Steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S (for 'Screw Steamer') or PS (for 'Paddle Steamer'); however, these designations are most often used for steamships.
The term steamboat is used to refer to smaller, insular, steam-powered boats working on lakes and rivers, particularly riverboats. As using steam became more reliable, steam power became applied to larger, ocean-going vessels.
Background
Limitations of the Newcomen steam engine
The first steamboat designs used Newcomen steam engines. These engines were large, heavy, and produced little power, which resulted in an unfavorable power-to-weight ratio. The heavy weight of the Newcomen engine required a structurally strong boat, and the reciprocating motion of the engine beam required a complicated mechanism to produce propulsion.[1]
Rotary motion engines
James Watt's design improvements increased the efficiency of the steam engine, improving the power-to-weight ratio, and created an engine capable of rotary motion by using a double-acting cylinder which injected steam at each end of the piston stroke to move the piston back and forth. The rotary steam engine simplified the mechanism required to turn a paddle wheel to propel a boat. Despite the improved efficiency and rotary motion, the power-to-weight ratio of Boulton and Watt steam engine was still low.[1]
High-pressure steam engines
The high-pressure steam engine was the development that made the steamboat practical. It had a high power-to-weight ratio and was fuel efficient. High pressure engines were made possible by improvements in the design of boilers and engine components so that they could withstand internal pressure, although boiler explosions were common due to lack of instrumentation like pressure gauges.[1] Attempts at making high-pressure engines had to wait until the expiration of the Boulton and Watt patent in 1800. Shortly thereafter high-pressure engines by Richard Trevithick and Oliver Evans were introduced.[1]
Compound or multiple expansion steam engines
The compound steam engine became widespread in the late 19th century. Compounding uses exhaust steam from a high pressure cylinder to a lower pressure cylinder and greatly improves efficiency. With compound engines it was possible for trans ocean steamers to carry less coal than freight.[1] Compound steam engine powered ships enabled a great increase in international trade.[2]
Steam turbines
The most efficient steam engine used for marine propulsion is the steam turbine. It was developed near the end of the 19th century and was used throughout the 20th century.[1]
History
Early designs
An apocryphal story from 1851 attributes the earliest steamboat to
A steamboat was described and patented by English physician John Allen in 1729.
The first steam-powered ship,
Similar boats were made in 1785 by John Fitch in Philadelphia and William Symington in Dumfries, Scotland. Fitch successfully trialled his boat in 1787, and in 1788, he began operating a regular commercial service along the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey, carrying as many as 30 passengers. This boat could typically make 7 to 8 miles per hour (11 to 13 km/h) and travelled more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) during its short length of service. The Fitch steamboat was not a commercial success, as this travel route was adequately covered by relatively good wagon roads. The following year, a second boat made 30-mile (48 km) excursions, and in 1790, a third boat ran a series of trials on the Delaware River before patent disputes dissuaded Fitch from continuing.[5]
Meanwhile, Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, near Dumfries, Scotland, had developed double-hulled boats propelled by manually cranked paddle wheels placed between the hulls, even attempting to interest various European governments in a giant warship version, 246 feet (75 m) long. Miller sent King Gustav III of Sweden an actual small-scale version, 100 feet (30 m) long, called Experiment.[10] Miller then engaged engineer William Symington to build his patent steam engine that drove a stern-mounted paddle wheel in a boat in 1785. The boat was successfully tried out on Dalswinton Loch in 1788 and was followed by a larger steamboat the next year. Miller then abandoned the project.
19th century
The failed project of Patrick Miller caught the attention of Lord Dundas, Governor of the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, and at a meeting with the canal company's directors on 5 June 1800, they approved his proposals for the use of "a model of a boat by Captain Schank to be worked by a steam engine by Mr Symington" on the canal.
The boat was built by Alexander Hart at
In 1801, Symington patented a horizontal steam engine directly linked to a crank. He got support from Lord Dundas to build a second steamboat, which became famous as the Charlotte Dundas, named in honour of Lord Dundas's daughter. Symington designed a new hull around his powerful horizontal engine, with the crank driving a large paddle wheel in a central upstand in the hull, aimed at avoiding damage to the canal banks. The new boat was 56 ft (17.1 m) long, 18 ft (5.5 m) wide and 8 ft (2.4 m) depth, with a wooden hull. The boat was built by John Allan and the engine by the Carron Company.
The first sailing was on the canal in Glasgow on 4 January 1803, with Lord Dundas and a few of his relatives and friends on board. The crowd were pleased with what they saw, but Symington wanted to make improvements and another more ambitious trial was made on 28 March. On this occasion, the Charlotte Dundas towed two 70 ton barges 30 km (almost 20 miles) along the Forth and Clyde Canal to Glasgow, and despite "a strong breeze right ahead" that stopped all other canal boats it took only nine and a quarter hours, giving an average speed of about 3 km/h (2 mph). The Charlotte Dundas was the first practical steamboat, in that it demonstrated the practicality of steam power for ships, and was the first to be followed by continuous development of steamboats.[11]
The American
Fulton later obtained a Boulton and Watt steam engine, shipped to America, where his first proper steamship was built in 1807,[13] North River Steamboat (later known as Clermont), which carried passengers between New York City and Albany, New York. Clermont was able to make the 150-mile (240 km) trip in 32 hours. The steamboat was powered by a Boulton and Watt engine and was capable of long-distance travel. It was the first commercially successful steamboat, transporting passengers along the Hudson River.
