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Title: Fulton's "Steam Battery": Blockship and Catamaran

Author: Howard I. Chapelle

Release Date: February 4, 2010 [EBook #31179]

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[Transcriber's Notes:

This is Paper 39 from the Smithsonian Institution United States National
Museum Bulletin 240, comprising Papers 34-44, which will also be
available as a complete e-book.

The front material, introduction and relevant index entries from the
Bulletin are included in each single-paper e-book.

Note that several Figures in this paper consist of two images separated
from each other in the original layout, with separate labels. These
separate labels are preserved in this text only version.

Typographical errors have been corrected as follows:

    P152: "the _Simon & Jude_, later called _Invention I_" (was "latter").
    P159: "Its importance is that it..." (was "is that is").
    Index: "Emmet, ----, 144" (was Emmett).]




SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM

BULLETIN 240


[Illustration]

SMITHSONIAN PRESS


MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY

  CONTRIBUTIONS
  FROM THE
  MUSEUM
  OF HISTORY AND
  TECHNOLOGY

  _Papers 34-44_
  _On Science and Technology_

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION . WASHINGTON, D.C. 1966




_Publications of the United States National Museum_

The scholarly and scientific publications of the United States National
Museum include two series, _Proceedings of the United States National
Museum_ and _United States National Museum Bulletin_.

In these series, the Museum publishes original articles and monographs
dealing with the collections and work of its constituent museums--The
Museum of Natural History and the Museum of History and
Technology--setting forth newly acquired facts in the fields of
anthropology, biology, history, geology, and technology. Copies of each
publication are distributed to libraries, to cultural and scientific
organizations, and to specialists and others interested in the different
subjects.

The _Proceedings_, begun in 1878, are intended for the publication, in
separate form, of shorter papers from the Museum of Natural History.
These are gathered in volumes, octavo in size, with the publication date
of each paper recorded in the table of contents of the volume.

In the _Bulletin_ series, the first of which was issued in 1875, appear
longer, separate publications consisting of monographs (occasionally in
several parts) and volumes in which are collected works on related
subjects. _Bulletins_ are either octavo or quarto in size, depending on
the needs of the presentation. Since 1902 papers relating to the
botanical collections of the Museum of Natural History have been
published in the _Bulletin_ series under the heading _Contributions from
the United States National Herbarium_, and since 1959, in _Bulletins_
titled "Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology," have
been gathered shorter papers relating to the collections and research of
that Museum.

The present collection of Contributions, Papers 34-44, comprises
Bulletin 240. Each of these papers has been previously published in
separate form. The year of publication is shown on the last page of each
paper.

  FRANK A. TAYLOR
  _Director, United States National Museum_




  CONTRIBUTIONS FROM
  THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY:

  PAPER 39

  FULTON'S "STEAM BATTERY":
  BLOCKSHIP AND CATAMARAN

  _Howard I. Chapelle_




SURVIVING DESIGNS FOR FLOATING BATTERIES    145

CONTROVERSIAL DESCRIPTIONS                  147

COPENHAGEN PLANS                            150

HISTORY OF DOUBLE-HULL CRAFT                152

SAIL AND INBOARD PLANS                      157

RECONSTRUCTING THE PLANS                    161

APPENDIX                                    167

[FOOTNOTES]

[INDEX]

[Illustration: Figure 1.--SCALE MODEL of Fulton's _Steam Battery_ in
the Museum of History and Technology. (Smithsonian photo P-63390-F.)]




_Howard I. Chapelle_

FULTON'S "STEAM BATTERY": BLOCKSHIP and CATAMARAN

_Robert Fulton's "Steam Battery," a catamaran-type blockship, was built
during the War of 1812. Until recently, not enough material has been
available to permit a reasonably accurate reconstruction of what is
generally acknowledged to be the first steam man-of-war._

_With the discovery, in the Danish Royal Archives at Copenhagen, of
plans of this vessel, it is now possible to prepare a reconstruction and
to build a model._

_This article summarizes the history of the vessel, describes the plans
and the reconstruction, and also evaluates its design with particular
attention to the double-hull construction._

THE AUTHOR: _Howard I. Chapelle is curator of transportation in the
Smithsonian Institution's Museum of History and Technology._


The identity of the first steam man-of-war has been known for many
years, and a great deal has been written and published on the history of
this American vessel. Until recently, the only available drawing of the
ship has been a patent drawing made for Robert Fulton. This does not
comply with contemporary descriptions of the steamer and the drawing or
plan is out of proportion with the known dimensions. The lack of plans
has heretofore made it impossible to illustrate the vessel with any
degree of precision, or to build a scale model.

The discovery in 1960 of some of the plans of this historic ship in the
Danish Royal Archives at Copenhagen now makes possible a reasonably
accurate reconstruction of the vessel and also clarifies some of the
incomplete and often confusing descriptions by contemporary writers.

Of the numerous published accounts of the ship that are available, the
most complete is David B. Tyler's "Fulton's Steam Frigate."[1] A
contemporary description of the vessel by the British Minister to
Washington, 1820-23, Stratford Canning, was published by Arthur J.
May.[2] In _Naval and Mail Steamers of the United States_, by Charles B.
Stuart,[3] and _The Steam Navy of the United States_, by Frank M.
Bennett,[4] the history of the ship and some descriptive facts are
given. Stuart, in an appendix, gives in full the report of the
Supervisory Committee (set up to administer the building contract).
Tyler and Stuart, and the Committee Report are the principal sources
from which the following summary of the ship's history is drawn.

[Text of Illustration: Plate N^o. 1.

"DEMOLOGOS"

Figure 1^st. _Transverse section A her Boiler. B the steam Engine. C the
water wheel. E E her wooden walls 5 feet thick, diminishing to below the
waterline as at F.F draught of water 9 feet D D her gun deck_

_Scale 1/12 inch=1 foot_

Waterline

_Scale 1/24 inch=1 foot_

Figure II^d. _This shews her gun deck, 140 feet long 24 feet wide,
mounting 20 guns. A the Water wheel_

Figure III^d

_Side View_

_Scale 1/24 inch=1 foot_

ROBERT FULTON

_November 1813._

_S M^c Elroy del._

_"Stuart's Naval & Mail Steamers U.S."_

_Sarony & Major. Eng. N.Y._]

[Illustration: Figure 2.--"DEMOLOGOS," A WOOD ENGRAVING based on the
sketch which Robert Fulton showed to President Madison in 1813. This
wood engraving appears as plate 1 in Charles B. Stuart's _Naval and Mail
Steamers of the United States_, and illustrates the section on Naval
Steamers, from which the account "The Demologos; or, Fulton the First,"
is here reproduced (pp. 167-171). Stuart obtained the sketch, assumed to
have been made for Fulton's patent on the design of the _Steam Battery_,
from the files of the U.S. Navy Department.]

On December 24, 1813, Robert Fulton invited a group of
friends--prominent merchants, professional men and naval officers--to
his home in New York City and there presented a proposal for a project
of great local interest. At that time the War of 1812 was in its second
year and the economic effect of the British naval blockade was being
felt severely. The blockade cut off seaborne trade and posed a constant
threat of attack upon New York and other important ports, particularly
Baltimore. To defend the ports, it had been proposed to build mobile
floating batteries or heavily built and armed hulks with small sailing
rigs, but the high cost of these and their doubtful value in helping to
break the blockade, compared to the value and action of a very heavy,
large frigate, or a 74-gun ship, caused authorities to hesitate to
proceed with the construction of any blockships or floating batteries.

Fulton's proposal concerned a floating battery propelled by steam
power. He believed that steam propulsion not only would give it
effective maneuverability with no loss of gunpower, but also would allow
a successful attack upon the Royal Navy blockading ships during periods
of protracted calm, when sailing men-of-war were nearly helpless. The
blockaders then could be attacked and picked off, one by one, by the
heavily armed steamboat.

Among those present at the meeting was Major General Henry Dearborn, a
leading citizen and soldier who was later to become noted in American
political history. The first step taken during this meeting was the
founding of the Coast and Harbor Defense Company with Dearborn as
president, Fulton as engineer, and Thomas Morris as secretary. Next, a
committee was established to raise funds from Federal, State, and New
York City governments as well as from individual contributors to build
the battery. The members of this committee consisted of General
Dearborn, Commodore Stephen Decatur, U.S.N.; General Morgan Lewis;
Commodore Jacob Jones; U.S.N.; Noah Brown, shipbuilder; Samuel L.
Mitchill; Henry Rutgers; and Thomas Morris.

The committee proved cumbersome and was reduced to General Lewis, Issac
Bronson, Henry Rutgers, Nathan Sanford, Thomas Morris, Oliver Wolcott,
and John Jacob Astor. Known as the Coast Defense Society and with the
name of _Pyremon_ given the ship in prospectus, they attempted,
unsuccessfully, to raise funds privately.

The estimated sums to build a battery 130 feet long, with a 50-foot
beam, capable of a speed of 5 mph, and carrying 24 long guns (18-pdr.),
was $110,000. Fulton, still the chief engineer, in an effort to interest
the Federal Government, built a model of the proposed vessel and
submitted it to some prominent naval officers--Commodore Stephen
Decatur, Jacob Jones, James Biddle, Samuel Evans, Oliver Perry, Samuel
Warrington, and Jacob Lewis. All gave their support to the Society in a
written statement and this recommendation proved helpful to the project
in Congress and in the Navy Department. In the process of passing a bill
which went to the Senate Naval Affairs Committee calling for $250,000
for the construction of the floating battery, the sum was raised to
$1,500,000 for the construction of "one or more" floating batteries and
passed on March 9, 1814.

To supervise the start of construction, the Coast Defense Society
appointed a committee consisting of Dearborn, Wolcott, Morris, Mitchill,
and Rutgers, with Fulton as engineer, and a model and drawing of the
proposed vessel was submitted to the Patent Office. The Secretary of the
Navy, although supporting the project, delayed action until he had
weighed the importance of the batteries in relation to other war needs,
for at this time the naval shipbuilding program on the Great Lakes was
considered of prime importance. He also raised some technical questions
concerning the design of the batteries, which Fulton answered with a
description of the vessel as 138 feet on deck, 120 feet on the keel, 55
feet beam (each hull to have a 20-foot beam and the "race" between to be
15 feet wide), draft 8 or 9 feet loaded, and the intended speed was to
be 4-1/2 to 5 mph. The ship was to carry 24 long guns (32-pdr.), the
engine was to be 130 hp, and the total cost, $200,000. In his letters to
the Secretary of the Navy, Fulton stated that Adam and Noah Brown would
build the hull for $69,800 and that he would build the engine, machinery
and boilers for $78,000, a total of $147,800. He intended to have the
boilers, valves, fastenings, and air pumps of brass or copper, which
would raise the machinery costs 59 percent above that of stationary
engines and boilers then in use.

