Twin turbine-wheel driven boat

A rudderless motorboat comprising:

• A. a hull having a stern board, a keel and a pair of longitudinally-extending tunnels indented in the bottom of the hull and symmetrically disposed in the stern section of the hull with respect to the keel and extending through the stern board;
• B. a turbine wheel rotatably mounted in each of said tunnels at a position intermediate the inlet and outlet thereof, only the lower segment of each wheel projecting below the bottom of the hull, said wheels functioning to propel the boat and also functioning as traction wheels to carry the boat over submerged bodies to prevent it from running aground, each wheel being formed by a pair of discs and circumferentially arranged paddle blades bridging said discs;
• C. inlet and outlet baffle means disposed within each tunnel on the inlet side and outlet side of the wheel and contoured to admit water passing through the longitudinally-extending tunnel to the propelling segment of the wheel and to discharge water therefrom toward the stern board;
• the baffle means otherwise conforming to the periphery of the wheel to prevent recirculation of the water;
• D. an inboard engine;
• and
• E. means operatively coupling said engine to said wheels whereby said wheels may be concurrently driven to propel said boat or differentially driven to steer said boat without the need for a rudder.