page_title: Steamboat
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Steamboat / Use by country / United States
caption_attribution_description: English: A painting of SS Savannah, 1819, by Hunter Wood
context_page_description: A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S or PS; however, these designations are most often used for steamships.
  The term steamboat is used to refer to smaller, insular, steam-powered boats working on lakes and rivers, particularly riverboats. As using steam became more reliable, steam power became applied to larger, ocean-going vessels.
caption: SS Savannah, the first steam powered ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean—1819
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