When was the steamboat invented in what year? Steamboats. Steamships in Europe

If we look at the history of the creation of steam engines, it will certainly seem that steamships were greatly delayed in their birth.

Archimedes was the first to think of using the power of steam, creating a steam gun - architronito. Roman ships experienced the power of this weapon back in 215-212. BC e. - during the siege of Syracuse.

The first attempt to use steam propulsion for ships was in France. Back in 1707, the inventor Papin installed a steam engine on a boat sailing along the Weser River. Seventy years later, the 45-metre Piroskaf ship was built in Lyon. Before the eyes of eyewitnesses, it rose up the river, managing to travel a significant part of the way against the current. The next attempt was made by the Americans.

In 1787, inventor John Fitch built a steam boat called the Experiment. She could reach a speed of 6.5 knots. This ship was propelled by a steam engine, which moved three oars similar to duck paws. The boat made regular trips up and down the Delaware River, but passengers were afraid of it.

Steam boat "Experiment" by J. Fitch

The first steamboat appeared in England in 1788. It had two hulls, between which there was a pair of paddle wheels. Its speed was relatively low - only 5 knots. The British built a real steamship with a stern paddle wheel only four years later. They named him "Charlotte Dundas". This 17 m long vessel with a powerful power plant of 12 horsepower (hp) can be considered the first tugboat in the history of shipbuilding. Steam shipping owes much of its official recognition to the American inventor and businessman Robert Fulton. He was the first to understand how to ensure normal interaction between the hull, the machine and the paddle wheels.
In 1802, Fulton proposed to Emperor Napoleon a project for steam ships that could transport passengers to England. But Napoleon did not appreciate the inventor's proposal.

However, Fulton did not lose heart and, with the financial support of friends, built the steamship Clermont. On it he installed Watt's universal steam engine. True, the car was underpowered, and the ship’s speed was only 4.6 knots.

Steamship "Clairmont" - the first steamship from Robert Fulton

In September 1807, the Claremont set off on its first commercial voyage on the Hudson River, marking the beginning of a regularly operating New York-Albany passenger line. People started talking about steamships as vessels suitable for sea voyages in 1809, when the steam ship Phoenix sailed from New York to Philadelphia.

The first steamship to cross the Atlantic was the Savannah. In 1819 she made a 24-day voyage from New York to Liverpool. But the steamships managed to finally master the transoceanic lines only 30 years after the Phoenix cruise, and only thanks to the further improvement of the steam power plant.

Not relying entirely on the steam engine, some shipbuilders left sails on the ships. Almost 50 years passed until steamships managed to displace sailing ships. Thanks to the economical steam engine, they began to develop good speed; among other things, they had to call at ports less and less often to replenish coal reserves. In 1881, the steamship Aberdeen made the passage from England to Australia, spending only 42 days. Five years later, the total tonnage of steamships sailing on transoceanic lines equaled the tonnage of merchant sailing ships.

In Russia, as in other maritime powers, the appearance of steam ships was initially treated with distrust. Many scientific discoveries of Russian scientists, capable of revolutionizing shipbuilding, were often “put on the shelf.” The talented Russian mechanic I.P. Kulibin created a “navigable” vessel with a hydraulic engine back in 1782. Academician B. S. Jacobi invented an electric motor in 1834, and four years later he tested it to drive a ship. The government did nothing to introduce the original innovation into the industry. The same thing happened with many other inventions. And yet, in the first half of the 19th century. steam ships also appeared in Russia.

“Watership” vessel by I. P. Kulibin

The first voyage of the steamship from St. Petersburg to Kronstadt took place on November 3, 1815. The steam boat made the entire journey in 5 hours 22 minutes with an average speed of 9.3 km/h. The length of the vessel was 18.29 m, width - 4.57 m, draft - 0.61 m. Paddle wheels with a diameter of about 2.5 m had six long blades mounted on spokes. The creator of the first Russian steamship was K. Bird, the owner of a mechanical foundry on Galerny Island.

The first steam tug "Skory" was launched in 1818. Three years later, the Nikolaev Admiralty built the Black Sea steamship "Vesuvius". These ships became a test of strength for the Russian military shipbuilding industry.

In 1833, the Russian fleet received the warship Hercules, rebuilt into a 28-gun wheeled steam frigate.

During operation, the steam engine created strong vibration, due to which the wooden hull became very loose, leaks and damage appeared, shortening the already short service life of the vessel. This led to the fact that the hulls of steamships began to be made of iron. In 1787 the first iron barges were built to transport coal. They were about 20 m long and lifted up to 20 tons of cargo. These barges plied the waterways of England. But they were clearly in no hurry to build iron steamships. The first such ship, called the Aaron Manby, was launched only in 1822. It traveled from London to Paris at a good speed of 8-9 knots.
In 1837, the British, having completed the construction of the ocean-going iron steamer Rainbow, opened a new passenger line between London and Antwerp. The last steamship with a wooden hull, the Adriatic, was built in the USA in 1857. Its length reached 107 m, and it could carry 376 passengers and 800 tons of cargo.

