Editing PS Comet

{{Short description|First commercial steamboat in Europe}}
{{other ships|SS Comet}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
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{{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
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|Ship country=Scotland
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Scotland|civil}}
| Ship name                = PS ''Comet''
| Ship owner               = [[Henry Bell (engineer)|Henry Bell]]
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| Ship launched            = 24 July 1812
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| Ship maiden voyage       = August 1812
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| Ship out of service      = 21 December 1820
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| Ship fate                = Wrecked in strong currents at Craignish Point near [[Oban]]. Subsequently rebuilt as a schooner, sank February 1875
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| Ship class               = 
| Ship tonnage             = 28 ton
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| 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>

==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]].

==Famous passengers==

*[[Sir Walter Scott]]
*[[James Watt]] (in 1816, visiting his home town of Greenock in old age) – by this date Bell offered a return trip from Glasgow to [[Rothesay]] on the same day which Watt undertook.<ref name=BookOfDays />

==Wreck==
[[File:At the Science Museum, London 2025 100.jpg|thumb|right|Engine at the [[Science Museum, London]]]]
Bell had the ''Comet'' lengthened and re-engined, and from September 1819 ran a service to [[Oban]] and [[Fort William, Highland|Fort William]] (via the [[Crinan Canal]]), a trip which took four days.  On 15 December 1820 the ''Comet'' was wrecked in strong currents at Craignish Point near Oban, with Bell on board.<ref name=PrecipitatedEternity>{{cite web | url=http://heritage.scotsman.com/diagrams.cfm?cid=7&id=667862006 | work=The Scotsman | title=The passengers 'precipitated into Eternity' when their steamship sank | date=9 May 2006 | author=Iain Lundy | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061107231316/http://heritage.scotsman.com/diagrams.cfm?cid=7&id=667862006 | archive-date=2006-11-07 }}</ref> There were no deaths.<ref name=PrecipitatedEternity /> One of the engines ended its working days in a Greenock brewery,<ref name=CometBrewery>{{cite web | url=http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/readstory.php?id=4951 | title=Comet engine used in brewery! | date=3 August 2004 | work=Greenock Telegraph Online | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040803184329/http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/readstory.php?id=4951 | archive-date=2004-08-03 }}</ref> and is now in [[The Science Museum]] in London.<ref name="Deayton" /><ref name=CometBrewery />

==Fate==
In 1875, the schooner ''Ann'' was driven against a steamship at [[Greenock]], [[Renfrewshire]] and sank. The ''Glasgow Herald'' reported a piece from the ''Greenock Telegraph'' which stated "part of the hull of the Ann was all that was left of Henry Bell's old Comet, the first steam-vessel ever to sail in European waters. Some years ago she was bought up by Smillie, of Glasgow, and Bell's old engine taken out. She was lengthened, made a schooner, and was run on the Larne trade, where she was at great favourite, and was familiarly called the 'Long Ann'. Some time since she was burnt down to the waters edge, but her hull was so good, and she was such a favourite with her owners, that they hauled her into dock and fitted her. The curious thing is, that having been built at Port-Glasgow 63 years ago, and undergoing many vicissitudes, she should, like an old weather-beaten sailor, end her days almost at the threshold of her own home."<ref name=GH250275>{{Cite news |title=Gale and Snowstorm |newspaper=The Herald|location=Glasgow |date=25 February 1875 |issue=10972 }}</ref>

==''Comet II''==
Bell built another vessel, ''Comet II'', but on 21 October 1825 she collided with the steamer ''Ayr'' off Kempock Point, [[Gourock]], Scotland.<ref name=PrecipitatedEternity />

