Rivers have long played an important role in people's lives. Thanks to them, people transported their goods or other cargo. However, it was extremely difficult, and sometimes not at all impossible, to sail a sailing ship along a winding canal, to swim against the current, and also to use the power of rowers. Therefore, many thought about the creation of a self-propelled ship.
An ancient manuscript dating back to 527 describes a waterwheel mechanism that was powered by either humans or animals to propel a ship. However, all efforts to design a fast cargo-lifting self-propelled ship were not crowned with success until the time when the first steam engine appeared.
The steam engine converts steam energy into automatic operation a valve that performs reciprocating movements, due to which the shaft begins to move, forming steam in the steam boiler.
For the first time, they tried to realize such a machine in late XVII centuries. One of the inventors of the steam engine is Denis Papin, a physicist from the French town of Blois. He was the first to invent a steam boiler, but failed to imagine the mechanism of a functioning steam engine. Despite this, Papin designed the first boat in 1707, which had a steam engine and paddle wheels. This ship was launched in the German town of Kassel, which is located on the Fulda River. But the joy of the inventor from his invention was short. The fishermen, seeing a floating boat without sails, considered it an invention from a demon, as a result of which they burned it. Later, the French physicist Papin moved to England, where he showed his research to the Royal scientific society. In order to continue the experiments and restore the steam boiler, Papin asked the Royal Society for money. But he never got the money. Died in poverty. He asked for funding to continue the experiments and recreate the ship on a steam engine.
And in 1736, the English watchmaker Jonathan Hulls created a tug powered by a steam engine. He received a patent for a steam powered ship. But during the experiments it turned out that the steam boiler that was installed on the ship was too weak to move the ship. Hulls was so depressed that he did not find the strength to continue working on the modernization of the invention and died in poverty, like the previous inventor of the steam engine, Papin.
But closest to the goal was the French officer Claude-Francois-Dorote. In 1771 he received an officer's rank, but through his violent temper Some time later, he ended up in prison for a gross violation of discipline. Since the prison was not far from Cannes, and the windows of the cell were overlooking the sea, Claude-Francois could contemplate the passing galleys, the movement of which is due to the power of the rowers. Then an amazing idea occurred to him that it would not hurt to install a steam engine on the ship. After the French officer was released from prison, he sat down to read specialized literature, and soon he had the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating the world's first steamship.
After arriving in Paris in 1775, the idea of creating a steamship already existed. In 1776, Claude-Francois-Dorotë built a small steam-powered ship at his own expense, but the trials were unsuccessful. But, unlike previous inventors, the self-taught French engineer did not give up. On his initiative, the government was instructed to give a 15-year monopoly on the creation and operation of ships with steam engines to whoever was the first to create a steamship that would be suitable for permanent operation, and Claude Francois understood that a triumph in the steam race would ensure a comfortable life for the rest of his life.
In 1783, the officer finally tested his second steam model. And on June 15, eyewitnesses saw how the boat of a self-taught French engineer was moving along the Saone River against the current. However, almost at the finish line, the engine became unusable, but not a single person noticed this. But the inventor was not going to stop there - he was going to improve the engine. Claude-Francois-Dorothe was firmly convinced that the monopoly would belong to him, in connection with which he sent a report on the work done, which was crowned with success, to Paris. However, the Paris Academy was skeptical about the report, and, in connection with this, scientists asked Jacques Perrier, the chief specialist in steam engines, to make an opinion on the steam engine. Since he himself was interested in the steamship monopoly, he did everything possible so that this invention would soon be forgotten. So, the French officer did not receive financial support, and there was no money for the construction of another ship, since the construction of the ship required a lot of money.
Some time later, a coup began in France, and then there was no time for shipbuilding. To top it off, Claude-Francois-Dorotë was on the side of the monarchists, and, as you know, they were waiting not for a patent, but for a guillotine. However, he returned to inventing, but only after the revival of the Bourbons. And in 1816, a self-taught French engineer received a patent. But he never received money for the development of the shipping business. And in 1832 he was gone.
In 1774, the famous British inventor James Watt invented the first universal steam engine. This invention helped to create not only steamships, but also steam locomotives.
In the United States, in 1787, John Fitch built a steam-powered boat that long time operated regular flights between Philadelphia and Burlington along the Delaware River. The boat carried 30 passengers and was traveling at about 7-8 miles per hour. But the ship invented by J. Fitch was not commercially successful, because the road made up considerable competition for it.
