Steamer or Steamship

Steamer is an early term for any vessel power by a steam engine rather than sails.

Shipwreck Delaware
The Delaware, an 1880s screw steamer

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.

Shipwreck Black Warrior
The Black Warrior, an 1850s side-paddlewheel steamer. There are no stern-wheelers in the region that I know of.
Click
This sketch of the Delaware shows the remains that you can expect to find of such a vessel.

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.

Shipwreck Delaware boiler
Boilers on the Delaware. In the foreground is an intact one. Next to that is a collapsed one; there are four altogether. In the background is the engine.
steam engine
An old postcard of the City of Keansburg, the last of the New York commuter ferries, and one of the last steamships to ply local waters - until 1968.
steam engine
One of the Keansburg's two triple-expansion steam engines, at Allaire State Park.


Shipwreck Essex
Type:
shipwreck, steamer
Built:
1890, 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

Shipwreck Florida
Type:
shipwreck, steamer, USA
Built:
1876, Baltimore MD USA
Specs:
( 259 x 36 ft ) 1280 gross tons, no crew
Sunk:
Wednesday May 14, 1930
foundered in storm while being towed to wreckers - no casualties
Depth:
shallow

unknown, probably buried

Printed from njscuba.net