The application of steam for the propulsion of boats engaged the attention of inventors along with the very earliest development of the steam engine itself. Blasco de Garay in 1543, the Marquis of Worcester in 1655, Savary in 1698, Denys Papin in 1707, Dr. John Allen in 1730, Jonathan Hulls in 1737, Bernouilli and Genevois in 1757, William Henry (of Pennsylvania) in 1763, Count D’Auxiron and M. Perier in 1774, the Marquis de Jouffroy in 1781, James Rumsey (on the Potomac) in 1782, Benjamin Franklin and Oliver Evans in 1786 and 1789, John Fitch in 1786, and also again in 1796, and William Symington in 1788-89 were the early experimenters. Papin’s boat was said to have been used on the Fulda at Cassel, and was reported to have been destroyed by bargemen, who feared that it would deprive them of a livelihood. Allen, Rumsey, Franklin, and Evans (1786) proposed to employ a backwardly discharged column of water issuing from a pump. Jonathan Hulls and Oliver Evans (1789) had stern wheels. Bernouilli, Genevois, and the Marquis de Jouffroy used paddles on the duck’s foot principle, which closed when dragged forward, and expanded when pushed to the rear. Fitch’s first boat employed a system of paddles suspended by their handles from cranks, which, in revolving, gave the paddles a motion simulating that which the Indian imparts to his paddle. Symington’s boat of 1788 (Patrick Miller’s pleasure boat) had side paddle wheels. Symington’s next boat, built in 1789, and also owned by Patrick Miller, was of the catamaran type, i. e., it had two parallel hulls with paddle wheels between them.

Such was the state of this art when the Nineteenth Century commenced its wonderful record. No practical steam vessel had been constructed, as the efforts in this direction were handicapped by the crudeness of all the arts, and were to be regarded as experiments only, most of which had to be abandoned. The seed of this invention, however, had been sown in the fertile soil of genius, conception of its great possibilities had fired the zeal of the inventors in this field, and the new century was shortly to number among its great resources a practical and efficient steamboat.

The first steamboat of the Nineteenth Century was the “Charlotte Dundas,” built by William Symington in 1801, see Fig. 106, and used on the Forth and Clyde Canal in 1802. She had a double acting “Watt engine,” which transmitted power by a connecting rod to a crank on the paddle-wheel shaft. The boat had a single paddle wheel in the middle near the stern, and was intended only for canal use, in the place of horses. It was abandoned for fear of washing the banks.

In 1804 Col. John Stevens constructed a boat on the Hudson, driven by a Watt engine, and having a tubular boiler of his own invention and a twin screw propeller. The engine, boiler, and twin screws are shown in Fig. 107. The same year Oliver Evans used a stern paddle wheel boat on the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It was driven by a double acting high pressure engine, and geared so as to rotate wagon wheels by which it was transported on land, as well as the paddle wheels when on the water. It was in primitive form both a locomotive and a steamboat.

In 1807 Robert Fulton built the “Clermont,” and permanently established steam navigation on the Hudson River between New York and Albany. Fulton in 1802-1803, while living in Paris with Mr. Joel Barlow, and with the aid and encouragement of Chancellor Livingston, of New Jersey, had built an earlier steamboat 86 feet long, and although it broke down owing to defects in the strength of the hull, he was so encouraged that he ordered Messrs. Boulton & Watt, of England, to send to America a new steam engine, and upon his return to America he built the “Clermont.” This vessel, although not the first steamboat, was nevertheless the first to make a voyage of any considerable length, and to run regularly and continuously for practical purposes, and Fulton was the first inventor in this field whose labors were not to be classed as an abandoned experiment. The “Clermont” as originally built was quite a different looking boat from that usually given in the histories. A model of the original construction is to be found in the National Museum at Washington. In the winter of 1807-8 she was remodeled as shown in Fig. 108. She then appeared as a side wheel steamer, whose wheels were provided with outer guards and enclosed in side wheel houses, and whose shaft had outer bearings in the guards, which were not in the original boat. The hull was 133 feet long, 18 feet beam, and 7 feet depth. The “Clermont’s” engines were coupled to the crank shaft by a bell crank, and the paddle wheel shaft was separated from the crank shaft, but connected with it by gearing. The cylinders were 24 inches in diameter, and 4 foot stroke. The paddle wheels had buckets 4 feet long with a dip of 2 feet. She made the first trip from New York to Albany of 150 miles in 32 hours, and returned in 30 hours, which was the first voyage of any considerable length ever made by steam power.

