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Discovering Steam Early Steamboats Robert Fulton What Is in a Name

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Discovering Steam Early Steamboats Robert Fulton What Is in a Name SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 2014 Robert Fulton After building a French submarine By Laurie Triefeldt in 1801, Fulton decided to build steamboats and returned to the United States. He is credited with creating the first commercially successful steamboat and has became known as the “father of STEAMBOATSWhen they were first built in the late 18th century, steamboats, also steam navigation.” Discovering steam known as “steamships” or “steamers,” were a marvel of technology. In 1807, the The construction of a steam These vessels are powered by a paddle or a propeller that is turned by Clermont turbine was described by the traveled from ancient Greek mathematician and a steam engine or turbine. Steamships offered reliable passenger and New York City engineer Hero of Alexandria. cargo transportation that was not dependent on wind or muscle power. to Albany. This rocketlike reaction engine With a speed spun when heated. SS Savannah of about 5 What is in a name? was an American miles per The term steamboat usually refers to hybrid sailing hour, the 150- mile trip took small riverboats with steam-powered ship/side wheel Robert Fulton 32 hours. engines. Steamships are larger steam- steamer. 1765-1815 powered ships that travel the open seas. A paddle steamer is a steamship driven by paddle wheels. Paddle steamers often use the abbreviation PS (paddle steam- er). SS stands for Steamship. TS stands for turbine steamer. RMS stands for Royal Hero’s steam Hero of Alexandria Mail Steamer. Fulton’s Clermont, 1807 engine (c. A.D. 10-70) SS Savannah (1818) was the world’s first The Cunard line In 1698, the English engineer steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. and inventor Thomas Savery Samuel Cunard was a Cana- patented the first crude steam dian from Halifax, Nova Scotia, engine. who founded the Cunard line of steamships in 1838. The company provided mail and passenger service between Britain and North America. Despite competition from other steamship lines, Moving forward Cunard was the Paddle steamers were largely largest and Early steam engine RMS Britannia (1840) was the Cunard Thomas Savery used on rivers and lakes. It was most popular Line’s first transatlantic paddle steamer. Bri- passenger In 1769, the Scotsman James c. 1650-1715 not until the screw propeller tannia and its three sisters (Acadia, Caledo- shipping Watt patented an improved was adopted in the mid-1800s nia and Columbia) operated on a Liverpool- company. version of the steam engine, that oceangoing steamers be- Halifax-Boston route. In 1934, ushering in the Industrial came popular. The screw pro- the Cunard Revolution. Soon people began peller worked well regardless of Line merged to use this new technology to the water, and its smaller size with rival propel boats. made it less likely to be dam- aged. company, White Star, Samuel Cunard Early steamboats As steam engines improved, and began 1787-1865 John Fitch, an American they became more efficient operating as the Cunard-White inventor, built four different and faster, but speed some- In 1914, the Canadian steamship RMS Em- Star Line. In 1950, the name was steamboats between 1785 and times had consequences. press of Ireland was struck by the Norwegian changed back to the Cunard Line. 1796. He experimented with a va- James Watt steamship Storstad on the Saint Lawrence In 1998, Cunard was acquired by riety of propulsion options, and his 1736-1819 River. More than 1,000 passengers and crew the Carnival Corp. boats were mechanical triumphs. members died. In 1790, Fitch was running the first scheduled steamboat service on the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Burlington, N.J. Unfortunately, high operating and Ironclads were steam-propelled warships construction costs, combined with armored with iron or steel plates. They were patent disputes, caused Fitch’s developed in the 1850s to protect ships from investors to abandon him, and his explosive or incendiary shells. company failed. The SS Great Britain was the world’s Fitch longest passenger ship from 1845 to steamboat, 1854. It was the first iron steamer c. 1790 to cross the Atlantic. The voyage took 14 days. In 1970, it was restored and turned into a museum ship. The Charlotte Dundas is con- In 1912, the RMS It took 3,000 men two years to Although Titanic had four sidered the first practical steam- Titanic was the build the Titanic. Three million funnels (smokestacks), only boat. This paddle steamer was world’s largest ship. rivets held its hull together. three were operational — the built by William Symington and This steam-powered fourth was just for looks. designed to tow passenger ship was When the Titanic sank, Charlotte cargo to considered unsink- 1,503 passengers and Dundas, Glasgow from able, but a collision crew died. Only 705 1803 nearby rivers. with an iceberg on people survived. its maiden voyage proved disastrous. SOURCES: World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc.; www.saburchill.com; http://familytreemagazine.com; http://inventors.about.com; http://library.thinkquest.org; Like us on Facebook — www.facebook.com/worldofwonder2014 © 2014 Triefeldt Studios, Inc. Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS LEARN ABOUT IDAHO IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF WORLD OF WONDER.
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