First aircraft carrier fitted with surface piecing propellers

The surface piercing propeller was invented prior to World War I by the Canadian Albert Hickman. His logic being that at high speed water has the consistency of hard cheese and the propeller should cut the water like a cheese knife. His propellers were large diameter, a good match for the slow revving early Aero engines used to power his boats. With engines like the Liberty V12 having a better power to weight ratio than a modern outboard motor many of these vessels were extremely fast.

The technical highlight of Hickman’s career was his high-speed planning boats, the Seasled a kind of tunnel hull catamaran. Was used as an aircraft carrier. A 55-foot sea sled. The sea sled carried a 5 tonne Carponi bomber at 47 knots. To launch the bomber, the pilot and the sea sled captain both ran their engines to full throttle. The sea sled would reach 53 knots and the bomber would take off.