Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a boat or vessel that is propelled by steam power driving 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. Nuclear powered ships and submarines use steam to drive turbines, but are not referred to as steamships or steamboats.

River steamboats

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.

Related Topics:
William Henry - John Fitch - Mark Twain - Life on the Mississippi - Mississippi River - Julius C. Wilkie - Museum ship - Winona, Minnesota - Riverboat

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Incidentally, the cartoon Steamboat Willie introduced steamboat pilot Mickey Mouse to the public.

Related Topics:
Steamboat Willie - Mickey Mouse

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