page_title: Paddle steamer
section_title: US and Canada
hierarchical_section_title: Paddle steamer / Modern paddle steamers / US and Canada
caption_attribution_description: English: MPV Constitution
context_page_description: 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.
  In the early 19th century, paddle wheels were the predominant way of propulsion for steam-powered boats. In the late 19th century, paddle propulsion was largely superseded by the screw propeller and other marine propulsion systems that have a higher efficiency, especially in rough or open water. Paddle wheels continue to be used by small, pedal-powered paddle boats and by some ships that operate tourist voyages. The latter are often powered by diesel engines.
context_section_description: A few paddle steamers serve niche tourism needs as cruise boats on lakes and others, such as Delta Queen, still operate on the Mississippi River.  In Oregon, several replica paddle steamers, which are non-steam-powered sternwheelers built in the 1980s and later, are operated for tourism purposes on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
  USS Wolverine, built in 1912 as PS Seeandbee, was the biggest passenger-carrying paddle steamer ever built, with a capacity for 6,000 passengers; it was converted to a training aircraft carrier during World War II. PS Washington Irving, also built in 1912 with a capacity for 6,000 passengers, operated on the Hudson River from 1913 until it was sunk in an accident in 1926. One of the last paddle steamers built in the U.S. was the dredge William M. Black, built in 1934 and now a National Historic Landmark.
  Belle of Louisville is the oldest operating Mississippi River-style steamboat and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1989. Previously named Idlewild and Avalon, Belle of Louisville is based in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.
  The Shelburne Museum of Vermont features the paddle steamer Ticonderoga, a preserved Lake Champlain ferry, which was transported overland to the museum after being retired from service in 1969, and is now open for tours.
  The ferries system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada operates PS Trillium, a paddle steamer originally built in 1910 and restored for operation since 1976. It is the last sidewheel-propelled vessel on the Great Lakes. Sister ships Bluebell and Mayflower became garbage scows and the former's hull is now a break wall in Toronto Harbour.
caption: MPV Constitution in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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