Kitchen rudder

[timswait]

Come to think of it, is owning a boat ever worth it? They cost lots of money and you could get wherever you're going quicker by air or road

[timswait]

Just been directed to this article. It's a good description of a kitchen rudder on a 40 foot harbour launch. Not sure if the boat's still for sale, but there's some good photos of the steering gear. It uses wheel steering and a smaller concentric wheel to open and close the rudder. A neat arrangement but with all manner of complex chains and linkages. I think it would be much easier nowadays with hydraulic rams.

[michael pierzga]

Nice link ! Looks like the crafty builder of a small habour launch could fabricate one in his workshop.

[SAE140]

Originally Posted by SAE140

... one reference to Kitchen at: http://www.historytoday.com which
reads:
"In 1904 Jack Kitchen, a Lancashire inventor, offered the Navy a radio-controlled torpedo ... "

To describe a British Admiral as "a Lancashire inventor" does seem a tad odd, but there you go ....

I can confirm that Jack Kitchen was indeed a professional Lancashire inventor and, having checked the Royal Navy lists for that period, I can also confirm that he was never a Rear-Admiral, Vice-Admiral, Admiral, nor Admiral of the Fleet.

I wonder how the 'urban myth' of Admiral John Kitchen ever got started ? Perhaps there may have been confusion at some point between 'Admiralty' and 'Admiral' ?

Or maybe 'Admiral' was his nick-name in civvy street, as he was frequently working on inventions of relevance to the Navy.

[timswait]

That's interesting to know! Either of those explanations sound plausible. The myth is probably so common because it sounds very believable, the Royal Navy seems to have been the most enthusiastic adopter of the kitchen rudder, and a military officer being an inventor seems quite believable too, like Frank Whittle.