Steamboat

====The **Steamboat** is a ship whose primary method of propulsion is steam power (steam engine), usually through the use of paddle wheels or propellers.====

====The term steamboat usually refers to the smaller steam powered boats that work and sail on rivers or lakes. These boats have the initials "S.S" which is short for "steam ship." Steam ships are the larger boats that refer to the true power of the steam engine that sail across oceans and haul cargo and passengers all over the world. Both steamboats and steam ships were overtaken in the early 20th century by diesel powered ships that we use today. This being said, the steamboat was a groundbreaking force. The great impact of its innovation led to the development of new and improved ways of transportation across the Earth (Wikipedia).====

=Before Steam-Powered Boats=

====The first evidence of a boat or some sort of river raft dates back to over 130,000 years ago in Crete, and even 900,000 years ago in Flores. These river rafts were usually constructed by wooden logs. The boats of this time in ancient India and Africa helped build civilization, and helped with various types of transport and hauling cargo across rivers and lakes. Later, in 4000 B.C., people traveled across the Indian Ocean (Wikipedia). The earliest attempts to power a boat using steam were designed by French inventor Denis Papin when he experimented with closed cylinders and pistons to create steam power, which he called the steam digester (Time). This new steam digester was later tested in a boat with newly designed paddle wheels. Later, notable inventors like James Watt and Thomas Newcomen worked to invent a fully functioning steam engine for a boat in the years to come (Wikipedia).====

=Steamboats, Efficiency Awaits=

====The first fully functional steam ship was invented by Marquis Claude de Jouffroy in 1783 named the Pyroscaphe. It was first tested on the River Saône; it sailed for 15 minutes until the engine failed (Wikipedia). Marquis Claude de Jouffroy's invention encouraged many other inventors to improve and innovate the ideas of that successful first voyage for the future of water transportation. Steam powered boats eventually produced more efficient trading between countries, and also encouraged and allowed people to travel overseas for important things in history like colonization and immigration. The steamboat also introduced new innovations such as propellors and paddle wheels, which provided the boat its raw power. Faster travel meant man, who once sailed on a boat or ship across the Atlantic over a period of a month or more, could now take a steamboat in just a matter of weeks or days. The steam ship's power against water currents and winds made it much safer, more reliable and a more efficient way of travel (Bellis).====

====Like its counterpart, the steam locomotive, steam ships provided raw power through a steam engine to haul large amounts of cargo over long distances. Steam powered boats and ships encouraged innovation during the industrial revolution as they provided the shipping of materials for other countries' economies. They provided a more efficient way of importing and exporting, and were the main form of shipping long distances overseas, until the invention of the airplane (Wikipedia).====