{{Quotation|The ''Ayr'', we learn, had a light out upon her bow, but the ''Comet'' had none.  As the night, however, was clear, it is obvious that a bad look out had been kept up, and most reprehensible neglect shown on both sides. At the moment the accident took place, those on the deck of the ''Comet'' were, it is said, engaged in dancing. The passengers who were below were in high spirits, amusing themselves telling and listening to diverting tales. The first stroke hit about the paddle of the ''Comet''. The Captain and passengers immediately ran upon deck to see what was wrong; when – the next fatal stroke took place with such force, that the ''Comet'' filled, and in two minutes went down head foremost. The moment this look place, the ''Ayr'', instead of lending any assistance, gave her paddles a back stroke, turned round, and went off to Greenock, leaving them to their fate.|''The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser'', 25 Mar 1826, p3}}

''Comet II'' sank very quickly, killing 62 of the estimated 80 passengers on board,<ref name=PrecipitatedEternity /> including the son-in-law of [[John Anderson (carpenter)|John Anderson]], a friend of [[Robert Burns]]. Also drowned were recently married Captain Wemyss Erskine Sutherland of the 33rd Regiment and Sarah née Duff of Muirtown.<ref name=PrecipitatedEternity /><ref>National Library of Scotland MS 9854 ff 177-180</ref> After the loss of his second ship, Bell abandoned his work on steam navigation.<ref name=PrecipitatedEternity />

==Replica==
[[File:The Comet - geograph.org.uk - 485232.jpg|thumb|Replica at Port Glasgow]]
A [[Ship replica|replica]] of the ''Comet'', situated in Port Glasgow, was built by [[Lithgows]] shipyard apprentices in 1962 for the 150th anniversary of the original.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.paddlesteamers.org/news/scottish/comet-replica-to-be-refurbished-by-local-shipyard/ | title=Comet Replica to be Refurbished by Local Shipyard | work=Paddle Steamer Preservation Society | date=2010 | author=Gavin Stewart }}</ref><ref name=CometBrewery /> As part of the anniversary celebrations the replica sailed from Port Glasgow to Helensburgh and back, accompanied by a flotilla of small ships.<ref name=ReplicaLifted>{{cite news | url=https://www.inverclydenow.com/from-the-archive-comet-paddle-steamer-replica-lifted-back-into-place-after-restoration-in-2011/ | title=FROM The Archive — Comet Paddle Steamer Replica Lifted Back Into Place After Restoration In 2011 | work=Inverclyde Now | date=15 October 2020 }}</ref>

In 2011, just before the original's 200th anniversary, the replica was restored by a partnership of [[Inverclyde Council]], [[Ferguson Marine|Ferguson Shipbuilders]] and an organisation called The Trust.<ref name=ReplicaLifted /> The restoration cost £180,000.<ref name=ReplicaLifted />

A survey and condition report was commissioned by Inverclyde Council and reported back in 2019. The survey found that the wooden hull of the replica is in such bad condition that it is beyond economic repair, and recommended that the machinery be removed and placed in a new hull.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.inverclydenow.com/iconic-comet-replica-is-beyond-repair-expert-finds/ | title=ICONIC Comet Replica Is "Beyond Repair", Expert Finds | date=17 October 2020 | work=Inverclyde Now }}</ref>

In April 2023, the replica ship was dismantled and the woodwork scrapped by Inverclyde Council. No trace of the replica ship remains at the site.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.inverclydenow.com/comet-replica-in-port-glasgow-being-removed/ | title=COMET Replica In Port Glasgow Being Removed | date=4 April 2023 | work=Inverclyde Now }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''Clyde Pleasure Steamers'' Ian McCrorie, Orr, Pollock & Co. Ltd., Greenock, {{ISBN|1-869850-00-9}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Comet (ship, 1812)|PS Comet}}
*[http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/bell_henry.htm Significant Scots – Henry Bell]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/19980205184259/http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/thurston/1878/Chapter5.html A history of the growth of the steam-engine]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040820003427/http://www.thersa.org/250/science.asp RSA Treasure Trails – The Science Museum]

{{1820 shipwrecks}}
{{1875 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comet}}
[[Category:1812 ships]]
[[Category:Clyde steamers]]
[[Category:Paddle steamers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships of Scotland]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Scotland]]
[[Category:1820 in Scotland]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Replica ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1820]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in February 1875]]