Seeing Hermione's propellers leads to the suggestion that engineers would skip powered paddle wheels altogether. A reply identifies river operations as an exception. Paddle wheels can offer a shallower draught and help a vessel push itself over a bank after grounding. Those local advantages qualify the proposed wholesale shift to propellers.
Notable Point · 8:21:12-8:21:50
Why propellers would still leave a role for river paddle wheels
A claim that early propellers would displace paddle wheels meets a river-specific qualification about draught and grounding.