Editing Hydrofoil (section)

== History ==
[[File:Forlanini Idroplano-Forlani Hydrofoil 1910.jpg|thumb|[[Enrico Forlanini|Forlanini's]] hydrofoil over [[Lake Maggiore]], 1906]]

=== Prototypes ===

The first evidence of a hydrofoil on a vessel appears on a British patent granted in 1869 to Emmanuel Denis Farcot, a Parisian. He claimed that "adapting to the sides and bottom of the vessel a series or inclined planes or wedge formed pieces, which as the vessel is driven forward will have the effect of lifting it in the water and reducing the draught.".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfGral/Hidroalas/PrimerosHydrofoils.htm|title=Early Hydrofoils|website=histarmar.com.ar|access-date=2019-02-26}}</ref> Italian inventor [[Enrico Forlanini]] began work on hydrofoils in 1898 and used a "ladder" foil system. Forlanini obtained patents in Britain and the United States for his ideas and designs.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.foils.org/gallery/forlani.htm|title = Forlanini|publisher = International Hydrofoil Society|access-date = 22 January 2016|website = The Hydrofoil Resource Site|first = Malin|last = Dixon|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170118154755/http://www.foils.org/gallery/forlani.htm|archive-date = 18 January 2017}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=-t0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA927 "Italian Hydroplane of Curious Type."] ''Popular Mechanics'', December 1911, p. 927.</ref>

Between 1899 and 1901, British boat designer [[John Isaac Thornycroft|John Thornycroft]] worked on a series of models with a stepped hull and single bow foil. In 1909 his company built the full scale {{convert|22|ft|m|adj=on}} long boat, ''Miranda III''. Driven by a {{convert|60|hp|abbr=on}} engine, it rode on a bowfoil and flat stern. The subsequent ''Miranda IV'' was credited with a speed of {{convert|35|kn|km/h mph|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web | title=Thornycroft Model Collection| url=http://www.hovercraft-museum.org/musthorn1.html | access-date=9 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624185932/http://www.hovercraft-museum.org/musthorn1.html |archive-date=24 June 2009}}</ref>

[[Image:Bell HD-4.jpg|thumb|[[Alexander Graham Bell]]'s ''[[HD-4]]'' on a test run, c. 1919]]

In May 1904 a hydrofoil boat was described being tested on the [[River Seine]] "in the neighbourhood of [[Paris]]".<ref>The Principle of the Aeroplane Applied to the Boat, The Automotor Journal, 21 May 1904, p21</ref> This boat was designed by [[Charles de Lambert (aviator)|Comte de Lambert]].<ref>The Hydroplane or Gliding Boat, St James's Gazette, 24 May 1904, p16</ref> This had 5 variable pitch fins on the hull beneath the water so inclined that when the boat begins to move "the boat rises and the planes come to the surface" with the result that "it skims over the surface with little but the propellers beneath the surface". The boat had twin hulls 18-foot long connected by a single deck 9-foot wide, and was fitted with a 14HP [[De Dion-Bouton]] motor, the boat was reported to have reached 20&nbsp;mph. It was stated that "The boat running practically on its fins resembles an aeroplane".

A March 1906 [[Scientific American]] article by American hydrofoil pioneer William E. Meacham explained the basic principle of hydrofoils. [[Alexander Graham Bell]] considered the invention of the [[Hydroplane (boat)|hydroplane]] (now regarded as a distinct type, but also employing lift) a very significant achievement, and after reading the article began to sketch concepts of what is now called a hydrofoil boat. With his chief engineer [[Frederick W. Baldwin|Casey Baldwin]], Bell began hydrofoil experiments in the summer of 1908. Baldwin studied the work of the Italian inventor [[Enrico Forlanini]] and began testing models based on those designs, which led to the development of hydrofoil watercraft. During Bell's world tour of 1910–1911, Bell and Baldwin met with Forlanini in Italy, where they rode in his hydrofoil boat over [[Lake Maggiore]]. Baldwin described it as being as smooth as flying.

On returning to Bell's large laboratory at his [[Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia|Beinn Bhreagh]] estate near [[Baddeck, Nova Scotia]], they experimented with a number of designs, culminating in Bell's ''[[HD-4]]''. Using [[Renault]] engines, a top speed of {{convert|87|km/h|kn mph|abbr=on}} was achieved, accelerating rapidly, taking waves without difficulty, steering well and showing good stability. Bell's report to the [[United States Navy]] permitted him to obtain two 260&nbsp;kW (350&nbsp;hp) engines. On 9 September 1919 the ''HD-4'' set a world marine speed record of {{convert|114|km/h|kn mph|abbr=on}}, which stood for two decades.<ref name="canada encyclopedia">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Hydrofoil |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/hydrofoil |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504002603/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/hydrofoil |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 May 2012 |publisher=Historica Canada |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref> A full-scale replica of the ''HD-4'' is viewable at the [[Alexander Graham Bell#Legacy and honors|Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site]] museum in Baddeck, Nova Scotia.