And in 1802, the English engineer William Symington designed a tugboat called the Charlotte Dundas with a 10 horsepower Watt machine that rotated a paddle wheel located at the stern. The tests of this vessel were very successful. Within 6 hours, in strong winds, the tug Charlotte Dundas towed two barges 18 miles. This boat was the first serviceable ship powered by a steam engine. But the government began to fear that the waves that come from the paddle wheel would contribute to the erosion of the coast. In this regard, the boat was pulled onto land and doomed to certain death. Therefore, hence, this experiment did not arouse interest among the British.
Among the eyewitnesses who observed the testing of this vessel was the American Robert Fulton. He had been interested in steam engines since the age of 12 and already at the age of 14 he designed his first ship with a wheel engine. After leaving school, Fulton moved to live in Philadelphia and got a job as an assistant jeweler, and a little later as a draftsman. In 1786 Fulton emigrated to England to study architecture. However, in England, Robert Fulton gave up drawing and concentrated on invention. Initially, he designed locks, canals, but then Fulton returned to his former passion - the use of steam in shipping. But the government did not want to finance his project, and then, in 1797, Robert Fulton moved to France. However, even here his invention was not appreciated. After that, Robert Fulton put forward the idea of creating a submarine, with which it was possible to mine the bottom of an enemy ship. Initially, the French government did not accept the project, considering this method of warfare to be very cruel. But the inventor, at his own expense, designed and tested the Nautilus wooden submarine. In 1800, Robert Fulton showed a model of his submarine to Napoleon Bonaparte. Having finally appreciated his invention, the government financed the construction of a copper submarine. At the same time, they even promised to pay Fulton a lot of money for each enemy ship sunk. But the English ships briskly left the Nautilus, as it moved too slowly. Therefore, the existence of the submarine "Nautilus" was short-lived. Then Fulton tried to sell the submarine to England, but this was also unsuccessful.
After the failure with the submarine, Fulton decided to return to his homeland, after which he began to look for money to create a steamship. Then fortune finally smiled at him. A steamboat called the North River Steamboat of Clermont, with a displacement of 79,000 tons, with a steam engine of 20 horsepower driving paddle wheels, was tested in August 1807. Most of the people who gathered on the banks of the Hudson River did not believe that this creation of a steamboat would be successful. The first flight of this ship took place on September 4, 1807. The inventor of this ship went on a voyage alone - without cargo and passengers, since there were no people who wanted to go on a long voyage on a steamer. However, when the ship was returning back, there was one daredevil who nevertheless decided to board the fire-breathing ship. It turned out to be a farmer who bought a ticket worth six dollars. It was the first passenger in the history of shipping. In 1807, the North River Steamboat of Clermont began making voyages between New York and Albany, bringing a considerable profit to the owner. This ship went down in history as the Claremont, although the Claremont was the estate of Robert's companion, which is 177 km from New York.
Since that time, the ship has made regular voyages. In 1809, Robert Fulton received a patent for the construction of the Claremont and entered the history of shipping as the first inventor of the steamboat.
In Russia, the first ship was designed in 1815 at the factory of Charles Byrd. The ship was called "Elizaveta" and made routes between Kronstadt and St. Petersburg. A review of one of the flights was published in the Son of the Fatherland magazine. In this article, a naval officer from the Pskov province, Pyotr Rikord, first used the concept of "steamboat" in print. Prior to this, the ships were called "steamboats" or "pyroscaphes".
By the way, in 1813 Robert Fulton turned to the government Russian state with a request to give him the privilege of building a ship invented by him and its operation in the open spaces of water Russian Empire. Emperor Alexander I gave Fulton the monopoly right to operate steamships on the St. Petersburg-Kronstadt route, as well as on other rivers of the Russian Empire, for 15 years. But in Russia, Fulton did not design a single steamship, as a result of which he could not use the contract, since he did not fulfill the main condition of the contract - for three years he did not build or launch a single ship. In 1815, Robert Fulton died, and in 1816 the privilege that had been given to him was annulled, and this contract went to Byrd.
The idea of creating a self-propelled ship that could sail against the wind and currents came to people's minds for a very long time. After all, it is often impossible to sail along a winding channel with a complex fairway under sail, and it is always difficult to move against the current with oars.
