Editing PS Comet (section)

==History==
Henry Bell had become interested in steam-propelled boats, and to learn from the ''[[Charlotte Dundas]]'' venture corresponded with [[Robert Fulton]], who got the ''[[North River Steamboat]]'' (also known as the ''Clermont'') into operation in 1807 as the first commercially successful steamboat.<ref name="1 in Euro/" />

In the winter of 1811/1812 Bell got John and Charles Wood of [[John Wood and Company]], shipbuilders of [[Port Glasgow]], to build a paddle steamer which was named ''Comet'',<ref name="McQueen">{{cite book |last1=McQueen |first1=Andrew |title=Echoes of Old Clyde Padddle-Wheels |date=1924 |publisher=Gowans & Gray |location=Glasgow |pages=12–14, 21–22}}</ref><ref name=CometBrewery /> named after the "[[C/1811 F1|Great Comet]]" of 1811. The 28 ton burthen craft had a deck {{convert|43.5|ft|m}} long with a beam of {{convert|11.25|ft|m}}.<ref name="Spratt">{{cite book |last1=Spratt |first1=H Philip |title=The Birth of the Steamboat |url=https://archive.org/details/birthofsteamboat0000spra |url-access=registration |date=1958 |publisher=Charles Griffin & Co Ltd |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/birthofsteamboat0000spra/page/87 87]-88}}</ref> It had two paddle wheels on each side, driven by a single-cylinder engine rated at {{convert|3|to|4|hp|kW|abbr=off|0}}.<ref name="Spratt" /> The engine was made by John Robertson of Glasgow, and the boiler by [[David Napier (marine engineer)|David Napier]], [[Camlachie]], Glasgow<ref name="McQueen" /><ref name="Deayton">{{cite book |last1=Deayton |first1=Alistair |title=Directory of Clyde Paddle Steamers |date=2013 |publisher=Amberley Publishing |location=Stroud, Gloucestershire |isbn=978-1-4456-1487-8 |page=9}}</ref> (a story has it that they were evolved from an experimental little steam engine which Bell installed to pump sea water into the Helensburgh Baths){{citation needed|date=March 2021}}. The funnel was tall and thin, serving as a mast, with a [[Yard (sailing)|yard]], allowing it to support a square sail when there was a following wind.<ref name="McQueen" /><ref name="Spratt" /> A small cabin aft had wooden seats in front of concealed beds and a table. ''Comet'' was reported as "brightly painted, having for her figurehead a lady garbed in all the colours of the rainbow".<ref name="McQueen" />

''Comet'' was launched on 24 July 1812<ref name="Spratt" /> with her trial run on 6 August from Port Glasgow to the [[Broomielaw]] in Glasgow, taking three and a half hours for the {{convert|20|mi|km|abbr=off}}.<ref name="McQueen" /><ref name="Spratt" /><ref group=Note>Some sources have the launching in 1811 and 18 January 1812 for a trial trip{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}</ref> The double paddlewheels were found to be unsatisfactory and a pair of single wheels were substituted which increased her speed to almost 7 [[Knot (unit)|knots]].<ref name="Spratt" />

On 15 August 1812, Bell advertised in a local newspaper "The Greenock Advertiser", that the Comet would begin a regular passenger service from that day, a distance of {{convert|25|mi|km|abbr=off}} each way:<ref name=BookOfDays>{{cite book | author=[[Robert Chambers (publisher, born 1802)|Robert Chambers]] | title=[[Chambers Book of Days]] | date=1864 | page=15 August}}</ref>

{{Quotation|The Steamboat ''Comet'' Between Glasgow, Greenock and Helensburgh for Passengers Only<br/>
The subscriber, having at much expense, fitted up a handsome vessel to ply upon the River Clyde from Glasgow, to sail by the power of air, wind, and steam, intends that the vessel shall leave the Broomielaw on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays about mid-day, or such hour thereafter as may answer from the state of the tide, and to leave Greenock on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the morning to suit the tide.}}

On 15 August ''Comet'' made the first commercial sailing from Glasgow for [[Bowling, West Dunbartonshire|Bowling]], Helensburgh and Greenock, opening the era of the steamboat on the Clyde, and more widely in Britain and Europe.<ref name="McQueen" /> The fare was "four shillings for the best cabin, and three shillings for the second." As the vessel clearly had no cabins in the modern sense it is unclear what this meant.
[[File:Engine of Comet (1812 steamboat).jpg|thumb|left|The original engine of ''Comet'']]
[[File:Flywheel from P.S. Comet - geograph.org.uk - 39208.jpg|thumb|right|Flywheel from ''Comet'' on East Esplanade Helensburgh]] 
The success of this service quickly inspired competition, with services down the [[Firth of Clyde]] and the sea lochs to [[Largs]], [[Rothesay, Argyll and Bute|Rothesay]], [[Campbeltown]] and [[Inveraray]] within four years, and the ''Comet'' was outclassed by newer steamers. Bell briefly tried a service on the [[Firth of Forth]].