On May 23, 1814, the Secretary of the Navy authorized the Coast Defense
Society and its committee to act as Navy agents and to enter into the
contracts required to build a vessel, and to draw on the Navy
storekeepers or Navy Yard commandants for such stores or articles on
hand needed for construction. The contracts were prepared and the
committee now was officially empowered to act for the Society, with
Rutgers, Wolcott, Morris, Dearborn, Mitchill, and Fulton. On June 4,
Dearborn asked the Navy Department for $25,000 advance, for work had
started. On the 6th, he informed the Secretary that he had been ordered
to assume command of the defenses of Boston and that Rutgers had been
appointed chairman of the construction committee in his place.

It is apparent that the Navy Department was pressed for funds, due to
the very extensive shipbuilding programs on Lakes Erie, Ontario, and
Champlain in addition to the seagoing vessels being built in some of the
coastal ports. This was certainly one cause for the Secretary of the
Navy's reluctance to carry out the requirements of the bill passed by
Congress immediately after its signature and, also, this reluctance
caused the supervisory committee much embarrassment in its
administration of the contract.

Another factor which caused difficulty in the administration of the
contract was the position of Adam and Noah Brown. The brothers were
deeply involved in the shipbuilding program on the Lakes, in which they
were associated at times with Henry Eckford. The Browns constructed a
blockhouse, shops, and quarters at Erie; in addition to Perry's two
brigs and five of his schooners, they also built some of the Lake
Ontario vessels and, later, the _Saratoga_ on Lake Champlain. In their
New York yard, whose operation continued throughout the war, they built
some large letter-of-marques: the _General Armstrong_, _Prince de
Neufchatel_, _Zebra_, _Paul Jones_, and some smaller vessels. They also
cut down the 2-decked, merchant ship _China_ into a single flush-deck
letter-of-marque, renamed _Yorktown_; and they had a contract to build
the sloop-of-war _Peacock_. It is remarkable that the Browns could
undertake and complete so much work between 1813 and 1815 and still be
able to build the steam battery in a very short time.

With the contracts in order, the Browns began building. The keels of the
battery were laid June 20, 1814. It is apparent that the Browns prepared
the original hull plans, undoubtedly before the building authority was
obtained. The vessel required only about four months to build; she was
launched October 29, 1814, at 9 a.m. This was an excellent performance,
considering the size of the vessel, the amount of timber required and
handled in her massive construction, and the other work being done by
the builders. During the ship's construction, sightseers were a nuisance
and finally guards had to be obtained. During the building of the steam
battery, work had to be practically stopped on the sloop-of-war
_Peacock_ at one period after she had been partially planked.

There were difficulties in obtaining metalwork for the vessel during her
construction, due to the blockade and the demand for such material for
other shipbuilding at New York. On November 21, 1814, the ship was towed
from the Browns' yard on the East River by Fulton's _Car of Neptune_ and
_Fulton_, each lashed to the sides of the battery, and taken to Fulton's
works on the North River. There Fulton supervised in person the
completion of the vessel and construction of her machinery. Undoubtedly
only a little of his time was required in inspection of the Browns' work
on the battery, for the shipbuilders had been closely associated with
Fulton throughout the life of the project and were fully capable as ship
designers. The work on the machinery was another matter, however, for
men capable of working metal were scarce and few workmen could read
plans. Fulton had some of the work done outside of his own plant,
particularly the brass and copper work (mostly by John Youle's foundry).
As a result, Fulton was required to move from plant to plant, keeping
each job under almost constant observation and personally supervising
the workmen. The equipment then available for building a large engine
was inadequate in many ways. The large steam cylinder presented a
problem: it had to be recast several times and some of the other parts
gave trouble, either in casting or in machining and fitting.

[Illustration: Figure 3.--SCALE MODEL of _Steam Battery_, showing double
hull, in the Museum of History and Technology. (Smithsonian photo
P-63390-D.)]

Guns for the battery were another problem. Only 3 long guns (32-pdr.),
were available at the Navy Yard. The Secretary of the Navy promised some
captured guns then at Philadelphia. Because of the blockade, these had
to come overland to New York. The captured guns thus obtained were
probably English, part of the cargo of the British ship _John of
Lancaster_ captured by the frigate _President_ early in the war.
Apparently 24 guns were obtained this way; only 2 were obtained from the
Navy Yard. In July the Supervising Committee carried out some
experimental damage studies, in which a 32-pdr. was fired at a target
representing a section of the topsides of the battery. Drawings of the
result were sent to the Secretary of the Navy.

Further problems arose over the delays of the government in making
payments: the banks discounted the Treasury notes, so the Committee
members had to advance $5,000 out of their own pockets. There was fear
that British agents might damage the vessel, and although the project
was undoubtedly known to the British, no evidence of any act of sabotage
was ever found. Captain David Porter was assigned to the command of the
battery in November, and it was upon his request that the vessel was
later rigged with sails.

With the _Steam Battery_ approaching completion, the Secretary of the
Navy became more enthusiastic and the construction of other batteries of
this type was again proposed. Captain Stiles, a Baltimore merchant,
offered to build a steam battery, the hull to cost $50,000; the entire
cost of the vessel, $150,000, was raised in Baltimore and the frames of
a battery erected. Another battery was projected at Philadelphia and the
Secretary of the Navy wanted one or more built at Sackett's Harbor, but
naval officers and Fulton objected. A bill put before Congress to
authorize another half million to build steam batteries passed the first
reading January 9, 1815, went to the House February 22, 1815, but the
end of the war prevented any further action on it.

On February 24, 1815, Fulton died. He had been to Trenton, New Jersey,
to attend a hearing on the steamboat monopoly and, on the way back, the
ferry on North River was caught in the ice. Fulton and his lawyer,
Emmet, had to walk over the ice to get ashore. On the way, Emmet fell
through and Fulton got wet and chilled while helping him. After two or
three days in bed Fulton went to his foundry to inspect the battery's
machinery causing a relapse from which he died. This resulted in some
delay in completing the machinery and stopped work on the _Mute_, an
80-foot, manually propelled, torpedo boat that Fulton was having built
in the Browns' yard.

It was decided to suspend work on the Baltimore battery after an
expenditure of $61,500, but the New York battery was to be completed to
prove the project was practical. The final payment of $50,000 was made
four months after it was requested.

Charles Stoudinger, Fulton's foreman or superintendent, was able to
complete and install the ship's machinery. On June 10, 1815, the vessel
was given a short trial run in the harbor with Stoudinger and the Navy
inspector, Captain Smith, on board. This trial revealed the need of some
mechanical alterations; sails were not used, and it was found she could
stem the strong tide and a fresh headwind. The vessel also was visited
by the officers of French men-of-war at anchor in the harbor.

On July 4, 1815, she was given another trial. She left Fulton's works at
Corlear's Hook at 9 a.m., ran out to Sandy Hook Lighthouse, bore west
and returned, a total of 53 miles under steam, reaching her slip at 5:20
p.m. She was found to steer "like a pilot boat." This prolonged trial
revealed that the stokehold was not sufficiently ventilated and more
deck openings were required. The windsails used in existing hatches were
inadequate. The paddle wheel was too low and had to be raised 18 inches,
and there were still some desirable modifications to be made in the
machinery.

On September 11, 1815, she was again given a trial run. All alterations
had been made, including the addition of hatches and raising the paddle
wheel, and her battery was on board with all stores, supplies, and
equipment. She had 26 long guns (32-pdr.), mounted on pivoted carriages,
and now drew 10 feet 4 inches. On this day she left her slip at 8:38
a.m. and went through the Narrows into the Lower Bay, where she
maneuvered around the new frigate _Java_ at anchor there. The battery
then was given a thorough trial under steam and sail and, with the ship
underway, her guns were fired to see if concussion would damage the
machinery. The vessel was found to be a practical one, capable of
meeting the government's requirements in all respects; her speed was
5-1/2 knots. However, the stokehold temperature had reached 116 deg.
Fahrenheit! She returned to her slip at 7:00 p.m.

On December 28, 1815, the Committee in a written report to the
Secretary of the Navy,[5] gave a description of the vessel and praised
her performance. At this time a set of plans was made by "Mr. Morgan,"
of whom no other reference has appeared, and sent to the Navy
Department. These cannot now be found. The Committee recommended the
battery be commissioned and used for training purposes. This suggestion
was not followed.

The ship remained in her slip during the winter, and in June 1816 she
was turned over to the Navy and delivered to Captain Samuel Evans,
commandant of the New York Navy Yard. Captain Joseph Bainbridge was
assigned to her command. However, she was not commissioned and soon
after her delivery she was housed over and placed "in ordinary," that
is, laid up. The final settlement showed that the Committee, as Navy
agents, had paid out $286,162.12 with $872.00 unpaid, as well as a claim
for $3,364.00 by Adam and Noah Brown, making a total of $290,398.12.

The following year, on June 18, 1817, she was unroofed and put into
service with a small crew. With President James Monroe on board, she
left the Navy Yard about noon for a short trip to the Narrows and then
to Staten Island and returned in the evening. The next day she was again
placed "in ordinary."

Four years later, in 1821, when her guns and machinery were removed, it
was found that she was rapidly becoming rotten. She was then utilized as
a receiving ship. At 2:30 p.m. on June 4, 1829, she blew up, killing 24
men and 1 woman, with 19 persons listed as injured. Among those killed
was one officer, Lt. S. M. Brackenridge. Two lieutenants and a Sailing
Master were hurt, four midshipmen were severely injured, and five
persons were listed as missing. The explosion of 2-1/2 barrels of
condemned gunpowder was sufficient, due to her rotten condition, to
destroy the ship completely. A Court of Inquiry blamed a 60-year-old
gunner, who supposedly entered a magazine with a candle to get powder
for the evening gun. It was stated to the court that about 300 pounds of
powder in casks and in cartridges was on board the ship at the time.[3]

She was not replaced until the coast-defense steamer _Fulton_ was built
in 1837-38, though in 1822 the Navy purchased for $16,000 a "steam
galliot" of 100 tons, the _Sea Gull_, to be used as a dispatch boat for
the West Indian squadron engaged in suppressing piracy during 1823. In
1825 she was laid up at Philadelphia, and in 1840 she was sold for
$4,750.

