ABSTRACT
The utility of the steamer for river and canal navigation was obvious at once, and progressive British owners, such as the General Steam Navigation Company; but it was some time before it was considered safe to trust the "tin kettle" far out of sight of land. The chief stimulus to development came from British and foreign Governments, who were quick to recognize the potential value of the steamer in war, and the benefits to be derived from its greater average speed, and, from the regularity of its sailings, in the carriage of mails. The real test of the steamer's reliability for ocean voyages was generally recognized to be the conquest of the Atlantic. The great defect of the early steamers was their extravagant consumption of coal. The steamer knew no such restrictions and the marine engineering shops proved capable of keeping pace with any increase in size.
