From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian
RUDOLF DIESEL:
The night of September 29th 1913 was especially calm as the steamer Dresden headed out into the North Sea bound for Ipswich. Among its passengers was one Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel, the world-famous inventor of the diesel engine, who was on his way to preside at ground-breaking ceremonies for a new diesel engine factory.
The next morning his neatly-folded overcoat and hat were found beside the guardrail, but of Diesel there was no trace. Two weeks later a body found floating in the North sea was identified as his. It was a sad and controversial, end to a life of achievement.
The Parisian born son of a Bavarian bookbinder, Rudolf had been taken by his parents to live in London in 1870 because of anti-German sentiment in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
The boy was later sent to live with an uncle in Augsburg where his studious nature and artistic talent won him several scholarships.
In 1872, at the age of 14, Rudolf informed his parents, now back in Paris, that he wished to become an engineer. His parents were against the idea but Rudolf soon persuaded them and at 17 he entered the Munich Polytechnic Institute and specialised in steam engines.
Rudolf recognised the inefficiencies of steam engines and theorised about a more efficient ammonia-powered engine. Leaving the institute in 1879 he gained the highest scores ever achieved there before beginning a career at the Sulzer Works in Switzerland where Linde refrigeration equipment was made.
Within two years he was plant manager at a new Paris factory he had established for the company. Meanwhile his experiments with his ammonia engine continued before he finally abandoned the concept in 1899.
Now married and with a young family, Rudolf moved to Berlin, where he continued with his experiments to build a more efficient engine than the steam units which powered German industry. He believed that he could build a more efficient engine using a less volatile fuel than petrol and sought the financial backing of Alfred Krupp to help him achieve his dream.
Krupp agreed to finance the experiments and Diesel began the construction of the first of three engines which were to lead to the new form of powerplant.
The first engine was a huge disappointment and served only to prove his theories were feasible. A second engine was an improvement but highlighted enormous problems that needed to be solved in relation to its fuel pump - in fact, it would be 1923 before Robert Bosche invented the precision fuel injection pump that the engine really needed.
In March 1895, after a difficult development period which would have caused a lesser man to give up, Diesel's third engine, fueled by kerosene, produced a mechanical efficiency of 67.2 per cent while operating at only 75 per cent of its rated capacity. This was far in excess of the best steam engined then in use.
After running reliably for two weeks non-stop, the new engine got the green light. The go-ahead was given for production of the engine, now named somply "the Diesel engine", to begin.
Worldwide success followed within a short time for Rudolf Diesel and by the time he was 40, in 1898, he was a millionaire. But success brought problems - Diesel made several bad investments and the resulting stress broke his health. When he finally boarded the Dresden in 1913 his state of mind can only be guessed at.
His death at just 55 years robbed the automotive world of a true genius.