Steamer or Steamship
Steamer is an early term for any vessel power by a steam engine rather than sails.
Early steamers were propelled by large paddlewheels. "Side-wheelers", with the paddlewheels on each side, were more seaworthy, and therefore more common in ocean waters, while "stern-wheelers", with a single large paddlewheel at the back, were more common as riverboats. Later, these were replaced by more efficient screw (or propeller) vessels.
Of note is the universal pattern of:
< bow - boilers - engine - drive shaft - propeller - rudder/stern )
and the fact that the boilers are always in front of the engine. Identify any one of these features on the wreck, and you can orient yourself in even the murkiest conditions.
- Type:
- shipwreck, steamer, USA
- Built:
- November 1864, S.M. Pook (see below), Fair Haven, CT
- Specs:
- 500 tons
- Sunk:
- Wednesday April 30, 1873
foundered after losing a propeller shaft - no casualties - Depth:
- 75 ft
More: Emerald - USS Hibiscus / Frances Wright ...
- Type:
- shipwreck, steamer
- Depth:
- 80 ft
A very small wreck, consisting of a primitive single-cylinder steam engine and a large, completely broken-down boiler. Odd pieces of pipe and machinery lie around, but no remains of a hull, although there appears to be some iron plating under the engine. Guessing from the technology, the construction would date to around 1860 +/- 10 years, and the sinking would have been sometime after that.
More: Duncan ...
- Type:
- shipwreck, steamer
- Built:
- 1890, Cramp Shipbuilding, Philadelphia PA USA
- Specs:
- ( 272 x 40 ft ) 3018 tons
- Sunk:
- Thursday September 25, 1941
ran aground on Block Island - no casualties - Depth:
- 30 ft
bow, boilers, hull plates & ribs
More: Essex ...
