Yamato 1
Yamato-1 is a ship built in the early 1990s by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. at Wadasaki-cho Hyogo-ku, Kobe. It uses magnetohydrodynamic drives driven by liquid helium-cooled superconductors and can travel at 15 km/h.
Yamato-1 was the first working prototype of its kind. It was completed in Japan in 1991, by the Ship & Ocean Foundation. The ship, which includes two MHD thrusters, which have no moving parts, was first successfully operated in Kobe harbour in June 1992.
An MHD works by applying a magnetic field to an electrically conducting fluid. The electrically conducting fluid used in the MHD thrusters of Yamato-1 is seawater.
In the 1990s, Mitsubishi built several prototypes of ships propelled by MHD systems. Despite projected higher speeds, these ships were only able to reach speeds of 15 km/h.
Today Yamato-1 is on display at the Kobe Maritime Museum.
