A British Invention.
Sadly the 'Hoverspeed hovercraft Saunders-Roe SR.N4 Mk3 Mountbatten Class came to a demise with the completion of the Channel Tunnel. This vessel weighed 200 tons, travelled at 70 knots and carried 20,450 litres of fuel. She was powered by four Rolls-Royce Marine Proteus gas turbines and carried 282 passengers and 37 cars.
As a child it was always my ambition to travel on that particular craft to Calais and back, just for the experience.
The Hovercraft began with Sir. Christopher Cockerill in the 1950's and by 1956 aircushon sea vehicles were in commercial service.
Twenty five years ago I got the opportunity to travel to the isle of Wight and then enjoyed travelling on a much smaller craft. It was a bumpy ride across the Solent, but nice to be flying so low to the sea.
That is what the hovercraft does and they are still popular today around the world as they ever were. The RNLI have a few employed in large sandy areas of Britain to rescue those who get stuck in quicksand.
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