The honor of inventing the steamboat has been claimed for many inventors, and that many worthy experimenters had been working in this field, and that Fulton had the benefit of their experience is true. The fact is, however, that the evolution of any great, invention is a slow and cumulative process, the product of many minds, and while the proposers, suggesters, and experimenters are entitled to their share of the credit, it is the man who achieves success and gives to the public the benefit of his labors whom the world honors, and in this connection the name of Fulton stands pre-eminent, for although the “Clermont” was 264 years later than the steamboat of Blasco de Garay, the “Clermont” marks the beginning of practical steam navigation, and whatever the claims of other inventors may be, it is certain that steam navigation, established by Fulton in 1807, on the Hudson, preceded the practical use of the steamboat in any other country by at least five years, for it was not until 1812 that Henry Bell, of Scotland, built the “Comet,” that plied between Glasgow and Greenock, on the Clyde, and not until 1814 was a steam packet used for hire on the Thames in England.At the same time that Fulton was in Paris making his first experiments with the steamboat, Col. John Stevens, the most celebrated boat builder and engineer of his day, was actively experimenting in America in the same line. Having in 1804 made the first application of steam to the screw propeller, he in 1807 built the “Phoenix,” which was driven by paddle wheels. The “Phoenix” was constructed shortly after Fulton’s boat, but was barred from use on the Hudson by the exclusive monopoly obtained by Fulton and Livingston from the State Legislature, and she was accordingly taken from New York to Philadelphia by sea, which was the first ocean voyage by a steam vessel.

The first steamboat on the Mississippi was the “Orleans,” of 100 tons, built at Pittsburg by Fulton and Livingston in 1811. She had a stern wheel, and went from Pittsburg to New Orleans in 14 days.Although the first trip out to sea was made in 1808 by Col. Stevens’ son in taking the “Phoenix” from New York to Philadelphia, no attempt had been made to cross the ocean until 1819. In this year the “Savannah,” an American steamer of 380 tons, performed this feat, and had the honor of being the first steam vessel to cross the Atlantic. In 1824 the “Enterprise,” an English steamer, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and went to India.

The screw propeller employed by Colonel Stevens in 1804 was not a new invention with him, as popularly supposed, but had its origin early in the preceding century, being a mere development of the ancient wind wheel. In 1836 it was further developed by Francis P. Smith and by Capt. John Ericsson, then living in England. Ericsson took out British patent No. 7,149, of 1836, and United States patent No. 588, of Feb. 1, 1838, and built several screw steamers, and through Capt. Robert F. Stockton, of the United States Navy, succeeded in having a screw steamer, the “Robert F. Stockton,” built in accordance with the plans of his patent and sent to the United States. The arrangement of her machinery is seen in Fig. 109. She had two propellers on the same axis, but revolving in opposite directions, one being on the central shaft and the other on a concentric tube. The engines were coupled directly to the propeller shafts, which feature was one of Ericsson’s improvements, and has continued to be the approved form to this day.

In the early history of steam navigation the side wheel steamer was the favorite, and was employed for ocean travel as well as for inland waters. In 1840 the “Brittania,” the first Cunarder, commenced the career of that celebrated line. This vessel had side wheels, as did also the “United States,” shown in Fig. 110, which was the first American steamer built expressly for the Atlantic trade. In 1852 the United States mail steamer “Arctic,” of the Collins line, was regarded as the greyhound of the Atlantic, her time being 9 days, 17 hours and 12 minutes. She also had side wheels.

Side wheel steamers for inland waters, and screw propellers for sea service, however, in time established their fitness for their respective scenes of action. In side wheel steamers the most notable improvements have been in stiffening the hull by braces, and the adoption of feathering paddle wheels, whose function is to cause the paddles to enter and leave the water in vertical position without dragging dead water. Manley in 1862, and Morgan in 1875, patented practical forms of the feathering paddle wheel. In screw propellers, Woodcroft in 1832, and Griffiths at a later period, made valuable improvements. The surface condenser was used by Hall in 1838 on the steamship “Wilberforce,” and Sickels in 1841 invented the drop cut-off.

