Steamboat
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Paddle steamers - Lucerne-Switzerland |
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Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. Right: detail of a steamer. |
This article is about the water vessel. For the Chinese meal or Colorado ski resort, see Chinese Steamboat or Steamboat Ski Resort, respectively.A
steamboat or
steamship, sometimes called a
steamer, is a
boat or
vessel which is propelled by
steam power that drives a propeller or paddlewheel. The term
steamboat is usually used to refer to smaller steam-powered boats working on lakes and rivers, particularly
riverboats in the
USA;
steamship generally refers to steam powered
ships capable of carrying a (ship's) boat. Steamships gradually replaced sailing ships for commercial shipping through the nineteenth century, and were in turn superseded by diesel-driven ships in the second half of the twentieth century. Most
warships used steam propulsion until the advent of the
gas turbine. Today,
nuclear powered warships and
submarines use steam to drive turbines, but are not referred to as steamships or steamboats.
Screw-driven steamships generally carry the ship prefix "SS" before their names.
Paddle steamers usually carry the prefix "PS" and Steamships powered by the steam turbine may be prefixed "TS" (Turbine Ship). The term
steamer is occasionally used, out of nostalgia, for
diesel motor-driven vessels, prefixed "MV".
As often happens with inventions, the development of the
steam engine powered vessel involved many people, sometimes working at the same time. One of the first to propose the idea (around
1690) was the physicist
Denis Papin who was developing steam engines. In
1707 he constructed a paddle-powered boat, but whether it was full-size and steam-powered or not is unclear. River boatmen took exception to the threat to their trade and destroyed it.
In
1736 Jonathan Hulls took out a patent in
England for a
Newcomen engine-powered steamboat, but it was the improvement in steam engines by
James Watt that made the concept feasible.
William Henry of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, having learned of Watt's engine on a visit to England, made his own engine and in
1763 attempted to put it in a boat. The boat sank, and while he made an improved model he does not seem to have had much success, though he may have inspired others.
In
France, by
1774 the Marquis
Claude de Jouffroy and colleagues had made a working steamboat that was too slow for river use. In
1783 a new
paddle steamer, the
Pyroscaphe, successfully steamed up the
river Saône for fifteen minutes before the engine failed, but bureaucracy thwarted further progress.
From
1784 James Rumsey built a pump-driven boat (water-jet) that successfully steamed upstream on the
Potomac river in
1786, and in the following year he obtained a patent from the State of
Virginia. In
Pennsylvania John Fitch, an acquaintance of William Henry, had made a model paddle steamer in
1785, and subsequently developed propulsion by floats on a chain, obtained a patent in
1786, then built a steamboat which underwent a successful trial in
1787. The following year a second boat made 50 km (30 mile) excursions, and in
1790 a third boat ran a series of excursions on the
Delaware River, but then patent disputes dissuaded Fitch from continuing.
Meanwhile,
Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, near
Dumfries,
Scotland, had developed double-hulled boats propelled by cranked paddlewheels placed between the hulls, and he engaged the engineer
William Symington to build his patent steam engine into a boat which was successfully tried out on Dalswinton Loch in
1788, and followed by a larger steamboat the next year. Miller then abandoned the project, but ten years later Symington was engaged by
Lord Dundas and in March
1802 the
Charlotte Dundas towed two 70 ton barges 30 km (almost 20 miles) along the
Forth and Clyde Canal to
Glasgow. This vessel, the first tow boat, has been called the "first practical steamboat", and the first to be followed by continuous development of steamboats. Although plans to introduce boats on the Forth and Clyde canal were thwarted by fears of erosion of the banks, development was taken up both in
Britain and abroad.
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Robert Fulton's Clermont. |
Robert Fulton, who may have become interested in steamboats when he visited William Henry in
1777 at the age of 12, visited
Britain and
France where he built and tested an experimental steamboat on the
River Seine in
1803, and was aware of the success of the Charlotte Dundas. Before returning to the
United States he ordered a
Boulton and Watt steam engine, and on return built the
North River Steamboat (often called the
Clermont). In
1807 this steamboat began a regular passenger boat service between
New York and
Clermont, 240 km (150 miles) distant, which was a commercial success. In
1809 the
Accommodation, built by the Hon.
John Molson at
Montreal, and fitted with engines made in that city, was running successfully between Montreal and
Quebec, being the first steamer on the
St. Lawrence and in
Canada. The experience of both vessels showed that the new system of propulsion was commercially profitable, and as a result its application to the more open waters of the
Great Lakes was next considered. The concretisation of that idea went on hiatus during the
War of 1812 (which concluded in late
1814), however.
In
Scotland the ideas of the
Charlotte Dundas were taken up by
Henry Bell, and in
1812 the
Comet began a passenger steamboat service on the
River Clyde between
Glasgow and
Greenock. This was the first commercially successful service in
Europe.
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Model of a shallow draft stern wheel riverboat |
As
William Henry and
John Fitch had foreseen, steamboats on the major American rivers soon followed Fulton's success.