In 1807 Robert L. Stevens began operation of the
In October 1811 a ship designed by John Stevens, Little Juliana, would operate as the first steam-powered ferry between Hoboken and New York City. Stevens' ship was engineered as a twin-screw-driven steamboat in juxtaposition to Clermont's Boulton and Watt engine.[15] The design was a modification of Stevens' prior paddle steamer Phoenix, the first steamship to successfully navigate the open ocean in its route from Hoboken to Philadelphia.[16]
In 1812, Henry Bell's PS Comet was inaugurated.[17] The steamboat was the first commercial passenger service in Europe and sailed along the River Clyde in Scotland.[17]
The Margery, launched in Dumbarton in 1814, in January 1815 became the first steamboat on the River Thames, much to the amazement of Londoners. She operated a London-to-Gravesend river service until 1816, when she was sold to the French and became the first steamboat to cross the English Channel. When she reached Paris, the new owners renamed her Elise and inaugurated a Seine steamboat service.[18]
In 1818, Ferdinando I, the first Italian steamboat, left the port of Naples, where it had been built.[19]
Ocean-going
The first sea-going steamboat was Richard Wright's first steamboat "Experiment", an ex-French lugger; she steamed from Leeds to Yarmouth, arriving Yarmouth 19 July 1813.[20] "Tug", the first tugboat, was launched by the Woods Brothers, Port Glasgow, on 5 November 1817; in the summer of 1818 she was the first steamboat to travel round the North of Scotland to the East Coast.[21][page needed]
Steamships required carrying fuel (coal) at the expense of the regular payload. For this reason for some time sailships remained more economically viable for long voyages. However, as the steam engine technology improved, more power could be generated by the same quantity of fuel and longer distances could be traveled. A steamship built in 1855 required about 40% of its available cargo space to store enough coal to cross the Atlantic, but by the 1860s, transatlantic steamship services became cost-effective and steamships began to dominate these routes. By the 1870s, particularly in conjunction with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, South Asia became economically accessible for steamships from Europe. By the 1890s, the steamship technology so improved that steamships became economically viable even on long-distance voyages such as linking Great Britain with its Pacific Asian colonies, such as Singapore and Hong Kong. This resulted in the downfall of sailing.[22]
Use by country
United States
Origins
The era of the steamboat in the United States began in Philadelphia in 1787 when John Fitch (1743–1798) made the first successful trial of a 45-foot (14-meter) steamboat on the Delaware River on 22 August 1787, in the presence of members of the United States Constitutional Convention. Fitch later (1790) built a larger vessel that carried passengers and freight between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware. His steamboat was not a financial success and was shut down after a few months service, however this marks the first use of marine steam propulsion in scheduled regular passenger transport service.
Oliver Evans (1755–1819) was a Philadelphian inventor born in Newport, Delaware, to a family of Welsh settlers. He designed an improved high-pressure steam engine in 1801 but did not build it[23] (patented 1804).[24]
The Philadelphia Board of Health was concerned with the problem of dredging and cleaning the city's dockyards, and in 1805 Evans convinced them to contract with him for a steam-powered dredge, which he called the Oruktor Amphibolos. It was built but was only marginally successful.
Robert Fulton constructed a steamboat to ply a route between New York City and Albany, New York on the Hudson River. He successfully obtained a monopoly on Hudson River traffic after terminating a prior 1797 agreement with John Stevens, who owned extensive land on the Hudson River in New Jersey. The former agreement had partitioned northern Hudson River traffic to Livingston and southern to Stevens, agreeing to use ships designed by Stevens for both operations.[27] With their new monopoly, Fulton and Livingston's boat, named the Clermont after Livingston's estate, could make a profit. The Clermont was nicknamed "Fulton's Folly" by doubters. On Monday, 17 August 1807, the memorable first voyage of the Clermont up the Hudson River was begun. She traveled the 150 miles (240 km) trip to Albany in a little over 32 hours and made the return trip in about eight hours.
The use of steamboats on major US rivers soon followed Fulton's 1807 success. In 1811 the first in a continuous (still in commercial passenger operation as of 2007[update]) line of river steamboats left the dock at
Types of ships
By 1849 the shipping industry was in transition from sail-powered boats to steam-powered boats and from wood construction to an ever-increasing metal construction. There were basically three different types of ships being used: standard
The first paddle-steamer to make a long ocean voyage was the 320-ton 98-foot-long (30 m)
The SS Savannah was too small to carry much fuel, and the engine was intended only for use in calm weather and to get in and out of harbors. Under favorable winds the sails alone were able to provide a speed of at least four knots. The Savannah was judged not a commercial success, and its engine was removed and it was converted back to a regular sailing ship. By 1848 steamboats built by both United States and British shipbuilders were already in use for mail and passenger service across the Atlantic Ocean—a 3,000 miles (4,800 km) journey.
