Myth Buster: Did the Swallow steamship have sails?

[MRJS]

In these pictures it appears the steamship has two masts. Two of the pics appear to show booms in a raised or vanged position.

An AI search gave an explanation that some steamships had sails with terms such as "auxiliary steamships" and "steam-sail hybrids".

Did this ship have sails?

The reason for asking is that in common folklore it is said the Swallow boat house had tall doors for a sailboat.

It would be so nice if a cracker jack artist produced a large oil painting of the steamship and boat house combo and sold it for a satisfactory price to an establishment in Meredith, Center Harbor, or Moultonborough to bust this myth wide open once and for all! Lol

Thank you all, and while we're at it, what other myths do we need to bust around here?

[ApS]

If the only purpose of the two masts was to display banners, that was an expensive decision. The masts could have been installed with strong "barn" hinges (as commonplace in Britain) to save the costly modifications to the boathouse and its peculiar height.

Although a steamship hull would be a poor sailing hull design, early steamships were slow.

Particularly downwind, sails could have added a few extra horsepower when needed. ("Tall Ships" of the 1880's Gold Rush era had sails determined to produce the equivalent of 100,000 horsepower).


But unlike the flimsy masts flying banners or burgees, sailing masts would require a particularly strong mast, mast "step", a boom "vang", a "boom" and "stays". "Stays" don't appear in the photos, but the photos are taken from a distance.

No stays, but I'm going with "sails" anyway.

Edited to add:
The "masts" (and booms) could have been used to load wood, coal, or passengers in wheelchairs.

Enlarged, the photographs do show the necessary stays, vangs and shrouds for a sailing vessel.

[MRJS]

Originally Posted by ApS

Particularly downwind, sails could have added a few extra horsepower when needed. ("Tall Ships" of the 1880's Gold Rush era had sails determined to produce the equivalent of 100,000 horsepower).

The 100,000 horse power has been stuck in my head all day, so using ChatGPT, I looked up the top five ships that produce the greatest amount of horsepower:

USS Gerald R. Ford-Class Aircraft Carrier (United States Navy)
Horsepower: Over 800,000 HP (from 600 MW nuclear reactors)
Type: Aircraft Carrier
Power Source: Nuclear

Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carrier (United States Navy)
Horsepower: Over 260,000 HP (from 194 MW nuclear reactors)
Type: Aircraft Carrier
Power Source: Nuclear

Oasis-Class Cruise Ships (Royal Caribbean)
Horsepower: Approximately 130,000 HP
Type: Cruise Ship
Power Source: Diesel

Queen Mary 2 (Cunard)
Horsepower: Approximately 157,000 HP
Type: Ocean Liner/Cruise Ship
Power Source: Gas turbines and diesel engines

Emma Maersk-Class Container Ships (Maersk Line)
Horsepower: Approximately 109,000 HP
Type: Container Ship
Power Source: Diesel (Wärtsilä RT-flex96C engine)


Note: It's unbelievable that our aircraft carriers made a leap of 3X in horse power.

[ApS]

I've checked with my source: a docent-worthy long-time U.S. Navy sailor.

Apparently, his revised figures determined the most horsepower from sails probably exceeded 10,000-HP only under ideal conditions.

He also asserts that the masts are placed in too tall an area to be efficiently used for sails; although there's no reason not to use them for "standby" downwind sailing power.

A modern cruise ship designed with sail-power (and transparent floors ) can cross the Atlantic in ten days at 14 knots:

https://www.marineinsight.com/boatin...ht-with-sails/

[ApS]

Quora took me (randomly) to the 300-foot British sailing battleship HMS Victory.

At sea, she could carry four acres of sails! The smallest sail took 1200 man-hours to stitch together. (Stored on board were dozens of spare sails).

HMS Victory carried seven anchors, nearly three hundred guns, scores of officers, over two hundred crew, provisions for all--and fresh water. In the 18th century, she was considered fast for a ship of war.

How four acres of sails on a fast "tall ship" can be measured in horsepower would require converting this very heavy ship to a fossil-fuel source of measurable power.

https://www.historyhit.com/how-did-h...hting-machine/