Black Sea steamship "Emperor Nikolai"

But despite the fact that new technologies made it possible to make the iron hull quite strong, sinking an iron steamer was still not difficult. A few cannonballs or a good high-explosive bomb were enough. However, the steamships were put into service. The first of them, “Nemesis,” was launched by the British in 1839. And just a year later, the British Navy was replenished with three more iron gunboats. The United States, not wanting to lag behind the mistress of the seas, England, built its own iron ships: Michigan, Water Witch and Allegheny.
In the middle of the 19th century. Military ships began to be built in Russia. After the lost Crimean War, Russia accelerated the pace of construction of ships with a steam engine. In 1857, the Russian government approved a new shipbuilding program. After its completion, the Baltic Fleet was to receive more than 150 steam ships of various types. They began to implement this program so zealously that already in the early 1870s, fashion trendsetter England was forced to recognize the primacy of Russian shipbuilding.

The ships became bigger and bigger. The iron hull, even if it had a considerable length, made it possible not to worry about the strength of the vessel, since the edges of the plating sheets were now connected closely using rivets. Giants began to appear among the steam ships. Thus, the English steamship Great Eastern, which left the stocks in 1858, had a length of 210.4 m, and its displacement reached 33,000 tons. It was built for 4 thousand passengers. The steam engine of this ship has a capacity of 8000 hp. With. drove the stern propeller and two large paddle wheels with blades mounted on the sides. The first large military steamship was built by the Italians. 20 years after the Grent Eastern went to sea, they launched the armored cruiser Italia with a displacement of 15,200 tons. With a speed of 18 knots, the huge cruiser was considered very fast for a steam ship of its time.

"Great Western" - the largest paddle steamer of its time

Gradually, shipbuilders began to use steel instead of iron. The first steel ships appeared in England in the early 1860s. They were built from expensive puddling steel, the method of producing which had been known since the 17th century. One of these ships, the wheeled warship Banshee, sent by the British to the States, was tested in the Civil War of the North and South.
However, most shipbuilders recognized the new material only after the advent of mild open hearth steel. The French Pierre and Emile Martin managed to obtain it by melting cast iron along with scrap iron in regenerative combustion furnaces. The strength of this steel made it possible to reduce the weight of ships. Now it was possible to build steel ships with a large carrying capacity. But still, steel was still very expensive. Only by the end of the 1880s. It became possible to produce durable steel structures that were thinner and cheaper than iron ones.

On February 11, 1809, American Robert Fulton patented his invention - the first steam-powered ship. Soon steamships replaced sailing ships and were the main water transport until the middle of the 20th century. Here are the 10 most famous ships

Steamer "Clermont"

The Claremont became the first officially patented steam-powered vessel in the history of shipbuilding. The American Robert Fulton, having learned that the French engineer Jacques Perrier had successfully tested the first ship with a steam engine on the Seine, decided to bring this idea to life. In 1907, Fulton surprised the New York public by launching a ship with a large funnel and huge paddle wheels on the Hudson River. Onlookers were quite surprised that this creation of Fulton's engineering was able to move at all. But the Claremont not only sailed along the Hudson, but was also able to move against the current without the help of wind or sails. Fulton received a patent for his invention and over the course of several years improved the ship and organized regular river trips on the Claremont along the Hudson River from New York to Albany. The speed of the first steamship was 9 km/h.

Steamship "Clermont"

The first Russian steamship "Elizabeth"

The steamship "Elizabeth", built for Russia by the Scottish mechanic Charles Bird, entered service in 1815. The ship's hull was wooden. A metal pipe with a diameter of about 30 cm and a height of 7.6 m served instead of a mast for setting sails in a tailwind. The 16 horsepower steamship had 2 paddle wheels. The steamship made its first voyage on November 3, 1815 from St. Petersburg to Kronstadt. To test the speed of the steamer, the port commander ordered his best rowing boat to compete with it. Since the speed of the "Elizabeth" reached 10.7 km/h, the oarsmen, pushing hard on the oars, sometimes managed to overtake the steamer. By the way, the Russian word “steamboat” was introduced into use by naval officer P. I. Ricord, a participant in this voyage. Subsequently, the ship was used to transport passengers and tow barges to Kronstadt. And by 1820, the Russian fleet already consisted of about 15 steamships, by 1835 - about 52.

The first Russian steamship "Elizabeth"

Steamboat Savannah

The Savannah became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1819. He made a flight from the American city of Savannah to Liverpool, England in 29 days. It should be noted that the steamer sailed almost the entire way, and only when the wind died down was the steam engine turned on so that the ship could move even in calm conditions. At the beginning of the era of steamship construction, sails were left on ships making long voyages. The sailors still did not fully trust the power of steam: there was a great risk that the steam engine would break down in the middle of the ocean or there would not be enough fuel to reach the destination port.

Steamboat Savannah

Steamship "Sirius"

They decided to abandon the use of sails only 19 years after the transatlantic voyage of the Savannah. The paddle steamer Sirius left the English port of Cork with 40 passengers on April 4, 1838 and reached New York 18 days and 10 hours later. Sirius crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time without raising sails, using only a steam engine. This ship opened a permanent commercial shipping line across the Atlantic. "Sirius" moved at a speed of 15 km/h and consumed a monstrously large amount of fuel - 1 ton per hour. The ship was overloaded with coal - 450 tons. But even this reserve was not enough for the flight. "Sirius" barely made it to New York. To keep the ship moving, ship rigging, masts, wooden bridge decking, handrails and even furniture had to be thrown into the firebox.

Steamship "Sirius"

Steamship "Archimedes"

One of the first steam ships with a propeller was built by the English inventor Francis Smith. The Englishman decided to use the discovery of the ancient Greek scientist Archimedes, which had been known for a thousand years, but was used only for supplying water for irrigation - the screw. Smith came up with the idea of ​​using it to propel the ship. The first steamship, called Archimedes, was built in 1838. It was moved by a screw with a diameter of 2.1 m, which was powered by two steam engines with a power of 45 horsepower each. The vessel had a carrying capacity of 237 tons. "Archimedes" developed a maximum speed of about 18 km/h. Archimedes did not make long-distance flights. After successful trials on the Thames, the ship continued to operate on inland shipping lines.