In 1854 the “Great Eastern” was begun and was finished in 1858. This was the largest steam vessel ever built up to this time, and has continued to hold the record for size up to the year 1899, when her dimensions were exceeded by the “Oceanic,” which ships are put in comparison in Fig. 111. The length of the “Great Eastern” was 692 feet, beam 83 feet, depth 57[139]
[140]¹/₂ feet, draft 25¹/₂ feet, displacement 27,000 tons, and speed 12 knots. She was designed by the English engineer Brunel, and was intended for the Australian trade. She had both a screw propeller and paddle wheels at the side, with four engines coupled to each. The paddle wheel engines had steam cylinders 74 inches in diameter, with 14 foot stroke, and those of the screw engines were 84 inches in diameter and 4 foot stroke. Collectively they were of 10,000 horse power. The paddle wheels were 56 feet in diameter, and the screw propeller 24 feet. On her first voyage to New York, across the Atlantic, in 1860, she carried from 15 to 24 pounds of steam and consumed 2,877 tons of coal. Her cost was $3,831,520. This mammoth vessel was too large and unwieldy for the uses for which she was designed, and proved a bad investment. She served, however, a most useful purpose, by virtue of her great bulk, steadiness, and carrying capacity, for relaying the Atlantic cable in 1866, and others in 1873-1874.

In 1874 the “Castalia” was built. This was a steamer with two parallel hulls, decked across, and designed for greater steadiness in crossing the English Channel. The “Bessemer” steamer, designed for the same purpose, and built about the same time, had four paddle wheels, and the entire cabin was hung on pivots, so that it could not partake of the sea motion.

[141]
[142]In later years great improvements have been made in reducing the weight of the engines, in forced blast, steam steering gear, anchor hoisting devices, water-tight bulkheads, surface condensers, electric lights, and signalling devices. By the year 1880 the standard form of marine engine for large powers had become the compound double cylinder type, expanding steam from an initial pressure as high as 90 pounds. In 1890 triple expansion engines had become common, employing three cylinders, and using steam with an initial pressure as high as 180 pounds. In 1890 McDougal’s whale-back steamers were introduced. See United States patents No. 429,467 and 429,468, June 3, 1890, and No. 500,411, June 27, 1893.

In no country in the world are such fine examples of side wheel steamers to be found as in the United States, and in no country are there such splendid reaches of inland waters as theatres for their performances. The “Priscilla,” shown in Fig. 112, of the Fall River Line, plying on Long Island Sound, and the “Adirondack,” on the Hudson, are fine examples of this type. The “Priscilla,” which is said to be the largest river boat in the world, is 440 feet 6 inches long and 93 feet breadth over the guards. She is driven by double compound inclined engines, has feathering paddle wheels 35 feet in diameter and 14 feet face, and her speed is over 20 miles an hour. The “Adirondack,” whose engines and feathering paddle wheel are shown in Fig. 113, is 412 feet long and 90 feet breadth over guards.[143]
[144] The engines and paddle wheels of the “Adirondack” are distinctly representative of the modern American side wheel steamer.

The largest and in many respects the highest type of marine architecture is to be found in the modern ocean greyhound for transatlantic trade. In recent years the rival companies have vied with each other in the effort to excel, and steamships of larger size, greater speed, and more perfect equipment have followed each other, until it would seem that the limit had been reached. In the accompanying table the largest and most recent steamers are placed in comparison with the “Great Eastern.”

The “Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse,” owned by the North German Lloyd Company, and built in 1897, is shown in Fig. 114, and for three years held the record as the fastest steamship afloat. The “Kaiser Wilhelm” was followed by the “Oceanic,” in 1899, of the White Star Company, which is the largest ocean steamer ever built, exceeding the proportions of the “Great Eastern.” Just what the dimensions of the “Oceanic” mean, as given in the preceding tables, can be best illustrated by the accompanying Fig. 115, in which she is juxtaposed with several blocks of large buildings on Broadway, New York, opposite City Hall Park. If the “Oceanic” were placed on end beside Washington’s Monument, at the United States Capital, she would tower 150 feet above the top of the same. An ordinary brick house four rooms deep and three stories high could be built with its length crosswise in her hull. There is accommodation for 410 first-class passengers, 300 second-class passengers, and 1,000 third class, and as her crew will number 390, the total number of souls on board, when she carries her full complement, will be 2,100.

