Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company was a British engineering company based in Wallsend, North East England, on the River Tyne. The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1897 with £500,000 of capital, and specialised in building the steam turbine engines that he had invented for naval use. The first ship to use a Parsons propulsion system was "Turbinia", launched in 1894; the successful demonstration of this vessel led to the creation of the company and the subsequent construction of the engines for the first two turbine-powered destroyers for the Navy, and , launched
Pennsylvania-class steamship Pennsylvania-class steamship The "Pennsylvania" class steamships—"Pennsylvania", "Ohio", "Indiana" and "Illinois"—were a class of four cargo-passenger liners built by the Philadelphian shipbuilder William Cramp & Sons in 1872–73. Intended for the newly established American Line, the four ships were at the time the largest iron ships yet built in the United States, and were launched with considerable fanfare. Upon entering service in 1874, they also became the first American-built steamships to challenge British dominance of the transatlantic trade since the American Civil War. Although soon outclassed by newer and larger vessels, all four of the "Pennsylvania" class steamships were to enjoy