It is a curious fact that the battery did not receive an official name,
as did the sailing blockship on the ways at New Orleans, which at the
end of the War of 1812 was officially listed as the _Tchifonta_. Nor was
the battery given a number, as were the gunboats. In official
correspondence and lists, the steam battery is referred to as the
"Fulton Steam Frigate," or as the "Steam Battery," but in later years
she was referred to as the "Fulton" or "Fulton the First." Perhaps the
explanation is that as she was the only one of her kind she was not
numbered, and as she was not considered fit for coastal or extended
ocean voyages, she was not given a name.


Surviving Designs for Floating Batteries

The designs of American blockships that have survived are those of the
_Tchifonta_,[6] 145 feet long, 43-foot moulded beam, 8-foot 6-inch depth
in hold, and about 152 feet 9 inches on deck. She was to carry a battery
of 22 long guns (32-pdr.), on the main deck 12 carronades (42-pdr.), on
forecastle and quarter decks. She was to have been rigged to rather
lofty and very square topgallant sails, and would have been capable of
sailing fairly well, though of rather shoal draft, drawing only about 8
feet 6 inches when ready for service. She was sold on the stocks at the
end of the war and her later history is not known.

Another and earlier design for a blockship, or floating battery, was
prepared by Christian Bergh for Captain Charles Stewart in 1806. This
was a sailing vessel for the defense of the port of New York, planned to
mount 40 guns (32-pdr.), on her two lower decks and 14 carronades
(42-pdr.), on her spar deck. She was to be 103 feet 6 inches between
perpendiculars, a 44-foot moulded beam, 10-foot depth of hold, and
drawing about 9 feet when ready for service. She was intended to be
ship-rigged, but was never built.[7] A few small sloop-rigged block
vessels also were built during Jefferson's administration. The
sloop-of-war _Saratoga_, built on Lake Champlain by the Browns, in 1813,
was practically a blockship. A plan for a proposed "Guard Ship," or
"Floating Battery," was made by James Marsh at Charleston, South
Carolina, in 1814. This was an unrigged battery, 200 feet extreme
length, 50-foot moulded beam, 9-foot depth of hold, to mount 32 guns
(42-pdr.), on a flush deck, with a covering deck above.[8]

[Illustration: Figure 4.--DESIGN FOR AN UNRIGGED FLOATING BATTERY
proposed by James Marsh, Charleston, South Carolina, March 14, 1814.]

Through the courtesy of the trustees of the National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, England, the Rigsarkivet, Copenhagen, Denmark, and the
Statens Sjoehistoriska Museum, Stockholm, Sweden, the author has been
able to illustrate in this article the designs of some of the early
floating batteries.

In the last quarter of the 18th century and later, the Danes had built
sail-propelled floating batteries or blockships, which were employed in
the defense of Copenhagen. The British built at least one sail-propelled
battery, the _Spanker_, in 1794. This was a scow of very angular form
with overhanging gun-deck, bomb-ketch-rigged, and about 120 feet overall
42-foot 4 inches moulded beam and 8-foot depth of hold. She is said to
have been a failure due to her unseaworthy proportions and form; the
overhanging gun deck and sides were objected to in particular. She is
called a "Stationary Battery" in her plans, which are in the Admiralty
Collection of Draughts, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.


Controversial Descriptions

The contemporary descriptions of the Fulton _Steam Battery_ do not
agree. This was in part due to differences between the dimensions given
out by Fulton during the negotiations with the Federal Government, and
after the ship's construction was authorized. From the context of
various statements concerning the projected vessel, such as that of the
naval officers, the changes in the intended dimensions of the ship can
be seen. For example, the officers state the model and plan shown them
would produce a battery carrying 24 guns (24- and 32-pdrs.), and a letter
from Fulton to Jones,[9] shows she was to be 138 feet on deck and
55-foot beam. The final reported dimensions, given by the Supervisory
Committee,[10] are 156 feet length, 56 feet beam, and 20 feet depth.

In addition there are a few foreign accounts which give dimensions and
descriptions. The most complete was probably that of Jean Baptiste
Marestier, a French naval constructor who visited the United States soon
after the end of the War of 1812 and published a report on American
steamboats in 1824.[11] The _Steam Battery_ is barely mentioned though a
drawing of one of her boilers is given. Marestier made another report on
the American Navy, however. Extensive searches have been made for this
in Paris over the last 14 years, but this paper has not been found in
any of the French archives. References to the original text indicate
that the naval report dealt very extensively with the _Steam Battery_.
Some of his comments on the battery appeared in _Proces-verbaux des
Seances de l'Academie des Sciences_.[12] Marestier considered the powers
of the battery to have been overrated due to fanciful accounts of some
laymen writers. He was aware of the shortcomings of the double hull in a
steam vessel at the then-possible speeds, but he apparently thought two
engines, one in each hull and each with its boilers would be better than
Fulton's arrangement of boilers in one hull and engine in the other. He
noted that the paddle wheel turned 16-18 rpm and that steam pressure
sustained a column of mercury 25 to 35 centimeters. The safety valve was
set at 50 centimeters. Fuel consumption was 3-5/8 cords of pine wood per
hour.

In view of the access Marestier is known to have had to American naval
constructors, shipbuilders, and engineers, it is highly probable that he
not only obtained the building plan of the ship but also some of the
earlier project plans from the builders and from Fulton's
superintendent, Stoudinger. It is, therefore, a great misfortune that
his lengthy report on the _Battery_ cannot be produced.

A French naval officer who investigated the ship, M. Montgery, also
wrote a description, published in "Notice sur la Vie et les Travaux de
Robert Fulton."[13]

[Illustration: Figure 5.--FLOATING BATTERY _Spanker_ built, in England
by William Barnard, at Deptford on the Thames, and launched June 14,
1794. Rigged as a bomb ketch, its length is 111 feet 7 inches in the
keel, extreme beam 42 feet 4 inches, depth of hold 8 feet. Upper deck
plan also shown.]

It should be noted in regard to what Montgery wrote about the
_Battery_, that in 1821 it had been considered desirable to disarm the
ship. The engineer in charge, William Purcell, had reported that as
there were not proper scuppers, dirt and water had entered the hull and
had collected under the engine and boilers, causing damage to the hull,
and also that with guns removed, the _Battery_ would float too high for
the paddle wheel to propel the vessel; so it had been decided to remove
all machinery as well as the armament.

Montgery's description, published in 1822, was taken from his report to
the Minister of Marine and Colonies. It noted the battery was made of
two hulls separated by a channel, or "race," 15-1/2 feet wide, running
the full length of the vessel. The two hulls were joined by a deck just
above the waterline, as well as by an upper deck, and also connected at
their keels by means of 12 oak beams each 1 foot square. The vessel was
152 feet long, 57 feet beam, and 20 feet deep. Sides were 4 feet 10
inches thick, and the ends of the hull were rounded and alike. There
were two rudders at each end, one on each hull, alongside the race. The
eight paddle blades, each 14-1/2 feet by 3 feet, turned in either
direction by stopping the engine piston at half-stroke and reversing the
flow of steam. Rigged with two lateen sails and two jibs, the ship
sailed either end first. The engine of 120 hp was in one hull and two
boilers were in the other. Other sources, Marestier, and Colden in
_Proces-verbaux des Seances de l'Academie des Sciences_,[14] gave
additional information (some of it incorrect): the engine was inclined,
with a 4-foot-diameter cylinder, 5-foot stroke, direct-connected to the
paddle wheel, which was turned at 18 rpm. The boilers were 8 x 22 feet
with the fireboxes in inside cylinders, each about 5 feet in diameter,
and extending about half the length of the boiler from the fire doors.
Two fire tubes, each about 3 feet in diameter, returned the gases from
the inside end of the fireboxes to the stacks at the firing end. Except
at the fire-door end, the firebox was completely surrounded by water.
The boiler pressure of about 6 psi was not maintained, varying somewhat
with each stroke of the engine.

Water level in the boilers was indicated by try cocks. The safety valve
was controlled by a counterbalanced lever. A jet of salt water was
injected into the exhaust trunk to form a vacuum by condensation. An air
pump transferred condensate and sea water into a tank from which it
passed overboard. Only about a tenth of this water was returned to the
boilers.

Montgery stated also that only the lower or gun deck was to be armed. No
bulwarks were on the spar deck, only iron stanchions to which were
fastened a breastwork of wet cotton bales when the _Steam Battery_ was
in action.

The _Battery_ was designed to carry 30 guns (32-pdr.), with 3 guns in
each end and 12 on each side, but no guns in the wake of paddle wheel
and machinery. Hatches to give air to the stokehold were located
amidships. The _Battery_ was to have been supplemented at the ends of
each hull by a Columbiad "submarine gun" (100-pdr.), Fulton's invention,
but these were not fitted. Provision was to be made in the fireboxes for
heating shot, and a force pump with a cylinder 33 inches in diameter was
employed to throw a stream of cold water, about 60-80 gallons per
minute, for a distance of about two hundred feet. This could be done
only when the paddle wheel was not in operation. The paddle wheel was
housed, the top fitted with stairs to the spar deck. The gun deck, over
the race, was used in part for staterooms, of which the bulkheads were
permanent. Hammocks for the complement of 500 men were to be slung on
the rest of the gun deck. The ship drew 10 feet 4 inches, with the port
sills about 5-1/2 feet above the loadline. Burning wood, the vessel
could carry about 4 days' supply of fuel; burning coal, she carried 12
days' supply.

Montgery said that the vessel would be vulnerable to bombshells and hot
shot, and that furthermore she could be boarded. The displacement of the
ship, at service draft, was 1,450 tons, a figure Montgery obtained from
a copy of the original plan given him by Noah Brown.

[Illustration: Figure 6.--FRENCH SKETCH, in Rigsarkivet, Copenhagen, of
inboard profile and arrangement of Fulton's _Steam Battery_, showing
details of the Fulton engine, probably taken from one of his preliminary
designs.]

In 1935, Lieutenant Ralph R. Gurley, USN, attempted a reconstruction in
sketches of the vessel published in his article "The U.S.S. _Fulton_ the
First" in the _U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings_.[15] This
reconstruction was based on the Patent Office drawing prepared for
Fulton, and published by Stuart and Bennett, and the foregoing French
sources. The Patent Office drawing showed the engine was an inclined
cylinder and Lt. Gurley shows this in his sketch; in his text (p. 323)
he says, "The engine was an inclined, single-cylinder affair with a
4-foot base and a 5-foot stroke." Gurley's attempt to reconstruct the
_Steam Battery_ is the only one known to the author.


