Boatnerd Discussion Forum

It would be the former, a wood hulled ship that is propeller driven. Kind of a missing link between side- wheel steamers and “modern” steel hulled ships. Typically from the 1860s- early 1900’s.

"Wooden Propeller" denotes that the vessel was a wooden hulled steamer /steam barge. The earliest propellers were made out of caste iron and then progressed to steel and then eventually bronze after the turn of the last century.

In the "today in history" section, they often refer to a 'wooden propeller' ship. Does this mean its a wooden ship with a propeller (as opposed to a side wheel or sails), or does this refer to an actual wooden propeller? I can't imagine a propeller made of wood going very far, but neither can I imagine half the things they managed to do with what they had to work with.