Block Mill The Block Mills have entered service at Portsmouth dockyard. This is a decisive step for the introduction of steam engines into shipyards. Two centuries after the introduction of wind-powered sawmills into Zaandam works, we are attending the advent of a new era of mechanisation in shipbuilding. ¤ Cornelis Corneliszoon van Uitgeest is the inventor of the wind-powered sawmill, which swiftly developed during the first half of the 17th century in the United Province

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Famous Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, 39, made William Patterson & Son build at Bristol the new vessel of the Great Western Steamship Company for the purpose of transatlantic packet service. She is named Great Britain. Her commissioning was delayed by the solution of high-level engineering issues. She displays two innovative, we may say bold, features : an iron hull and a screw propeller. She was launched two years ago, and has just started to op