Turbinia Turbinia Turbinia was the first steam turbine-powered steamship. Built as an experimental vessel in 1894, and easily the fastest ship in the world at that time, "Turbinia" was demonstrated dramatically at the Spithead Navy Review in 1897 and set the standard for the next generation of steamships, the majority of which would be turbine powered. The vessel is currently located at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, while her original powerplant is located at the London Science Museum. Charles Algernon Parsons invented the modern steam turbine in 1884, and, having foreseen its potential to power ships,
George Rennie (engineer) Croydon Railway. Many orders for foreign governments were executed, and the firm were employed by the Admiralty in making engines for the Royal Navy. He was much interested in the screw-propeller, and his firm built the engines for , the world's first propeller-driven steamship. Subsequently, in 1840, the firm built for the Admiralty the "Dwarf", the first vessel in the British navy propelled by a screw. Roe (1916) discusses Rennie's contributions to the development of the planer. In 1822 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society, and contributed papers to the Transactions in 1829 on the friction of metals