Description

During The Second World War and in early post-war years, many of the warships visiting Rothesay Bay, The Holy Loch and The Clyde used 'picket' and 'liberty boats' to ferry crews and supplies to and from the ships, many of these open launches using 'Kitchen Gear', more correctly ''Kitchen's Patent Reversing Rudders'', invented by Admiral Jack Kitchen and patented 'in the U.K. and Abroad' under British Patent 3249/1914 and in America under US Patent 1186210 (1916).

The last of The Royal Navy boats to use 'Kitchen Gear' were phased out in the 1970's and it was therefore something of a surprise, more than 30 years later, when one of them, complete with its original gear, made its appearance in Kintyre and then, as chance would have it, the writer came across (in November 2009) a sale notice for the 1966-built 40-foot long Keith Nelson hulled "RANGER ONE" and, thanks to The Marine Volunteer Service's Charles Douglas kindly forwarding all the boat's sale particulars and other documents, it is now possible to present a fairly 'in depth' paper about the mysterious and yet extremely simple workings of 'Kitchen Gear'.

The Kitchen stern gear does away with the need for expensive reverse gears and variable pitch propellers and is effectively a 'variable speed reversing rudder', making boats highly manoeuvrable in the right hands.