2500 Horsepower Steam Turbine Engine Used in Eagle Boats, Ford Motor Company, October 1918

THF270267 / 2500 Horsepower Steam Turbine Engine Used in Eagle Boats, Ford Motor Company, October 1918
01

Artifact Overview

The first vehicles built at Ford Motor Company's Rouge factory weren't automobiles but boats. These Eagle boats were designed to challenge German submarines during World War I, but they saw only limited action before the armistice. Each Eagle was powered by one of these 2,500-horsepower steam-turbine engines. Sixty Eagles were produced between May 1918 and October 1919.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Date Made

28 October 1918

Subject Date

28 October 1918

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

64.167.833.P.23873

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)
Linen (Material)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 8.000 in
Width: 11.000 in

02

Related Content

  • Eagle Boat #1 Ready to be Launched, Ford Rouge Plant, July 11, 1918
    Set

    Building Eagle Boats at the Rouge

    • 27 Artifacts
    Over the years, Ford Motor Company's River Rouge factory turned out everything from tractors to cars to pickup trucks. But its first products had no wheels at all. From May 1918 to October 1919, Ford built 60 "Eagle" anti-submarine patrol boats at the Rouge. World War I ended before any of the Eagles saw action, but they proved that even warships could be made on an assembly line.