Steam-Ships: The Story of Their Development to the Present Day

Written in 1910, when steamships still ruled the oceans, this is a firsthand account of the century that transformed maritime travel from wind to steam. R. A. Fletcher traces the improbable journey from Robert Fulton's rudimentary experiments to the grand ocean liners of his own day, capturing the ingenuity and stubbornness of inventors who refused to accept that ships should depend on the wind. The narrative follows the key breakthroughs: the messy inefficiency of early paddle-wheels, the revolution of screw propellers, and the relentless improvements in boiler technology that made transatlantic voyages routine. Fletcher writes with the pride of someone who lived through this transformation, making this not just a technical history but a period document that captures how contemporaries viewed the steam age at its zenith. For maritime enthusiasts and anyone curious about the engineering foundations of global trade, this book offers a window into how our modern connected world was built, one boiler pressure at a time.