne w f o r s ur e
wh at a pl ani ng b oat should l ook like . The mode ls
h ad eve ry imag i nable sh a pe. Some we re no more
th a n ne at ly r o u nded b ri c ks or sh i ng l e s , oth e rs
were like canoes wi th wings on the bow, and still
othe rs we re si mi la r t o mode rn pl ani ng hu lls .
M i r a n d a II I Does The Bounce
Th ornyc roft came t o the concl us ion that a s i ngl e
s te p a mi dshi ps w o ul d be j us t as e f fic ie nt a s
F a ube rs mult it ude . Afte r s at isf ying h imsel f
a b o ut h is res ul ts , h e bu il t h im se lf M ir a n d a I I I.
She was a s i ngle -s teppe d h yd ro wi thI d ont
k n o w wh at e l s e t o c al l i t a wi ng m o u nte d o n a
s t ru t, p r oje c ti ng d ow n f r o m h e r b ow int o the w a ter. The purp ose of this wing -ona- strut wa s to
l if t the b ow so the b oat woul d ri de at an up -angle
o n i t a nd on h e r a f t e r p la ni ng ste p s . ( O n s i ng l e s tep ped h yd ros , The t rans om i tself acts as a se cond step or planing surface.)
M i r an d a I II act u al ly made f ai rly g ood spee d i n
s mooth wate r, He r p rob le m was the conf ounde d

Gerr Marine, Inc. | 838 West End Ave., Suite BB | New York, NY 10025 | t. 212-864-7030 | dave@gerrmarine.com

Dave Gerr, CEng FRINA, Naval Architect

www.gerrmarine.com

Page 3

First To Fly - Part 2 - How We Learned To Skim In Steps (continued)

wi ng - on a -st rut thi ng . (It s
e asy t o be s coff about it now
but, in those pioneeri ng
d ay s , wh o kne w wh at wou ld
work?) I n any case, the
s ligh te st wa v e act i on c a use d
p o o r M ir an d a II I t o b ou n ce
u p a nd d o wn spe c t ac u la r ly
and virtually out of control.
Wh at would any i nve ntor do?
Y e p , b ac k to the d r a wing
b o a rd .
M i r a n d a IV D o e s i t Ri g h t
Thornycrofts ne xt effort hit
the mark dead on. His
M i r an d a IV was a true mode rn si ngle -ste ppe d hy drop l a ne ( re me mbe r i ng th at the
t ra ns om act u al ly ac ted as a
se c ond step or p lani ng surf ace , b ut isnt c ounte d i n
the c onventi onal naming
s yste m .) She h a d h a rd ch i nes , and was 26 feet LOA by
6 f oot be am. P owe red by a
single 120-hp e ngine , she
c l ocke d i n at 35 k notsa
speed-le ngth ratio of 7. Si r
Joh ns ne w boat is s pece d as we ighi ng 22 c wt.,
i n raci ng t rim. What is a cwt .? Good ques ti on;
noth ing l ike the ol d Engl ish me as ure me nt sy ste m?! A cwt. is a hundredwe ight, which in E ng l a n d i s e q ua l t o 1 12 pou n ds (i t s p r o ba bly bes t
n o t t o ask w h y ). At a ny ra te , M i r an d a IV w as
2 , 460 p ound s , or at 20.5 p ounds pe r h orse p owe r
she wa s doing 35 knots. This is good going even
b y m ode r n s ta n d ar ds .

M i r a nd a Mee ts P a rl i a me n t
I n 19 10 this s o rt o f s pe e d ( o n s o s m al l o r s o
sh ort a vesse l) was unhe ard of. I nde ed , M ir an d a
I V s made qu ite a se nsation on a ru n down the
Th ames past the Houses of Pa rli ame nt . I t was
te a ti me wh at else on the ve rand ah s ove rl ook ing the river. As Miranda IV shot b y , e ati ng
s t oppe d a nd all h e ads s w ive le d t o ta ke i n the
a p p ro ach i ng mi ss ile . Si r J oh n e ased h e r of f and
pulled along side the shore to hobnob with a few
f rie nds (h and y t o be a k night at ti me s l ike thi s) .