The latest achievement in marine architecture, however, is the “Deutschland,” built for the Hamburg-American Company. The “Deutschland” is not quite so large as the “Oceanic,” but is of higher speed, her maximum speed of 23¹/₂ knots an hour exceeding that of any other ocean steamer. The “Savannah,” the first steam vessel to cross the Atlantic, made the trip in 1819 in 26 days. The “Deutschland” in her eastward trip September 4, 1900, crossed the Atlantic in 5 days 7 hours and 38 minutes, which is the fastest time on record. The “Deutschland” is of 35,640 horse power, her two bronze propellers are 23 feet diameter, and weigh 30 tons, and her propeller shafts are 25 inches in diameter. The cranks of her propeller shafts, like those of the “Kaiser Wilhelm” and the “Oceanic,” are set according to the Schlick system, to reduce vibration. The “Deutschland’s” engines are seen in Fig. 92, and in general appearance the ship resembles the “Kaiser Wilhelm.” Still larger and possibly swifter steamships are in process of construction, viz.: the “Kaiser Wilhelm II.,” by the North German Lloyd Company, and a mammoth unnamed ship by the White Star Line, whose length of 750 feet will exceed all others.

It may be interesting to note in familiar terms what these enormous traveling palaces comprehend in equipment. For the safety and comfort of passengers, the great length reduces the pitching, bilge keels prevent rolling, and the Schlick system of cranks neutralizes vibration in the engine. Strong bulkheads, and double bottoms with air-tight compartments, impart buoyancy in case of collision. Boilers are placed in separate water-tight compartments, so that damage to one does not disable the others. Powerful pumps are arranged to discharge inflowing water, and the best of life boats are provided. Spacious dining rooms, promenade decks, drawing rooms, pianos, library, smoking room, state rooms, cabins for children, toilets, baths, medicine stores, a printing office, and electric lights everywhere, furnish every want and satisfy every luxurious taste. The cuisine includes a refrigerating plant, the finest ranges, and provisions galore. It may be interesting to the housewife to see the market list of a modern transatlantic steamer. A specimen is partially represented in the following: 25,450 pounds of fresh meat, 3,250 pounds of fish, 6,370 pounds of game and poultry, 12,715 pounds of bread, 43 barrels of flour, 3,938 pounds of butter, 1,307 pounds of coffee, 2,790 pounds of sugar, 102 pounds of tea, 7,220 pounds of fresh fruit; 1,230 gallons of milk, 26,106 eggs, 29,180 oranges and lemons, 7,033 bottles of mineral water, 1,800 bottles of beer, 2,688 gallons of beer in casks, 1,240 bottles of wine, 630 bottles of champagne, 1,600 heads of lettuce, 800 jars of preserved fruits, and other things in proportion.In the matter of size the “Oceanic” surpasses all previous efforts in ship building, but ocean steamers do not reach the highest speed attainable. The little “Turbinia,” a 40 ton craft equipped with a compound rotary steam turbine of the Parsons type, has attained a speed of 32³/₄ knots an hour. An even greater speed has recently been attained by the larger boat, “Hai Lung,” constructed in England for the Chinese Government, which vessel was equipped with reciprocating engines, and is credited with having made a run of 18¹/₂ knots at an average speed of 35 knots an hour. The highest speed ever attained, however, is by the British torpedo boat “Viper,” which is 210 feet long, and, like the “Turbinia,” is equipped with the Parsons steam turbines. In a recent trial the “Viper” covered a measured mile at the rate of 37.1 knots, or about 43 miles an hour.In many respects the most important branch of steam navigation in recent years has been its war vessels. The great navies of the world at the end of 1898[3] ranked as follows: England, 1,557,522 tons; France, 731,629 tons; Russia, 453,899 tons; United States, 303,070 tons; Germany, 299,637 tons; Italy, 286,175 tons, and they all owe their efficiency entirely to steam. The first steam war vessel was built in 1814 by Fulton for the defence of New York Harbor, during the then existing war times. She was known as the “Demologos” (voice of the people), or “Fulton the First.” As shown in the original designs, Fig. 116, she is a double ender, whose sides were to be 5 feet thick. In her middle was a channel way or well containing a protected paddle wheel 16 feet in diameter, 14 feet wide, and having a dip of 4 feet. A single cylinder engine turned the paddle wheel on one side, and was balanced by the boiler on the other side. Although intended to have only twenty guns, she was equipped, when finished, with thirty long 32-pounder guns and two Columbiad 100-pounders. It was proposed also to have submarine guns suspended from each bow. An engine was also to be used to discharge hot water on the enemy, and a furnace was to be provided for heating the cannon balls red hot. She was 156 feet long, 20 feet deep, and 56 feet broad, and was regarded as a very formidable vessel. Her cost was $278,544. Iron-clad floating batteries were first used in 1855 in the Crimean war, and shortly afterward the French built the first sea-going iron-clad, “Gloire,” followed in 1859 by the British iron-clad, “Warrior.”

