STEAMSHIPS & STEAMBOATSSteamships liberated world trade. Journeys that had previously taken months now took a fraction of that time and with far less risk. Steamboats became popular the world over from the famous paddle steamers on the Mississipi to the sea going paddle boat "The Waverley" that was built on the Clyde and sailed the Scottish coastal resorts. 
Senator Cordill Steamboat on the Mississippi(courtesy of the Missouri State Archives)
Realising that the days of sail were virtually over, the British Government in 1838 invited tenders for the carriage of transatlantic mail by Steam ship. Samuel Cunard along with his partners from Canada and the Clyde, set up the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. The name Cunard has since become synonymous with Cruise Lines but their steam roots have not been forgotten as members of the Cunard Steamship Society will testify. and a ship that almost everyone has heard of.... 
One of the earliest and greatest of it's kind was Brunel's SS Great Britain now to be seen in Bristol Docks Heritage Centre. These ships were either driven by a propeller or a paddlewheel. The majority of the latter were to be seen working in America on rivers such as The Mississippi. Steamboats are usually thought of as working on lakes and inland waterways and were also referred to as riverboats. Possibly the first really successful sailing was in France in 1783 when the Marquis Claude de Jouffrey sailed a 150' Steam powered boats The first successful large boat however is normally attributed to John Fitch. It was 45' in length and sailed down the delaware River in the USA on August 22nd 1787.
There is an interesting article about
the first Steamboat
that also tells of the Marquis de Jouffrey's connexion with another boat pioneer,the Count d'Auxiron. Both men had been in prison and whilst there, watching the boats along the river below, he became determined to make steam power work.
|
