Episode 3 of 3
Towing Trial
- When
- March 1803
- Where
- Forth and Clyde Canal
In March 1803, the Charlotte Dundas towed two 70-ton barges 30 km along the Forth and Clyde Canal to Glasgow.
After improvements, the boat towed two 70-ton barges 30 km to Glasgow in March 1803. Despite a strong breeze right ahead, which stopped other canal boats, the journey took nine and a quarter hours. This demonstrated the practicality of steam power for ships, achieving an average speed of about 3 km/h.
Sources
- Charlotte Dundas Wikipedia, revision of 2026-01-21
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.