Henry Bell was born at Torphichen in 1767 and, after a solid but unspectacular education, he tried his hand to various professions with little distinction before returning to Glasgow in 1790 where he spent several years as a joiner. Towards the end of the century, Bell became interested in the application of steam to ship propulsion and was in contact with Symington who was experimenting at this time with the Charlotte Dundas on the Forth and Clyde Canal.
Henry Bell
To escape the squalour of urban life, many of the better-off Glaswegians were following the fashion set by the Prince of Wales of “taking the waters.” Favourite places for this practise were Largs, Gourock and the town of Helensburgh that had been laid down as a model town in the latter part of the eighteenth century by Sir James Colquhoun but had failed to attract any industry. In 1808, Henry Bell moved to the recently completed Baths Hotel in Helensburgh where his wife was proprietress and was faced with a seemingly ideal problem to solve: the transportation of the hotel’s clients to and from Glasgow.
Most of the river trade was centered on the stretch between Glasgow and Greenock and was a slow, uncertain business. Passengers embarked in “fly-boats” whose progress depended on the wind and tide and generally exceeded twelve hours on the passage. Bell seems to have been involved in early experiments where a “fly-boat” was modified to be worked by paddles rather than by oars but the enterprise was not a success.
Bell tried running a coach between Glasgow and Helensburgh. As noted by McLeod, “The coach which Henry Bell, of steamboat notoriety, ran from Glasgow to Helensburgh before 1812 used to tarry at Bowling Inn for an hour, so that its passengers and horses might be refreshed. Peter Chalmers was then ‘mine host.’ The coach ran in summer time only, and then three days a week from each end. The twenty two miles’ journey was performed in six hours. The fare, including fees, was—inside, 8s; outside, 6s. Henry Bell’s brother, Thomas, was the driver, and a great favourite he was with the travelling public. It was to develop the trade of the Bath’s Inn, Helensburgh, that Bell put on the road the coach of which he was proprietor.”
However, Bell’s primary interests lay in steam navigation, and he entered into an agreement with John Woods (senior) who had a shipyard at Port Glasgow for the construction of a wooden hull. Orders were also placed with John Robertson of Glasgow for a 3 h.p. steam engine and with David Napier for a boiler, emphasizing the rather makeshift nature of the project. John Wood (senior) died in 1811 but his eldest son, also John, who had been apprenticed at the famous Brocklebank’s yard in Whitehaven, returned to the family business and built the hull.
Plans of the Comet
Towards the end of 1811 the keel of the ship was laid down at Wood’s yard in Port Glasgow, the contract price being undisclosed. Anxious to keep down the cost of the project, Bell procured a small side-lever engine with a cylinder of 11 inches diameter and 16 inches stroke yielding about 3-horse power, which Robertson was building as a speculative venture. The cost was £165, but Robertson considered it underpowered. A boiler was obtained from David Napier who noted that the design, with internal flues, presented considerable difficulty and after experimenting with cast iron, was eventually made from malleable iron. Bell gave Napier a promisory note for the boiler for £52.
Comet’s Engine with John Robertson
The engine was supplied in April of 1812 and the little steamer Comet was launched with steam-up about the middle of the summer. She was 43 feet 6 inches long, 11 feet 4 inches beam, 5 feet 9 inches deep and was 24 58/94 tons burden. The boiler and engine were placed amidships on opposite sides of the boat. The engine drove four paddles, two on either side of the boat with floats measuring 15 inches by 12 inches. The funnel was tall and was fitted with a yard on which a square sail could be hoisted. The whole boat was brightly painted, having for her figurehead a lady garbed in all the colours of the rainbow. Passenger accommodation was somewhat spartan. There were two small cabins, one aft of the engines, entered from the after-end and fitted all round with presses and concealed beds. In front of these were plain deal seats and in the center of the floor, a deal table.
