Bow Thruster

A bow thruster is a transverse propulsion device built into or mounted at the bow of a ship or boat, and paired with a similar stern thruster it lets an operator rotate the vessel toward port or starboard without engaging the main propulsion system, which normally needs forward motion to turn the ship at all. This sideways push makes docking and close-quarters maneuvering far easier, though the thruster's effectiveness falls off once the vessel is moving forward, a loss of effect linked to the Coanda effect drawing the thrust stream back along the hull. The source consulted for this entry gives no origin date or named inventor for the bow thruster, so none is recorded here.