Sir Charles Algernon Parsons (1854–1931) was a British mechanical engineer who invented the steam turbine, which greatly increased the efficiency of converting steam into power by allowing the steam to expand gradually, in 15 stages. A rotor turned blades housed in a cylinder such that the space between blades enclosed a pressurized space where the steam could expand; each successive blade-bound space had lower pressure, eliciting increasing degrees of expansion. His turbine-driven engines for ships greatly increased the speed of seafaring transportation. In 1897, Parsons constructed the Turbinia, the first vessel to be propelled by turbines. The ship’s amazing speed at Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead on June 26, 1897 immediately generated a huge fanfare and led to the construction of many turbine-propelled warships for the British navy.