Copenhagen Plans

In 1960, Kjeld Rasmussen, naval architect of the Danish Greenland
Company, was requested by the author to inspect in the Danish Royal
Archives at Copenhagen a folio of American ship plans, the index of
which had listed some Civil War river monitors. Mr. Rasmussen found the
monitor plans had been withdrawn but discovered that three plans of
Fulton's _Steam Battery_ existed, as well as plans of the first
_Princeton_, a screw sloop-of-war.

Copies of the _Steam Battery's_ plans were obtained at Copenhagen in
September 1960 through the courtesy of the archivist, and were found to
consist of the lines, copied in 1817, an inboard profile and
arrangement, and a sail and rigging plan. From these the reconstruction
for a scale model was drawn and is presented here with reproductions of
the original drawings upon which the reconstruction is based.

It is apparent that Montgery's description is generally accurate. The
vessel is a catamaran, made of two hulls, double-ended and exactly
alike. The outboard sides are "moulded," with round bilges, the inboard
sides are straight and flat, as though a hull had been split along the
middle line and then planked up flat where split. The hulls are
separated by the race, in which the paddle wheel is placed at
mid-length. The topsides are made elliptical at the ends, and the
midsection shows a marked tumble-home over the thick topside planking
but less on the moulded lines.

[Illustration: Figure 6.]

The lines plan agreed rather closely to Montgery's description of the
hull. After careful fairing it was found the lines drawing would produce
a vessel 153 feet 2 inches overall outside the stems, or about 151 feet
over the planked rabbets, with a moulded beam of 56 feet and extreme
beam of 58 feet. The moulded depth was 22 feet 9 inches and the width of
the race was 14 feet 10 inches, plank to plank. The room and space of
framing shown was 2 feet. The designed draft appears to be 13 feet and
this would bring the port sills 5 feet 6 inches above the loadline and
the underside of the gun-deck beams about 2 feet 9 inches above the
loadline.

The lines plan is a Danish copy, probably of the building plan by Noah
Brown, and may be based on the plan Montgery obtained from Brown. The
spar deck has the iron stanchions (Gurley translated these as
"chandeliers") which are set inboard 4 feet from the plank-sheer. This
gives room for cotton bales, outboard the stanchions, to form a
barricade. As will be seen by comparing the original Danish drawing with
the model drawing, the construction indicates that the iron stanchions
should be carried around the ends of the hull in the same manner as
along the sides, since the lower ends of the iron stanchions pass
through the spar deck and are secured to the inside of the inner ceiling
of the gun deck. The rudders are as shown in the Danish drawing, and it
is supposed that they were operated ferryboat fashion, one at each end
of the vessel. Hence, each pair of rudders was toggled together by a
cross-yoke. This was probably operated by a tiller (possibly the
cross-yokes and tillers were of iron) pivoted under the beams of the gun
deck close to the ends of the ship. Tiller ropes led from a tackle under
the gun-deck through trunks to the spar deck, where the wheels were
placed. This allowed proper sweep to the tillers and operation of each
pair of rudders. The paddle wheel was apparently of iron, with wooden
blades, and agrees with Montgery's description. In the plan for the
model it is shown raised 18 inches above the original design position,
to agree with trial requirements.

[Illustration: Figure 7.--ORIGINAL LINES OF ROBERT FULTON'S _Steam
Battery_, a Danish copy dated September 12, 1817; found in Rigsarkivet,
Copenhagen.]

It should be observed that the close CL-to-CL frame spacing created a
hull having frames touching one another, at least to above the turn of
the bilge, so the vessel was almost solid timber, before being planked
and ceiled, from keel to about the loadline. The sides are not only
heavily planked but, after the frames were ceiled with extraordinarily
heavy, square timbering, a supplementary solid, vertical framing was
introduced inboard and another ceiling added. The sides scale about 5
feet from outside the plank to the inboard face of the inner ceiling at
the level of the gunports.

The hulls were tied together athwartship by the deck beams of the gun
deck and spar deck, except in the wake of the paddle wheel. Knees were
placed along the sides of the race at alternate gun-deck beams. In
addition, the 12 1-foot-square timbers, crossing the race at the rabbets
of the hulls, (mentioned by Montgery) are shown. These must have created
extraordinary resistance, even at the low speed of this steamer. The
deck details shown are the results of reconstruction of the inboard
works.


History of Double-Hull Craft

The use of catamaran hulls, or "double-hulls," has been periodically
popular with ship designers since the time of Charles II of England. The
earliest of such vessels known in the present day were four sloops or
shallops designed 1673-1687 by Sir William Petty, who was an inventor in
the field of naval architecture and received some attention from Charles
II and from the Royal Society.

The first Petty experiment, the _Simon & Jude_, later called _Invention
I_, was launched October 28, 1662. She was designed with two hulls
cylindrical in cross section, each 2 feet in diameter, and 20 feet long.
A platform connected the hulls, giving the boat a beam of a little over
9 feet. She had a 20-foot mast stepped on one of the crossbeams
connecting the hulls, with a single gaff sail. In sailing trials she
beat three fast boats: the King's barge, a large pleasure boat, and a
man-of-war's boat. This "double-bottom," also called a "sluiceboat" or
"cylinder," was later lengthened at the stern to make her 30 feet
overall.

[Illustration: Figure 7.]

The King did not support Petty, to the latter's great disappointment,
and Petty next built a larger double-bottom, _Invention II_. This
catamaran was lapstrake construction. Not much is known of this boat
except that she beat the regular Irish packet boat, running between
Holyhead and Dublin, in a race each way, winning a L20 wager. She was
launched in July 1663; what became of her was not recorded.

A third and still larger boat, the _Experiment_, launched December 22,
1664, appears to have been a large sloop. This vessel sailed by way of
the Thames in April 1665 and went to Oporto, Portugal. She left Portugal
October 20, 1665, for home, but apparently went down with all hands in a
severe storm.

[Illustration: Figure 8.--DANISH COPY OF ORIGINAL SAIL PLAN of Robert
Fulton's _Steam Battery_, dated September 12, 1817, in Rigsarkivet,
Copenhagen.]

[Illustration: Figure 9.--LINES OF FULTON'S _Steam Battery_, as
reconstructed for a model in the Museum of History and Technology.]

[Illustration: Figure 10.--A RECONSTRUCTION OF INBOARD WORKS of the
_Steam Battery_, for construction of the model in the Museum of History
and Technology.]

For 18 years Petty did no more with the type, but finally, in July
1684, he laid down a still larger sloop with two decks and a mast
standing 55 feet above her upper deck. She was named _St. Michael the
Archangel_ and is probably the design in Pepys' _Book of Miscellaneous
Illustrations_ in Magdalene College, Cambridge, England. This vessel
proved unmanageable and was a complete failure.

[Illustration: Figure 11.--MODEL LINES REDRAWN to outside of plank to
show hydrodynamic form of the _Steam Battery_.]

Though the double canoes of the Pacific Islands were probably known to
some in Europe in 1662, there is no evidence that Petty based his
designs on such craft. He appears to have produced his designs
spontaneously from independent observations and resulting theories.
Before Petty concluded his experiments, a number of double-hull craft
had been produced by others; however, some "double" craft, such as
"double shallops" may have been "double-enders," as shown by a
"double-moses boat" of the 18th century and later.[16]

The use of two canoes, joined by a platform or by poles was common in
colonial times; in Maryland and Virginia, dugouts so joined were used to
transport tobacco down the tidal creeks to vessels' loading. Such craft
were also used as ferries. M. V. Brewington's _Chesapeake Bay Log
Canoes_[17] and Paul Wilstack's _Potomac Landings_[18] illustrate canoes
used in this manner. A catamaran galley, two round-bottom hulls, flat on
the inboard side (a hull split along the centerline and the inboard
faces planked up), 113 feet long and each hull a 7-foot moulded beam,
6-foot 6 inches moulded depth, and placed 13 feet apart, was proposed by
Sir Sidney Smith, R.N., in the 1790's, and built by the British
Admiralty. Named _Taurus_, she is shown by the Admiralty draught to have
been a double-ender, with cabins amidships on the platform, an iron
rudder at each end (between the hulls) steered with tillers (to unship),
and with a ramp at one end. The plans are undated, signed by Captain Sir
Sidney Smith, and a field-carriage gun is shown at the ramp end of the
boat. This, and the heavy rocker in the keels, suggests the _Taurus_ was
intended for a landing boat. No sailing rig is indicated, but tholes for
12 oars or sweeps on each side are shown. The oarsmen apparently sat on
deck, or on low seats, with stretchers in hatches between each pair of
tholes (Admiralty Collection of Draughts, The National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, England).

[Illustration: Figure 12.--GENERAL PLAN of the _Taurus_, a catamaran
galley gunboat proposed by Sir Sidney Smith, R.N., to the British
Admiralty in the early years of the French Revolution. From the
Admiralty Collection of Draughts, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.]

Another experimenter with the double-hull type of vessel was a wealthy
Scot named Patrick Miller who was particularly interested in manual
propulsion of vessels, employing geared capstans to operate paddle
wheels. In a letter dated June 9, 1790, Miller offered Gustav III of
Sweden a design for a double-hulled 144-gun ship-of-the-line (rating as
a 130-gun ship) propelled by manually operated capstans connected to a
paddle wheel between the hulls. She was rigged to sail, with five masts
and was to be 246 feet long, 63 feet beam, and 17 feet draft; the hulls
were 16 feet apart.

This project was submitted by the King to Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, the
great Swedish naval architect, who made an adverse report. Chapman
pointed out in great detail that the weight of the armament, the
necessary hull structure, the stores, crew, ammunition, spars, sails,
rigging and gear, would greatly exceed Miller's designed displacement.
He also pointed out the prime fault of catamarans under sail--slow
turning in stays. He suggested that the speed under sail would be
disappointing. He doubted that a double-hull ship of such size could be
built strong enough to stand a heavy sea. He remarked that English
records showed that a small vessel of the catamaran type had been built
between 1680 and 1700 which had sailed well (this may have been one of
Petty's boats), and that "36 years ago" he had seen 8 miles from London,
a similar boat that had been newly built by Lord Baltimore and was about
50 feet long; this was a failure and was discarded after one trial.
Therefore, said Chapman, the Miller project was not new but rather an
old idea. Chapman's final remark is perhaps the best illustration of his
opinion of the catamaran, "Despite all this, two-hull vessels are
completely sound when the theory can be properly applied; that is in
vessels of very light weight, and of small size, with crews of one or
two men."

