A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.
A typical river paddle steamer from the 1850s.
Fall Line's steamer Providence, launched 1866
Finlandia Queen, a paddle-wheel ship from 1990s in Tampere, Finland
Advance, a Greenock-built American Civil War blockade-running side-wheel steamer
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships came into practical usage during the early 1800s; however, there were exceptions that came before. Steamships usually use the prefix designations of "PS" for paddle steamer or "SS" for screw steamer. As paddle steamers became less common, "SS" is incorrectly assumed by many to stand for "steamship". Ships powered by internal combustion engines use a prefix such as "MV" for motor vessel, so it is not correct to use "SS" for most modern vessels.
The paddle steamer PS Waverley at Swanage is the world's last seagoing paddle steamer
An aerial starboard quarter view of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67), which was the last US Navy aircraft carrier to use conventional steam power
The side-wheel paddle steamer SS Great Western, the first purpose-built transatlantic steamship, on its maiden voyage in 1838
Image of stern tube and propeller shaft in a lighthouse ship