The Rudder

A rudder is that thing in the back of the ship that helps turn it.  It is in the water and if it breaks, the ship cant be maneuvered, hence the old saying..."dead in the water".  The rudder has been with us for thousands of years and anyone that is in the ship business knows that this is a key part.

However, as the ships got longer and bigger, the rudder still works, but the turning radius could be several miles and it was a slow process.  So you could be torpedoed, or bombed.   Today many of the big ships have nuclear power, so fuel is not a problem.  But those ships that use diesel fuel will use more fuel to turn, require bigger tanks, lose space to fuel.

The fact is that you might not have to turn to avoid a torpedo, or a bomb.  I'm not saying get rid of the rudder, I'm saying why not add a propeller to the front to augment the rudder and make the turn shorter and faster.  A bidirectional propeller will multiply the rudder's effectiveness.

The propeller would be below the waterline and towards the front of the ship and be on the same axis as the rudder, making it move more like a cutting horse.

Imagine this propeller would have saved the Titanic, and Kate would still be alive today for mankind to enjoy.  All ahead one third, engage, drop anchor!  Ahoy you land-lubbers.