25 July 1959: First hovercraft crosses the English Channel

This day in 1959 saw the first hovercraft cross the English Channel. By 1968, regular services were taking passengers and cars across in 35 minutes.

SR-N1 arriving in Dover © Edward Miller/Getty Images
SR-N1 arriving in Dover
(Image credit: © Edward Miller/Getty Images)

In the 1920s and 1930s, engineers in the US, Finland and the Soviet Union were looking for ways to build faster boats. Much of the energy needed to move a boat is consumed by the friction created in dragging a hull through water, so one idea was to create a design that would allow the vessel to travel inches above the surface on a layer of air, thus reducing the friction.

But while a few prototypes were built, no one could crack the problem of generating a consistent supply of air in a practical way. World War II then ended the research. It wasn't until the 1950s that Sir Christopher Cockerell, an inventor who owned a boat firm, came up with a solution: a ring of high-pressure air trapped within a cushion.

This reduced the power needed to stay above the water, and allowed the craft to deal with waves and to travel on land. After first approaching the armed forces, Cockerell got government funding to develop a civilian version, the SR-N1.

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On 11 June 1959, the first successful tests took place. A few weeks later, the SR-N1 crossed the Channel. There was an explosion of interest and several firms developed improved versions. By 1968 regular services were taking passengers and cars from England to France in 35 minutes.

But rising fuel costs in the 1970s meant conventional ferries remained dominant. The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 replaced the hovercraft as the quickest cross-Channel route. In 2000, services on the Channel were wound up.

However, the hovercraft's manoeuvrability and speed mean that it is still used by coastguards in Britain and Europe, as well as by armed forces around the world.

Dr Matthew Partridge

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

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