Since paddle steamers typically required from 5 to 16 short tons (4.5 to 14.5 t) of coal per day to keep their engines running, they were more expensive to run. Initially, nearly all seagoing steamboats were equipped with mast and sails to supplement the steam engine power and provide power for occasions when the steam engine needed repair or maintenance. These steamships typically concentrated on high value cargo, mail and passengers and only had moderate cargo capabilities because of their required loads of coal. The typical paddle wheel steamship was powered by a coal burning engine that required firemen to shovel the coal to the burners.[33][34]
By 1849 the screw propeller had been invented and was slowly being introduced as iron increasingly was used in ship construction and the stress introduced by propellers could be compensated for. As the 1800s progressed the timber and lumber needed to make wooden ships got ever more expensive, and the iron plate needed for iron ship construction got much cheaper as the massive iron works at Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, for example, got ever more efficient. The propeller put a lot of stress on the rear of the ships and would not see widespread use till the conversion from wood boats to iron boats was complete—well underway by 1860. By the 1840s the ocean-going steam ship industry was well established as the Cunard Line and others demonstrated.
The last sailing frigate of the US Navy, Santee, had been launched in 1855.
West Coast
In the mid-1840s the acquisition of Oregon and California opened up the West Coast to American steamboat traffic. Starting in 1848 Congress subsidized the
The
The trips by paddle wheel steamship to Panama and Nicaragua from New York, Philadelphia, Boston, via New Orleans and Havana were about 2,600 miles (4,200 km) long and took about two weeks. Trips across the
Other steamships soon followed, and by late 1849, paddle wheel steamships like the SS McKim (1848)
As the passenger, mail and high value freight business to and from California boomed more and more paddle steamers were brought into service—eleven by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company alone. The trip to and from California via Panama and paddle wheeled steamers could be done, if there were no waits for shipping, in about 40 days—over 100 days less than by wagon or 160 days less than a trip around
Steamboat traffic including passenger and freight business grew exponentially in the decades before the Civil War. So too did the economic and human losses inflicted by snags, shoals, boiler explosions, and human error.[38][page needed]
Civil War
During the
The Civil War in the West was fought to control major rivers, especially the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers using paddlewheelers. Only the Union had them (the Confederacy captured a few, but were unable to use them.) The
Although Union forces gained control of Mississippi River tributaries, travel there was still subject to interdiction by the Confederates. The Ambush of the steamboat J. R. Williams, which was carrying supplies from Fort Smith to Fort Gibson along the Arkansas River on 16 July 1863 demonstrated this. The steamboat was destroyed, the cargo was lost, and the tiny Union escort was run off. The loss did not affect the Union war effort, however.[41]
The worst of all steamboat accidents occurred at the end of the Civil War in April 1865, when the steamboat
Mississippi and Missouri river traffic
For most of the 19th century and part of the early 20th century, trade on the Mississippi River was dominated by paddle-wheel steamboats. Their use generated rapid development of economies of port cities; the exploitation of agricultural and commodity products, which could be more easily transported to markets; and prosperity along the major rivers. Their success led to penetration deep into the continent, where Anson Northup in 1859 became first steamer to cross the Canada–US border on the Red River. They would also be involved in major political events, as when Louis Riel seized International at Fort Garry, or Gabriel Dumont was engaged by Northcote at Batoche. Steamboats were held in such high esteem that they could become state symbols; the Steamboat Iowa (1838) is incorporated in the Seal of Iowa because it represented speed, power, and progress.[citation needed]
At the same time, the expanding steamboat traffic had severe adverse environmental effects, in the Middle Mississippi Valley especially, between St. Louis and the river's confluence with the Ohio. The steamboats consumed much wood for fuel, and the river floodplain and banks became deforested. This led to instability in the banks, addition of silt to the water, making the river both shallower and hence wider and causing unpredictable, lateral movement of the river channel across the wide, ten-mile floodplain, endangering navigation. Boats designated as snagpullers to keep the channels free had crews that sometimes cut remaining large trees 100–200 feet (30–61 m) or more back from the banks, exacerbating the problems. In the 19th century, the flooding of the Mississippi became a more severe problem than when the floodplain was filled with trees and brush.[citation needed]
Most steamboats were destroyed by boiler explosions or fires—and many sank in the river, with some of those buried in silt as the river changed course. From 1811 to 1899, 156 steamboats were lost to snags or rocks between St. Louis and the Ohio River. Another 411 were damaged by fire, explosions or ice during that period.[42] One of the few surviving Mississippi sternwheelers from this period, Julius C. Wilkie, was operated as a museum ship at Winona, Minnesota, until its destruction in a fire in 1981. The replacement, built in situ, was not a steamboat. The replica was scrapped in 2008.[43][citation needed]
