An Appraisal of the Progress of the Steamship in the Nineteenth Century

David M. Williams and John Armstrong

Chapter 4 in The World’s Key Industry, 2012, pp 43-63 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The invention and subsequent development of the steamship represents a great watershed in maritime transport and humankind’s relationship with the sea. For the first time, vessels were not at the mercy of wind or tide and this, together with the ability to make or leave port at will, permitted scheduled services. These, to a considerable degree, overcame the uncertainties that previously had inevitably accompanied maritime voyages. Over time all elements of shipping — vessels, labour, finance — were transformed and likewise shipbuilding, the port industry and associated shipping services. Steam together with changes in construction materials — from wood to iron and later steel — along with later advances in communications and transport technology, the telegraph and the railway, created a ‘new world of shipping’.1 Such changes contributed to the integration of the world economy.

Keywords: Shipping Movement; Suez Canal; North American Region; Merchant Shipping; Sailing Ship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-00375-1_4

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137003751_4

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