Great steam-powered paddlewheel riverboats have plied the rivers of the United States for years. The grand American Queen, constructed in in Morgan City, Louisiana, carries on the tradition of the elegant 19th century steamboat travel. What makes the American Queen different from most of the riverboats in existence today is that a true steam engine is used to drive the paddlewheel.
This steam engine is basically the same as the engines of the past century. How does a steamboat work then, you may ask? While this may sound complicated, it is pretty easy to understand. To truly understand how a steamboat works, we need to review some basic terminology. Long before there were planes, trains, and cars, people used waterways and boats as a means of transportation. They would use them to transport people and goods from place to place. One of the major downfalls of choosing water transportation over the other forms was that travel could be slow due to river currents and not enough people to operate them.
Because of this, the Steamboat was invented. Steamboats would have an engine that would burn coal to turn water into steam and power the boat. The steam was used to manage a propellor or paddlewheel. Some boats had a single paddlewheel, while others would have a dual set. The steam engine was invented by James Watt in The unit of measurement for power watt , was named after this inventor. His steam engines were known to be smaller in size and they didn't use as much coal to power the boat.
His steam engines were in high demand when the steamboat designs started coming into play. These men were some of the first people to build a scientifically successful steamboat. While these men were successful in the industry, Robert Fulton is credited with designing the first commercially successful steamboat by combining a steam engine and hull design.
Prior to this he had successfully built and operated a submarine in France. Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat or sometimes called the Clermont was invented in and had huge success. It led to increased exploration and settlement by opening up two-way river transportation.
The steamboat would travel from New York City to Albany in 32 hours, while regular sailing ships and other boats would take almost four days to complete the trip. The total trip consisted of about miles and the boat could carry up to passengers per trip.
The boat was extremely noisy and many people called it "Fulton's Folly" thinking it would eventually explode. The New Orleans traveled on the Mississippi River carrying a great deal of passengers and goods. Soon the steamboat industry went from New York City to across America.
The steam engines on steamboats burned coal to heat water in a large boiler to create steam. The steam was pumped into a cylinder, causing a piston to move upward to the top of the cylinder.
A valve would then open to release the steam, allowing the piston to fall back to the bottom of the cylinder. This process would repeat over and over again. The reciprocating action of the piston was used to mechanically power a propeller or paddlewheel that would propel the boat forward. Many steamboats had a single paddlewheel at the rear of the boat called sternwheelers , while other steamboats had dual paddlewheels on the sides of the boat called sidewheelers.
Steamboats completely changed river transportation and trade. By the s, thousands of steamboats traveled America's rivers, transporting people and goods faster than ever before. Steamboats were not without their dangers, however. During their rise to prominence, thousands of people died in steamboat accidents.
Many of these were due to boiler explosions that resulted from poor designs. The wild, untamed rivers could also be difficult to navigate and hold unforeseen dangers, such as logjams , sandbars, snags, and shifting channels. To further complicate matters, steamboats were sometimes the target of Native American attacks on explorers entering their territory. Steamboat captains were often their own worst enemies.
Competing boats would often race each other from one port to the next, creating dangerous conditions on the river and overworking boilers to the point of explosion. Steamboats played a major role in westward expansion. However, by the s, railroads powered by steam engines had become more efficient at moving people and goods, resulting in the decline of steamboats by the early 20 th century when automobiles and airplanes began to thrive.
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