In the early 1950s an English couple built the ''White Hawk'', a jet-powered hydrofoil water craft, in an attempt to beat the absolute water speed record.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=8NsDAAAAMBAJ&dq=1954+Popular+Mechanics+January&pg=PA70 "Jet Hydrofoil Shoots At World Record"] ''Popular Mechanics'', August 1953, pp. 70-71</ref> However, in tests, ''White Hawk'' could barely top the record breaking speed of the 1919 ''HD-4''.  The designers had faced an engineering phenomenon that limits the top speed of even modern hydrofoils: [[cavitation]] disturbs the lift created by the foils as they move through the water at speed above {{convert|60|kn|km/h mph|abbr=on}}, bending the lifting foil.<ref>''The World Water Speed Record'' by Leo Villa and Kevin Desmond, 1976</ref>

[[File:Fully submerged hydrofoils self-stabilizing system.svg|thumb|A schematic illustration of self-stabilizing systems for fully submerged hydrofoils. Its computer gathers data for the boom position and current water level to determine the required flap position.]]

=== First passenger boats ===

German engineer Hanns von Schertel worked on hydrofoils prior to and during [[World War II]] in [[Germany]]. After the war, the Russians captured Schertel's team. As Germany was not authorized to build fast boats, Schertel went to [[Switzerland]], where he established the Supramar company. In 1952, Supramar launched the first commercial hydrofoil, PT10 "Freccia d'Oro" (Golden Arrow), in Lake Maggiore, between Switzerland and [[Italy]]. The PT10 is of surface-piercing type, it can carry 32 passengers and travel at {{convert|35|kn|km/h mph}}. In 1968, the Bahraini born banker [[Hussain Najadi]] acquired the Supramar AG and expanded its operations into Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, Norway and the US. [[General Dynamics]] of the United States became its licensee, and the Pentagon awarded its first R&D naval research project in the field of [[supercavitation]]. [[Hitachi]] Shipbuilding of Osaka, Japan, was another licensee of Supramar, as well as many leading ship owners and shipyards in the OECD countries.

From 1952 to 1971, Supramar designed many models of hydrofoils: PT20, PT50, PT75, PT100 and PT150. All are of surface-piercing type, except the PT150 combining a surface-piercing foil forward with a fully submerged foil in the aft location. Over 200 of Supramar's design were built, most of them by Rodriquez (headed at the time by Engineer Carlo Rodriquez in [[Sicily]], Italy.

During the same period the [[Soviet Union]] experimented extensively with hydrofoils, constructing hydrofoil river boats and [[ferries]] with streamlined designs during the cold war period and into the 1980s. Such vessels include the [[Raketa (hydrofoil)|Raketa]] (1957) type, followed by the larger [[Meteor (hydrofoil)|Meteor]] type and the smaller [[Voskhod (hydrofoil)|Voskhod]] type. One of the most successful Soviet designer/inventor in this area was [[Rostislav Alexeyev]], who some consider the 'father' of the modern hydrofoil due to his 1950s era high speed hydrofoil designs.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} Later, circa 1970s, Alexeyev combined his hydrofoil experience with the [[Ground effect in aircraft|surface effect]] principle to create the [[Ekranoplan]]. Extensive investment in this type of technology in the USSR resulted in the largest civil hydrofoil fleet in the world and the making of the Meteor type, the most successful hydrofoil in history, with more than 400 units built.

<gallery class="center" caption="Soviet civil hydrofoils" widths="180px" heights="120px">
Peterhof hydrofoil (18272163540).jpg|[[Voskhod (hydrofoil)|Voskhod]]
Meteor boat on Neva Bay.jpg|[[:ru:Метеор (теплоход)|Meteor]]
Raketa-185 on Khimki Reservoir 6-jun-2014 02.jpg|[[Raketa (hydrofoil)|Raketa]]
Polesye-1 (ship, 1986, Gomel, 7).jpg|[[:ru:Полесье (теплоход)|Polesye]]
Kizhi 06-2017 img30 Kometa-17 hydrofoil.jpg|[[:ru:Комета (теплоход)|Kometa]]
</gallery>

In 1961, [[SRI International]] issued a study on "The Economic Feasibility of Passenger Hydrofoil Craft in US Domestic and Foreign Commerce".<ref name="Feasibility">{{cite web |title = The Economic Feasibility of Passenger Hydrofoil Craft in U.S. Domestic and Foreign Commerce.|author = SRI International|author-link = SRI International|url = http://ntlsearch.bts.gov/tris/record/tris/00026416.html|year = 1961|access-date = 9 September 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120301104231/http://ntlsearch.bts.gov/repository/record/tris/00026416.html|archive-date = 1 March 2012}}</ref> Commercial use of hydrofoils in the US first appeared in 1961 when two commuter vessels were commissioned by [[Harry Gale Nye, Jr.]]'s North American Hydrofoils to service the route from Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey to the financial district of Lower Manhattan.<ref>{{cite web| title=Enterprise|first = Malin | last= Dixon| url=http://www.foils.org/gallery/enterpr.htm| access-date=9 September 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428050743/http://www.foils.org/gallery/enterpr.htm| archive-date=28 April 2010}}</ref>