Text of Comet’s Advertisement
Sailings commenced at the beginning of August 1812 and she was advertised to leave the Broomielaw on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at mid-day or as soon afterwards as may answer for the state of the tide, returning from Greenock on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It is stated also that a vessel would be on hand to convey passengers from Greenock to Helensburgh where Bell’s wife continued to run the Baths Hotel. The Comet’s maiden voyage from Port Glasgow to the Broomielaw took place on the 6th of August, covering the distance in just three and a half hours. Bell was on board, as was John Robertson. The crew consisted of William McKenzie as skipper, Duncan McInnes as pilot, Robert Robertson, John Robertson’s brother to tend the engines aided by a fireman and William Douglas.
Comet passing Dumbarton Castle
A few days later Comet sailed from the Broomielaw with a few passengers, two of whom were so alarmed that they left the steamer at Bowling to walk the remaining miles to Helensburgh. The steamer however reached Custom House Quay without incident.
There are a few anecdotes recounted of the performance of the vessel. McLeod relates “An old man told us some time ago that he remembered seeing Comet lying aground off Frisky Hall, and a disturbance having arisen among the passengers, two of them were put over the side and forced to wade ashore.” “An old gentleman, seventy-seven years of age, and who has been connected with the Clyde for upwards of fifty years, informed the author a short time ago that he made a voyage in the Comet in 1812. He left Greenock at 10:00 a.m. for Glasgow, but, in consequence of a ripple of a head wind, it was 2:00 p.m. before they got to Bowling, 10½ miles above Greenock, where all the passengers were landed and had to walk to Glasgow, owing to the want of water, the tide having ebbed. It was no uncommon occurrence for the passengers, when the little steamer was getting exhausted, to take to turning the fly-wheel to assist her.” Kennedy relates: “A correspondent relates regarding one Dougal Jamson, a Clyde skipper, of the time of the Comet, that whenever the steamboat passed his slow going sloop, he invariably piped all hands – a man and a boy – and bade them “Kneel down and thank God, that ye sail wi’ the Almichty’s ain win’, and no wi’ the deevil’s sunfire and brimstane, like that spluttery thing there.” Williamson relates an anecdote from Captain William Orr, of Greenock: “I was born in Greenock not far from the river side, and have a distinct recollection when the Comet first came to our quays, and of the opinion then entertained about her by many in our town. When she would be reported as coming round Bailie Gammell’s Point, all of us children ran down the quay to see her blow up and see the sailors and passellgers ‘fleein’ in the air.’ We were not much disappointed at the time, as it was sure to happen soon.”
Comet in the moonlight
Comet continued on the Greenock service for a month. However there were severe problems with the vessel. She was badly under-powered and the after pair of paddle wheels interfered with the steering of the vessel and added nothing to her speed. Bell had the steamer beached at Helensburgh during the winter months and a new cylinder 12½ inches in diameter and 16 inches stroke was fitted and the after pair of paddle wheels removed. The adjustments to the engine increased the power of the engine to 4 horse power and in this modified form Comet could manage a speed of 7 knots but she was still no great success on account of her considerable draft and the shallowness of the upper river.
“The state of the river in those days presented many difficulties for the steamboat. The between Greenock and Glasgow, a distance of about 24 miles by land, and about 21 by water. Near Glasgow the river is very narrow, having been much contracted for the purpose of improving the navigation. At Glasgow, the river was very narrow, only 140 feet wide, increasing to about about 170 feet wide by Govan and 230 feet wide by Yoker. At Dumbarton it is nearly two miles wide, broadening to five miles at Greenock. The tides flow about 4 hours and 20 minutes; but much depends on the weather and the direction of the winds. Neap tides, at Glasgow, are at most 3½ feet. Spring tides about 5½; and vessels drawing 9½ feet water, can come at ordinary spring tides to Glasgow. The current here, during a high fresh, runs at the rate of about 4 miles an hour. The current of ordinary tides averages about 2½ miles an hour; but is strongest during the ebbing.
“There are many shallows in the river, particularly at Bowling Bay, 10 miles below Glasgow, near the junction of the Forth and Clyde Canals. Here the deepest part of the stream at low water, was not, until of late, known to be greater than 1 foot 6 inches to 2 feet 8 inches during dry seasons. Of late, however, in consequence of the formation of stone dykes, it has been increased to about 3 feet in depth. In common tides, the first turning at Port-Glasgow is 2 hours and 45 minutes earlier than at Glasgow.”