A "model" of such a double-hull ship--the _Experiment_, built at Leith,
Scotland, in 1786 by J. Laurie--was sent to Sweden by Miller. She was
105 feet long, 31 feet beam, and cost L3000. This vessel arrived in the
summer of 1790 and King Gustav in a letter dated July 26 ordered Col.
Michael Anckerswaerd to welcome the vessel at Stockholm. The King
presented Miller with a gold snuffbox and a painting was made of the
vessel. The _Experiment_ had five paddle wheels in tandem between her
hulls, operated by geared capstans on deck. These gave her a speed of 5
knots but caused the crew to suffer from exhaustion in a short time. The
vessel was badly strained in a storm and was finally abandoned at St.
Petersburg, Russia.[19]

[Illustration: Figure 12.]

Miller later turned to the idea of employing steam instead of manual
power and built a 25-foot double-hulled pleasure boat of iron fitted
with a steam engine built by William Symington. Also named _Experiment_,
she was an apparent success, so Miller had a 60-foot boat built of the
double-hull design and fitted with an engine built by Symington. She
reached a speed of 7 mph on the Forth and Clyde Canal. However, Miller
lost interest when he found that the Symington engine was unreliable and
that Great Britain showed very little public support for such projects.

Fulton was acquainted with Symington's work and probably had heard of
Miller's vessels. At any rate, he employed the double-hull principle in
his steam ferryboats, the first of which was the _Jersey_, a 188-ton
vessel built by Charles Browne, which began service July 2, 1812. The
next year he had a sister ship built, the _York_. These vessels were
based on his patent drawing of 1809. In 1814 he had another vessel of
this type built, the _Nassau_. It was, therefore, logical that he should
apply this design to the _Steam Battery_. The double-hull design had
worked well in these ferries, and the design would give protection from
shot to the paddle wheel. The _Battery_ would have the ability to run
forward or astern so as not to be exposed to a raking fire from the
enemy while maneuvering in action. The application of this "ferryboat"
principle to the _Battery_ reduced the need for extreme maneuverability,
the catamaran's weakest point, even at low speed.

The resistance factors in the design are of relatively small importance,
for the speed possible under steam in this period was very low. However,
the plans show an apparently efficient hull form for the power
available, aside from the drag of the beams across the race in the
vicinity of the keel. The displacement was adequate. The height of the
gun-deck above the water at the race made the _Battery_ unsuitable for
rough-water operation, but there is no evidence that Fulton or the
sponsors of the vessel considered the _Battery_ as a coastwise or
seagoing steamer. However, the clearance of the gun deck above the water
and the dip of the paddle wheel would have made the additional weight of
an upper- or spar-deck battery prohibitive even had experience in action
proven it desirable.


Sail and Inboard Plans

[Illustration: Figure 13.--LINES OF _Taurus_. From the Admiralty
Collection of Draughts, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.]

The sail and rigging plan is likewise a Danish copy and shows the
two-masted lateen rig employed. The hull is shown with bulwarks and
gunports on the spar deck but no other evidence that the _Battery_ was
finished in this manner has been found. The rig resembles that of some
of Josiah Fox's designs for Jeffersonian gunboats--double-enders
designed to sail in either direction but without the jibs. The topmasts
do not appear to be more than signal poles and apparently were not
fitted with sails; however, some European lateeners did have triangular
topsails over a lateen and it is possible the _Battery_ may have carried
such sails. Considering the stability and displacement of the _Battery_,
the rig is very small and not sufficiently effective. Shrouds were not
required; the masts were supported by runners that were shifted when the
yards were reversed, and in tacking. Apparently the jibstays also could
be slacked off so that the lateen yards would not have to be dipped
under them.

[Illustration: Figure 14.--RUDDER DETAIL of _Taurus_. From the Admiralty
Collection of Draughts, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.]

The inboard profile is on tracing paper and the notes are in French.
This drawing is of a simplified hull form having flat-bottom hulls with
chines. It is possible that this is a tracing of a preliminary drawing
obtained by Marestier or Montgery, but no documentation can be found.
Its importance is that it shows in some detail the engine and boilers,
as well as the wheelbox, and another drawing of the paddle wheel, more
or less duplicating the wheel shown in the Danish plan. No details of
the deck arrangements are shown in any of the plans, except for the dome
skylight over the fireroom in the boiler hull.

Both the lines plan and the inboard drawing show construction
midsections and hull connections. These plans show that the engine was
not inclined, but rather was vertical, contrary to Fulton's patent
drawing. The piston rod and the crosshead obviously passed through its
gun deck in a large hatch. Also it is plain that there must have been
large hatches afore and abaft the wheelbox to make the stepped wheelbox
construction desirable. There also must have been a hatch in the gun
deck under the domed skylight. It is improbable that the engine and
skylight hatches were used for ladderways, passing scuttles, or
companionways.

The boilers are shown in the inboard profile about as described and
drawn by Marestier but with two stacks on each boiler, one to each flue;
Marestier's sketch in his report on American steamships shows the flues
of each boiler trunked into a single stack. The battery had two boilers
and the stacks are at the boilers' fire-door end. The steam lines came
off the crown of the boilers and probably passed through the ends of the
wheelbox to the engine; a trunk for the steam lines would undoubtedly
have been necessary.

[Illustration: Figure 15.--SKETCH OF 130-GUN SHIP proposed by Patrick
Miller to King Gustav III of Sweden in 1790. In Statens Sjoehistoriska
Museum, Stockholm.]

[Illustration: Figure 16.--PATRICK MILLER'S manually propelled
(paddle-wheel) catamaran ship _Experiment_, built at Leith, Scotland,
1786. Scale drawing in Statens Sjoehistoriska Museum, Stockholm.]

The engine is shown to have had counterbalanced side levers, one on
each side, and a single flywheel on the outboard side. The cylinder is
over the condenser or "cistern," connected by the steam line and valve
box on the side. The cylinder crosshead is shown in the inboard profile
to have reached the underside of the beams of the upper deck. The
crosshead was connected by two connecting rods to the side levers. These
levers operated the paddle wheel by connecting rods to cranks on the
paddle-wheel shaft. There is another pair of connecting rods from the
side levers to the crosshead of the air pump. All connecting rods are on
one arm of the side levers, the other end having only a counterbalance
weight beyond the fulcrum bearing. The flywheel has a shaft fitted with
two gears, and is driven through idler gears from gears on the
paddle-wheel shaft; it turns at about twice the speed of the paddle
wheel. No other pumps or fittings are shown in the engine hull, although
manual pumps were probably fitted to fill and empty the boilers. Piping
is not shown.

[Illustration: Figure 17.--PAINTING OF THE _Experiment_ in the Statens
Sjoehistoriska Museum, Stockholm.]

The four rudders, toggled in pairs, are shown in both the lines and
inboard drawings, but the shape is different in the two plans. Operation
must have been by a tiller under the gun-deck beams. The outer end of
the tiller may have been pivoted on the toggle bar and the inboard end
fitted, as previously described, with steering cable or chain tackles.
This seems to be the only practical interpretation of the evidence.


Reconstructing the Plans

In the model it was necessary to reconstruct the deck arrangements
without enough contemporary description. The outboard appearance and
hull form, rig, and arrangement of armament require no reconstruction,
for all that is of importance is shown in the lines and rig drawings, or
in the inboard profile. The masts are shown to have been stepped over
the race on the gun deck. The iron stanchions are shown in the lines
drawing and in the construction section. However, their position at the
ends of the _Battery_ are apparently incorrectly shown in the original
lines plan. The construction section shows these stanchions to have been
stepped on the inside face of the inner ceiling and, as the ceiling
structure was carried completely around the ship, the stanchions in the
ends must have been placed inboard, as along the sides. The bowsprit was
above deck and would probably be secured in the knighthead timbers at
the ends of the hull, as well as by the heel bitts shown in the Danish
lines drawing. With the riding bitts shown inboard of the heel bitts at
each end of the vessel, it is obvious that she would work her ground
tackle at both ends and would therefore require two capstans; the
wheelbox would prevent effective use of a single one. The capstans might
be doubleheaded, as in some large frigates and ships-of-the-line.

[Illustration: Figure 18.--SAIL PLAN OF FULTON'S _Steam Battery_ as
reconstructed for model in the Museum of History and Technology.]

As to the remaining deck fixtures, hatches and fittings, these must be
entirely a matter of speculation. Ladderways, passing scuttles, hatches,
trunks, galley, heads and cabins were obviously required in a fighting
ship and can only be located on the theory that, when completed, the
_Battery_ was a practical vessel.

It has been stated that the officers' cabins were over the race; the
logical place for the heads, galley, wardroom and mess also would be
over the race, giving the remaining part of the gun deck for the
necessary hatches, ladderways, trunks, etc., in the two hulls, space
required for armament, and to sling the hammocks of a watch below. As
the vessel was never fully manned, apparently, the space for hammocks is
not a serious problem in a reconstruction. If the vessel had been manned
as proposed by 500 men, hammocks for over 200 would have been required,
which would give very crowded quarters in view of the limited space
available.

Though no specific requirements were stated in the reports of the
trials, it seems reasonable to suppose that additional hatches were cut
in the decks to improve the fireroom ventilation. In the reconstruction
drawings, these hatchways as well as the other deck openings and deck
fittings--such as bilge pumps, companionways, skylights, binnacles,
wheels and wheel-rope trunks, cable trunks, steampipe casings, and stack
fiddleys--have been located in an effort to meet the imagined
requirements of the working of a ship of this unusual form.

[Illustration: Figure 19.--MODEL OF _Steam Battery_ in the Museum of
History and Technology. (Smithsonian photo 63990-E.)]

[Illustration: Figure 20.--LINES OF STEAMER _Congo_, built in 1815-1816
for the British Admiralty and converted to a sailing survey vessel. From
Admiralty Collection of Draughts, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.]

There are some unanswered questions that arose in the preparation of
the reconstruction drawings. As has been shown, the original inboard
arrangement plan found in Copenhagen shows four smokestacks, while
Marestier's sketch of the vessel's boilers shows trunked flues
indicating that two stacks were used. It is possible that the boilers
were first fitted so that four stacks were required; alterations made as
a result of steaming trials may well have included the introduction of
trunked flues and the final use of two stacks in line fore-and-aft. This
would have required a rearrangement of the fiddley hatches amidships.

Another troublesome question was the doubtful arrangement of the four
companionways on the spar deck. Perhaps only two were fitted, one on
each side of the officers' staterooms while the ladderways at the crew's
end of the ship were simple ladder hatches.

