Surface Effect Ship
A Surface Effect Ship (SES) or Sidewall Hovercraft is a watercraft that has both an air cushion, like a hovercraft, and twin hulls, like a catamaran. When the air cushion is in use, a small portion of the twin hulls remain in the water. When the air cushion is turned off ("off-cushion" or "hull borne"), the full weight of the vessel is supported by the buoyancy of the twin hulls.
The SES has two advantages over a hovercraft for open sea operation: it is more resistant to slipping sideways when acted on by air or sea and, and it can use water jets for propulsion since the inlet nozzles are always covered by water.
Read more about Surface Effect Ship: United States Navy, Hovermarine SES Ferries, Operational Use
Famous quotes containing the words surface, effect and/or ship:
“Bees
Shaking the heavy dews from bloom and frond.
Boys
Bursting the surface of the ebony pond.”
—Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)
“To see distinctly the machinery—the wheels and pinions—of any work of Art is, unquestionably, of itself, a pleasure, but one which we are able to enjoy only just in proportion as we do not enjoy the legitimate effect designed by the artist.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
“Nitrates and phosphates for ammunition. The seeds of war. They’re loading a full cargo of death. And when that ship takes it home, the world will die a little more.”
—Earl Felton, and Richard Fleischer. Captain Nemo (James Mason)