🔍 Key Concepts

• Controllable-pitch propeller (CPP) operation when reducing pitch but maintaining propeller RPM • How propeller wash over the rudder affects steering at different ship speeds • Relationship between ship’s headway (through the water) and effectiveness of the rudder

💭 Think About

• Think about what actually gives the rudder its turning force: is it ship speed through the water, propeller discharge, or both? • When you quickly reduce pitch on a right-handed CPP from ahead, what happens first: the water flow over the rudder, or the ship’s overall speed through the water? • Ask yourself whether any large, sudden, sideways ‘slewing’ force appears just from decreasing pitch, and whether that would be more likely to increase or decrease directional control.

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify how reducing pitch while keeping RPM up changes the amount of thrust without instantly changing ship speed. • Consider whether the rudder remains effective while the propeller is still pushing water across it, even if the ship has not yet slowed much. • Check if any answer choice suggests an immediate large transverse (sideways) effect from a simple pitch reduction, and question whether that is physically realistic.