James Steedman (1790-1865), Irvine inventor who designed a working design for the screw propeller. On the 7th of May, 1839, the first steamship to be successfully driven by screw propeller, the SS Archimedes was launched from London and sailed to Sheerness at the mouth of the Thames. The first patent for a screw propeller was lodged by Francis Petitt Smith … Continue reading James Steedman