Turbina's three-shaft turbine arrangement delivered roughly 34.5 knots, making it an unusually efficient experimental vessel. At the 1897 Spithead review, Parsons drove it through the assembled fleet and away from a pursuing picket boat, turning an unauthorised technical demonstration into a public proof of concept. Cinematographer Alfred J. West photographed the display and later recorded the vessel on the River Tyne and nearby North Sea. The Admiralty requested further trials and ordered two turbine-powered destroyers. Although both early destroyers had short careers, their losses did not reverse the service's growing confidence in turbine propulsion.
Chapter · 1:10:14-1:15:40
Turbina's spectacular turbine demonstration
Charles Parsons's Turbina made the speed and potential of the marine steam turbine impossible for the Royal Navy to ignore.