Napier Lion Speedboat Engine
Henry Seagrave won the 1929 Motor Boat Championship of the World in Miss England. In the contest, the boat's single Napier Lion engine and light structure outstripped the twin pro engines of the reigning champion, Miss America VII. This gave Segrave the victory, but not the world water speed record, which remained with his American rival, Gar Wood.
Using contemporary aircraft techniques and a new, more scientific hull design, the Power Boat Company built Miss England. An aircraft that had competed in the Schneider Trophy air-speed contest supplied her engine. The high-speed planing hulls led to motor torpedo boats (MTBs) and patrol vessels used by British forces during the Second World War.
The Napier Lion was a 12-cylinder, petrol-fuelled 'broad arrow' W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept it in production long after other contemporary designs had been superseded. This particular supercharged model, the VIIA, produced in 1927, developed 900 bhp when racing.
Seen in the Science Museum in South Kensington, London.
Napier Lion Speedboat Engine
Henry Seagrave won the 1929 Motor Boat Championship of the World in Miss England. In the contest, the boat's single Napier Lion engine and light structure outstripped the twin pro engines of the reigning champion, Miss America VII. This gave Segrave the victory, but not the world water speed record, which remained with his American rival, Gar Wood.
Using contemporary aircraft techniques and a new, more scientific hull design, the Power Boat Company built Miss England. An aircraft that had competed in the Schneider Trophy air-speed contest supplied her engine. The high-speed planing hulls led to motor torpedo boats (MTBs) and patrol vessels used by British forces during the Second World War.
The Napier Lion was a 12-cylinder, petrol-fuelled 'broad arrow' W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept it in production long after other contemporary designs had been superseded. This particular supercharged model, the VIIA, produced in 1927, developed 900 bhp when racing.
Seen in the Science Museum in South Kensington, London.