Editing Steamship (section)

== History ==
Steamships were preceded by smaller vessels, called [[steamboat]]s, conceived in the first half of the 18th century by [[Denis Papin]],<ref>Alonso Péan, Louis de La Saussaye: ''La vie et les ouvrages de Denis Papin''. Franck, Paris 1869, S. 235 ff. ([http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6367412b/f258.double gallica.bnf.fr]).</ref><ref>Capitel 14. ''Actenmäßiger Beweis, daß das erste Dampfschiff der Welt auf der Fulda von Cassel nach Münden gefahren und daselbst vernichtet wurde''. In: ''Geschichte der Stadt Münden''. Münden 1878, S. 113 ff. ([http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB000086EC00000000 digital copy]).</ref> with the first working steamboat and [[paddle steamer]], the ''[[Pyroscaphe]]'', from 1783. Once the technology of steam was mastered at this level, steam engines were mounted on larger, and eventually, ocean-going vessels. Becoming reliable, and propelled by screw rather than paddlewheels, the technology changed the design of ships for faster, more economic propulsion.

[[Paddle]]wheels as the main motive source became standard on these early vessels. It was an effective means of propulsion under ideal conditions but otherwise had serious drawbacks. The paddle-wheel performed best when it operated at a certain depth, however when the depth of the ship changed from added weight it further submerged the paddle wheel causing a substantial decrease in performance.<ref>[[#Carlton2012|Carlton, 2012]] p.23</ref>

Within a few decades of the development of the river and canal steamboat, the first steamships began to cross the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. The first sea-going steamboat was Richard Wright's first steamboat ''Experiment'', an ex-French [[lugger]]; she steamed from [[Leeds]] to [[Great Yarmouth|Yarmouth]] in July 1813.<ref>{{Citation | first = R | last = Malster | title = Wherries & Waterways | place = Lavenham | year = 1971 | page = 61}}.</ref><ref name="google">{{cite book|title=DNB|author=Stephen, L.|date=1894|publisher=Smith, Elder, & Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=puApAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA399|page=399|access-date=2017-12-28}}</ref><!---could use better citation to prove that there was a canal from Leeds to Yarmouth, but that seems to be the intent of all statements on the subject-->

The first iron steamship to go to sea was the 116-ton ''[[Aaron Manby]]'', built in 1821 by [[Aaron Manby (ironmaster)|Aaron Manby]] at the [[Horseley Ironworks]], and became the first iron-built vessel to put to sea when she crossed the [[English Channel]] in 1822, arriving in Paris on 22 June.<ref name="artistaswitness">{{cite web|url=http://www.artistaswitness.com/Steamships/steamships_dn_07.htm|website=artistaswitness.com|title=Steamships/steamships_dn_07|access-date=2017-12-28|archive-date=2015-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323215757/http://www.artistaswitness.com/Steamships/steamships_dn_07.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref> She carried passengers and freight to Paris in 1822 at an average speed of 8 knots (9&nbsp;mph, 14&nbsp;km/h).

[[File:Great Western maiden voyage.jpg|thumb|The side-wheel paddle steamer {{SS|Great Western}}, the first purpose-built transatlantic steamship, on its maiden voyage in 1838|alt=]]

The American ship {{SS|Savannah}} first crossed the Atlantic Ocean arriving in Liverpool, England, on June 20, 1819, although most of the voyage was actually made under sail. The first ship to make the transatlantic trip substantially under steam power may have been the British-built Dutch-owned ''Curaçao'', a wooden 438-ton vessel built in [[Dover]] and powered by two 50&nbsp;hp engines, which crossed from [[Hellevoetsluis]], near [[Rotterdam]] on 26&nbsp;April 1827 to [[Paramaribo]], [[Surinam (Dutch colony)|Surinam]] on 24&nbsp;May, spending 11 days under steam on the way out and more on the return. Another claimant is the Canadian ship {{SS|Royal William}} in 1833.<ref>{{cite book |title=Steam Navigation: And Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United |publisher=W. Briggs |first=James |last= Croil |page=[https://archive.org/details/steamnavigation03croigoog/page/n58 54] |year=1898 |url=https://archive.org/details/steamnavigation03croigoog}}</ref>

The first steamship purpose-built for regularly scheduled trans-Atlantic crossings was the British side-wheel paddle steamer {{SS|Great Western}} built by  [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] in 1838, which inaugurated the era of the trans-Atlantic [[ocean liner]].

{{SS|Archimedes}}, built in Britain in 1839 by  [[Francis Pettit Smith]], was the world's first [[Propeller#Screw propellers|screw propeller]]-driven steamship{{efn|The emphasis here is on ''ship''. There were a number of successful screw propeller driven vessels prior to ''Archimedes'', including Smith's own ''Francis Smith'' and Ericsson's ''Francis B. Ogden'' and ''Robert F. Stockton''. However, these vessels were ''boats''—designed for service on inland waterways—as opposed to ''ships'', built for seagoing service.}} for open water seagoing. She had considerable influence on ship development, encouraging the adoption of screw propulsion by the [[Royal Navy]], in addition to her influence on commercial vessels. The first screw-driven propeller steamship  introduced in America was on a ship built by [[Thomas Clyde (businessman)|Thomas Clyde]] in 1844 and many more ships and routes followed.