Seine River Steamers The Élise was the first steam ship to cross the English Channel. She was bought in England 1814 by Pierre Andriel as" Margery", and renamed "Élise". Andriel intended to accomplish a spectacular crossing of the Channel to convince public opinion that steam ships could be ocean-worthy. She sailed up the Seine and arrived in Paris on 28 March, becoming a popular sensation. Two small saluting guns were mounted at the bow and fired in honour of Louis XVIII Early tugs used chains in the river to tow trains of barges up river. The low steam pressure and low power of
Seine River Steamers Sights-seeing steamers were built and steamed up and down the river, and under the low bridges. And they became a hit. The individual pieces of the Statue of Liberty were barged down the Seine from the workshop, to a waiting ocean steamer for transhipment to New York about 1881. Louis Vuitton established his factory on the Seine at Asni so wood for his steamer trunks could be moved on the river Floating swimming pools featured on the Seine, as did a series of laundries. The pools, dating from 1801and were used in the 1924 Olympics. River steamers were used as