What the title really describes
There was no distinct boat type called a sailing paddle steamer. The phrase is best understood as a description of an early period, roughly from the 1810s to the middle of the nineteenth century, when many steam-powered vessels with paddle wheels also carried masts, yards and sails. The sails were an auxiliary, a backup and a way to save coal, not a second main mode of propulsion that defined a separate class. Ships of this kind are sometimes called auxiliary steamers or steam and sail vessels. In many cases, the proportion of steam and sail varied by route, by owner and by the date of the ship.
Why early steamers kept their sails
In the early years, the sensible assumption was that steam might fail. Early engines were less reliable than later ones, boilers needed attention, and a breakdown at sea could leave a ship drifting. Sails provided insurance.
Fuel was the larger reason. Early marine engines were heavy users of coal. On a long passage, a ship that carried enough coal to steam all the way left little room for cargo, and the cost of the coal could eat up the profit. By using sails when the wind was favourable and steam when it was calm or contrary, a master could cut fuel consumption. Coaling stations were also scarce on many routes, so a vessel on a long passage had to plan for the possibility that fuel would run out.
Seamen were also used to sailing ships. Crews, owners and naval officers had generations of experience with rigs, and a steamer that looked and behaved partly like a sailing ship was less of a leap.
The Savannah of 1819
A frequently cited early example is the American ship Savannah, which crossed the Atlantic in 1819. She was a sailing ship fitted with a steam engine and paddle wheels, and she is often described as the first steam-assisted vessel to cross the ocean. In practice, she is reported to have used her engine for only part of the voyage, and the engine and wheels were designed so that the wheels could be removed or folded when not in use. The voyage did not lead directly to a regular service. Writers sometimes call her the first steamship to cross the Atlantic, a claim that overstates the role of steam, since she was largely under sail.
Great Western and Sirius
The first regular transatlantic steam crossings came in 1838. The British ship Sirius, chartered for the purpose, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western both crossed from Britain to New York in April of that year. Sirius arrived a short time ahead of Great Western, but Great Western was a purpose-built, larger ship and showed that steam could be used on a scheduled Atlantic route. Both carried masts and sails. Great Western had four masts and could be rigged to take advantage of the wind, though her steam engines did most of the work.
Cunard’s early liners, which began service in 1840, also carried masts and sails, as did many other transatlantic steamers of the 1840s and 1850s. Some of these ships are discussed in the broader story of Atlantic crossings.
Navies and sail
Naval steamers followed a similar pattern. The paddle frigates and sloops of the 1830s and 1840s generally carried a full or partial sailing rig. Navies had a strong attachment to sail, partly because they needed to operate far from coaling points, and partly because engine power was initially viewed as a supplement. Paddle wheels also created a particular difficulty for sailing. When a ship was under sail alone, the wheels created drag unless they were disconnected or fitted with floats that could be feathered or removed. Many ships simply accepted the drag.
Warships of this era were often built along the same lines as sailing frigates, and their rigs were treated much like those of vessels such as the sailing frigates of the previous generation. The capital ship of the age of sail, the ship of the line, remained a sailing vessel for a time, and was later adapted to steam by adding an engine and a screw.
The decline of auxiliary sail on paddle ships
Several developments gradually reduced the role of sails on steamships:
- Engines became more efficient, using less coal per mile, and more reliable.
- The screw propeller replaced paddles on most ocean-going ships, and the exposed paddle wheel was no longer a drag problem.
- Coaling stations spread along the main routes, so ships needed to carry less fuel, and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 favoured steamers over sailing ships on the route to the East. The growth of Suez Canal shipping was a major factor in the shift.
- Iron and later steel hulls allowed bigger ships with more powerful engines.
Sailing ships did not disappear overnight. The fast clipper ships, for example, remained competitive on certain long routes for decades, as seen in accounts of the clipper tea races. Over time, however, masts on steamers were reduced to what was needed for signals and a steadying sail, and then removed altogether.
Summary
The sailing paddle steamer is not a separate vessel class but a snapshot of a transition. In the early decades of steam, owners and officers combined two technologies because neither alone was fully dependable or economical. As engines improved and fuel supply became easier, the sailing rig lost its purpose. The surviving paddle steamers that carry passengers today are descendants of the final stage, when paddles were used on short routes and the sailing rig had gone.