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The Advent of the Steamboat
How Fitch, Symington, Fulton and others turned steam engines into working river boats between the 1780s and the 1810s, and why America's rivers made them pay.
Working and Powered Boats
Powered and Rescue Craft
Steam, submarines, lifeboats and inflatables.
The Development of the Inflatable Boat
From rubber-cloth boats of the 1840s to wartime assault craft and aircrew dinghies, how fabric and rubber inflatables developed before the modern leisure era.
The Development of the Inflatable Dinghy
How the inflatable dinghy became a yacht tender and recreational craft, replacing towed wooden dinghies with boats that pack down and stow aboard.
The Development of the Lifeboat
The history of the lifeboat, from the first purpose-built boats of the 1780s to the RNLI and the volunteer crews who rescued people from wrecks along the coast.
The Development of the RIB
The RIB began as a school rescue boat at Atlantic College in Wales in the early 1960s and spread to lifeboat services and other rescue and patrol work.
The Development of the Rigid Inflatable Boat
How the rigid hull and inflatable collar of the rigid inflatable boat are engineered, and how the type was taken up by navies, researchers and commercial operators.
The Development of the Sailing Inflatable Boat
From Alain Bombard's L'Hérétique in 1952 to small leisure craft with leeboards and sail kits, a history of inflatable boats that were built or adapted to sail.
The Development of the Sailing RIB
A careful look at what is and is not documented about sailing conversions of rigid inflatable boats, a niche use, and why most RIBs remain motor craft.
The History of the Paddle Steamer
Paddle steamers worked as excursion boats, river packets and warships from the 1810s into the twentieth century, and a few survivors, such as Waverley, still run.
The History of the Paddlewheel
How the paddlewheel works, the differences between side wheels and stern wheels, its early history, and why the screw propeller replaced it on most ships.
The History of the Sailing Paddle Steamer
Early paddle steamers carried masts and sails as a backup. This article explains that hybrid period accurately, from Savannah and Great Western to full steam.
The History of the Submarine
Early submarines before 1900: Drebbel's reported Thames boat, Bushnell's Turtle, Fulton's Nautilus, Bauer's Brandtaucher and the Confederate Hunley.
The History of the Submarine: From Concept to Reality
The twentieth-century submarine: from Holland's boats and the First World War U-boat to the diesel-electric fleet and the nuclear submarine of the Cold War.
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