Editing PS Comet (section)

{{Short description|First commercial steamboat in Europe}}
{{other ships|SS Comet}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image               = PS Comet replica.jpg
| Ship caption             = Replica of PS ''Comet'' in [[Port Glasgow]] town centre, showing the elongated paddle boxes over the two paddle wheels on each side.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              = 
|Ship country=Scotland
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Scotland|civil}}
| Ship name                = PS ''Comet''
| Ship owner               = [[Henry Bell (engineer)|Henry Bell]]
| Ship operator            = 
| Ship registry            = 
| Ship route               = 
| Ship ordered             = 
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| Ship original cost       = 
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| Ship laid down           = 
| Ship launched            = 24 July 1812
| Ship completed           = 
| Ship christened          = 
| Ship acquired            = 
| Ship maiden voyage       = August 1812
| Ship in service          = 
| Ship out of service      = 21 December 1820
| Ship identification      = 
| Ship fate                = Wrecked in strong currents at Craignish Point near [[Oban]]. Subsequently rebuilt as a schooner, sank February 1875
| Ship notes               = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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| Header caption           = 
| Ship class               = 
| Ship tonnage             = 28 ton
| Ship displacement        = 
| Ship length              = {{convert|45|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam                = {{convert|10|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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| Ship propulsion          = [[Steam engine|Steam]]
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}}
|}
The '''PS''' ([[paddle steamer]]) '''''Comet''''' was built in 1812 for [[Henry Bell (engineer)|Henry Bell]], a Scottish engineer who with his wife had become proprietor of the Baths Hotel offering [[sea bathing]] in [[Helensburgh]]. On 15 August 1812, Bell's ship began a passenger service on the [[River Clyde]], connecting Helensburgh to [[Greenock]] and [[Glasgow]]. This was the first commercially successful [[steamboat]] service in Europe. Bell obtained the engine from John Robertson of Glasgow, and the ship was built for him by John and Charles Wood of [[Port Glasgow]].<ref name="1 in Euro/">{{cite book|last1=Derry|first1=Thomas Kingston|last2=Williams|first2=Trevor Illtyd|title=A Short History of Technology from the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900, Part 1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mf88HKKYEbQC&q=PS+Comet+first+commercially+successful+steamboat+service+in+Europe&pg=PA328|year=1960|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=978-0-4862-7472-0|page=328}}</ref><ref name="Ships & Shipbuilders p. 56">{{cite book | last=Walker | first=F.M. | title=Ships & Shipbuilders: Pioneers of Design and Construction | publisher=Pen & Sword Books | year=2010 | isbn=978-1-78383-040-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6e9AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT56 | access-date=9 March 2024 | pages=56–59}}</ref>