Model of Miranda IV
Gerr Marine, Inc. | 838 West End Ave., Suite BB | New York, NY 10025 | t. 212-864-7030 | dave@gerrmarine.com

Dave Gerr, CEng FRINA, Naval Architect

www.gerrmarine.com

Page 4

First To Fly - Part 2 - How We Learned To Skim In Steps (continued)

The n, he heade d he r
o u t , g oo s i ng t h e
th rot tle and le avi ng
l it tle beh i nd b ut
f o a m.
. . . a nd T ak e s a Ph o t og r a p h e r f o r a R i d e
Some weeks late r, a
p a ssi ng phot og raphe r
asked for a ride on
M i r an d a IV . Thorny c r of t, wa s al w ay s
wi ll ing t o gi ve de mo n s t r at i o ns . H e of fe re d th e fe ll ow a
se at ( re a lly a
s ta n d , I s up p ose ) i n
the f orede ck hatch ,
and Miranda s e ng i nee r re ca lled the
t r ip :
We f ound it quite bump y e nough aft , f or
it was re ally rough , but forward it was
v e ry m u c h w o r s e ap p ar e nt l y . T h e f i rst
bump sh ot our friend up th rough the
h atch way til l h is k nees we re v isi ble
above the coaming, and at the second he
d is ap pe a red with a c ra sh , c a me ra a nd
a l l i nto the b ilge . F r om a spe ct at or s
p oi nt of view it was real ly ve ry f unny ,
th ough I d oubt if the vic ti m th ought i t
s o .
T o be f a i r, Th o r nyc r o ft a nd c re w h a d n t c o nsid e red the extre me motion at the bow. They we re -

A 55-foot CMB on patrol

nt playing a nasty trick; e ve r yth i ng w as s o new
the y s i mpl y h a dnt th ought it th rough.
G et ti ng th e W a te r Out
Thornycrofts experimenting wasnt limited to the
m a j o r b re ak th ro ughs , h o weve r . His e ngi nee r
went on to relate:
Th e b u mp th at h ad take n the phot og raphe r i nt o the bi lge h ad app a re ntl y l anded
hi m ag ai nst a p lug pl ace d up f orwa rd
w h i ch h ad be c ome d isl o dg e d , let ti ng i n a
s t rea m of wa te r, . . . Ou r p as se nge r by
th is ti me wa s s ome wha t sc a red , for whi ch
I did not blame him, and I re ally think he
i m agi ne d h i ms e lf a t the me rc y of t w o lu -

55-Foot Coastal Motor Boat (CMB)

Gerr Marine, Inc. | 838 West End Ave., Suite BB | New York, NY 10025 | t. 212-864-7030 | dave@gerrmarine.com

Dave Gerr, CEng FRINA, Naval Architect

www.gerrmarine.com

Page 5

First To Fly - Part 2 - How We Learned To Skim In Steps (continued)

Model of a 55-foot CMB

National Maritime Museum Greenwich London, www.rmg.co.uk

na ti cs , when we p roceeded to chee rfully

pull out another plug about 2 in. in diame te r i n the ste rn to let the wate r out ,
as we exp l ai ne d to hi m. A s a matte r of
f ac t , i t d id ru n ou t ve ry nice ly , bec a use
the p lug i n quest i on was just aft of the
s tep whe re , of c ou r se , the re wa s a g o od
de al of s uct i on, s o th at the boat empt ied
he rse lf at once . And you might make
note of the c a ref ul way we des ig n the se
th i ngs , s aid M r. Th orny c roft . The h ole
forward is about an inch diameter and
th is one much bigge r, so the wate r will
al ways run out f a ste r th an i t c omes i n.
The e xp l ana t ion I am a f r ai d, only p ar ti al ly
s at is fied the ph ot og raphe r .

Bri tish Ad mi ralty ch ose ste pped hul ls f or the i r

C os ta l M o tor B oa ts (CM Bs ) , d u ri ng W o rl d W ar I .

