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Some still operate for tourists, for example on the Mississippi River. All were used as riverboats in the United States. The three types of paddle wheel steamer are stern-wheeler, with a single wheel on the rear, a side-wheeler with one on each side, and an inboard with the paddlewheel mounted in a recess amidship.

Types of paddle steamers The Nettie Quill, pictured in Alabama in 1906, shows a typical early sternwheeler design. The upper part of a paddle wheel is normally enclosed in a paddlebox to minimise splashing. More advanced paddle-wheel designs feature 'feathering' methods that keep each paddle blade closer to vertical while in the water to increase efficiency. An engine rotates the paddle wheel in the water to produce thrust, forward or backward as required. The bottom quarter or so of the wheel travels under water. The outer edge of the wheel is fitted with numerous, regularly spaced paddle blades (called floats or buckets). The paddle wheel is a large steel framework wheel. Paddle wheels Left: Riveted steel paddle wheel from a sidewheeler paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne The latter are often powered by diesel engines. Paddle wheels continue to be used by small, pedal-powered paddle boats and by some ships that operate tourist voyages.

In the late 19th century, paddle propulsion was largely superseded by the screw propeller and other marine propulsion systems that have a higher efficiency, especially in rough or open water. In the early 19th century, paddle wheels were the predominant way of propulsion for steam-powered boats. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.Īdvance, a Greenock-built American Civil War blockade-running side-wheel steamer Fall Line's steamer Providence, launched 1866 Finlandia Queen, a paddle-wheel ship from 1990s in Tampere, Finland Ī paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. Steam-powered vessel propelled by paddle wheels A typical river paddle steamer from the 1850s.

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