A steamboat (also called a steamship or steamer) is a ship that uses a steam engine or steam turbine to move. At first, these were paddle steamboats. Some had a paddle wheel on the back. Others had two wheels on the sides. Most went down rivers. From about 1836, marine propellers, invented by Josef Ressel, were used. Claude François Jouffroy d’Abbans built the first working steamship in 1783.