eli5: Why is a ship’s steering at the back and not at the front like cars?
In: 5
There are lots of reasons, primarily by having the rudder behind the rudder behind the propeller it’s more effective, it also means the hull can be designed to optimise the flow over the rudder, this isn’t possible at the front. Being at the rear make it lees vulnerable to collision which is a fair consideration (especially if it’s me sailing)
For cars it’s different because the friction is far higher, steering at the rear means there’s a far greater imbalance of forces which causes all sorts of issues and would make for a horrible ride.
It’s not particularly eli5 but have a read of https://www.marineinsight.com/naval-architecture/rudder-ship-turning/?amp for boats
https://www.oponeo.co.uk/blog/steering-systems-understanding-the-forces-of-front-wheel-turning for cars
E:forgot about cars – added
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