PS Accommodation

{{Short description|First successful steamboat built in North America}}

The Canadian Paddle Steamer Accommodation was the first successful steamboat built entirely in North America.Marsh, John. [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/accommodation "Accommodation"] in The Canadian Encyclopedia. Volume 1, p.10. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1988{{cite journal|last1=Martin|first1=Joseph E.|title=Titans|journal=Canada's History|date=2017|volume=97|issue=5|pages=47–53|issn=1920-9894}}

Financed by brewer John Molson, she was constructed by John Jackson and John Bruce in Montréal in 1809, using engines built in Forges du Saint-Maurice, Trois-Rivières (long known for ironmongery). At a cost of £2000 she had two open-faced paddle wheels and an optional sail.

Her maiden voyage was a thirty-six-hour run from Montréal to Québec City{{cite web

|url= http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3567

|title= John Molson

|accessdate= 2008-06-23

|year= 2000

|work= Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

|publisher= University of Toronto

}} on November 3, 1809.{{cite journal|last=Fleming|first=Sandford|title=Note on Early Steamboats|journal=Transactions of the Canadian Institute|date=1893|volume=3 |issue=1891–1892|page=175|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/48097#page/191/mode/1up|accessdate=1 May 2013}}

She was not a commercial success; by 1810, Molson had lost £4000 on her, and she was broken up for scrap. She nevertheless pioneered steam packets on the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes; by 1819, there were seven in regular service on the river, while the lakes featured {{PS|Frontenac}} on Lake Ontario, General Stacey Smyth on the Saint John River, and {{SS|Royal William}} (famous for making the first transatlantic crossing under steam in 1831) on the Québec City-Halifax run.Barris, Ted. "Steamboats and Paddle Wheelers" in The Canadian Encyclopedia. Volume 4, p.2075. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1988