Archimedes was capable of carrying 600 people and included garden decorations, a gymnasium and a temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite among its facilities. Since a ship of this size would leak a considerable amount of water through the hull, the Archimedes' screw was purportedly developed in order to remove the bilge water. Archimedes' machine was a device with a revolving screw-shaped blade inside a cylinder. It was turned by hand, and could also be used to transfer water from a body of water into irrigation canals. The Archimedes' screw is still in use today for pumping liquids and granulated solids
SS Archimedes fitted with Smith's patented propeller, "Princess Royal", was built in the north of England, and in 1842, several more screw-propelled vessels were built or launched in Britain, including "Bedlington", built at South Shields, "Bee", launched at Chatham, and the largest ship built to that date in Ireland, "Great Northern", launched at Derry. From this point, screw-propelled merchant ships grew rapidly in number. By the time the Cunard Line built the paddle steamer "Persia" for transatlantic service in 1856, the paddlewheel was already becoming an anachronism. Though Smith's "Archimedes" had played an important role in the introduction of screw propulsion, Smith