<Tr> <Td> Speed: </Td> <Td> About 10mph (under steam) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Notes: </Td> <Td> World's first screw - propelled steamship </Td> </Tr> <P> SS Archimedes was a steamship built in Britain in 1839 . She is notable for being the world's first steamship to be driven by a screw propeller . </P> <P> Archimedes had considerable influence on ship development, encouraging the adoption of screw propulsion by the Royal Navy, in addition to her influence on commercial vessels . She also had a direct influence on the design of another innovative vessel, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain, then the world's largest ship and the first screw - propelled steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean . </P>

World's first steamship driven by a screw propeller