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.

Life and career

Fulton was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He may have become interested in steamboats in 1777 when (at the age of 12) he visited William Henry of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who had found out about Watt's steam engine on a visit to England; on return, Henry made his own engine and in 1763 — two years before Fulton was born — tried putting it in a boat, which sank.

Related Topics:
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania - Steamboat - 1777 - William Henry - Pennsylvania - Watt's steam engine - England - 1763

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When he came of age Fulton went to England to study painting. As early as 1793 he proposed plans for steam vessels to both the United States and the British Governments, and in England he met the Duke of Bridgewater, whose canal would shortly be used for trials of a steam tug, and who later ordered steam tugs from William Symington. Symington had successfully tried steamboats in 1788, and it seems probable that Fulton would have been well aware of these developments.

Related Topics:
1793 - William Symington - Steamboat - 1788

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In 1797 Fulton went to France (where the Marquis Claude de Jouffroy had made a working paddle steamer in 1783) and commenced experimenting with submarine torpedoes and torpedo boats. He designed the first practical submarine, Nautilus, commissioned by Napoleon. Nautilus was first tested in 1800. In that year he met Robert Livingston, United States Ambassador, and they decided to build a steamboat to try out on the Seine. Fulton experimented with the water resistance of hull shapes, made drawings and models and had a steamboat constructed. At the first trial it sank, but the hull was rebuilt and strengthened, and on August 9, 1803, this boat steamed up the River Seine, watched by a large crowd. The boat was 66 feet (20 m) long, 8 feet (2.4 m) beam and made between 3 and 4 miles an hour (5 and 6 km/h) against the current.

Related Topics:
1797 - Claude de Jouffroy - Paddle steamer - 1783 - Nautilus - Napoleon - 1800 - Robert Livingston - Steamboat - August 9 - 1803 - River Seine

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