0 a large wheel fitted with flat pieces of wood, attached to the side or stern of a boat and turned to make it move through the water. -- skovlhjul
Among the advantages was superior braking of the vessels, since paddle wheel propulsion systems could not effectively be reversed to slow the craft.
They work something like a paddle wheel on a paddle-steamer.
Most of the hull of the ship is now gone, but the rudder, parts of the paddle wheel and the steam engine are still present.
During the evening, they come upon an upside-down paddle wheel steamboat that the alien's apparently dumped miles from any water.
The annulets incorporated into the paddle wheel suggest continual efforts.
The boats drift along on a gentle current, typically generated by a paddle wheel.
For a paddle wheel ship, reversing the direction of the paddle will provide astern propulsion.
The force of the water would strike a simple paddle wheel set horizontally in line with the water.