Inboard motor

An inboard motor is a marine propulsion system for boats. As opposed to an outboard motor where an engine is mounted outside the hull of the craft, an inboard motor is an engine enclosed within the hull of the boat, usually connected to a propulsion screw by a driveshaft. In international shipping the marine diesel engines are the largest most powerful engines ever produced. The first marine craft to utilize inboard motors were steam engines going back to 1805 and the Clermont and the Charlotte Dundas. Harbour tugs, and small steam launches had inboard steam engines. In the 1880s the naphtha engine made its appearance and a few boat engines appeared. Such engines had low power and high fuel consumption. The gasoline (petrol) engine pioneer Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach built a four-cycle boat engine and tested it in 1887 on the Neckar River. Sintz in America built several commercially available engines from 1893. Inboard motors may be of several types, suitable for the size of craft they are fitted to. Boats can use one cylinder to v12 engines, depending if they are used for racing or trolling. For pleasure craft, such as sailboats and speedboats, diesel, gasoline and electric engines are used. Many inboard motors are derivatives of automobile engines, known as marine automobile engines. The advent of the stern drive propulsion leg improved design so that auto engines could easily power boats. For larger craft, including ships, where outboard propulsion would in any case not be suitable, the propulsion system may include many types, such as diesel, gas turbine, or even fossil-fuel or nuclear-generated steam. Some early models used coal for steam-driven ships. The largest engines in the world are marine diesel engines used to power supertankers and container ships. E.g. the Wärtsilä RT-flex96C produces 109,000 horsepower, weighs 2,300 tons, stands 44-feet tall, is 90-feet long, and has a maximum of 109 rpm. Some inboard motors are freshwater cooled, while others have a raw water cooling system where water from the lake, river or sea is pumped by the engine to cool it.

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Related concepts (6)

Marine propulsion

Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a watercraft through water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting of an electric motor or internal combustion engine driving a propeller, or less frequently, in pump-jets, an impeller. Marine engineering is the discipline concerned with the engineering design process of marine propulsion systems. Human-powered paddles and oars, and later, sails were the first forms of marine propulsion.

Sailboat

A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. List of sailing boat types Although sailboat terminology has varied across history, many terms have specific meanings in the context of modern yachting. A great number of sailboat-types may be distinguished by size, hull configuration, keel type, purpose, number and configuration of masts, and sail plan.

Boat

A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inland waterways such as rivers and lakes, or in protected coastal areas. However, some boats, such as the whaleboat, were intended for use in an offshore environment. In modern naval terms, a boat is a vessel small enough to be carried aboard a ship.