First were sailing ships, THEN steam ships.
Before the steam engine was widely used, land transportation mainly used animal power. People rode on horseback or in horse-drawn vehicles. For sea transportation, people relied on wind power to move sailing ships. The steam engine was invented many centuries before anyone figured out how to use it.
Before electricity, Coal was used for heat. Coal heat was used to create steam for steam engines on railroads and ships in transportation.
SS means Streamship.It is usually understood to mean "Steam Ship" Some ships used TSS for "Turbine Steam Ship"
Steam clippers were sailing ships that had a steam engine amidships to be used in the absence of wind. They were also able to maneuver around a harbor easier than a sailing vessel. There were several steam clippers of note. A link is posted to one of the more famous ones, a vessel that went down with a huge treasure aboard.
Most countries have some rivers on which steam ships were used. You need to state a specific country.
Some older ships used the power of steam to propel them through the water. A boiler is used to heat water to make steam which is passed to a steam engine which turns the propeller. In ships like the Titanic the boiler was fuelled by coal but later steam ships used gas to heat the water.
Coal
Convoys were used to destroy any U-boats that were in their way.
You may be referring to the "trade winds".
Steam can be used many way for many purposes. 1) Steam is used as a drive medium in nuclear reactors to generate electric 2) Steam is used for heating large buildings and office towers 3) Steam is used in Autoclaves for sterilizing medical instruments 4) Steam was used to drive railway locomotives before the developement of diesel electric locomotives 5) Steam was used to power ocean going ships by means of a steam turbine That's just a few ideas for you
As fuel oil in the boilers of steam-turbine powered ships, perhaps.