The civil war in 1861 brought with it a novel and striking form of war vessel known as the “Monitor.”[4] It was built from plans of Capt. Ericsson, an engineer of the ripest experience, skill, and attainments, who had then come to make his home in the United States. He undertook to construct for the Navy Department of the United States some form of iron clad steam batteries of light draft, suitable to navigate the rivers and harbors of the Confederate States. The “Monitor” was the result. The salient features, shown in vertical cross section in Fig. 117, are a low deck projecting but a few inches above the water line, so as to present as little target as possible to the enemy, and a revolving and heavily armored turret containing the battery of guns. In 1862 the Confederate forces had reconstructed a steam vessel with a chicken-coop-shaped covering of armor, that proved a formidable engine of war, which was practically invulnerable to the attacks of ordinary war vessels, and was doing great damage to the Union vessels. In the spring of 1862 the “Monitor” met the “Merrimac” in engagement in Hampton Roads, and established the great value of the turret monitor.

Vessels of the “Monitor” type still form useful parts of the United States Navy, in which the “Monterey” and “Monadnock” are its most representative types. The “Monadnock,” which is a double-turret coast defence monitor, is shown in Fig. 118. Although regarded by some as unseaworthy on account of the low seaboard and small buoyancy, the monitor has cleared itself of such suspicion, for in the recent war with Spain both the “Monadnock” and “Monterey” sailed across the Pacific Ocean by way of Honolulu to Manila, a distance of 7,000 miles, and joined the fleet of Admiral Dewey without mishap or delay.

No patriotic American citizen would expect to read an account of modern war vessels without finding special mention of those two splendid[149]
[150] types of their class, the battleship “Oregon” and the armored cruiser “Brooklyn,” whose performances during the late war with Spain contributed so much to the honor and glory of the United States Navy, and demonstrated the skill and efficiency of our American shipbuilders. Before the war began the “Oregon” was stationed on the Pacific Coast, where she had been built, and it was desired that she should join the fleet of Admiral Sampson in Cuban waters. Leaving Puget Sound on March 6, 1898, this floating fortress of steel, weighted with her enormous guns and 18-inch thick armor, made the long journey of over 14,500 miles around the southern end of the western continent, and up to Jupiter Inlet on the Florida coast, arriving there on the 24th day of May, and was not delayed an hour on account of her machinery, the only stops being made for coal. Immediately after coaling at Key West she took her place in the blockading line at Santiago, and in the great battle of July 3 quickly developed a power greater than that attained on her trial trip and a speed only slightly less, easily distancing all other ships immediately engaged except the “Brooklyn,” and in connection with the “Brooklyn” forced the fleetest of the Spanish cruisers to surrender.

The “Oregon” is shown in Fig. 119. She is an armored battleship of the first class, built by the Union Iron Works of San Francisco, and launched Oct. 26, 1893. Her length is 348 feet, beam 69¹/₄ feet, draft 24 feet, displacement 10,288 tons, maximum speed 16.79 knots, and coal capacity 1,594 tons. Her side armor is of steel plates 18 inches thick, and her deck is, 2³/₄ inches thick. On the turrets the armor is from 6 to 15 inches thick, and on the barbettes it is from 6 to 17 inches thick. Her engines are of the twin screw, vertical triple expansion direct acting inverted cylinder type. The stroke is 42 inches, and the diameters of the cylinders are 34¹/₂, 48, and 75 inches, respectively. The battery consists of four 13-inch breech loading rifles, eight 8-inch breech loading rifles, four 6-inch, twenty 6-pounder rapid fire guns, six 1-pounder rapid fire, two Colts, one 3-inch rapid fire field gun, and three torpedo tubes. The 13-inch guns weigh 136,000 pounds each, are 39 feet 9¹/₄ inches long, are set 18 feet above the water, can be moved through an arc of 270 degrees, and throw a projectile of 1,100 pounds a distance of 12 miles, and with a power which at 1,000 yards would perforate a mass of steel 2¹/₂ feet in thickness. The cost of the “Oregon” was $3,180,000.