Steps to War
C M B s we re b ui lt p ri n c ip a lly i n t wo si zes 40 f e e t
and 55 feet. Largely forg ott e n t oda y , the y p ro v e d
the ms e l ve s i n the E ng li sh Ch a n nel, a nd the N o r th
S e a ( no t a re as n o t e d f o r c a lm) . A ll t h e C M Bs
we re designed a nd mos t (if not all ) we re b uilt by
non othe r th a n Si r J ohn Th orny c rof t. They we re
al most pe rfec t e nl a rgeme nts of the origi nal 26 f o ot M i r an da IV , w i t h na t u ra l l y a f e w t we ak i n g s
a nd re fi neme nts , pl us the ad ju stme nts neces sa ry
to carry armame nt . The 55 footer was 11 foot
be a m , d is pla c e d 1 4 t on s , a nd d id 4 6 k n o ts with
1 , 200 h or sep o we r . A t the e nd o f the W a r to End
A ll W a rs , some of the Bri tish CM Bs were s ol d t o
Ye s, Th ornyc rof t se ems t o h a ve i nve nte d the s uc - Russia, whe re they were fitted with extra mat i o n b ai le r . B e f o re pl a ni ng speeds, if you opened ch i ne g u ns , a nd we re use d i n ri ve r p at rols d u ri ng
a h ol e a n y w h e re i n t h e b ot t o m of an y b oa t , w a te r the end of the Russian Revolution.
a l w ay s c ame i n , i t ne v e r r a n o u t . N o w o nde r t h e
A pec ul iar thi ng ab out the CM Bs : M os t of them
p o o r p h o t og r ap h e r t h ou g h t M ir an d a IV s c rew
we re nt fit ted with muf fle rs . The re as on? The
was mad.
noise was supposed to misle ad the e ne my into
th inking they were under attack by airplanes!?
Th e Be st Plani ng Boats ?
Well, the CM Bs se rved we ll; maybe it worke d?
Ste ppe d hyd ropl a nes , i t turned out , we re and
s ti ll are more e ffi cie nt p ou nd - f o r -p o u nd th a n c o n - W e do k n ow f r om e xa m i ni ng Ger m a n shi p s
l og sthat duri ng seve ral night attack s th e Ge rve nt ional pl aning hull s. Gi ve n two h ull s of si mi man se amen mi st ook CM Bs f or sub mari nes , e ve n
lar overal l proportions and weight, the stepped
a ft e r g e t ti ng the boat s de ad i n the ir se a rch b o at w il l be sig ni fi ca n tl y f as te r . A 9 , 000 - po u nd
lights.
s tep ped h ull , f or ex amp le , would d o ab out 34
k n ot s wi th a 2 50 -h p pow e rpl a nt , w h i le a 9, 00 0 Whe re are the Ste ppe d Hy d ros ?
p o u nd c on ve nt i ona l p la n i ng h ul l w o u ld re ach a
Of c ourse, y ou migh t wel l as k: If ste ppe d hy d ros
b a re 25 k not s, with the same 250 hp a 3 6 pe ra re s o good, why a re nt we su rrou nde d wi th
ce nt difference ! I t was be cause of th is th at the
Gerr Marine, Inc. | 838 West End Ave., Suite BB | New York, NY 10025 | t. 212-864-7030 | dave@gerrmarine.com

Dave Gerr, CEng FRINA, Naval Architect

www.gerrmarine.com

Page 6

First To Fly - Part 2 - How We Learned To Skim In Steps (continued)

40-foot CMB on display at the Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum, www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford

the m? The ans we rs a bi t c omp lex . At the s tart

of the Sec ond World War, most of the world s nav ie s c o ns ide red s tepped hu ll s f or thei r p at rol
boat s (eve n the U.S. ). Good as their speed is in
p r o pe r t r im, h o wev e r , it t u r ns o ut th at s te pp e d
h y d ro s a re e q ua ll y b ad if theyre out of trim.
( Thi s h ad bee n an on-and -of f p rob le m wi th the
WWI CMBs.) Whe n a small boats carrying a coup le of t orped oe s weighi ng t wo t ons a pie ce , i ts
an unde rs tate me nt t o s ay th at t rim te nds t o

