Josef Ressel

He worked for the Austrian government as a forester in the more southern parts of the monarchy, including in Motovun, Istria. His work was to secure a supply of quality wood for the Navy. He worked in Landstrass (Kostanjevica on the Krka river in Carniola), where he tested his ship propellers for the first time. In 1821 he was transferred to Trieste, the biggest port of the Austrian Empire, where his tests were successful. He was awarded a propeller patent in 1827. He modified a steam-powered boat Civetta by 1829 and test-navigated it in the Trieste harbor at six knots before the steam conduits exploded. Because of this misfortune, the police banned further testing. The explosion was not caused by the propeller being tested, as many believed at the time. In 1836, the Englishman Francis Pettit Smith tested a screw propeller similar to Ressel's. The first transatlantic journey of a ship powered by a screw-propeller was by the SS Great Britain in 1845. Propeller design stabilized in the 1880s. Among Ressel's other inventions are pneumatic post and ball and cylinder bearings. He was granted numerous patents during his life. Ressel also played an important role in the reforestation of the Karst Plateau near Trieste. A bronze statue of him was placed along the waterfront of Trieste on March 30, 2022. He died in Laibach (now Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia) and was buried there in St. Christopher's Cemetery in the Bežigrad district. His gravestone is displayed today in Navje Memorial Park.

• Name — Josef Ressel • Born — 29 June 1793 • Birthplace — Chrudim, Bohemia, Habsburg monarchy (now Czech Republic) • Died — 9 October 1857 • Place of death — Ljubljana, Carniola, Austrian Empire (now Slovenia) • Known for — marine propeller • Illustration — Statue of Josef Ressel in the Port of Trieste