The first screw steamer "Stockton" to cross the Atlantic

Steamship "Stockton"

The Stockton was the first screw steamship to sail across the Atlantic Ocean from Great Britain to America. The story of its inventor, Swede John Erikson, is very dramatic. He decided to use a propeller to propel a steam ship at the same time as the Englishman Smith. Erickson decided to sell his invention to the British Navy, for which he built a screw steamer with his own money. The military department did not appreciate the Swede's innovations; Erickson ended up in prison for debt. The inventor was saved by the Americans, who were very interested in a maneuverable steam ship, in which the propulsion mechanism was hidden below the waterline, and the pipe could be lowered. This is exactly what the 70-horsepower steamship “Stockton” was, which Erickson built for the Americans and named after his new friend, a naval officer. On his steamship in 1838, Erickson left for America forever, where he gained fame as a great engineer and became rich.

Steamship "Amazon"

In 1951, newspapers called the Amazon the largest wooden steamship ever built in Britain. This luxury passenger transport could carry more than 2,000 tons and was equipped with an 80 horsepower steam engine. Although metal steamships had been rolling out of shipyards for 10 years, the British built their giant from wood because the conservative British Admiralty was prejudiced against innovation. On 2 January 1852, the Amazon, crewed by 110 of Britain's finest sailors, sailed for the West Indies, taking on board 50 passengers (including the Lord of the Admiralty). At the beginning of the journey, the ship was attacked by a strong and prolonged storm; in order to continue moving further, it was necessary to start the steam engine at full power. A machine with overheated bearings worked non-stop for 36 hours. And on January 4, the officer on duty saw flames coming out of the engine room hatch. Within 10 minutes the fire engulfed the deck. It was impossible to put out the fire in the stormy wind. The Amazon continued to move through the waves at a speed of 24 km/h, and there was no way to launch lifeboats. Passengers rushed around the deck in panic. Only when the steam boiler had exhausted all the water were they able to put people into the rescue longboats. After some time, those who sailed away in the lifeboats heard explosions - it was the gunpowder stored in the holds of the Amazon that exploded, and the ship sank along with the captain and part of the crew. Of the 162 people who set sail, only 58 were saved. Of these, seven died on the shore, and 11 people went crazy from the experience. The death of the Amazon became a cruel lesson for the Lords of the Admiralty, who did not want to admit the danger posed by combining the wooden hull of a ship with a steam engine.

Steamship "Amazon"

Steamship "Great East"

The steamship "Great East" is the predecessor of the Titanic. This steel giant, launched in 1860, was 210 meters long and for forty years was considered the largest ship in the world. The "Great East" was equipped with both paddle wheels and propellers. The ship became the last masterpiece of one of the famous engineers of the 19th century, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The huge ship was built to transport passengers from England to distant India and Australia without visiting ports to refuel. Brunel conceived his brainchild as the safest ship in the world - the Grand Orient had a double hull that protected it from flooding. When at one time the ship received a hole larger than the Titanic, it not only remained afloat, but was able to continue its voyage. The technology for building such large ships had not yet been developed at that time, and the construction of the “Great East” was marred by many deaths of workers working at the dock. The floating colossus was launched for two whole months - the winches broke down, several workers were injured. A disaster also occurred when the engine was started - the steam boiler exploded, scalding several people with boiling water. Engineer Brunel died upon learning of this. Infamous even before it set sail, the 4,000-person Grand Orient set off on its maiden voyage on June 17, 1860, with just 43 passengers and 418 crew on board. And in the future there were few people willing to sail across the ocean on the “unlucky” ship. In 1888, they decided to dismantle the ship for scrap metal.

Steamship "Great East"

Steamship "Great Britain"

The first metal-hulled screw steamship, the Great Britain, rolled off the slipways on July 19, 1943. Its designer, Isombard Brunel, was the first to combine the latest achievements on one large ship. Brunel set out to transform the long and dangerous transatlantic passenger transport into fast and luxurious sea travel. The huge steam engines of the Great Britain steamship consumed 70 tons of coal per hour, produced 686 horsepower and occupied three decks. Immediately after its launch, the steamship became the largest iron ship in the world with a propeller, marking the beginning of the era of steam liners. But this metal giant also had sails, just in case. On July 26, 1845, the steamship Great Britain set off on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic with 60 passengers on board and 600 tons of cargo. The steamer moved at a speed of approximately 17 km/h and after 14 days and 21 hours entered the port of New York. After three years of successful flights, the Great Britain failed. On September 22, 1846, the steamer, crossing the Irish Sea, found itself dangerously close to the shore, and the rising tide brought the ship ashore. There was no disaster - when the tide went out, the passengers were lowered from board to the ground and transported in carriages. A year later, the Great Britain was rescued from captivity, a canal was broken, and the ship was back on the water.