From 1844 through 1857, luxurious palace steamers carried passengers and cargo around the North American Great Lakes.[44] Great Lakes passenger steamers reached their zenith during the century from 1850 to 1950. The SS Badger is the last of the once-numerous passenger-carrying steam-powered car ferries operating on the Great Lakes. A unique style of bulk carrier known as the lake freighter was developed on the Great Lakes. The St. Marys Challenger, launched in 1906, is the oldest operating steamship in the United States. She runs a Skinner Marine Unaflow 4-cylinder reciprocating steam engine as her power plant.[45]
Women started to become steamboat captains in the late 19th century. The first woman to earn her steamboat master's license was Mary Millicent Miller, in 1884.[46] In 1888, Callie Leach French earned her first class license.[47] In 1892, she earned a master's license, becoming the only woman to hold both and operating on the Mississippi River.[47] French towed a showboat up and down the rivers until 1907 and boasted that she'd never had an accident or lost a boat.[48] Another early steamboat captain was Blanche Douglass Leathers, who earned her license in 1894.[49] Mary Becker Greene earned her license in 1897 and along with her husband started the Greene Line.[50]
Steamboats in rivers on the west side of the Mississippi River
Steamboats also operated on the Red River to Shreveport, Louisiana.[citation needed]
In April 1815, Captain Henry Miller Shreve was the first person to bring a steamboat, the Enterprise, up the Red River.[citation needed]
By 1839 after Captain Henry Miller Shreve broke the Great Raft log jam had been 160 miles long on the river.[51]
In the late 1830s, the steamboats in rivers on the west side of the Mississippi River were a long, wide, shallow draft vessel, lightly built with an engine on the deck. These newer steamboats could sail in just 20 inches of water. Contemporaries claimed that they could "run with a lot of heavy dew".[52]
Walking the steamboat over sandbars or away from reefs
Walking the boat was a way of lifting the bow of a steamboat like on crutches, getting up and down a sandbank with poles, blocks, and strong rigging, and using paddlewheels to lift and move the ship through successive steps, on the helm. Moving of a boat from a sandbar by its own action was known as "walking the boat" and "grass-hoppering". Two long, strong poles were pushed forward from the bow on either side of the boat into the sandbar at a high degree of angle. Near the end of each pole, a block was secured with a strong rope or clamp that passed through pulleys that lowered through a pair of similar blocks attached to the deck near the bow. The end of each line went to a winch which, when turned, was taut and, with its weight on the stringers, slightly raised the bow of the boat. Activation of the forward paddlewheels and placement of the poles caused the bow of the boat to raise and move the boat forward perhaps a few feet. It was laborious and dangerous work for the crew, even with a Steam donkey driven capstan winch.
Double-tripping
Double-tripping means making two voyages by leaving a cargo of a steamboat ashore to lighten boats load during times of extremely low water or when ice impedes progress. The boat had to return (and therefore make a second trip) to retrieve the cargo.[53][54]
Piston Rings, Steel replaced cotton seals, 1854
1854: John Ramsbottom publishes a report on his use of oversized split steel piston rings which maintain a seal by outward spring tension on the cylinder wall. This improved efficiency by allowing much better sealing (compared to earlier cotton seals) which allowed significantly higher system pressures before "blow-by" is experienced.[55]
Allen Steam Engine at 3 to 5 times higher speeds, 1862
1862: The Allen steam engine (later called Porter-Allen) is exhibited at the London Exhibition. It is precision engineered and balanced allowing it to operate at from three to five times the speed of other stationary engines. The short stroke and high speed minimize condensation in the cylinder, significantly improving efficiency. The high speed allows direct coupling or the use of reduced sized pulleys and belting.[55]
Boilers, Water Tubes, Not Explosive, 1867
1867Stephen Wilcox and his partner George Herman Babcock patent the "Babcock & Wilcox Non-Explosive Boiler", which uses water inside clusters of tubing to generate steam, typically with higher pressures and more efficiently than the typical "firetube" boilers of that time. Babcock & Wilcox-type boiler designs become popular in new installations. : [55]
Triple Expansion Steam Engine, 1881
1881 :
Steam Turbine, 1884
1884Charles Algernon Parsons developed the steam turbine, used in early electrical generation and to power ships. The efficiency of large steam turbines is considerably better than the best compound piston engines, and they are much simpler, more reliable, smaller and lighter. Steam turbines eventually replaced piston engines for most power generation. : [55]
20th century
The Belle of Louisville is the oldest operating steamboat in the United States, and the oldest operating Mississippi River-style steamboat in the world. She was laid down as Idlewild in 1914, and is currently located in Louisville, Kentucky.[57]
Five major commercial steamboats currently operate on the inland waterways of the United States. The only remaining overnight cruising steamboat is the 432-passenger
Canada
In Canada, the city of
Sternwheelers were an instrumental transportation technology in the development of Western Canada. They were used on most of the navigable waterways of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC (British Columbia) and the Yukon at one time or another, generally being supplanted by the expansion of railroads and roads. In the more mountainous and remote areas of the Yukon and BC, working sternwheelers lived on well into the 20th century.[citation needed]
