they didn't even have steel afaik

in modern ships

at least not in any bigger quantities

these are massive screws

youd need proper metallurgy

likewise even making a proper steam engine

would require good steel

to make the furnace

i mean hell

you wanna make a locomotive

the entire thing is solid steel

They knew that steel is sometimes made when you make iron
but they didn't understand how and when it's created

Rome invented screws actually so that'd work

theres a difference between

a small screw

in a wooden block

and a ships screw

They were wood ofc

ship screws are shaped entirely differently first of all

second of all they are massive

wooden screws wouldnt work at all

wouldn't bronze work?

are copper

well ny metal would work

but metal isnt exactly easy to come by

you think they just have huge amounts of it lying around?

the only reason metal was so easy to come by during the industrial revolution

was because they mechanized mining

and they knew how to use chemical solutions to refine ores

the romans had none of that

likewise i dunno if a weaker metal like copper would be able to take the strain

Okay but they'd have probably been able to get there

So what you are saying is, go back in time and save rome?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes%27_screw

as an aside

yo didnt even have copper plating

on the underside of boats

until well after the 1700s began

Could they make giant steam-drawn scorpion

metal only became super in demand

when cannons came about