Myth Buster: Did the Swallow steamship have sails?

[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.