What a paddle steamer was
A paddle steamer is a vessel driven by a steam engine that turns one or more large paddle wheels, usually mounted on either side of the hull or at the stern. It is a steamship in the broad sense, but the term is normally kept for vessels propelled by wheels rather than by screw propellers. The mechanics of the wheel itself, and the reasons it was eventually displaced, are covered in a separate article on the paddlewheel mechanism. This article is about the work paddle steamers did and the ones that survive.
The paddle steamer dominated the first decades of steam navigation. From the 1810s it was the standard way to apply steam power to ships, and it remained widespread until about the second half of the nineteenth century, with smaller numbers continuing in service on rivers, lakes and short sea routes into the twentieth century.
River and coastal packets
On rivers, paddle steamers offered a regular service independent of wind and current. Along the Hudson, the Mississippi and other American rivers, paddle steamers (many of them stern-wheelers on the western rivers) carried passengers, mail and cargo. In Britain and Europe, steam packets ran on rivers such as the Clyde, the Thames, the Rhine and the Danube. Their appeal was simple: a scheduled departure and a predictable journey time.
A “packet” in this sense meant a vessel running a regular route carrying mail, passengers and light freight. Sailing ships had done this for some time, as the history of the packet ship lines shows, and the steam packet was an upgraded version of the same idea. Paddle packets also crossed short sea routes such as the Irish Sea and the English Channel.
Excursion and pleasure steamers
From the middle of the nineteenth century, paddle steamers became closely associated with leisure. The Clyde was the leading centre in Britain, where fleets of steamers took holidaymakers from Glasgow to resorts along the estuary. Similar fleets served the Thames Estuary, the Bristol Channel, the south coast of England, the Mersey and many other places, with day trips and longer cruises. On Swiss lakes, German rivers and American waterways, paddle steamers fulfilled the same role.
For passengers, the paddle steamer’s appeal was its flat deck, its wide views and its slow, steady motion. For owners, shallow draught was an advantage in estuaries and at piers. Many excursion paddlers lasted until the 1950s and 1960s, when road transport, changes in holiday habits and new vessel types led to withdrawals.
Paddle steamers at sea
Paddle steamers were also tried on ocean routes. Great Western, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and launched in 1837, made regular transatlantic crossings from 1838, and other early liners also used paddles. Later, paddle liners of the Cunard and Collins companies competed for the Blue Riband, the unofficial honour for the fastest Atlantic crossing. The wheels’ limitations on the open sea, such as their exposure and tendency to lift out of the water in a roll, contributed to the later success of the screw. The longer story of that change belongs to ocean liner history, in which the paddle steamer is an early chapter.
Paddle steamers as warships
Navies took up paddle steamers soon after their commercial success. Paddle sloops, frigates and gunboats were built from the 1820s and 1830s onward. They had one great strength: they could manoeuvre independently of the wind and could tow sailing warships in calms or against the tide. They also had a notable weakness. Paddle wheels and boxes took up much of the ship’s side, which reduced the space for a broadside of guns, and a shot could easily disable the machinery. These drawbacks led naval designers towards screw propulsion in the 1840s. Paddle warships fought in a number of wars, including the Crimean War and the American Civil War, where side-wheel and stern-wheel steamers carried guns on both sides. In the longer view of naval warship history, they were a transitional type, and the arrival of ironclad warships left them behind.
Paddlers did continue in minor naval roles, and in the Second World War a number of excursion steamers were converted for minesweeping and escort duties. Several took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940.
Survivors
A few paddle steamers survive, either in service or preserved.
- PS Waverley, built in 1946 for service on the Clyde, is generally described as the last seagoing paddle steamer in the world. She operates excursions from a number of British ports.
- PS Medway Queen, built in 1924 as a Medway excursion steamer, took part in the Dunkirk evacuation and made repeated crossings. After a long period of neglect she was restored and returned to the Medway.
- PS Kingswear Castle, built in 1924, operated on the River Dart and has been restored to sail on a number of British rivers.
- On Lake Geneva, a fleet of historic paddle steamers built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries continues to carry passengers.
- On the Mississippi, a few paddle-driven vessels remain in tourist service, though they are generally later or replica vessels.
Some of these ships are cared for by charitable preservation societies, which have recognised paddle steamers as part of the maritime heritage. The wider question of looking after historic vessels is discussed in the context of maritime museums and similar institutions.
An enduring type
Paddle steamers are no longer a practical commercial technology, but they remain popular for their appearance and for the sense of an older kind of travel. Their history shows how steam power first spread across rivers and coasts, and why, once the screw propeller proved itself, the paddle wheel passed to a few specialised uses.