The huge transatlantic steam liner Titanic, which claimed the lives of more than a thousand passengers

Steamship Titanic

The infamous Titanic was the largest passenger liner in the world at the time of its construction. This city steamship weighed 46,000 tons and was 880 feet long. In addition to the cabins, the superliner had gyms, swimming pools, oriental baths and a cafe. The Titanic, which set sail from the English coast on April 12, could accommodate up to 3,000 passengers and about 800 crew members and moved at a maximum speed of 42 km/h. On the fateful night of April 14-15, when it collided with an iceberg, the Titanic was traveling exactly at this speed - the captain was trying to break the world record for ocean-going steamships. There were 1,309 passengers and 898 crew on board at the time of the shipwreck. Only 712 people were saved, 1495 died. There were not enough lifeboats for everyone; most of the passengers remained on the ship without hope of salvation. On April 15, at 2:20 a.m., a giant passenger ship, making its first voyage, sank. The survivors were picked up by the ship "Carpathia". But even on it, not all those rescued were transported to New York alive and well - some of the Titanic passengers died on the way, some lost their minds.

FIRST RUSSIAN STEAMSHIP

In 1815, the first steamship was built in Russia. This significant event for domestic shipping took place in St. Petersburg at the Berda plant. Scotsman Charles Bird arrived in Russia in 1786. At first he worked as an assistant to Karl Gascoigne, also a visiting specialist in Petrozavodsk at the Aleksandrovsky Cannon Foundry. Later, in 1792, together with his father-in-law, another Scot, Morgan organized a partnership. One of the enterprises of the partnership was a foundry and mechanical plant, later called the Byrd plant.

At that time, the monopoly on the production of steamships was given by Alexander I to Robert Fulton, who was the inventor of the steam engine. But since Fulton did not build a single steamboat on the rivers of Russia for 3 years, the construction privilege passed to Charles Byrd.

The Scot took the matter seriously, and already in 1815, the first Russian steamship, named “Elizabeth,” was built at the Berd plant in St. Petersburg. The ship, called in English the “pyroscaphe” or “steamboat”, became the ancestor of Russian steamships. The engine used on the Elizabeth was a Watt balance steam engine, the power of which was 4 horsepower, and the shaft rotation speed was forty revolutions per minute. The steamer was equipped with 6-bladed side wheels with a width of 120 cm and a diameter of 240 cm. The length of the "Elizabeth" was 183 cm, the width was 457, and the draft of the vessel was 61 cm. The steam boiler for one firebox operated on wood, with a chimney leading from it made of brick, which was later replaced with metal. Such a pipe could serve as the basis for a sail; its height was 7.62 m. “Elizabeth” could reach speeds of up to 5.8 knots (almost 11 km/h).

The steamer "Elizabeth" was tested for the first time on the pond of the Tauride Garden and showed good speed there. Subsequently, Charles Beard continued to promote his invention. For example, he invited St. Petersburg officials for a boat trip. During the trip along the Neva, guests were entertained and treated, but in addition, the route included a visit to the plant.

The first regular voyage of the steam boat “Elizabeth” from St. Petersburg to Kronstadt departed on November 3, 1815. The journey there took 3 hours 15 minutes, and the return trip took a little over 5 hours due to bad weather. There were thirteen passengers on board. Subsequently, “Elizabeth” began to regularly sail along the Neva and the Gulf of Finland, and with the light hand of P.I. Ricord, the English name “steamboat” was replaced by the Russian “steamboat”. Rikord was one of the first to compile a detailed description of the first Russian steamship Elizaveta. Thanks to the success of his invention, Charles Bird received several large government orders and created his own shipping company. The new ships carried both cargo and passengers.

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THE FIRST STEAMBOATS

The use of steam engines on water began in 1707, when the French physicist Denis Papin designed the first boat with a steam engine and paddle wheels. Presumably, after a successful test, it was broken by boatmen who were afraid of competition. Thirty years later, Englishman Jonathan Hulls invented a steam tug. The experiment ended unsuccessfully: the engine turned out to be heavy and the tug sank.

In 1802, Scotsman William Symington demonstrated the steamship Charlotte Dundas. The widespread use of steam engines on ships began in 1807 with the voyages of the passenger steamer Clermont, built by the American Robert Fulton. Beginning in the 1790s, Fulton took up the problem of using steam to propel ships. In 1809, Fulton patented the Claremont design and went down in history as the inventor of the steamboat. Newspapers wrote that many boatmen closed their eyes in horror as the “Fulton monster,” spewing fire and smoke, moved along the Hudson against the wind and current.

Just ten to fifteen years after R. Fulton’s invention, steamships seriously replaced sailing ships. In 1813, two factories for the production of steam engines began operating in Pittsburgh in the USA. A year later, 20 steamships were assigned to the port of New Orleans, and in 1835 there were already 1,200 steamships operating on the Mississippi and its tributaries.

By 1815 in England on the river. The Clyde (Glasgow) already had 10 steamships operating and seven or eight on the river. Thames. In the same year, the first sea steamer "Argyle" was built, which sailed from Glasgow to London. In 1816, the Majestic steamship made its first voyages from Brighton to Le Havre and Dover to Calais, after which regular maritime steam lines began to open between Great Britain, Ireland, France and Holland.

In 1813, Fulton turned to the Russian government with a request to grant him the privilege to build a steamship he had invented and use it on the rivers of the Russian Empire. However, Fulton did not create steamships in Russia. He died in 1815, and in 1816 the privilege given to him was revoked.

The beginning of the 19th century in Russia is marked by the construction of the first ships with steam engines. In 1815, the owner of a mechanical foundry in St. Petersburg, Karl Bird, built the first paddle steamer "Elizabeth". A factory-manufactured Watt steam engine with a power of 4 hp was installed on the wooden Tikhvinka. With. and a steam boiler that powered the side wheels. The machine made 40 revolutions per minute. After successful tests on the Neva and the passage from St. Petersburg to Kronstadt, the ship made voyages on the St. Petersburg–Kronstadt line. The steamer covered this route in 5 hours 20 minutes with an average speed of about 9.3 km/h.

