Accommodation
Accommodation, first successful steamboat built entirely in North America. It was launched 19 August 1809 at Montréal, its engines having been constructed at the Forges Saint-Maurice, Trois-Rivières. The ship was propelled by 2 open-side paddle wheels, though a sail could be raised if the engine failed. John Molson and partners paid £2000 for the Accommodation but by 1810 losses of £4000 had accrued and it was scrapped. Nothing remains of the pioneering ship, though it signalled a new age. By 1819, 7 steam packets plied the St Lawrence River. See also Steamboats and Paddlewheelers.