Steam-powered vessels include
steamboats
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
and
steamships
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ca ...
. Smaller steamboats were developed first. They were replaced by larger steamships which were often ocean-going. Steamships required a change in propulsion technology from sail to paddlewheel to screw to steam turbines. The latter innovation changed the design of vessels to one that could move faster through the water. Engine propulsion changed to
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
in the early 20th century. In the latter part of the 20th century, these, in turn, were replaced by
gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...
s.
![SS Humboldt engine room](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/SS_Humboldt_engine_room.jpg)
''Steamship'' generally refers to a larger steam-powered ship, usually ocean-going, capable of carrying a (ship's) boat. The engine room, to the right, is a concept drawing during the construction of the ship. The term steam wheeler is archaic and rarely used. In England, "steam packet", after its sailing predecessor, was the usual term; even "steam barge" could be used (Steam tonnage in
Lloyd's Register
Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...
exceeded sailing ships tonnage by 1865). The French transatlantic steamer was probably the last of her type to be equipped with sails, although she never used them. Steamships in turn were overtaken by diesel-driven ships in the second half of the 20th century. Most warships used steam propulsion from the 1860s until the late 20th century
Terminology
Screw-driven steamships generally carry the
ship prefix
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel's mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/n ...
"SS" before their names, meaning 'Steam Ship' (or 'Screw Steamer' i.e. 'screw-driven steamship', or 'Screw Schooner' during the 1870s and 1880s, when sail was also carried),
paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...
s usually carry the prefix "PS" and steamships powered by steam turbine may be prefixed "TS" (turbine ship). The term ''steamer'' is occasionally used, out of nostalgia, for
diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
motor-driven vessels, prefixed "
MV".
Steam production
Nuclear
The production of steam by
nuclear marine propulsion
Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship or submarine with heat provided by a nuclear reactor. The power plant heats water to produce steam for a turbine used to turn the ship's propeller through a gearbox or through an electric generato ...
units is almost exclusively done in
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s and
submarines
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...
, due to the regulations limiting distribution and ownership of the radioactive fuels used to power the plants. Nuclear systems present an additional danger due to the radioactivity of the fuel source and risk of reactor breach.
Boiler
Most steam propulsion systems use a
boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...
to produce steam. The boiler burns fuel and then transfers the heat produced into circulating boiler water. Once the water is heated sufficiently it
vaporizes into steam and can be used to power a steam engine that produces the mechanical energy that propels the ship.
Power production
Turbine
Steam can be used to drive a high speed
turbine
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...
that is connected through some means of
transmission
Transmission may refer to:
Medicine, science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual transmission
*** ...
to the driving component of the vessel. These are more common on modern ships and were first used in 1897 on the steam ship
Turbinia
''Turbinia'' was the first steam turbine-powered steamship. Built as an experimental vessel in 1894, and easily the fastest ship in the world at that time, ''Turbinia'' was demonstrated dramatically at the Spithead Navy Review in 1897 and set ...
. Nuclear ships almost always use a turbine to harness the energy of the steam that they produce. Steam Driven turbines can either be used to directly power the vessel by means of transmission and gearing to a propeller, or the turbine can be used to generate electricity that is then used to power electric propulsion motors.
Piston steam engine
A piston
steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
uses trapped steam to move a piston within a cylinder, whose linear motion is eventually converted into rotational motion with the use of a
flywheel
A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, ass ...
or some other means. There are many variations on this concept that have developed over the years, but the general concept can be explained as above.
Multiple expansion steam engine
This type of piston steam engine harnesses the steam that has been used to drive a piston within the engine and uses it to drive one or more additional pistons. This configuration offers increased engine efficiency by improving the force produced per unit of fuel consumed.
Propulsion methods
Paddle-wheel
A
paddle-wheel
A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are:
* Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than abo ...
is a device used to transmit the power produced by the steam engine of the vessel to the surrounding water. The wheel functions by using buckets or paddles attached to the circumference of a rotating wheel that displace water with their movement, ultimately propelling the ship forward.
Screw
Also known as a
propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
, a screw is a device that uses sloped surfaces to transition rotational motion created by the steam engine into an axial force that moves the vessel forward. Systems that use propellers are regarded as more efficient than comparative paddle-wheels due to the reduced weight of rotating components and smaller equipment footprint.
Sail and steam powered
Early steam powered ships used both steam engines and the power of wind, like more traditional
sailing ship
A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...
s. Ships such as these used paddle-wheels or screws to propel themselves when additional speed was necessary or wind conditions were not favorable.
Uses
Military
Many steam-powered vessels have been commissioned by the military and equipped with weapons and various other equipment for the purpose of providing peacekeeping tools and a platform from which to operate international relations. Some types of steam turbine driven military vessels are long range
submarines
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...
and
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s, although these ships can also be classified as nuclear powered vessels.
Commercial
Steam ships were used to transport goods and personnel across oceans and within coastal areas. Steam powered tugboats were created for the purpose of manipulating larger vessels at within ports or areas with limited maneuverability. Steam vessels were a practical solution for the international transportation of people.
Personal use
Many steam vessels have been built or fallen under the category of privately owned. These vessels can be luxury cruisers or decommissioned commercial vessels, especially now as the
nostalgia value surrounding steam technology increases. Now steam vessels are not nearly as common as yachts with a more conventional
power-train, mostly due to the scarcity and special knowledge required to operate and maintain these vessels.
Danger
High temperature steam can cause injury in humans on areas of exposed skin or by other means. Steam can cause
burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
s through direct contact or by inhalation of vapors. Steam boilers also present an
explosion
An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...
hazard due to their high pressure contents. If over pressurization occurs and safety relief systems malfunction it is possible for a boiler to explode and cause damage to people and equipment surrounding it.
Notable steam vessels
RMS ''Titanic''
The
RMS ''Titanic'' was the largest ocean-going passenger ship at the time of its creation in 1912. The ship sank only days into its maiden voyage from Cobh in Ireland after it struck an iceberg and took on water, killing over 1,500 people.
''Seawise Giant''
The ''
Seawise Giant
TT ''Seawise Giant''—earlier ''Oppama''; later ''Happy Giant'', ''Jahre Viking'', ''Knock Nevis'', and ''Mont''—was a ULCC supertanker that was the longest self-propelled ship in history, built in 1974–1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries i ...
''
supertanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...
was the largest steam-powered ship ever created and the largest ship ever built, before it was scrapped in 2010. It was over 450 meters in length.
RMS ''Lusitania''
The
RMS ''Lusitania'' was a steam-propelled passenger vessel sunk off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland by a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
U-Boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
in 1915. The sinking of the ''Lusitania'' played a role in involving the United States with the developing
World War
A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
.
HMHS ''Britannic''
The
HMHS ''Britannic'' was a successor to the ''Titanic'', built as a luxury cruise liner. With the onset of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the ship was drafted for wartime efforts and converted to a
hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...
. It was sunk in 1916 by a German naval mine.
USS ''Monitor''
The
USS ''Monitor was a tactically valuable ironclad
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...
built in 1862, used to gain naval supremacy against
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
ironclads until it sank later that year. The ship was heavily armed with a single rotating turret at the center of the ship and had very little surface area above water.
See also
*
Steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
*
Steamship
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
References
{{Reflist
Ship types
Boat types
Steam engines
Steam engine technology