The construction of steamships also began on other rivers of Russia. The first steamship in the Volga basin appeared on the Kama in June 1816. It was built by the Pozhvinsky iron foundry and ironworks of V. A. Vsevolozhsky. Having a power of 24 hp. s., the ship made several experimental voyages along the Kama. By the 20s of the 19th century, there was only one steamship in the Black Sea basin - "Vesuvius", not counting the primitive steamship "Pchelka" with a power of 25 hp, built by Kiev serfs, which two years later was carried through the rapids to Kherson, from where he made flights to Nikolaev.

THE BEGINNING OF DOMESTIC SHIPBUILDING

Despite all the unfavorable conditions that delay the possibility of implementation and dissemination of Russian inventions, the works of Russian innovators back in the 18th century. in the field of construction of steam engines and metallurgy contributed to the introduction of steam and iron shipbuilding in Russia. Already in 1815, the first Russian steamship “Elizabeth”, a car, made voyages between St. Petersburg and Kronstadt; which has a capacity of 16 hp. With. was manufactured in St. Petersburg at the Berda plant. In 1817, the first Volga-Kama steamships and engines for them were built in the Urals. At the Izhora Admiralty Plant in 1817, the steamship “Skory” was built, 18 m long with a 30 hp engine. With. and in 1825 the steamship “Provorny” with an 80-horsepower engine. With. On the Black Sea, the first steamships were Vesuvius (1820) and the 14-gun steamship Meteor (1825).

Based on the experience of building small steamships that served for port needs and transporting goods, the military steamer Hercules was built in 1832. It carried the world's first improved steamship engine without a balancer, built by innovative Russian technicians. Such machines appeared in England only in the late thirties of the 19th century. In 1836, the first wheeled 28-gun steamship-frigate “Bogatyr” was built with a displacement of 1340 tons, with an engine power of 240 hp. s., manufactured at the Izhora plant.

The idea of ​​​​creating a self-propelled ship that could sail against the wind and currents occurred to people for a very long time. After all, it is often impossible to sail along a winding channel with a complex fairway, and it is always difficult to row against the current.

The real opportunity to build such a high-speed self-propelled vessel appeared only after the invention of the steam engine. A steam engine converts the energy of heated steam into the mechanical work of a piston, which reciprocates and drives a shaft. Steam is generated in a steam boiler. The first attempts to construct such a machine were made at the end of the 17th century.

One of the inventors who worked on the problem of converting thermal energy into work was the French physicist Denis Papin(1647 - 1712). He was the first to invent a steam boiler, but was unable to come up with a design for a working steam engine. But he designed the first boat with a steam engine and paddle wheels (1707). The world's first steam-powered ship was launched in Kassel, Germany, and quite confidently sailed along the Fulda River. However, the inventor's joy was short-lived. Local fishermen considered the boat, moving without oars or sails, a diabolical invention and hastened to set fire to the first steamer. Papin later moved to England and presented his developments to the Royal Scientific Society. He asked for money to continue experiments and recreate a steam ship. But Papen never received the money and died in poverty.

Thirty years later, in 1736, the Englishman Jonathan Hulls, a watchmaker by profession, invented the steam tug. He received a patent for a ship propelled by steam. However, during the tests it turned out that the steam engine installed on the ship was too weak to move it. The disgraced watchmaker did not find the strength to continue working on improving the invention and died in desperate poverty, like Papin.

The Frenchman was closest to the goal Claude-François-Dorothe, Marquis de Jouffroy. In 1771, the 20-year-old Marquis received the rank of officer, but showed a violent disposition and a year later found himself in prison for gross violation of discipline. The prison was located near the city of Cannes, and the marquis's cell overlooked the sea, so that de Jouffroy could watch from the barred window the galleys driven by the muscular power of the convicts. Filled with sympathy for them, the Marquis came to the idea that it would be nice to install a steam engine on the ship - the kind he heard set in motion the pumps that pumped out water from the English mines. After leaving prison, de Jouffroy sat down to books and soon had his own opinion on how best to build a steamship.

When he arrived in Paris in 1775, the idea of ​​a steam ship was already in the air. In 1776, the Marquis built a steam boat at his own expense, but the tests, according to a contemporary, ended “not entirely happily.” However, the inventor did not give up. At his instigation, the French government promised a 15-year monopoly on the construction and operation of steam ships to the first one to build a steamship suitable for permanent use, and de Jouffroy knew that victory in the steam race would mean wealth and prosperity for the rest of his days.

In 1783, in Lyon, the Marquis finally tested his second steam model. On June 15, on the banks of the Saone River, spectators watched as the boat of the Marquis de Jouffroy moved against the current. True, by the end of the demonstration voyage the engine became unusable, but no one noticed this, and besides, de Jouffroy hoped to make the car more reliable. The Marquis was now confident that he had the monopoly in his pocket, and sent a report of his success to Paris. But the Paris Academy was not inclined to trust messages from the provinces, no matter who they came from. The academicians asked to give an opinion on the invention of the chief specialist in steam engines - manufacturer Jacques Perrier, who himself sought a steamship monopoly, and therefore did everything to quickly forget about the invention of the Marquis. De Jouffroy did not receive financial support from the academicians, and he no longer had money to build the next boat.