The simplicity of these vessels and their shallow draft made them indispensable to pioneer communities that were otherwise virtually cut off from the outside world. Because of their shallow, flat-bottomed construction (the Canadian examples of the western river sternwheeler generally needed less than three feet of water to float in), they could nose up almost anywhere along a riverbank to pick up or drop off passengers and freight. Sternwheelers would also prove vital to the construction of the railroads that eventually replaced them. They were used to haul supplies, track and other materials to construction camps.[citation needed]
The simple, versatile, locomotive-style boilers fitted to most sternwheelers after about the 1860s could burn coal, when available in more populated areas like the lakes of the
The hulls were generally wooden, although iron, steel and composite hulls gradually overtook them. They were braced internally with a series of built-up longitudinal timbers called "keelsons". Further resilience was given to the hulls by a system of "hog rods" or "hog chains" that were fastened into the keelsons and led up and over vertical masts called "hog-posts", and back down again.[60]
Like their counterparts on the Mississippi and its tributaries, and the vessels on the rivers of California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, the Canadian sternwheelers tended to have fairly short life-spans. The hard usage they were subjected to and inherent flexibility of their shallow wooden hulls meant that relatively few of them had careers longer than a decade.[citation needed]
In the Yukon, two vessels are preserved: the SS Klondike in Whitehorse and the SS Keno in Dawson City. Many derelict hulks can still be found along the Yukon River.[citation needed]
In British Columbia, the Moyie, built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1898, was operated on Kootenay Lake in south-eastern BC until 1957. It has been carefully restored and is on display in the village of Kaslo, where it acts as a tourist attraction right next to information centre in downtown Kaslo. The Moyie is the world's oldest intact stern wheeler. While the SS Sicamous and SS Naramata (steam tug & icebreaker) built by the CPR at Okanagan Landing on Okanagan Lake in 1914[61] have been preserved in Penticton at the south end of Okanagan Lake.[citation needed]
The SS Samson V is the only Canadian steam-powered sternwheeler that has been preserved afloat. It was built in 1937 by the Canadian federal Department of Public Works as a snagboat for clearing logs and debris out of the lower reaches of the Fraser River and for maintaining docks and aids to navigation. The fifth in a line of Fraser River snagpullers, the Samson V has engines, paddlewheel and other components that were passed down from the Samson II of 1914. It is now moored on the Fraser River as a floating museum in its home port of New Westminster, near Vancouver, BC.[citation needed]
The oldest operating steam driven vessel in North America is the
The first woman steamboat captain on the Columbia River was Minnie Mossman Hill, who earned her master's and pilot's license in 1887.[62][63]
Great Britain
Engineer Robert Fourness and his cousin, physician James Ashworth are said to have had a steamboat running between Hull and Beverley, after having been granted British Patent No. 1640 of March 1788 for a "new invented machine for working, towing, expediting and facilitating the voyage of ships, sloops and barges and other vessels upon the water". James Oldham, MICE, described how well he knew those who had built the F&A steamboat in a lecture entitled "On the rise, progress and present position of steam navigation in Hull" that he gave at the 23rd Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement for Science in Hull, England on 7 September 1853. The first commercially successful steamboat in Europe, Henry Bell's Comet of 1812, 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 still gracing Swiss lakes.[64]
On the Clyde itself, within ten years of Comet's start in 1812 there were nearly fifty steamers, and services had started across the Irish Sea to Belfast and on many British estuaries. By 1900 there were over 300 Clyde steamers.[65]
People have had a particular affection for the
From 1850 to the early decades of the 20th century
Today the 1900 steamer SS Sir Walter Scott still sails on Loch Katrine, while on Loch Lomond PS Maid of the Loch is being restored[when?], and in the English Lakes the oldest operating passenger yacht, SY Gondola (built 1859, rebuilt 1979), sails daily during the summer season on Coniston Water.
The paddle steamer Waverley, built in 1947, is the last survivor of these fleets, and the last seagoing 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, built in 1899, at the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940.
After the Clyde, the Thames estuary was the main growth area for steamboats, starting with the Margery and the Thames in 1815, which were both brought down from the Clyde. Until the arrival of railways from 1838 onwards, steamers steadily took over the role of the many sail and rowed ferries, with at least 80 ferries by 1830 with routes from London to Gravesend and Margate, and upstream to Richmond. By 1835, the Diamond Steam Packet Company, one of several popular companies, reported that it had carried over 250,000 passengers in the year.[68]
The first steamboat constructed of iron, the
There are few genuine steamboats left on the River Thames; however, a handful remain.
The SL (steam launch) Nuneham is a genuine Victorian steamer built in 1898, and operated on the non-tidal upper Thames by the Thames Steam Packet Boat Company. It is berthed at Runnymede.
SL Nuneham was built at Port
Over a number of years French Brothers carefully restored the launch to its former specification. A similar Sissons triple-expansion engine was found in a museum in America, shipped back to the UK and installed, along with a new coal-fired
Europe
Built in 1856, PS Skibladner is the oldest steamship still in operation, serving towns along lake Mjøsa in Norway.
