From about 1840 to the 1960s, steam ruled the waves. Most larger vessels were steam-powered but in the past fifty years, steam has given way to diesel or oil-fired vessels. Steamships are a dying breed and each year more and more make their way to the breaker's yard. Alistair Deayton sets out to catalogue every steamship in existence, with many being illustrated, some in full colour - from the Cunard liner Queen Mary to Parson's Turbinia, with a huge variety of vessels of all sizes in between.