Real Opportunity to build such a high-speed self-propelled vessel appeared only after the invention of the steam engine. The steam engine converts the energy of heated steam into mechanical work of the piston, which reciprocates and sets the shaft in motion. Steam is produced in a steam boiler. The first attempts to design 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 the steam boiler, but was unable to propose 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 sailed quite confidently along the Fulda River. However, the joy of the inventor was short-lived. The local fishermen considered the boat, moving without oars and sails, a diabolical invention and hastened to set the first steamer on fire. Papin later moved to England and presented his developments to the Royal Society. He asked for money to continue the experiments and recreate the steam ship. But Papin did not wait for the money and died in poverty.
30 years later, in 1736, an Englishman Jonathan Hulls, a watchmaker by profession, invented the steam tug. He received a patent for a ship driven 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 turned out to be closer to the goal Claude Francois Dorothé, Marquis de Jouffroy. In 1771, the 20-year-old marquis received an officer's rank, but showed a violent temper and a year later was in prison for a gross violation of discipline. The prison was near the city of Cannes, and the cell of the marquis was overlooking the sea, so that de Jouffroy could observe from the barred window the galleys, driven by the muscular strength of the convicts. Filled with sympathy for them, the marquis came to the conclusion that it would be nice to put a steam engine on the ship - such, he heard, set in motion the pumps that pumped water from the English mines. After leaving prison, de Jouffroy sat down with 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 quite happily." However, the inventor did not give up. At his suggestion, the French government promised a 15-year monopoly on the construction and operation of steam ships to whoever was the first to build a steamship suitable for permanent use, and de Jouffroy knew that victory in the steam race would mean wealth and prosperity until the end of days.
In 1783, in Lyon, the marquis finally tested his second steam model. On June 15, on the banks of the River Saone, spectators watched the boat of the Marquis de Jouffroy move against the current. True, by the end of the demonstration voyage, the engine had become unusable, but no one noticed this, and besides, de Jouffroy hoped to make the car more reliable. Now the marquis was sure that the monopoly was in his pocket, and sent a report on his success to Paris. But the Academy of Paris was not inclined to trust reports from the provinces, from whomever they came. The academicians asked for an opinion on the invention of the chief specialist in steam engines, the manufacturer Jacques Perrier, who himself sought the steamship monopoly, and therefore did everything to make the invention of the marquis quickly forgotten. 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 were no longer up to steamboats. In addition, the Marquis de Jouffroy turned out to be on the side of the counter-revolution, and the royalists in France were waiting not for patents, but for the guillotine. De Jouffroy was able to return to invention only after the restoration of the Bourbons, and in 1816 he finally received a patent. But he was never given money to develop the shipping business. De Jouffroy died in 1832 in a home for veterans, forgotten and abandoned by everyone.
In 1774 an outstanding English inventor James Watt created the first universal heat engine (steam engine). This invention contributed to the creation of steam locomotives, steamboats and the first (steam) cars.
In 1787 in America John Fitch built a steam boat "Experiment", which long time made regular flights on the Delaware River between Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Burlington (New York). He lifted 30 passengers on board and went at a speed of 7-8 miles per hour. J. Fitch's steamboat was not commercially successful, as a good overland road competed with its route.
In 1802 a mining engineer William Symington from England, he built the Charlotte Dundas tugboat with a 10 horsepower Watt machine that 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 for 18 miles. The Charlotte Dundas was the first serviceable steamboat. However, the authorities began to fear that the waves from the paddle wheel would wash away the banks of the canal. The ship was pulled ashore and doomed to be scrapped. Thus, this experience did not interest the British.
Robert Fulton
Among the spectators who watched the tests of an unusual vessel was an American Robert Fulton. He was fond of steam engines from the age of 12 and as a teenager (at 14) made his first boat with a wheel engine. After school, Robert moved to Philadelphia and got a job first as an assistant jeweler, and then as a draftsman. At age 21 (1786), Fulton went to England to study architecture there. Here, however, Fulton abandoned drawing and focused on invention. 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 government of England was unwilling to give money for his project, and in 1797 Fulton moved to France. But here, too, his inventions were not appreciated. Fulton thought and put forward the idea of a submarine, with which you can mine the bottoms of enemy ships. At first, the French government rejected the project, considering this way of warfare too brutal. But the inventor, at his own expense, built and tested the Nautilus wooden submarine. In 1800, Fulton presented a practical model of his submarine to Napoleon. Having finally appreciated the invention, the French government finally allocated money for the construction of a boat from sheet copper and even promised to pay Fulton for each enemy ship sunk. However, the English ships deftly dodged the slow Nautilus. Therefore, the Nautilus did not swim long. Fulton's attempt to sell the submarine to France's adversary at sea, England, also failed. true value of this invention became apparent only towards the beginning of the First World War.