In Denmark, steamboats were a popular means of transportation in earlier times, mostly for recreational purposes. They were deployed to carry passengers for short distances along the coastline or across larger lakes. Falling out of favour later on, some of the original boats are still in operation in a few places, such as
Swiss lakes are home of a number of large steamships. On Lake Lucerne, five paddle steamers are still in service: Uri (1901) (built in 1901, 800 passengers), Unterwalden (1902) (1902, 800 passengers), Schiller (1906) (1906, 900 passengers), Gallia (Schiff, 1913) (1913, 900 passengers, fastest paddle-wheeler on European lakes) and Stadt Luzern (Schiff, 1928) (1928, 1200 passengers, last steamship built for a Swiss lake). There are also five steamers as well as some old steamships converted to diesel-powered paddlewheelers on Lake Geneva, two steamers on Lake Zurich and single ones on other lakes.
In Austria the paddle-wheeler Gisela (1871) (250 passengers) of 1871 vintage continues in service on Traunsee. The paddle-wheeler Hohentwiel of 1913 is the oldest running passenger ship on the Lake of Constance.
In The Netherlands, a steamboat is used for the annual Sinterklaas celebration. According to tradition, Sinterklaas always arrives in the Netherlands by steamboat. The steamer in The Netherlands is called Pakjesboot 12.
New Zealand
The New Zealand-built 1912 steamer TSS Earnslaw still makes regular sight-seeing trips across Lake Wakatipu, an alpine lake near Queenstown.
Vietnam
Seeing the great potential of the steam-powered vessels, Vietnamese Emperor Minh Mạng attempted to reproduce a French-made steamboat.[69] The first test in 1838 was a failure as the boiler was broken. The task supervisor was chained and two officials Nguyễn Trung Mậu, Ngô Kim Lân from the Ministry of Construction were jailed for false report. The project was assigned again to Hoàng Văn Lịch and Võ Huy Trinh. In the second test two months later, the engine performed greatly. The Emperor rewarded the two handsomely. He commented that although this machine could be purchased from the Westerner, it is important that his engineers and mechanics could acquaint themselves with modern machinery. Therefore no expense was too great.[70] Encouraged by the success, Minh Mạng ordered the engineers to study and develop steam engines and steamers to equip his naval fleets. At the end of Minh Mạng 's reign there were 3 steamers produced named Yến Phi, Vân Phi and Vụ Phi.[71] However, his successor could not maintain the industry due to financial problems, worsened by many years of social unrest under his rule.
Images
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1736 steamboat English patent.
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Robert Fulton's Clermont.
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TheÉlise(ex Scottish-built Marjorie).
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"Enterprise on her fast trip to Louisville, 1815"
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Elizaveta, The first Russian steamship, 1815
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Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. Right: detail of a steamer.
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730-foot lake freighter Edward L Ryerson
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Paddle steamer PS Waverley steaming down the Firth of Clyde.
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Turbine steamer TS Queen Mary.
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SS Shieldhall steams down the Firth of Clyde.
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Sky Wonderlast steam-powered cruise ship built 1984
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Delta Queen racing
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Steam Sidewheeler
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Belle of Cincinnati, a participant in the Great Steamboat Race
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American Queen docked at the Riverwalk in 2015
See also
- Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers.
- Chain boat navigation
- Charles Baird, engineer who was responsible for Russia's first steamboat.
- Howard Steamboat Museum
- List of steamboats on the Columbia River
- Lists of ships
- Motor ship or Motor vessel, a ship propelled by an engine, usually a diesel engine. The name of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V.
- Murray-Darling steamboats
- Naphtha launch
- President, a preserved English steam narrowboat
- PS Rising Star
- Riverboat
- Steam Navigation Company, a list of companies that share the name
- Steam-powered vessels
- Steam yacht
- Steamship
- Steamship Historical Society of America
- Tourist sternwheelers of Oregon
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f Hunter, Louis C. (1985). A History of Industrial Power in the United States, 1730–1930, Vol. 2: Steam Power. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
- ISBN 0543724743.
- ^ Wootton, David (2015). The Invention of Science. New York: Harper Collins. pp. 498–504, 647.
- ^ Allen, John (1730). Specimina ichnographica: or, a brief narrative of several new inventions, and experiments. London: W. Innys. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ a b Jordan, 1910, pp. 49–50
- ^ Wired.com:Marquis Invents Steamboat
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- ^ ISBN 9780813163970.
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- ^ Dawson, Charles (February 2002). "Patrick Miller's English (sic) Sea Spook". The Mariner's Mirror. 88 (1): 95.
- ISBN 9781445749365.
- ^ "Henry Bell". Electric Scotland.
- ^ "Steamships". The Open Door Web Site.
- ^ Hunter, Louis C. (1985). A History of Industrial Power in the United States, 1seven30–1930, Vol. 2: Steam Power. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. pp. 32–33.
- ^ "The Little Juliana". Samuel C. Williams Library. Stevens Institute of Technology. 2012. 378. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
- ISBN 9780836969948.
