Steamboat Facts for Kids

The Belle of Louisville, an old steamboat that was first called the Idlewild and later called the Avalon

model of the first steamer, built by Jouffroy d'Albans

The Stettin is an icebreaker which is active in the port of Hamburg today. The photo shows the ship in Kiel,

A steamboat is a special kind of ship that uses a steam engine to move through water. You might also hear them called a steamship or steamer. Early steamboats often had big paddle wheels, either at the back or on the sides. Most of these traveled on rivers. Later, around 1836, people started using propellers instead, which were invented by Josef Ressel.

The very first working steamship was built in 1783 by Claude François Jouffroy d’Abbans. In the 19th century, steamboats became very popular, especially in the United States. An inventor named John Fitch built a steamboat in 1787. He tried to make money from it, but he wasn't successful. Sadly, he died in 1798, before steamboats became a big deal.

It was Robert Fulton who built the first steamboat that made money. In 1807, his steamboat could travel from New York City to Albany in just 32 hours! Steamboats got much faster as the 19th century went on.

How Steamboats Changed Over Time

After the mid-1800s, paddle steamers became less common. This was because marine propellers were invented. Propellers made ships go faster and use less fuel. These newer ships were often called "steamships" and could travel across big oceans.

Later, in the 20th century, most steam engines in ships were replaced by marine Diesel engines. Diesel engines are more efficient and powerful.

Images for kids

Lookout, a transport steamer on the Tennessee River, around 1860-1865.
The Dutch river steam-tugboat Mascotte II.
The Charlotte Dundas, built by William Symington.
A 1909 copy of the North River Steamboat. This was the first steamboat to successfully carry passengers for money along the Hudson River.
A typical river paddle steamer from the 1850s, called the Ben Campbell.
Mississippi Riverboats at Memphis, Tennessee in 1906.
SS Savannah, the first ship powered by steam to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1819.
SS California (1848), the first paddle steamer to travel between Panama City and San Francisco. It was a Pacific Mail Steamship Company ship.
A colorful picture showing the Monitor and the Merrimack.
The USS Cairo.
The Sultana on fire, from Harpers Weekly.
The Natchez operates out of New Orleans. There are other paddlewheelers on the Mississippi, but the Natchez and the American Queen are the only two that are moved by steam.
The American Queen, the biggest river steamboat still working in the world.
S.S. Inlander on the Skeena River at Kitselas Canyon, 1911.
The SS Keno in Dawson City.
Lake Lucerne side-wheel paddle steamer Uri (1901) [de].
A Sissons triple-expansion steam engine and a coal-fired Scotch boiler, as seen in SL Nuneham.
A Rocket paddle steamer near Dhaka, Bangladesh.
An English patent for a steamboat from 1736.
Robert Fulton's Clermont.
The Élise (originally the Scottish-built Marjorie).
"Enterprise on her fast trip to Louisville, 1815".
Elizaveta, the first Russian steamship, 1815.
Left: An original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. Right: A close-up of a steamer.
The 730-foot lake freighter Edward L Ryerson.
Paddle steamer PS Waverley steaming down the Firth of Clyde.
Turbine steamer TS Queen Mary.
SS Shieldhall steams down the Firth of Clyde.
Sky Wonder, the last steam-powered cruise ship, built in 1984.
Belle of Louisville.
Natchez.
Delta Queen racing.
Delta King.
A hobby steam sidewheeler.
Belle of Cincinnati, taking part in the Great Steamboat Race.
American Queen docked at the Riverwalk in 2015.

Steamboat facts for kids

How Steamboats Changed Over Time

Images for kids

See also