Carolina - the first Hungarian steamboat

[ethzott]

Hello all,

Maybe this is a good place to remember a nice steam tug.

Carolina was launched in 1817 based on the plans of Antal Bernhard, a Hungarian technician and inventor. Though the reception of this nice steamboat was positive but from business point of view she was unsuccessful. Mr. Bernhard introduced a ferry service on the Danube between Buda and Pest (that time separate cities) but within a couple of months it was stopped due to the low interest.
The last information on Carolina is from 1828: somebody saw her as a wreck on the shore of Southern part of the Danube…  :cry:
As you can see on the reconstruction picture below Carolina had an interesting construction that time. She was equipped with a 24HP steam engine using crosshead instead of the popular beam solution.
Well, a good example of an untimely invention. Anyhow, I hope you will find this information useful as a small piece of the paddlewheel story.

Regards / Ferenc

[Eddy Matthews]

A very interesting early paddler Ferenc, many thanks for sharing it with us. What a shame it wasn't succesful commercially!