Caledonia was the largest steamer built on the Clyde at the time and only one of the earlier ships had used the system with two engines.

The registration papers from July 1816 listed a number of owners, cooperating via the Caledonia Steam Boat Company.

[1][2][3][4] In July 1816, Caledonia embarked on the long journey from Glasgow to the Thames, where the vessel was employed on a service between London and Margate.

Watts and Boulton gradually replaced the machinery with their own products, and in order to test the endurance they took Caledonia on a trip to Rotterdam and up the Rhine.

It had, however, been necessary to use draft horses on the final part, and when the owners asked the Kingdom of Prussia for a concession for a regular service, their request was refused.

In the spring of 1818, the sidewheeler was back on the Thames, and James Watt Junior continued his experiments, among other things varying the number of paddles on each wheel.

The low number in 1819 was partly due to lack of passengers - there was a lot of mistrust against the use of steam - so every other week the ship stayed in Copenhagen and small excursions were sailed from the city.

Everybody got ill; Mrs. Bülow thought we were going to founder, and I - You know I have no trace of valour - I lay wrapped in a blanket on the deck, staring with a pale face at the grey skies that emptied themselves over us.

The satirical magazines wrote about the Caledonia sickness, which was due to the fact that the steam driven ship did not have sails to catch the wind and stabilise the movement in the water, and popular slang named the vessel "Plaske-Marlene (Splashing Marlene)".