Robert Fulton

Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was a US engineer and inventor widely credited with developing the first steam-powered ship.

First steamboat

At about this time Fulton wrote to James Watt of Boulton & Watt, ordering an engine to be built to his plans, and in 1804 he returned to England. In 1802 Symington's Charlotte Dundas had towed two 70 ton barges along the Forth and Clyde Canal, demonstrating the practicality of steam power. Although Fulton probably never saw this boat, he apparently had correspondence with Henry Bell who was taking a keen interest in it. Fulton now worked on torpedo experiments, also corresponding with William Murdoch on the design & technical details of his Boulton & Watt steam engine engine. When this was completed he had it delivered to New York, sailing there seperately himself and arriving at the end of 1806. A suitable hull was built for what would be the first commercially successful Paddle steamer.

Related Topics:
James Watt - Boulton & Watt - 1804 - 1802 - Charlotte Dundas - Forth and Clyde Canal - Henry Bell - William Murdoch - Boulton & Watt steam engine - New York - 1806 - Paddle steamer

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The name of Fulton's first steamboat is often given as the Clermont. In fact, he never called it by that name, generally referring to it simply as the North River Steamboat, but the name often appears in the literature. (Clermont was the name of the home of his partner, Mr. Livingston, located 110 miles away on the Hudson River to which the steamboat traveled on its initial voyage. The trip to Albany continued after 20 hours were spent at Clermont). The Clermont left New York City for Albany, New York on the Hudson River on August 17, 1807, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world. The initial voyage of Fulton's monster was described as follows in an 1870 publication http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/15161:

Related Topics:
Hudson River - New York City - Albany, New York - August 17

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:The surprise and dismay excited among the crews of these vessels by the appearance of the steamer was extreme. These simple people, the majority of whom had heard nothing of Fulton's experiments, beheld what they supposed to be a huge monster, vomiting fire and smoke from its throat, lashing the water with its fins, and shaking the river with its roar, approaching rapidly in the very face of both wind and tide. Some threw themselves flat on the deck of their vessels, where they remained in an agony of terror until the monster had passed, while others took to their boats and made for the shore in dismay, leaving their vessels to drift helplessly down the stream. Nor was this terror confined to the sailors. The people dwelling along the shore crowded the banks to gaze upon the steamer as she passed by.

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Fulton patented his design for a steamboat on February 11, 1809, built more steamboats and designed the first steam powered warship, the Fulton the First. The keel was laid in 1814, but he did not live to see it completed.

Related Topics:
February 11 - 1809 - 1814

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