Mark Twain, in his
Life on the Mississippi, described much of the operation of these vessels. For most of the 19th century and part of the early 20th century, trade on the
Mississippi River would be dominated by paddle-wheel steamboats, very few of which survive to the present day, most destroyed by boiler explosions or fires. One of the few surviving Mississippi sternwheelers from this period,
Julius C. Wilkie, is preserved as a
museum ship at
Winona, Minnesota. For modern craft operated on rivers, see the
riverboat article.
The cartoon
Steamboat Willie introduced steamboat pilot
Mickey Mouse to the public.
The
Belle of Louisville, based at the port of
Louisville, Kentucky is the oldest continually operating steamboat on the inland waterways of the United States: her hull was laid as the
Idlewild in
1914.
Henry Bell's
Comet started a rapid expansion of steam services on the
Firth of Clyde, and within four years a steamer service was in operation on the inland
Loch Lomond, a forerunner of the lake steamers that still grace the
Swiss lakes. Today the
1900 steamer
SS Sir Walter Scott still sails on
Loch Katrine, while on Loch Lomond the
PS Maid of the Loch is being restored.
On the Clyde itself, within ten years of the
Comet's start there were nearly fifty steamers, and services had started across the
Irish Sea to
Belfast. By
1900 there were over 300
Clyde steamers. The
paddle steamer Waverley, built in
1947, is the last survivor of these fleets, and the last sea-going
paddle steamer in the world. This ship sails a full season of cruises every year from places around
Britain, and has sailed across the
English Channel for a visit to commemorate the sinking of her predecessor of
1899 at the
Battle of Dunkirk.
People have had a particular affection for the
Clyde puffers, small steam freighters on a traditional design developed to use the Scottish canals and to serve the Highlands and Islands. They were immortalised by the tales of
Para Handy's boat The
Vital Spark by
Neil Munro and by the film
The Maggie, and a small number are being conserved to continue in steam around the west highland sea lochs.
The Clyde sludge boats had a tradition of occasionally taking passengers on their trips from
Glasgow, past the
Isle of Arran, down the
Firth of Clyde, and one has emerged from retirement as
"SS Shieldhall, Steam powered General Cargo-Passenger Steamer available for Trips in the Solent" offering outings from
Southampton,
England with views of the two triple expansion engines.
Built in
1856,
P.S. Skibladner is the oldest
steamship still in operation, serving towns along lake
Mjøsa in
Norway.
The 1912 steamer,
TSS Earnslaw still operates on regular sight-seeing trips across
Lake Wakatipu, an alpine lake near
Queenstown, New Zealand.
The side-wheel paddle steamer
SS Great Western was the first purpose-built steamship to initiate regularly scheduled trans-Atlantic crossings, starting in 1838. The first regular steamship service from the west to the east coast of the
United States began on
February 28,
1849 with the arrival of the
SS California in
San Francisco Bay. The
California left
New York Harbor on
October 6,
1848, rounded
Cape Horn at the tip of
South America, and arrived at
San Francisco, California after the 4-month, 21-day journey. The
SS Great Eastern was built in
1854–
1857 with the intent of linking Great Britain with
India, via the
Cape of Good Hope without coaling stops; it would know a turbulent history, and was never put to its intended use.
By
1870, a number of inventions, such as the
screw propeller and the
triple expansion engine made trans-oceanic shipping economically viable. Thus began the era of cheap and safe travel and trade around the world.
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RMS Titanic |
The
RMS Titanic was the largest steamship in the world when it sank in 1912. Launched in 1938, the
RMS Queen Elizabeth was the largest passenger steamship ever built. Launched in 1969, the
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) was the last passenger steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a scheduled liner voyage before it was converted to diesel engines in 1986. The last major passenger ship built with steam engines was the
Fairsky, launched in 1984.
The
SS Explorer is the last remaining steam trawler in Britain. She was built in Aberdeen, including the last steam engine built there, and was launched in 1955 as a fishery research vessel. Accommodation was provided for researchers, including a computer cabin. Currently she is berthed at Edinburgh Dock,
Leith, by
Edinburgh, and the subject of a restoration project.
The turbine steamship
Royal Yacht Britannia, now retired from service, is berthed nearby at
Ocean Terminal, Leith.
*Barlow Cumberland,
A Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River, 2001
*Robert H. Thurston,
A history of the growth of the steam-engine, 1878 (Chapter 5)
*
The Steam Boat Association of Great Britain*
Cruising The World TV Show (RTP-TV 2001), Online video showing trip down Mississippi on the
Delta Queen steamboat
*
Loch Katrine Steamship Sir Walter Scott, Steamer on Loch Katrine
*
Waverley Excursions*
Paddle Steamer Preservation Society*
University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections â€" Oliver S. Van Olinda Photographs A collection of 420 photographs depicting life on Vashon Island, Whidbey Island, Seattle and other communities of Washington State's Puget Sound from the 1880s to the 1930s. This collection provides a glimpse of early pioneer activities, industries and occupations, recreation, street scenes, ferries and boat traffic at the turn of the century.
*
University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections â€" Transportation Photographs An ongoing digital collection of photographs depicting various modes of transportation in the Pacific Northwest region and Western United States during the first half of the 20th century.
* Ian McCrorie,
Clyde Pleasure Steamers, Orr, Pollock & Co. Ltd., Greenock (ISBN 1-869850-00-9)