Soon a revolution began in the country, and the French had no time for steamships. In addition, the Marquis de Jouffroy found himself on the side of the counter-revolution, and the royalists in France were awaiting not patents, but the guillotine. De Jouffroy was able to return to invention only after the Bourbon restoration, and in 1816 he finally received a patent. But they never gave him money to start a shipping business. De Jouffroy died in 1832 in a home for veterans, forgotten and abandoned by everyone.

In 1774, the outstanding English inventor James Watt created the first universal heat engine (steam engine). This invention contributed to the creation of steam locomotives, steamships and the first (steam) cars.

In 1787 in America John Fitch built the steam boat Experiment, which for a long time made regular trips along the Delaware River between Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Burlington (New York). It carried 30 passengers and traveled at a speed of 7-8 miles per hour. J. Fitch's steamship was not commercially successful because its route was competing with a good overland road.

In 1802, a mining engineer William Symington from England built the towing boat "Charlotte Dundas" with a Watt engine with a power of 10 horsepower, which rotated a paddle wheel located in the stern. The tests were successful. In 6 hours, with a strong headwind, the Charlotte Dundas towed two barges along the canal 18 miles. The Charlotte Dundas was the first serviceable steam boat. However, authorities began to fear that waves from the paddle wheel would wash away the banks of the canal. The steamer was pulled ashore and condemned to scrapping. Thus, this experience did not interest the British either.

Robert Fulton

Among the spectators watching the tests of the unusual vessel was an American Robert Fulton. He was interested in steam engines from the age of 12 and already as a teenager (at the age of 14) he made his first boat with a wheel engine. After school, Robert moved to Philadelphia and got a job first as a jeweler's assistant and then as a draftsman. At the age of 21 (1786), Fulton went to England to study architecture there. However, here Fulton abandoned drawing and concentrated on inventing. He designed canals, locks, conduits and various machines - for sawing marble, spinning flax, twisting ropes... And then he returned to his old hobby - the use of steam in shipping. However, the English government did not want to give money for his project, and in 1797 Fulton moved to France. But here his inventions were not appreciated either. Fulton thought about it and came up with the idea of ​​a submarine that could be used to mine the bottoms of enemy ships. At first, the French government rejected the project, considering this method of warfare too brutal. But the inventor, at his own expense, built and tested the wooden submarine Nautilus. In 1800, Fulton presented a practical model of his submarine to Napoleon. Having finally appreciated the invention, the French government finally allocated money to build a boat made of sheet copper and even promised to pay Fulton for every enemy ship sunk. However, the English ships deftly dodged the slow Nautilus. Therefore, the Nautilus did not sail for long. Fulton's attempt to sell the submarine to France's naval enemy, England, also failed. The true significance of this invention only became apparent closer to the outbreak of the First World War.

Offended by the whole world, Fulton returned to his homeland and began to look for funds for the steamship project. Here he was much more fortunate. The North River Steamboat of Clermont, with a displacement of 79 tons and a 20-horsepower steam engine that rotated five-meter paddle wheels, was tested in August 1807. Many of those gathered on the shores of Hudson Bay did not believe in success. . Fulton set off on his first voyage on September 4, 1807 without cargo and without passengers: there were no people willing to try their luck aboard the fire-breathing ship. But on the way back, a daredevil showed up - a farmer who bought a ticket for six dollars. This was the first passenger in the history of the shipping company. The touched inventor gave him a lifetime right of free travel on his ships. That same year, Fulton's first steamboat began operating profitably between New York and Albany. This ship went down in history as the "Clermont", although "Clermont" simply referred to the estate of Fulton's partner, Livingston, on the Hudson River, 177 km from New York, which the ship visited during its first voyage.

From that time on, a constant steamship service opened on the Hudson. Newspapers wrote that many boatmen closed their eyes in horror as the “Fulton monster,” spewing fire and smoke, moved along the Hudson against the wind and current.

"North River Steamboat"
Robert Fulton

In 1809, Fulton patented the Claremont design and went down in history as the inventor of the steamboat.

In Russia, the first steamship was built at the Charles Bird plant in 1815. It was called "Elizabeth" and made flights between St. Petersburg and Kronstadt. A report on one of these flights was published by the magazine "Son of the Fatherland". In this article, a Russian naval officer, later Admiral Pyotr Ricord, first used the term “steamboat” in print. Before this, such ships were called “steamboats” or “pyroscaphes” in the English manner.

By the way...

In 1813, Fulton turned to the Russian government with a request to grant him the privilege to build a steamship he had invented and use it on the rivers of the Russian Empire. Emperor Alexander I granted the inventor a monopoly right to operate steamship vessels on the St. Petersburg-Kronstadt line, as well as on other Russian rivers for 15 years. However, Fulton did not create steamships in Russia and was unable to take advantage of the agreement, since he did not fulfill the main condition of the agreement - for three years he did not put a single ship into operation. Fulton died in 1815, and in 1816 the franchise granted to him was revoked, and the contract went to Byrd.

Robert Fulton (1765-1815)

Sailing shipbuilding, having created a type of vessel called a clipper, had reached its limit. These were unusually elegant and sometimes quite large (up to 3000 tons of displacement) ships with a huge sail area, which made it possible to use the slightest wind. But the clippers could not oppose anything to the opposite wind, or calm (calm).

The first attempt to apply steam to the movement of a vessel was made by the Spaniard Blasco de Garay in 1543. In the works of Leonardo da Vinci, sketches of a vessel equipped with side paddle wheels were preserved. In 1705, the Frenchman Denis Papin installed a steam-atmospheric machine he invented on a boat and got the desired result. But the boatmen of the river where Papin carried out his experiments destroyed his boat for fear of competition. Papin was unable to find funds to continue the experiments.