- ^ ISBN 978-1445620107.
- ^ "Early Cross-Channel Steamers". Dover-kent.co.uk. 2000–2012. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ D'Ambrosio A. (1993) Storia di Napoli, Napoli, Edizioni Nuova V.E., p. 189.
- ^ Malster, R (1971). Wherries & Waterways. Lavenham. p. 61.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Break-Even Distance between Sail and Steam, 1850-1890
- ISBN 978-0-19-860782-3.
- ISBN 978-0-80-189141-0.
- ISBN 0-87341-428-4.
- ^ Thomson 2009, p. 34.
- ISBN 9780836969948.
- ^ "Pittsburgh World Firsts: By Event". Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on 14 July 2007.
- ^ Cumberland, Barlow (1913). A Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River. Toronto: The Musson Book Company, Limited. p. 18. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
- ^ Wilkinson, Jerry. "Early American Sailing Ships". Keys Historeum. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- ^ Swann, p. 5[clarification needed]
- ^ Smithsonian, p. 618[clarification needed]
- ^ Berthold, Victor M. "The Pioneer Steamer California 1848 – 1849". Rootsweb. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
- ^ "Steam Ship SS California specifications". Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
- ^ "SS California (1848)". Maritime Heritage. Archived from the original on 24 April 1999. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
- ^ "San Francisco Ships". Maritime Heritage. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-57003-153-3.
- ^ Paskoff, Paul F (2007). Troubled Waters: Steamboat Disasters, River Improvements, and American Public Policy, 1821–1860.
- ^ Musicant 1995, pp. 134–178; Anderson 1962, pp. 71–77; Tucker 2006, p. 151[clarification needed]
- ^ de Meissner, Sophie Radford (1920). Old Naval Days. New York: Henry Holt. pp. 244–251.
- ^ Franks, Kenny A (2007). "Watie's Regiment". Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ Norris, F Terry (1997). "Where Did the Villages Go? Steamboats, Deforestation, and Archaeological Loss in the Mississippi Valley". In Hurley, Andrew (ed.). Common Fields: an Environmental History of St. Louis. St. Louis, MO: Missouri Historical Society Press. p. 82.
- ^ Christenson, Jerome (September 2016). "THURSDAY THROWBACK: Winona's Wilkie, the ugly tug that got a makeover". Winona Daily News. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- ^ "Niagara". Wisconsin shipwrecks. University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute. Service history. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
- ^ Wharton, George. "St. Marys Challenger". Boat nerd.
- ISBN 0813128900.
- ^ a b "Runs a Steamer". The Wichita Daily Eagle. 23 February 1898. Retrieved 6 May 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Women & The Sea". The Mariner's Museum. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
- ^ "STEAMBOATS, FEMALE PILOTS, AND THE RIO GRANDE! by Darlene Franklin – Petticoats & Pistols". Petticoats & Pistols. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
- ^ "Records show there were at least". Quad-City Times. 2 December 1970. Retrieved 7 May 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ISBN 978-0-7385-0168-0.[page needed]
- ^ [1] Encyclopedia | United States History | Steamboats
- ^ [2] Walking the boat | Steamboating Rivers
- ^ copied from Steam donkey see that article for references | https://epdf.pub/the-steamboat-era-a-history-of-fultons-folly-on-american-rivers-1807-1860.html | The Steamboat Era: A History Of Fulton's Folly On American Rivers, 1807-1860 | Author: S. L. Kotar | J. E. Gessler | 2009 | Pages 33 & 267
- ^ a b c d e copied from the Wikipedia article Timeline of steam power, see that article for references
- ISBN 0-203-02829-5(P. 694)
- ^ "About the Belle of Louisville". Belle of Louisville. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
- ^ "The Steamboat Traveler". Steamboats. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
- ^ Bennett, Norma V (1997). Pioneer Legacy – Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River. Vol. 1.
- ISBN 9781585443437. Archived from the originalon 10 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- ^ "SS Sicamous". SS Sicamous.
- ISBN 9781439644522.
- ^ "Capt. Minnie Hill". The Ottawa Free Trader. 21 September 1889. Retrieved 8 May 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ISBN 9781847532015.
- ^ Hawks, Fred (2010). Unknown title (CD). World Ship Society.
- ISBN 9780141927565.
- ^ "The Collection". Windermere Steamboat Museum.
- ^ Dix, Frank L. (1985). Royal River Highway, A History of the Passenger Boats and Services on the Thames. David & Charles. pp. 60–63.
- ^ "The Vietnamese conquer the ocean – Part 1: The thirst for steamboats". Archived from the original on 17 March 2013.
- ^ Cao Xuân Dục, Quốc triều chính biên toát yếu.
- ^ Khâm định Đại Nam hội điển sự lệ.
External references
- McCrorie, Ian (1986), Clyde Pleasure Steamers, Greenock: Orr, Pollock & Co, ISBN 1-869850-00-9.
- Pattinson, GH (1981), The Great Age of Steam on Windermere, Windermere Nautical Trust, ISBN 0-907796-00-1.
