1783 The steamboat Pyroscaphe, built by the Marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans, was tried out on the River Saone

1783

Symington's Charlotte Dundas was used as a tugboat on the Forth-Clyde canal

1802

American Robert Fulton demonstrated a steam-driven boat on the River Seine

1803

American John Stevens tried out a twin-screw propeller steamboat

1804

Fulton built the first successful steam paddleship, the Clermont, using a Boulton and Watt engine

1807

The first successful steamship in Europe, the Glasgow-built Comet, was in service on the River Clyde

1812

The Savannah became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic

1819

The steamship James Watt was launched

1820

1822

The Swedish inventor, John Ericsson and the British inventor Francis Smith both 're-invent' the screw propeller

1836

Brunel's steamship Great Western launched

1837

Cunard shipping line opened

1840

Brunel's Great Britain, the first large iron ship to be screw propelled, was launched

1843

Brunel's steamship Great Western crossed the Atlantic

1845

Cunard's Hermann and Washington steamships provided a regular cross-Atlantic service

1847

John Elder invented the double-expansion engine

1854

Brunel's Great Eastern, the largest ship built in the 19th. century, was launched

1858

Elder developed the triple-expansion engine

1881

The quadruple-expansion engine was developed

1894