Editing Electric boat (section)

===Golden Age===
[[File:Canot électrique.png|thumb|Outboard motorboat of Gustave Trouvé in 1881]]
[[File:Immisch motor.jpg|thumb|Electric motor designed by [[Moritz Immisch|Immisch & Co.]], who established the first fleet of electric launches in London]]
[[File:Early electric launch.jpg|thumb|Early electric launch on the [[River Thames]], built by William Sargeant]]
It took more than 30 years of battery and motor development before the electric boat became a practical proposition. This method of propulsion enjoyed something of a golden age from about 1880 to 1920, when gasoline-powered [[outboard motor]]s became the dominant method. [[Gustave Trouvé]], a French electrical engineer, patented a small electric motor in 1880. He initially suggested that the motor could power a set of paddle wheels to propel boats on the water, and later argued for the use of a [[propeller]].

An Austrian émigré to Britain, [[Anthony Reckenzaun]], was instrumental in the development of the first practical electric boats. While working as an [[engineer]] for the Electrical Power Storage Company, he undertook much original and pioneering work on various forms of electric traction. In 1882 he designed the first significant electric launch driven by [[rechargeable battery|storage batteries]], and named the boat ''Electricity''.<ref>Illustrated with [[wood engravings]] in the ''Electrical Review'', Vol.XI, No.255, 14 October 1882, pp.296 and 297</ref> The boat had a steel hull.<ref name=Batteries/> It was about {{convert|26|ft|m}} long, with a beam of about {{convert|5|ft|m}} and a draught of about {{convert|2|ft|mm}}. It was fitted with a {{convert|22|in|mm}}  diameter [[propeller]].<ref name=BDP300982>{{Cite news |title=An Electric Launch |newspaper=Birmingham Daily Post |location=Birminghamn |date=30 September 1882 |issue=7564 }}</ref> The batteries and electric equipment were hidden from view beneath the seating area, increasing the space available for the accommodation of passengers. The boats were used for leisure excursions up and down the River Thames and provided a very smooth, clean and quiet trip. The boat could run for six hours and operate at an average speed of 8 miles per hour.<ref name=Batteries>{{Cite web|url=http://www.marygordon.org.uk/?page_id=68 |title=Batteries |publisher=Mary Gordon Trust |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606220737/http://www.marygordon.org.uk/?page_id=68 |archive-date=6 June 2014}}</ref>

[[Moritz Immisch]] established his company in 1882 in partnership with [[William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle]], specializing in the application of electric motors to transportation. The company employed [[Magnus Volk]] as a manager in the development of their electric launch department. After 12 months of experimental work starting in 1888 with a randan [[skiff]], the firm commissioned the construction of hulls which they equipped with electrical apparatus. The world's first fleet of electric launches for hire, with a chain of electrical [[charging station]]s, was established along the [[River Thames]] in the 1880s. An 1893 pleasure map of the Thames shows eight "charging stations for electric launches" between [[Kew]] ([[Strand-on-the-Green]]) and [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] ([[Caversham, Berkshire|Caversham]]).<ref name=thames_map>{{cite book|title=The Oarsman's and Angler's Map of the River Thames from its source to London Bridge|publisher=James Reynolds & Son, London|year=1893|edition=1991. Old House Books, Devon}}</ref> The company built its headquarters on the island called [[Platt's Eyot]].

From 1889 until just before the [[First World War]] the boating season and [[regatta]]s saw the silent electric boats plying their way up and downstream.<ref>'Electric Boats on the Thames 1889-1914' by Edward Hawthorne, 1995 Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd; {{ISBN|0-7509-1015-1}} : many references to Moritz Immisch's pioneering work with electric boats on pages 14-29; pages 30-40; pages 149-150, 166-169, and certain other pages</ref>

The company's electric launches were widely used by the rich as a conveyance along the river. Grand ships were constructed of teak or mahogany and furnished luxuriously, with stained glass windows, silk curtains and velvet cushions. William Sargeant was commissioned by Immisch's company to build the ''Mary Gordon'' in 1898 for [[Leeds City Council]] for use on the [[Roundhay Park]] Lake – the boat still survives and is currently being restored.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marygordon.org.uk/marygordon.htm |title=Mary Gordon Electric River Boat |access-date=31 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607094901/http://www.marygordon.org.uk/marygordon.htm |archive-date=7 June 2010}}</ref> This 70-foot long luxury pleasure craft could carry up to 75 passengers in comfort. Launches were exported elsewhere – they were used in the [[Lake District]] and all over the world.

In the 1893 [[World's Columbian Exposition|Chicago World Fair]] 55 launches developed from [[Anthony Reckenzaun]]'s work carried more than a million passengers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sunboat.com/history/history.html|title=The story of solar powered boats|access-date=31 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608142345/http://www.sunboat.com/history/history.html|archive-date=8 June 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=History of our Classic Motor Yachts|url=http://www.elcomotoryachts.com/history.shtml|publisher=Elco|access-date=21 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710175018/http://www.elcomotoryachts.com/history.shtml|archive-date=10 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Electric boats had an early period of popularity between around 1890 and 1920, before the emergence of the internal combustion engine drove them out of most applications.

Most of the electric boats of this era were small passenger boats on non-tidal waters at a time when the only power alternative was [[Steam engine|steam]].