The decision to use four bilge pumps is based upon the lack of drag in
the keel of the hulls, which would prevent accumulation of bilge water
at one end of the hull. The use of four single-barrel pumps instead of
four double-barrel pumps may be questioned, for chain pumps requiring
two barrels would have been practical.

Allowance for stores was made by use of platforms in the hold. It is
known from statements made to the Court of Inquiry, that the magazines
were amidships and that a part of these was close to the boilers. Fuel
and water would be in the lower hold under the platforms; hatches and
ladderways are arranged to permit fueling the ship.

A few prints or drawings of the ship, aside from the patent drawing,
have been found. There are two prints that show the launch of the
vessel. One, a print of 1815, is in possession of the Mariners' Museum,
Newport News, Va., and is reproduced in Alexander Crosby Brown's _Twin
Ships, Notes on the Chronological History of the Use of Multiple Hulled
Vessels_.[20] A poor copy of this print appears on page 13 of Bennett's
_Steam Navy of the United States_, and another and inaccurate sketch is
shown on page 8. These pictures were of no use in the reconstruction as
they show no details that are not in the Copenhagen plans. The patent
drawing does not show deck details and in fact does not represent the
vessel as built in any respect other than in being a catamaran with
paddle wheel amidships between the hulls.

The _Steam Battery_ did not have any particular influence on the design
of men-of-war that followed her. In the first place, steampower was not
viewed with favor by naval officers generally. This was without doubt
due to prejudice, but engines in 1820-30 were still unreliable when
required to run for long periods, as experienced by the early
ocean-going steamers. The great weight of the early steam engines and
their size in relation to power were important, and also important were
practical objections that prevented the design of efficient naval ocean
steamers until about 1840; even then, the paddle wheels made them very
vulnerable in action. Until the introduction of the screw propellor it
was not possible to design a really effective ocean-going naval steamer;
hence until about 1840-45, sail remained predominant in naval vessels
for ocean service, and steamers were accepted only in coast defense and
towing services, or as dispatch vessels.

No immediate use of the double hull in naval vessels of the maritime
powers resulted from the construction of the _Steam Battery_. The
flat-bottom chine-built design employed by Fulton in _North River_,
_Raritan_, and other early steamboats was utilized in the design for a
projected steamer by the British Admiralty in 1815-16. This vessel was
about 76 feet overall, 16-foot beam, and 8-foot 10 inches depth in hold.
Her design was for a flat-bottom, chine-built hull with no fore-and-aft
camber in the bottom, a sharp entrance, and a square-tuck stern with
slight overhang above the cross-seam. Her side frames were straight and
vertical amidships, but curved as the bow and stern were approached. She
was to be a side-paddle-wheel steamer, and her hull was diagonally
braced; the wheel and engine were to be about amidships where she was
dead flat for about 14 feet. However, the engine and boilers were not
installed; the engine was utilized ashore for pumping, and the vessel
was completed in the Deptford Yard as a sailing ship. Under the name
_Congo_ she was employed in the African coast survey. Her plan is in the
Admiralty Collection of Draughts, at the National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, England.

The double hull continued to be employed in both steam and team
ferryboats in the United States and in England and France. A few river
and lake steamers were also built with this design of hull. Continued
efforts to obtain fast sailing by use of the double hull produced a
number of sailing catamarans; of these the Herreshoff catamarans of the
1870's showed high speed when reaching in a fresh breeze.

Designs for double-hulled steamers appeared during the last half of the
19th century; in 1874 the _Castalia_, a large, double-hull, iron,
cross-channel steamer, was built by the Thames Iron-works Company at
Blackwall, England. She was 290 feet long, and each hull had a beam of
17 feet. The paddle wheel was placed between the hulls and, ready for
sea, she drew 6-1/2 feet. She ran the 22 miles between Dover and Calais
in 1 hour and 50 minutes, a speed much slower than that of the
paddle-wheel, cross-channel steamers having one hull. Another
double-hull steamer was built for this service by Hawthorn, Leslie and
Company, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Scotland, in 1877. First named _Express_,
she was renamed _Calais-Douvres_ when she went into service in May 1878.
Her length was 302 feet, her extreme beam 62 feet, and each hull had a
beam of 18 feet, 3 inches. She drew 6-foot 7-1/2 inches ready for sea
and the paddle wheel was between the hulls. On her trials she made 14
knots and burned coal excessively. Sold to France in 1880, she was taken
out of service in 1889. Though popular, she was not faster than the
single-hull steamers in this service and had been a comparatively
expensive vessel to build and operate.

The many attempts to produce a very fast double-hull steamer and large
sailing vessels have led to disappointment for their designers and
sponsors. In the history of naval architecture, since Petty's time,
there have been a number of periods when the new-old idea of the double
hull has become popular. Craft of this type have been commonly well
publicized but, on the whole, their basic designs have followed the same
principles over and over again and have not produced the sought-for
increase in speed and handiness.

In very recent years there has been a revival in interest in sailing
double-hull boats that is enthusiastic as to very small craft and
somewhat restrained as to large boats. A few projects are under
development for double-hull craft, power and sail, of over 90-foot
length, including an oceanographic research vessel. In general, however,
the performance of double-hull boats has shown that Chapman's estimate
of the type was reasonably correct and that there are limitations,
particularly in maneuverability in the double-hull craft that could have
been found by reference to the history of past experiments with the
type.


NAVAL STEAMERS.


THE DEMOLOGOS; OR, FULTON THE FIRST.

At the close of the year eighteen hundred and thirteen, Robert Fulton
exhibited to the President of the United States, the original drawing
from which the engraving on Plate One is sketched, being a
representation of the proposed war-steamer or floating-battery, named by
him, the Demologos. This sketch possesses more than ordinary interest,
from the circumstance that it is, doubtless, the only record of the
_first war-steamer in the world_, designed and drawn by the immortal
Fulton, and represented by him to the Executive, as capable of carrying
a strong battery, with furnaces for red hot shot, and being propelled by
the power of steam, at the rate of _four_ miles an hour.

It was contemplated that this vessel, besides carrying her proposed
armament on deck, should also be furnished with submarine guns, two
suspended from each bow, so as to discharge a hundred pound ball into an
enemy's ship at ten or twelve feet below her water-line. In addition to
this, her machinery was calculated for the addition of an engine which
would discharge an immense column of water upon the decks, and through
the port-holes of an enemy, making her the most formidable engine for
warfare that human ingenuity has contrived.

The estimated cost of the vessel was three hundred and twenty thousand
dollars, nearly the sum requisite for a frigate of the first class.

The project was zealously embraced by the Executive, and the national
legislature in March, eighteen hundred and fourteen, passed a law,
authorizing the President of the United States to cause to be built,
equipped, and employed, one or more floating batteries, for the defense
of the waters of the United States.

The building of the vessel was committed by the Coast and Harbor Defense
Association, to a sub-committee of five gentlemen, who were recognized
by the Government as their agents for that purpose, and whose
interesting history of the Steam Frigate is copied in Note A, of the
Appendix to this volume.

Robert Fulton, whose soul animated the enterprise, was appointed the
engineer; and on the twentieth day of June, eighteen hundred and
fourteen, the keel of this novel steamer was laid at the ship-yard of
Adam and Noah Brown, her able and active constructors, in the city of
New York, and on the twenty-ninth of the following October, or in little
more than four months, she was safely launched, in the presence of
multitudes of spectators who thronged the surrounding shores, and were
seen upon the hills which limited the beautiful prospect around the bay
of New York.

The river and bay were filled with steamers and vessels of war, in
compliment to the occasion. In the midst of these was the enormous
floating mass, whose bulk and unwieldy form seemed to render her as
unfit for motion, as the land batteries which were saluting her.

In a communication from Captain David Porter, U. S. Navy, to the Hon.
Secretary of the Navy, dated New York, October 29, 1814, he states,--"I
have the pleasure to inform you that the "FULTON THE FIRST," was this
morning safely launched. No one has yet ventured to suggest any
improvement that could be made in the vessel, and to use the words of
the projector, '_I would not alter her if it were in my power to do
so._'

"She promises fair to meet our most sanguine expectations, and I do not
despair in being able to navigate in her from one extreme of our coast
to the other. Her buoyancy astonishes every one, she now draws _only
eight feet three inches water_, and her draft will only be _ten_ feet
with all her guns, machinery, stores, and crew, on board. The ease with
which she can now be towed with a single steamboat, renders it certain
that her velocity will be sufficiently great to answer every purpose,
and the manner it is intended to secure her machinery from the gunner's
shot, leaves no apprehension for its safety. I shall use every exertion
to prepare her for immediate service; her guns will soon be mounted, and
I am assured by Mr. Fulton, that her machinery will be in operation in
about six weeks."

On the twenty-first of November, the Steam Frigate was moved from the
wharf of Messrs. Browns, in the East River, to the works of Robert
Fulton, on the North River, to receive her machinery, which operation
was performed by fastening the steamboat "Car of Neptune," to her
larboard, and the steamboat "Fulton," to her starboard side; they towed
her through the water from three and a-half to four miles per hour.

The dimensions of the "Fulton the First" were:--

     Length, one hundred and fifty-six feet.

     Breadth, fifty-six feet.

     Depth, twenty feet.

     Water-wheel, sixteen feet diameter.

     Length of bucket, fourteen feet.

     Dip, four feet.

     Engine, forty-eight inch cylinder, and five feet stroke.

     Boiler, length, twenty-two feet; breath, twelve feet; and depth,
     eight feet.

     Tonnage, two thousand four hundred and seventy-five.

By June, eighteen hundred and fifteen, her engine was put on board, and
she was so far completed as to afford an opportunity of trying her
machinery. On the first of June, at ten o'clock in the morning, the
"Fulton the First," propelled by her own steam and machinery, left the
wharf near the Brooklyn ferry, and proceeded majestically into the
river; though a stiff breeze from the south blew directly ahead, she
stemmed the current with perfect ease, as the tide was a strong ebb. She
sailed by the forts and saluted them with her thirty-two pound guns. Her
speed was equal to the most sanguine expectations; she exhibited a novel
and sublime spectacle to an admiring people. The intention of the
Commissioners being solely to try her enginery, no use was made of her
sails. After navigating the bay, and receiving a visit from the officers
of the French ship of war lying at her anchors, the Steam Frigate came
to at Powles' Hook ferry, about two o'clock in the afternoon, without
having experienced a single unpleasant occurrence.

On the fourth of July, of the same year, she made a passage to the ocean
and back, and went the distance, which, in going and returning, is
fifty-three miles, in eight hours and twenty minutes, without the aid of
sails; the wind and tide were partly in her favor and partly against
her, the balance rather in her favor.

