Comet (ship, 1811)
A replica of the Comet in the center of Port Glasgow .
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The Comet was the first European steamship to be used for commercial purposes.
history
Henry Bell was interested in steam-powered ships and therefore corresponded with Robert Fulton . Inspired by his ship Charlotte Dundas , he commissioned John and Charles Wood to build a ship in Port Glasgow in the winter of 1811. The boiler came from the workshop of David Napier and the single-cylinder steam engine from John Robertson. The steam engine powered two pairs of paddle wheels, which were later replaced by a pair of paddle wheels. A yard was attached to the very thin chimney, which was roughly in the middle of the ship , so that under suitable conditions one could also sail. In the back of the ship was a small cabin with wooden chairs and a table. Since the great comet Flaugergues was visible for several months in 1811 , Bell decided to name the ship Comet .
Henry Bell owned a hotel and baths in Helensburgh and from July 1812 set up regular traffic between Port Glasgow and Helensburgh with the steamboat . The first trip on this route was made in January 1812. The successful commercial use of the ship meant that steam shipping quickly established itself in Europe.
Shipwreck
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Flywheel_from_P.S._Comet_-_geograph.org.uk_-_39208.jpg/220px-Flywheel_from_P.S._Comet_-_geograph.org.uk_-_39208.jpg)
Since the ship had meanwhile had superior competition, he had it converted and equipped with a more powerful steam engine. The new route of the parcel ship led from Port Glasgow to Fort William . The one-way trip took the ship two days; it reached Ardrishaig at the entrance to the Crinan Canal on the evening of the first day , then continued through the canal and reached its destination on the evening of the second day.
On December 15, 1820, the Comet hit a rock in a strong current near Crinan and sank, but there were no fatalities. The steam engine was salvaged and restored by Robert Napier & Sons and is now in the Science Museum in London .
Web links
Footnotes
- ^ Second Report of the Select Committee on the Roads from London to Holyhead and from Chester to Holyhead; Steam Packets. , 1822, p. 224 ( online )
- ^ The Steam Boat Companion; and Stranger's Guide to the Western Islands and Highlands of Scotland , Glasgow 1820, page VI ( online )
- ^ Edgar C. Smith , A Short History of Naval and Marine Engineering , 1937, pp. 15-16 ( online )
- ^ The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Difussion of Useful Knowledge , Volume 22, London 1842, p. 498 ( online )
- ^ The Steam Boat Companion; and Stranger's Guide to the Western Islands and Highlands of Scotland , Glasgow 1820, page 22 ( online )
- ^ Edgar C. Smith , A Short History of Naval and Marine Engineering , 1937, p. 16 ( online )