Das Dampfschiff MS Stettin liegt am Pier, während Segelboote vor der Küste fahren.

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Sailing Ships, Steamships and Motor Propulsion in Passenger Travel

The transition from sail to steam and, later, motor propulsion was not a straightforward race. For passenger ships, the route, travel time, fuel supply and operating costs all helped determine which technology made sense. Sailing ships and steamships therefore operated alongside one another for a long time; early steamships could also combine several types of propulsion.

Sail and steam side by side

Launched in Bristol in 1843, the SS Great Britain was the first iron ship driven by a propeller to cross the Atlantic. It was also used on the route between Great Britain and Australia, and carried troops during the Crimean War in 1855 and 1856. The ship shows that the introduction of the propeller and the iron hull was part of a specific evolution in ship design—not simply the end of all sailing ships.

Sailing ships remained attractive on long routes when the winds suited the trade route. Clippers continued to serve routes to California and Australia, then sailed across the Pacific to China. Many shipowners considered steamships inferior to clippers on long voyages carrying bulk cargo: fuel, additional crew and costly engine repairs all added to operating expenses, while adequate bunkering facilities were lacking worldwide.

Engines, fuel and new routes

Compound engines, which used steam in more than one stage, brought an important change. Alfred Holt’s ships Agamemnon, Ajax and Achilles were ordered in 1865. On the China route, they could complete the journey in around 65 days, compared with about 90 days for a clipper, while also carrying more cargo. The economic advantage thus came from the interaction of engine, speed, cargo capacity and schedule.

Infrastructure also changed the comparison. The Suez Canal opened in 1869 and shortened the voyage to China by more than 3,000 miles, as ships no longer had to sail around Africa. Conditions in the canal and the Mediterranean made this shortcut unsuitable for sailing ships, while steamships could use the new route. The transition was nevertheless not immediate: in 1870, almost 60 sailing ships still served the China route; by 1877, there were only nine. Sailing ships increasingly focused on voyages that were still beyond the reach of steamships or uneconomical for them.

Diesel engines in passenger service

The transition to internal combustion engines can be traced through the Selandia. Commissioned in 1912 as an early oceangoing diesel ship, she had two diesel engines, each rated at 1,250 hp. Her maiden voyage began in 1912 and took her via London, Antwerp, Genoa and the Suez Canal to Bangkok. In scheduled service between Copenhagen and Bangkok, she carried both freight and passengers. Passengers were accommodated in luxurious cabins designed by architect Carl Brummer. Diesel propulsion thus entered the service of passenger travel between Europe and Asia at an early stage.

Technical systems remained diverse in later years, too. The Queen Mary 2 is powered by a diesel-electric and gas-turbine-electric plant that drives four electrically powered pods; two units are fixed and two are azimuthing. Steam engines, turbines and diesel engines therefore do not represent three simple, entirely successive generations of ships. Propulsion and power supply must be considered together with each ship’s hull, route and passenger role.

Photo: Achim und Siggi