In September, she made another trial trip to the ocean, and having at
this time the weight of her whole armament on board, she went at an
average of five and a half miles an hour, with and against the tide.
When stemming the tide, which ran at the rate of three miles an hour,
she advanced at the rate of two and a-half miles an hour. This
performance was not more than equal to Robert Fulton's expectations, but
it exceeded what he had premised to the Government, which was that she
should be propelled by steam at the rate of from three to four miles an
hour.

The English were not uninformed as to the preparations which were
making for them, nor inattentive to their progress. It is certain that
the Steam Frigate lost none of her terrors in the reports or
imaginations of the enemy. In a treatise on steam vessels, published in
Scotland at that time, the author states that he has taken great care to
procure _full_ and _accurate_ information of the Steam Frigate launched
in New York, and which he describes in the following words:--

"Length on deck, _three hundred feet_; breadth, _two hundred feet_;
thickness of her sides, _thirteen feet_ of alternate oak plank and cork
wood--carries forty-four guns, four of which are _hundred pounders_;
quarter-deck and forecastle guns, forty-four pounders; and further to
annoy an enemy attempting to board, can discharge _one hundred gallons
of boiling water in a minute_, and by mechanism, brandishes _three
hundred cutlasses_ with the utmost regularity over her gunwales; works
also an equal number of heavy iron pikes of great length, darting them
from her sides with prodigious force, and withdrawing them every quarter
of a minute"!!

The war having terminated before the "_Fulton the First_" was entirely
completed, she was taken to the Navy Yard, Brooklyn, and moored on the
flats abreast of that station, where she remained, and was used as a
receiving-ship until the fourth of June, eighteen hundred and
twenty-nine, when she was blown up. The following letters from Commodore
Isaac Chauncey (then Commandant of the New York Navy Yard) to the
Honorable Secretary of the Navy, informing him of the distressing event,
concludes this brief history of the _first steam vessel of war ever
built_.

       *       *       *       *       *

U. S. NAVY YARD, NEW YORK,
_June 5th, 1829_.

SIR:

It becomes my painful duty to report to you a most unfortunate
occurrence which took place yesterday, at about half past two o'clock,
P. M., in the accidental blowing up of the Receiving Ship Fulton, which
killed twenty-four men and a woman, and wounded nineteen; there are also
five missing. Amongst the killed I am sorry to number Lieutenant S. M.
Brackenridge, a very fine, promising officer, and amongst the wounded
are, Lieutenants Charles F. Platt, and A. M. Mull, and Sailing-Master
Clough, the former dangerously, and the two last severely; there are
also four Midshipmen severely wounded. How this unfortunate accident
occurred I am not yet able to inform you, nor have I time to state more
particularly; I will, as soon as possible, give a detailed account of
the affair.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
  Very respectfully,
    J. CHAUNCEY.

HON. JOHN BRANCH,
  _Secretary of the Navy, Washington._

U.S. NAVY YARD, NEW YORK,
_June 8th, 1829_.

Sir:

I had been on board the "Fulton" all the morning, inspecting the ship
and men, particularly the sick and invalids, which had increased
considerably from other ships, and whom I had intended to ask the
Department permission to discharge, as being of little use to the
service. I had left the ship but a few moments before the explosion took
place, and was in my office at the time. The report did not appear to me
louder than a thirty-two pounder, although the destruction of the ship
was complete and entire, owing to her very decayed state, for there was
not on board, at the time, more than two and a-half barrels of damaged
powder, which was kept in the magazine for the purpose of firing the
morning and evening gun. It appears to me that the explosion could not
have taken place from accident, as the magazine was as well, or better
secured, than the magazines of most of our ships, yet it would be
difficult to assign a motive to those in the magazine for so horrible an
act, as voluntarily to destroy themselves and those on board. If the
explosion was not the effect of design, I am at a loss to account for
the catastrophe.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
  Very respectfully,
    J. CHAUNCEY.

HON. JOHN BRANCH,
  _Secretary of the Navy, Washington_.




APPENDIX.


NOTE A.

STEAM FRIGATE.

_Report of HENRY RUTGERS, SAMUEL L. MITCHEL, and THOMAS MORRIS, the
Commissioners superintending the construction of a steam vessel of war,
to the Secretary of the Navy._

NEW YORK, _December 28th, 1815_.

SIR:

The war which was terminated by the treaty of Ghent, afforded, during
its short continuance, a glorious display of the valor of the United
States by land and by sea--it made them much better known to foreign
nations, and, what is of much greater importance, it contributed to make
them better acquainted with themselves--it excited new enterprises--it
educed latent talents--it stimulated to exertions unknown to our people
before.

A long extent of coast was exposed to an enemy, powerful above every
other on the ocean. His commanders threatened to lay waste our country
with fire and sword, and, actually, in various instances, carried their
menaces into execution. It became necessary, for our defense, to resist,
by every practicable method, such a formidable foe.

It was conceived, by a most ingenious and enterprising citizen, that
the power of Steam could be employed to propel a floating battery,
carrying heavy guns, to the destruction of any hostile force that should
hover on the shores, or enter the ports of our Atlantic frontier. The
perfect and admirable success of his project for moving boats containing
travelers and baggage by the same elastic agent, opened the way to its
employment for carrying warriors and the apparatus for fighting.

The plan was submitted to the consideration of the executive of an
enlightened government. Congress, influenced by the most liberal and
patriotic spirit, appropriated money for the experiment, and the Navy
Department, then conducted by the honorable William Jones, appointed
commissioners to superintend the construction of a convenient vessel
under the direction of ROBERT FULTON, the inventor, as engineer, and
Messrs. Adam and Noah Brown, as naval constructors. The enterprise, from
its commencement, and during a considerable part of its preparatory
operations, was aided by the zealous co-operation of Major General
Dearborn, then holding his head-quarters at the city of New York, as the
officer commanding the third military district. The loss of his valuable
counsel in conducting a work which he had maturely considered, and which
he strongly recommended, was the consequence of his removal to another
section of the Union, where his professional talents were specially
required.

The keels of this steam-frigate were laid on the twentieth day of June,
eighteen hundred and fourteen. The strictest blockade the enemy could
enforce interrupted the coasting trade, and greatly enhanced the price
of timber. The vigilance with which he guarded our coast against
intercourse with foreign nations, rendered difficult the importation of
copper and iron. The same impediment attended the supplies of coal
heretofore brought to New York from Richmond and Liverpool. Lead, in
like manner, was procured under additional disadvantages. These attempts
of the enemy to frustrate the design, were vain and impotent. All the
obstacles were surmounted. Scarcity of the necessary woods and metals
were overcome by strenuous exertions; and all the blockading squadron
could achieve, was not a disappointment in the undertaking, but merely
an increase of the expense.

So, in respect to tradesmen and laborers, there was an extraordinary
difficulty. Shipwrights had repaired to the lakes, for repelling the
enemy, in such numbers, that, comparatively speaking, few were left on
the seaboard. A large portion of the men who had been engaged in daily
work, had enlisted as soldiers, and had marched under the banners of the
nation to the defense of its rights--yet amidst the scarcity of hands, a
sufficient number were procured for the purpose which the Commissioners
had in charge. An increase of wages was the chief impediment, and this
they were enabled practically to overcome.

By the exemplary combination of diligence and skill, on the part of the
Engineer and Constructors, the business was so accelerated, that the
vessel was launched on the twenty-ninth day of October, amidst the
plaudits of an unusual number of citizens.

Measures were immediately taken to complete her equipment; the boiler,
the engine, and the machinery were put on board with all possible
expedition. Their weight and size far surpassed any thing that had been
witnessed before among us.

The stores of artillery in New York not furnishing the number and kind
of cannon which she was destined to carry, it became necessary to
transport guns from Philadelphia. A prize, taken from the enemy, put
some fit and excellent pieces at the disposal of the Navy Department. To
avoid the danger of capture by the enemy's cruisers, these were carted
over the miry roads of New Jersey. Twenty heavy cannon were thus
conveyed by the strength of horses. Carriages of the most approved model
were constructed, and every thing done to bring her into prompt action,
as an efficient instrument of war.

About this time, an officer, pre-eminent for bravery and discipline,
was commissioned by the government to her command. Prior to this event,
it had been intended by the Commissioners to finish her conformably to
the plan originally submitted to the Executive. She is a structure
resting upon two boats and keels, separated from end to end by a canal
fifteen feet wide, and sixty-six long. One boat contained the caldrons
of copper to prepare her steam. The vast cylinder of iron, with its
piston, levers, and wheels, occupied a part of its fellow; the great
water-wheel revolved in the space between them; the main or gun-deck
supported her armament, and was protected by a bulwark four feet ten
inches thick, of solid timber. This was pierced by thirty port-holes, to
enable as many thirty-two pounders to fire red hot balls; her upper or
spar deck was plain, and she was to be propelled by her enginery alone.

It was the opinion of Captain Porter and Mr. Fulton, that the upper deck
ought to be surrounded with a bulwark and stanchions--that two stout
masts should be erected to support latteen sails--that there should be
bowsprits for jibs, and that she should be rigged in a corresponding
style. Under authorities so great, and with the expectation of being
able to raise the blockade of New London, by destroying, taking, or
routing the enemy's ships, all these additions were adopted and
incorporated with the vessel.

It must here be observed, that during the exhaustion of the treasury,
and the temporary depression of public credit, the Commissioners were
exceedingly embarrassed--their payments were made in treasury notes,
which they were positively instructed to negotiate at par. On several
occasions even these were so long withheld, that the persons who had
advanced materials and labor were importunate for payment, and silently
discontented. To a certain extent, the Commissioners pledged their
private credit. Notwithstanding all this, the men, at one time, actually
broke off. The work was retarded, and her completion unavoidably
deferred, to the great disappointment of the Commissioners, until winter
rendered it impossible for her to act.

Under all this pressure, they, nevertheless, persevered in the important
object confided to them. But their exertions were further retarded by
the premature and unexpected death of the Engineer. The world was
deprived of his invaluable labors before he had completed this favorite
undertaking. They will not inquire, wherefore, in the dispensations of
Divine Providence, he was not permitted to realize his grand conception.
_His discoveries, however, survive for the benefit of mankind_, and will
extend to unborn generations.

