A screw steamer or screw steamship is an old term for a
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 ...
or
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 ...
powered by a
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 ...
, using one or more
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 ...
s (also known as ''screws'') to propel it through the water. Such a ship was also known as an "iron screw steam ship".
In the 19th century, this designation was normally used in contradistinction to the
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 ...
, a still earlier form of steamship that was largely, but not entirely, superseded by the screw steamer.
Many famous ships were screw steamers, including the
RMS ''Titanic'' and
RMS ''Lusitania''. These massive leviathans had three or four propellers. Ships under two hundred meters in length usually only had two or one propellers.
[ Canney, 1998 pp.26-27]
Development
The screw or propeller was first developed by
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
inventor
John Ericsson
John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American inventor. He was active in England and the United States.
Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive ''Novelty'', which com ...
for the U.S. Navy. Ericsson was the principal designer of the
Monitor
Monitor or monitor may refer to:
Places
* Monitor, Alberta
* Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States
* Monitor, Kentucky
* Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States
* Monitor, Washington
* Monitor, Logan County, West ...
class of vessels.
In 1844,
Thomas Clyde partnered with Ericsson to apply his screw-propeller to steam vessels. After several experimental versions, Clyde launched the twin-screw propeller steamer ''John S. McKim'' making it the first screw steamer built in the United States for commercial use.
See also
*
List of ships
This is a list of the lists of ships on Wikipedia - a meta-list. It is not intended to hold details of any individual ship within this meta-list.
Chronological
* Ship launches by year
* Ship commissionings by year
* Ship decommissionings by ...
* - the world's first steamship to be driven by a screw propeller
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
Marine steam propulsion
Marine propulsion
Ship types
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