In 1750, the Paris Academy of Sciences announced a competition for an engine that would replace wind power in the movement of ships. Then Daniel Bernoulli, a prominent scientist and founder of hydrodynamics, proposed the use of paddle wheels, proving that Newcomen's existing steam engine would not be able to produce practically valuable results. Somewhat later, when Watt's machine appeared, the Frenchman Geoffroy built a paddle steamer, but was unable to use his invention.

The American Fitch was working at the same time on a different type of engine: he tried to adapt a steam engine to oars. In 1768 and 1801, the English engineer Symington built two successful steamships, but the canal owners banned navigation under the pretext that steamships would destroy the canals. Seymington refused further work. Some inventors tried to use a jet engine, using a stream of water thrown out by a strong pump installed on a ship.

The first person to build a steamship whose practical value seemed undeniable was Robert Fulton.

Robert Fulton was born in 1765 in America, into the family of an Irish farm laborer. The death of his father forced Fulton to take up work very early. Twelve-year-old Robert is apprenticed to a jeweler in Philadelphia.

Spending the whole day doing hard work, Fulton enthusiastically painted at night. Frequent caricatures of the owner finally led to a quarrel, and Fulton was kicked out of the workshop. Several successful sketches made in a tavern secured Fulton’s reputation as a good portrait painter. Fulton spent six years painting portraits of his fellow citizens and considered himself an artist by vocation.

In 1786, an incident brought Fulton into contact with the famous American politician and scientist Benjamin Franklin. Franklin easily proved to Fulton that he was still very far from perfect, and offered to help him go to London to see his friend, the famous painter West.

Several months spent with West convinced Fulton that he would never be able to become a good artist, and Fulton found the courage to say goodbye to illusions. He went on a journey through the industrial cities of England as a simple worker, diligently studying the machines that had long interested him.

Diagram of the engine part of the steamship R. Fulton "Clermont"

Three years passed like this. During this time, Fulton gained fame as a skilled mechanic. In 1789 he returns to London, and here he meets the American Ramsay. Ramsay is hard at work inventing the steamboat. He recruits talented mechanic Fulton to work together.

Ramsay soon died, but Fulton never gave up the idea of ​​a steamship. Fulton himself does not have a single shilling, and it is impossible to find a person who would finance further work on the steamship. At this time, numerous canals were being built in England.

In 1793, Fulton, as a famous mechanic, was invited to take part in these works. A number of significant inventions by Fulton in the field of canal construction and other branches of technology date back to this time. He proposes, instead of the very slow passage of ships through locks, to use the movement of ships on rollers along special inclined planes; in addition, he invented a special plow for digging canals, a machine for sawing and polishing marble, a machine for buckling flax and hemp and twisting ropes. Fulton publishes several articles on the benefits of using steam in navigation on rivers, canals and seas. However, Fulton's inventions and plans were not appreciated by the English government.

In 1796, the American poet Barlow, who was then the United States ambassador to France, invited Fulton to Paris. The inventor gladly took advantage of this invitation, hoping that the bourgeois revolution in France would break the deep conservatism with which he so often encountered in England.

In Paris, Fulton begins to intensively study mechanics, mathematics and physics; diligently studies languages, knowing full well that in most cases the failures of his predecessors in working on the steamship were due to insufficient theoretical preparedness.

However, the money accumulated over the years of work in England was soon spent, and it was inconvenient to continue to enjoy Barlow’s hospitality. Then painting comes to the rescue once again. Fulton paints a panorama depicting the leaders of the revolution and episodes of the battles of the French army. The panorama was a huge success among patriotic Parisians. Fulton acquired money to continue his experiments and studies.

Despite the brilliant successes of the French revolutionary armies on the continent, supremacy at sea remained with England, hostile to France. The French fleet was too weak. Fulton, taking this circumstance into account, turns to the French government with a proposal to build a cheap but formidable weapon - an underwater vessel equipped with mines.

According to Fulton, this type of ship could break the English blockade and implement freedom of maritime trade for France. Fulton has been trying to convince the government of this for three years. Finally, Napoleon Bonaparte appointed an authoritative commission to review Fulton's invention. The commission approved the project and the funds were released. In 1800, in the city of Cherbourg, Fulton launched the first submarine, but it almost died when it ran aground.

Drawing of a steamship built according to the design of R. Fulton

In 1801, Fulton continued experiments with a second ship, first on the Seine, then in Brest. The results were excellent. During experiments in the summer of 1801, Fulton stayed under water for 4.5 hours and covered about 8 km during this time. Fulton blew up the old ship with the underwater mines he invented, proving the combat effectiveness of his underwater vessel.

It should be noted that Fulton was not the inventor of the submarine; he only continued and improved the idea of ​​the American inventor Buchnel.

Fulton's first submarine was called the Nautilus. It was built of wood and, in principle, almost completely anticipated modern submarines. The propeller for moving underwater was driven manually. The second boat, built in 1801, was more advanced: made of sheet copper, it could accommodate 4 people, and its speed under water reached 60 m per minute. The boat was armed with a mine invented by Fulton (a prototype of a torpedo).

Fulton's experiments were not always successful, and the government's patience was soon exhausted. A commission consisting of famous scientists - Laplace and Monjou - petitioned Napoleon for further funding of Fulton's experiments, but Napoleon, under the influence of the conservative Minister of Navy Decree, rejected the petition.

