Discovering the Charlotte Dundas, the first tugboat in history
Considered as the first tugboat, the Charlotte Dundas, 17 metres long, was built in 1802 by William Symington. Prior to her construction, Jonathan Hulls had put a steam tug on paper and registered a patent for it on 21 December 1736.
He had planned to fit this steam tug with a Newcomen engine driving two paddlewheels attached to the stern, by means of ropes, with a rope connecting her stern to the foremast of the towed vessel. Unfortunately, his plan never came to fruition.
However, Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, who was at his first trial, created a steamboat in Scotland in 1788 with William Symington. But Patrick Miller of Dalswinton later abandoned the project.
In 1800, Thomas Dundas, Governor of the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, better known as Lord Dundas, commissioned William Symington to design a steam tug. The vessel was built by Symington. In June 1801, successful trials took place on the River Carron and further trials were conducted to tow sloops from the River Forth up the Carron and thence along the Forth and Clyde Canals. However, other canal owners, concerned about wave damage to the canal banks, petitioned the Committee who decided that the vessel “was in no way fit for purpose“.
Symington then built an improved boat in 1802, with a horizontal engine driving a large central paddle wheel, the Charlotte Dundas, named after one of Lord Dundas’ daughters. The Charlotte Dundas first sailed on 4 January 1803. In March of the same year, the Charlotte Dundas made her first tow, namely two 70-ton barges for 30 kilometres on the Forth and Clyde Canal, at 3 km/h despite the headwind.
References:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Dundas_(1er_baron_Dundas)
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remorqueur#cite_note-1