The “Brooklyn” is shown in Fig. 120, and enjoys the distinction of having borne the brunt of the fight of July 3, 1898, having been hit over forty times in that engagement without being disabled. She was built by the William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company, of Philadelphia, was launched Oct. 2, 1895, and cost $2,986,000. She is an armored cruiser, and is one of the latest and most speedy of that type. She is 400 feet 6 inches long, 64 feet 8 inches breadth, 24 feet draft, 9,215 tons displacement. Her engines are the twin-screw vertical triple expansion type, imparting a speed of 21.91 knots an hour. Her maximum indicated horse power is 18,769, and her coal capacity is 1,461 tons. Her battery consists of eight 8-inch breech loading rifles, twelve 5-inch rapid fire guns, twelve 6-pounder rapid fire, four 1-pounder rapid fire, four Colts, two 3-inch rapid fire field guns, and four Whitehead torpedo tubes. Her side armor is 3 inches thick, her turrets 5¹/₂ inches, her barbettes from 4 to 8 inches, and her deck from 3 to 6 inches. She also has a water line protection of cocoa fibre to automatically close up an opening made by a shot.Although not a steam vessel, it would be regarded as an omission not to mention among war vessels the “Holland” submarine boat, brought into notice in 1898 by the Spanish American war, and designed to dive below the surface and make attack below the water level. Torpedo boats of this type have been acquired by, and now form a part of, the United States Navy.

Among all the types of steam war vessels which have claimed popular attention the most interesting in proportion to its size is the torpedo boat, for none represent such concentrated pent-up energy and deadly effect as this little demon of the sea. A mere shell in construction, with engine and boiler built for highest speed, and crew suffering untold discomforts and dangers below, this modern engine of destruction, with the speed of an express locomotive, and the helplessness and deadly intent of a scorpion, darts up to the monster battleship under cover of darkness, and before being discovered discharges a torpedo and delivers a mortal wound in the side of the big ship which sends her to the bottom, perishing perhaps itself in the destruction which it works. The United States has 37 of these torpedo boats. The torpedo boat destroyer is a larger and swifter boat, whose special duty it is to overtake and destroy this dangerous little fighter.

The growth of steam navigation during the present generation has been wonderfully rapid. The accompanying diagram, Fig. 121, from Mulhall’s “Industries and Wealth of Nations,” shows in 1860 30 per cent. of steam to 70 per cent. of sailing vessels, while in 1894 the ratio is 80 per cent. of steam to 20 of sailing vessels. The same authority estimated the total horse power of steam vessels in the merchant marine of the world in 1895 to be 12,005,000. Add to this the growth of the past five years, and about 4,000,000 horse power for the steam war vessels of the world’s navies, which were not included, and the total horse power of the steam vessels of the world would not be far from twenty million.

This cursory review, in a single chapter, cannot adequately treat this great subject, for a whole library is needed to cover the field. Suffice it to say, however, that among the great scenes and acts in the theatre of human action, no figure has occupied so much attention, and none played so important a part in the drama of life, as the steam vessel. Its stage setting has been the majestic waters of the earth, and on it the play of the great warships has vied in power and grandeur with the flash and vehemence of the lightning, and the whirl and turmoil of the elements. Tense with a deep meaning which no stage simulation could approximate, and with the smoke of conflict for a drop curtain, it has laid tragedies upon the pages of history, and changed the maps of the world; while behind the scenes the great passenger steamers, with their uninterrupted traffic of human freight, are more silently, but none the less surely, stirring the peoples of the earth into the homogeneous ferment of civilization, and slowly moulding nations into the solidarity of a common brotherhood.