During a meeting with Fulton, Decre hypocritically stated that his submarine was a weapon for corsairs, and not for a powerful power like France. In desperation, Fulton decided to go to America, but the new ambassador of the United States to France, Livingston, who himself worked hard on the invention of the steamboat, suggested that Fulton build a steamship in France. Fulton took up the construction with enthusiasm.

Having decided to build an engine in the form of an endless chain with blades, Fulton learned about the failure of the French mechanic Deblanc, who was working in Lyon on a ship with a similar engine, and decided to build the engine in the form of a wheel with blades. In the winter of 1802, Fulton's small steamboat was already sailing along the Seine. In the spring of 1803, a second steamship was built, but unknown attackers destroyed it.

In the summer of 1803, a new ship of quite significant size was ready. And so, on August 2, 1803, admiring Parisians saw an extraordinary ship on the Seine, going against the current without oars or sails. Fulton's brilliant success, however, did not convince Napoleon of the steamship's suitability. He called the inventor a dreamer and rejected the project to build steamships.

French industrialists also did not realize what the greatest invention they could acquire. Fulton and Livingston approached the administration of the State of New York in America with a proposal to organize steamship traffic on the Hudson River. The agreement was signed, Fulton and Livingston began building the steamship. 20 liter car. With. for the steamship was ordered from the Watt plant in England. Fulton, living in England, supervised its construction, checking every detail.

Robert Fulton's steamship "Clermont"

At this time, the English government, alarmed by rumors of a new invention, wishing to maintain dominance over the seas, decided to lure Fulton. Fulton's experiments with mines and the submitted drawings of the submarine convinced the British Admiralty of the enormous importance of the invention. The Admiralty offered Fulton a large sum to give up building the submarine forever... Fulton, enraged by the cynical proposal, broke off the negotiations.

In the fall of 1806, the engine for the steamship was ready and brought to America. Fulton and Livingston spent all their property on the construction of the steamship, even mortgaging Livingston's house.
“Clermont,” as the steamer was called, was a fairly large ship, 50 m long and 5 m wide. It was equipped with a Watt engine with a power of 20 hp. The steamer was driven by two onboard paddle wheels.

Fulton checked all the calculations dozens of times, without losing sight of the slightest screw, taking into account the mistakes of his predecessors. Still, Fulton was painfully worried. Finally, the day of descent arrived. The Claremont, churning up the foam with its clumsy wheels, confidently and quickly went up the river. The inventor's enormous perseverance was rewarded. Practical Americans very quickly appreciated the advantages of the steamship. Fulton waited for the complete triumph of his idea.

Arriving in New York in December 1806, Fulton supervised the construction of a steamship planned in Paris with Livingston. He also tries to interest the American government in the submarine, but its demonstration ends in failure.

By the beginning of August 1807, the “Steamboat” (as Fulton called it), 45 m long, was ready for testing. Its steam engine had only one cylinder and used oak and pine wood as fuel. When tested, the steamship sailed the 240 km distance from New York to Albany in just 32 hours at an average speed of 4.7 mph, while the Monopoly required a speed of only 4 mph.

After installing cabins on the steamboat, renamed the Northern River Steamboat, Fulton began commercial travel in September 1807. He made three round trips every two weeks between New York and Albany, carrying passengers and light freight. During the first winter season, Fulton expanded the ship's hull, made improvements to the design of the crankshaft, wheels, and improved passenger accommodations. Following these modifications, the steamship was registered in 1808 as the Northern River Steamboat Claremont, a name soon shortened by the press to Claremont.

In 1808 Fulton married his partner's niece, Harriet Livingston.

In 1811, the steamship New Orleans, designed by R. Fulton, was built. He was sent south to establish the monopoly of R. Livingston and R. Fulton in navigation in the territory of New Orleans. Travel was slow and risky due to river conditions and the risk of earthquakes.

In 1812, R. Fulton built the first steam warship to defend New York Harbor from the British fleet, the Demologos, or Fulton. It had two parallel hulls with paddle wheels between them. The steam engine was placed in one housing, and the steam boiler in the other. It had a displacement of 2,745 tons, a length of 48 m and a speed of no more than 6 knots (or 11 km/h). In October 1814, this armored steamship underwent successful sea trials, but was never used in battle. In 1829 it was destroyed by an accidental explosion.

Since 1810, Fulton's three steamboats served voyages on the Hudson and Raritan rivers. His steamships also replaced ferries in New York, Boston and Philadelphia.

Fulton spent much of his capital in litigation over infringement of his steamboat patent rights and in attempts to suppress rival steamboat builders who had found loopholes in the government-granted monopoly. His wealth was then depleted by failed submarine projects and financial philanthropy.

After testifying at a legal hearing in Trenton in 1815, he caught a cold en route to New York, where he died. His family asked for help from the American government, and only in 1846 Congress allocated $76,300.

In 1965, on the 200th anniversary of Fulton's birth, a commemorative stamp was issued in the United States and the state of Pennsylvania purchased and restored the two-story farmhouse in which he was born.

Speaking about his invention, Fulton noted with the greatest modesty that he was only a link in the chain of great inventors who, for almost three centuries before him, had worked on the problem of the steam engine in shipbuilding.

Robert Fulton lived exactly 50 years, working until the last moment. He died of a cold at work in the winter of 1815.

V. Sergeev

Well, we can look at what shipbuilders have achieved now using the example of such ships as: or

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