At length all matters were ready for a trial of the machinery to urge
such a bulky vessel through the water. This essay was made on the first
day of June, eighteen hundred and fifteen. She proved herself capable of
opposing the wind, and of stemming the tide, of crossing currents, and
of being steered among vessels riding at anchor, though the weather was
boisterous and the water rough. Her performance demonstrated that the
project was successful--no doubt remained that a floating battery,
composed of heavy artillery, could be moved by steam. The Commissioners
returned from the exercise of the day, satisfied that the vessel would
answer the intended purpose, and consoled themselves that their care had
been bestowed upon a worthy object.

But it was discovered, that various alterations were necessary. Guided
by the light of experience, they caused some errors to be corrected, and
some defects to be supplied. She was prepared for a second voyage with
all practicable speed.

On the fourth of July she was again put in action. She performed a trip
to the ocean, eastward of Sandy Hook, and back again, a distance of
fifty-three miles, in eight hours and twenty minutes. A part of this
time she had the tide against her, and had no assistance whatever from
sails. Of the gentlemen who formed the company invited to witness the
experiment, not one entertained a doubt of her fitness for the intended
purpose.

Additional expedients were, notwithstanding, necessary to be sought for
quickening and directing her motion. These were devised and executed
with all possible care.

Suitable arrangements having been made, a third trial of her powers was
attempted on the eleventh day of September, with the weight of
twenty-six of her long and ponderous guns, and a considerable quantity
of ammunition and stores on board; her draft of water was short of
eleven feet. She changed her course by inverting the motion of the
wheel, without the necessity of putting about. She fired salutes as she
passed the forts, and she overcame the resistance of the wind and tide
in her progress down the bay. She performed beautiful man[oe]uvres
around the United States' Frigate JAVA, then at anchor near the
light-house. She moved with remarkable celerity, and she was perfectly
obedient to her double helm. It was observed that the explosion of
powder produced very little concussion. The machinery was not affected
by it in the smallest degree. Her progress, during the firing, was
steady and uninterrupted. On the most accurate calculations, derived
from heaving the log, her average velocity was five and a-half miles per
hour. Notwithstanding the resistance of currents, she was found to make
headway at the rate of two miles an hour against the ebb of the East
River, running three and a-half knots. The day's exercise was
satisfactory to the respectable company who attended, beyond their
utmost expectations. It was universally agreed that we now possessed a
new auxiliary against every maratime invader. The City of New York,
exposed as it is, was considered as having the means of rendering itself
invulnerable. The Delaware, Chesapeake, Long Island Sound, and every
other bay and harbor in the nation, may be protected by the same
tremendous power.

Among the inconveniences observable during the experiment, was the heat
endured by the men who attended the fires. To enable a correct judgment
to be formed on this point, one of the Commissioners (Dr. Mitchel)
descended and examined, by a thermometer, the temperature of the hold,
between the two boilers. The quicksilver, exposed to the radiant heat of
the burning fuel, rose to one hundred and sixteen degrees of
Fahrenheit's scale. Though exposed thus to its intensity, he experienced
no indisposition afterwards. The analogy of potteries, forges,
glass-houses, kitchens, and other places, where laborers are habitually
exposed to high heats, is familiar to persons of business and of
reflection. In all such occupations, the men, by proper relays, perform
their services perfectly well.

The Government, however, will understand that the hold of the present
vessel could be rendered cooler by other apertures for the admission of
air, and that on building another steam frigate, the comfort of the
firemen might be provided for, as in the ordinary steamboats.

The Commissioners congratulate the Government and the nation on the
event of this noble project. Honorable alike, to its author and its
patrons, it constitutes an era in warfare and the arts. The arrival of
peace, indeed, has disappointed the expectations of conducting her to
battle. That last and conclusive act of showing her superiority in
combat, has not been in the power of the Commissioners to make.

If a continuance of tranquillity should be our lot, and this steam
vessel of war be not required for the public defense, the nation may
rejoice that the fact we have ascertained is of incalculably greater
value than the expenditure--and that if the present structure should
perish, we have the information never to perish, how, on a future
emergency, others may be built. The requisite variations will be
dictated by circumstances.

Owing to the cessation of hostilities, it has been deemed inexpedient to
finish and equip her as for immediate and active employ. In a few weeks
every thing that is incomplete could receive the proper adjustment.

After so much has been done, and with such encouraging results, it
becomes the Commissioners to recommend that the steam frigate be
officered and manned for discipline and practice. A discreet commander,
with a selected crew, could acquire experience in the mode of navigating
this peculiar vessel. The supplies of fuel, the tending of the fire, the
replenishing of the expended water, the management of the mechanism, the
heating of shot, the exercise of the guns, and various matters, can only
become familiar by use. It is highly important that a portion of seamen
and marines should be versed in the order and economy of the steam
frigate. They will augment, diffuse, and perpetuate knowledge. When, in
process of time, another war shall call for more structures of this
kind, men, regularly trained to her tactics, may be dispatched to the
several stations where they may be wanted. If, on any such disposition,
the Government should desire a good and faithful agent, the
Commissioners recommend Captain Obed Smith to notice, as a person who
has ably performed the duties of inspector from the beginning to the end
of the concern.

Annexed to the report, you will find, Sir, several statements
explanatory of the subject. A separate report of our colleague, the
honorable Oliver Wolcott, whose removal from New York precluded him from
attending to the latter part of the business, with his accustomed zeal
and fidelity, is herewith presented. A drawing of her form and
appearance, by Mr. Morgan, as being like to give satisfaction to the
department, is also subjoined, as are likewise an inventory of her
furniture and effects, and an account of the timber and metals
consolidated in her fabric.

It is hoped these communications will evince the pains taken by the
Commissioners, to execute the honorable and responsible trust reposed in
them by the Government.

  SAMUEL L. MITCHEL.
  THOMAS MORRIS.
  HENRY RUTGERS.

       *       *       *       *       *

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1964

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402--Price 70 cents


FOOTNOTES:

[1] _The American Neptune_ (1946), vol. 6, pp. 253-274.

[2] _The American Neptune_ (1944), vol. 4, pp. 327-329.

[3] New York, 1853, pp. 13-17.

[4] Pittsburgh, 1896, pp. 8-16.

[5] See pages 172 through 176 for this report, which is reproduced from
CHARLES B. STUART, _Naval and Mail Steamers of the United States_ (New
York, 1853), app., pp. 155-159.

[6] National Archives, Navy Records Plans, 80-7-14; and HOWARD I.
CHAPELLE, _History of the American Sailing Navy_ (New York: W. W. Norton
& Co., 1949), pp. 293-295.

[7] National Archives, Navy Records Plans, 80-7-9; and CHAPELLE,
_History of the American Sailing Navy_, pp. 226, 228.

[8] National Archives, Navy Records Plans, 80-7-15.

[9] National Archives, Naval Records Collection, Miscellaneous Letters,
1819, II.

[10] See p. 169, reproduced from CHARLES B. STUART, _Naval and Mail
Steamers of the United States_ (New York, 1853), p. 15.

[11] JEAN BAPTISTE MARESTIER, _Memoire sur les bateaux a vapeur des
Etats-Unis d'Amerique, avec un appendice sur diverses machines relatives
a la Marine_ (Paris: L'imprimerie Royal, 1824).

[12] 1820-1823, vol. 7, p. 437.

[13] _Annales de l'industrie nationale et etrangere, ou Mercure
Technologique_ (Paris, 1822), pp. 760-762.

[14] January 27, 1823, vol. 7, pp. 436-438.

[15] January-March 1935, vol. 61, pp. 322-328.

[16] HOWARD I. CHAPELLE, _American Small Sailing Craft_ (New York: W. W.
Norton & Co., Inc., 1951), pp. 29, 31.

[17] Newport News, Va.: The Mariners' Museum, 1937, p. 23.

[18] Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs Merrill, 1932, p. 291.

[19] HENRY WILLIAM EDWARD, _The Double Bottom or Twin Hulled Ship of Sir
William Petty_ (Oxford: The Roxburghe Club, 1931).

[20] Publication No. 5 (Newport News: The Mariners' Museum, 1939), p.
22.


INDEX


Anckerswaerd, Col. Michael, 157

Astor, John Jacob, 141


Baltimore, Lord. _See_ Calvert.

Bennett, Frank M., 139, 150, 165

Bergh, Christian, 145

Biddle, James, 141

Brackenridge, S. M., 145

Brewington, M. V., 155

Brown, Adam and Noah, 141, 142, 145

Brown, Alexander Crosby, 165

Brown, Noah, 141, 150, 151

Browne, Charles, 157

Browns' yard, 142, 144


Calvert, George, Lord Baltimore, 156

Canning, Stratford, 139

Chapman, Fredrik Henrik af, 156, 166

Charles II of England, 152, 153

Coast and Harbor Defense Company, 141

Coast Defense Society, 141, 142

Colden, C. D., 149


Danish Greenland Company, 150

Danish Royal Archives, 139, 150

Dearborn, Henry, 141, 142

Decatur, Stephen, 141

Deptford Yard (England), 165


Eckford, Henry, 142

Emmet, ----, 144

Evans, Samuel, 141, 145


Fox, Josiah, 157

Fulton, Robert, 139, 141, 142, 144, 147, 149, 150, 157, 159, 165


Gurley, Ralph R. (USN), 150, 151

Gustav III of Sweden, 156, 157


Hawthorn, Leslie, and Company (Scotland), 166


Jefferson, Thomas, 145

Jones, Jacob, 141

Jones, William, 147


Laurie, J., 157

Lewis, Jacob, 141

Lewis, Morgan, 141


Marestier, Jean Baptiste, 147, 149, 159, 162

Mariners' Museum, 165

Marsh, James, 145

May, Arthur J., 139

Miller, Patrick, 156, 157

Mitchill, Samuel L., 141, 142

Monroe, James, 145

Montgery, M., 147, 149, 159

Morgan, "Mr.", 144

Morris, Thomas, 141, 142


National Maritime Museum (England), 147, 156, 165


Pepys, Samuel, 155

Perry, Oliver, 141

Petty, Sir William, 152, 153, 155, 166

Porter, David, 144

Purcell, William, 147


Rasmussen, Kjeld, 150

Rigsarkivet (Denmark), 147

Royal Society of London, 152

Rutgers, Henry, 141, 142


Smith, ---- (Captain, USN), 144

Smith, Sir Sidney (RN), 155

Statens Sjoehistoriska Museum (Sweden), 147

Stewart, Charles, 145

Stiles, George, 144

Stoudinger, Charles, 144

Stuart, Charles B., 139, 150

Symington, William, 157


Thames Iron-works Company (England), 165

Tyler, David B., 139


Warrington, Samuel, 141

Wilstack, Paul, 155

Wolcott, Oliver, 141, 142


Youle, John, foundry, 142





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