Bibliography
- Jordan, Francis (1910). The life of William Henry, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1729-1786: patriot, military officer, inventor of the steamboat; a contribution to revolutionary history. Press of the New era printing company.
- Rolt, L. T. C. (1963). Thomas Newcomen; the prehistory of the steam engine. David and Charles Publishers.
- Rolt, L. T. C.; Allen, John Scott (1977). The steam engine of Thomas Newcomen. Moorland Pub. Co. ISBN 9780882021713.
Further reading
- Affleck, Edward (2000), A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon and Alaska, Vancouver, BC: Alexander Nicolls Press.
- Clark, BEG (March 2007), Steamboat Evolution, A Short History, Lulu, ].
- ——— (6 June 2010), Symington and the Steamboat, Lulu, ].
- Downs, Art (1992), British Columbia-Yukon Sternwheel Days, Surrey, BC: Heritage House Publishing.
- Dumpleton, Bernard (1973), The Story of the Paddle Steamer, Melksham: Venton.
- hdl:2027/heb.00403. The standard history of American river boats.
- Paskoff, Paul F (2007), Troubled Waters: Steamboat Disasters, River Improvements, and American Public Policy, 1821–1860.
- Ray, Kurt (2003), New Roads, Canals, and Railroads in Early 19Th-Century America: The Transportation Revolution.
- Sheret, Robin (1997), Smoke, Ash and Steam, Victoria, BC: Western Isles Cruise and Dive Co.
- Sutcliffe, Andrea (2004), Steam: The Untold Story of Americas First Great Invention.
- Turner, Robert D (1998), Sternwheelers and Steam Tugs, Victoria, BC: Sono Nis Press.
- Wilson, Graham (1999), Paddlewheelers of Alaska and the Yukon, Whitehorse, Yukon: Wolf Creek Books.
External links
Commercial operations
- Directory of steamboats/riverboats in the U.S. and Europe Archived 27 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- Steamboat Natchez, based in New Orleans, Louisiana
- American Queen Steamboat Company – cruises on the Mississippi, Ohio, Columbia and Snake Rivers
- Julia Belle Swain is currently laid up, but there are plans to put it back in service
- Lake George Steamboat Company, Lake George, New York
- Loch Katrine Steamship Sir Walter Scott Archived 19 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Steamer on Loch Katrine
- Isle of Shoals, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- "Excursions on the PS Waverley".
- "PS Waverley & PS Kingswear Castle". Paddle Steamer Preservation Society.
- The Belle of Louisville, oldest operating Mississippi River-style steamboat
Museums and museum boats
- Directory of steamboats/steamboat museums (arranged geographically).
- Steam narrow boat President, UK. The coal-burning steam narrow-boat President is owned by the Black Country Living Museum, and tours the English canals in summer.
- "Highlights of the Collection". Windermere Steamboat Museum Project. Archived from the original on 29 November 2009.
- Howard Steamboat Museum, Jeffersonville, Indiana
- Arabia Steamboat Museum, Kansas City, Missouri.
- John Fitch Steamboat Museum, Warminster, Pennsylvania: Craven Hall.
- Str. George M. Verity River Museum, Keokuk, Iowa, archived from the original on 18 February 2013.
- Clifton Steamboat Museum, Clifton, Texas.
- The Steamboat Era museum, Irvington, VA.
- The Steamboat Museum, Winneconne, Wisconsin.
- Mud Island Mississippi River Museum, Mud Island Park, Memphis, TN
- National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, Dubuque, IA
- Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, Hannibal, MO
- Captain Meriwether Lewis Museum of Missouri River History, Brownville, NE
- Delta King, Sacramento, CA
Historical image collections
- Louisiana State University Libraries Digital Collections, LSU.
- Howard Steamboat Museum Collection, Louisville.
- Transportation Photograph Collection – University of Washington Library
- La Crosse Historic Steamboat Photograph collection, UW.
- 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 20th century.
- Images of the Saltilla Steamship at the University of Houston Digital Library
- SSHSA Image Porthole: Thousands of digitally preserved photographs of steamships and other engine driven vessels within the collections of the Steamship Historical Society.
Associations, information and other links
- Rainer Radow's Steam Boat Page Description of his steamlaunch project Emma and a 1,000 picture collection of over 110 small still existing steamlaunches.
- 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
- Steamboats.org US inland rivers steamboats today and in history: pictures, sounds, videos, link directory, travel guide, expert discussion forums.
- Finnish steamships Finnish Steam Yacht Association.
- Steamboat on the Loire in the 1800s
- Steamboats historical marker in Bainbridge, Georgia
- The Steamship Historical Society of America The official website for the SSHSA, a historical society focused on engine driven vessels and maritime history since 1935.
- North West Steam Society – Steam power association in US Pacific Northwest – many boats, cars, trains, etc.
- The Steamboating Forum – for discussion of a variety of steam launches.
- Dort in Stoom – Largest steam event in Europe, held semi-annually in Dordrecht, the Netherlands.