ch a nge af te r fi ri ng . Pe rf orma nce a nd ha ndl ing

s uf fe rs as a res ul t .
N ow, b ac k in the ni ne tee n-tee ns, ligh t powe rfu l
e ngi ne s were h a rd t o come b y. As a res ul t , the
o u t -o f t r im d iff ic ul tie s w e re pu t up with t o g e t
more speed with the limited power available. In
the late 1930s, though , bigge r engine s we re in
production, so most navies decided to avoid the
o u t -o f t r i m p r o b l e ms , s t i c k i ng wi t h c o n ve nt i o na l
non-ste pped planing hulls. Italy wa s the major
ex cept i on. The y h ad se ve ral mode ls of d oubl es te p ped h yd r os ( t wo ste ps a mi dshi ps pl us a
th i rd , not counted the t ransom). The i r 6 1 -f oot by
1 5 -f oot 4-inch MA S 50 0 s eries proved qui te able ,
d oi ng 4 3 knots , on 28 t ons dis pl ace me nt , with
2,300 hp. This was with crew, two torpedoe s and
six depth ch arges.
C ons ide ring that the MA S 50 0s we re al most 1 60
pe rce nt heavie r than the CM Bs h ad bee n, they
we re g oi ng g re at g u ns . Wh at s m ore a s h ad the
CM Bsthe MA S 50 0s p roved rel at i vel y g o o d s e a
boat s. Ou r own U. S., 77-foot, WWII Elco PT boats
weighe d 46 t ons at full l oad , and we re powe red
wi th th ree 1 , 200 -h p Pack ard e ngines . Consi de ri ng the y d id 4 1 k n ot s a l l up a nd h ad the i r pro b l ems with se akee pi ng , I m not e ntirel y c onvi nce d
th at gi vi ng up on ste pped h u ll s f o r p at r ol -b o at
service was the righ t move.

40-foot CMB running gear

Ne ve rthe les s, with non step ped hu ll s ch ose n for

the na vies, most folks g ot the impression there
was something wrong with steps, or at least th at
s tand ard non-ste ppe d p l ani ng h ull s we re some h ow s upe rior. F inally ad di ng to the ste ppe d
h ull s p ub lic -re lati ons p roble ms is th at they re
h a rde r t o engi nee r p r ope r ly a nd m o re ex pens i ve
t o b uil d .

Gerr Marine, Inc. | 838 West End Ave., Suite BB | New York, NY 10025 | t. 212-864-7030 | dave@gerrmarine.com

Dave Gerr, CEng FRINA, Naval Architect

www.gerrmarine.com

Page 7

First To Fly - Part 2 - How We Learned To Skim In Steps (continued)

Model of H.M. Pope III, by Dave Gerr

Stepped Spee d Today?
A y acht has none of the
o ut -of-t ri m d i ffi c u lt ies
th at mil it a ry c raft ha ve ,
a t l e ast , a s l ong as
y o u re n ot c a r ry i ng t o rpe d oes . I f you want t o
g o really f as t , a mode rately narrow (by todays
s ta n d ar ds ) s i ngle s tep ped h yd ro woul d be
h a rd to be at indeed. The
p h ot o sho ws a m o d el of
a 4 2 -f o ot ste p ped h yd ro
of my design, the H .M .
Fountain 48 Cruiser
P o p e II I . The Pope l l do
an h onest 6 0 mph with twi n 800 -hp d iese ls , and
Of course, production builde rs, s uch as F ountai n,
she ll be abl e t o keep g oi ng f ast in we athe r
b ui ld b oth h ig h - spee d c r ui se rs wi th ste pped h u ll s
th at d h av e m os t e ve ryone e lse slo w i ng dow n.
as we ll as ex t reme - spee d, offsh ore race boat s .
F ort y-t wo fee t ove rall , 10 -f oot 2 -inch be am, and
d is pl ac ing 8 . 7 t ons , She s one b oa t th at ca n h onestly c r u i se at 35 t o 40 k not s!

Fountain Raceboat
Gerr Marine, Inc. | 838 West End Ave., Suite BB | New York, NY 10025 | t. 212-864-7030 | dave@gerrmarine.com