Joseph Ludwig Franz Ressel, Pioneer of the Propeller and Steam Navigation

Joseph Ludwig Franz Ressel was born on June 29, 1793 in Chrudim, in the Kingdom of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). Much more than a simple forester, Ressel was a Czech-German inventor whose creativity and ingenuity have left an indelible mark on the history of navigation. His most notable contribution was the design of one of the first functional boat propellers.

As a forester, he worked for the Austrian government in the southernmost regions of the monarchy, including Motovun in Istria. He also worked at Landstrass (Kostanjevica on the Krka River in Carniola), where he first tested his boat propellers.

In 1821, he was transferred to Trieste, the largest port in the Austrian Empire, where his tests were crowned with success. He obtained a patent for his propeller in 1827, making history as the holder of the first patent for a working propeller.

In 1829, he modified a steamboat, the Civetta, and sailed it into the port of Trieste at a speed of six knots (thanks to his 1.58 m bronze propeller) before the steam pipes exploded. Following this mishap, the authorities forbade further testing, although the explosion was not attributed to the propeller being tested, as many believed at the time.

As well as being called “the inventor of the propeller”, he was also called the inventor of the steamship, and a monument erected in his honor in a Vienna park commemorates him as “the one and only inventor of the screw propeller and steam navigation”. He was also commemorated on the Austrian 500 schilling banknote of the mid-1960s (P139), which features him on the front and the ship Civetta on the reverse.

He died in Ljubljana (Slovenia’s capital) in October 1857 and was buried in St. Christopher’s cemetery, in the Bežigrad district.