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 Yankee
Type:
shipwreck, Great Lakes freighter, USA
Built:
1890, USA, as German
Specs:
( 296 x 40 ft ) 2418 gross tons, 30 passengers & crew
Sunk:
Wednesday June 11, 1919
collision with liner Argentina - no casualties
Depth:
110 ft

Shipwreck Oregon
Type:
shipwreck, liner, Cunard Line, England
Built:
1881, Scotland
Specs:
( 518 x 54 ft ) 7500 gross tons, 845 passengers & crew
Sunk:
Monday March 14, 1886
collision, probably with schooner Charles R Morse - no casualties
Depth:
125 ft, highest point 85 ft

Shipwreck Montgomery
Type:
shipwreck, steamer, USA
Built:
1858, New York NY USA
Specs:
( 198 x 29 ft ) 1100 gross tons
Sunk:
Sunday January 7, 1877
collision with schooner Seminole - 13 casualties
Depth:
150 ft

Shipwreck Hvoslef
Type:
shipwreck, freighter, Norway
Built:
1927, England
Specs:
( 255 x 35 ft ) 1630 gross tons, 20 crew
Sunk:
Tuesday March 10, 1942
torpedoed by U-94 - 6 casualties
Depth:
140 ft

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