Offended by the whole world, Fulton returned to his homeland and began to seek funds for a steamboat project. Here he was much more fortunate. Steamboat "North River Steamboat of Clermont" ("Steamboat of the North River") with a displacement of 79 tons with steam engine with a capacity of 20 horsepower., which rotated five-meter paddle wheels, was tested in August 1807. Many of those gathered on the shores of the Hudson Bay did not believe in success. On the first flight on September 4, 1807, Fulton went without cargo and without passengers: there were no people who wanted to try their luck on board the fire-breathing vessel. But on the way back, a daredevil showed up - a farmer who bought a ticket for six dollars. It was the first passenger in the history of the shipping company. The touched inventor granted him a lifelong right of free passage on his ships. In the same year, Fulton's first steamboat began running between New York and Albany, making a profit. This ship went down in history as Claremont, although Claremont was simply the name of the estate of Fulton's partner Livingston on the Hudson River, 177 km from New York, which the ship visited during the first voyage.
From that time on the Hudson, a constant movement of the steamer was opened. Newspapers reported that many boatmen turned a blind eye in horror as the "Fulton monster", belching fire and smoke, moved along the Hudson against the wind and current.
"Steamboat of the North River"
Robert Fulton
In 1809, Fulton patented the Clermont design and went down in history as the inventor of the steamboat.
In Russia, the first steamship was built at the factory of Charles Byrd in 1815. It was called "Elizaveta" 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 Peter Rikord, first used the term "steamboat" in print. Prior to this, such ships were called in the English manner "steamboats" or "pyroscaphes".
By the way...
In 1813, Fulton turned to the Russian government with a request to grant him the privilege to build the steamboat he invented and use it on the rivers of the Russian Empire. Emperor Alexander I granted the inventor a monopoly right to operate steamships 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 could not use the agreement, since he did not fulfill the main condition of the agreement - for three years he did not commission a single vessel. In 1815, Fulton died, and in 1816 the privilege granted to him was canceled, and this contract went to Byrd.
By the middle of the XIX century. it becomes clear to the main shipbuilding powers that the times when the movement of merchant ships and warships of the sailing fleet depended entirely on the direction and strength of the wind are fading.
By that time there was whole line inventions (for example, Denis Papin's steam engine, Robert Fulton's steamship model, which he demonstrated to Napoleon Bonaparte), providing for the construction of ships driven by steam power.
If the first such inventions were significantly ahead of their time and appeared in an era when the relevant technologies were still absent, then by the time Crimean War(1853 - 1856) the first steamships appeared in the fleets of the main powers of Europe and Russia.
The first known successful test of a steamboat model called "Piroskaf" took place in 1784. But the double-acting steam engine that turned the wheels of the steamboat quickly broke down.
The first successfully operated steamboat was Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat, which sailed from Albany to New York along the river. Hudson.
The benefits of steam-powered ships independent of the wind and weather conditions able to swim quickly against the current, became clear quickly. And similar ships began to appear in the fleets of the main shipbuilding powers of Europe.
By 1853, steamboats were becoming a common type of river water transport.
Steamboats on rivers, as ships for navigation on inland waterways (IWW), quickly gained worldwide recognition. Repair of equipment and steam engines for river transport did not present any particular difficulties. The propellers of such steamers were wheels, and such steamers were called paddle wheel boats. Paddle wheels could be located on the sides or in the stern of the ship. As a propeller for river boats, the paddle wheel continues to be used in our time, especially on pleasure or tourist boats.
With the first steamships in the navy, the situation was much more complicated. Due to the unreliability of the first engines - steam engines - steamships were combined - sailing-steam ships and had masts with spars and sails. In the event of a breakdown of the machine, the steamer could reach the port.
At the beginning, a paddle wheel also served as the mover of a sea-going steamer. However, the unreliability of the paddle wheel as a mover and its low efficiency led to the need to maintain sailing equipment on the passages of sea navigation. The engine on the first steamships was a steam engine, such as the one shown in Fig. 5.
Rice. 5. Steam engine for a steamer built in 1849, installed on the sea liner "Atlantic".
Furnaces - furnaces; boiler - steam boiler; steam pipe - steam pipeline; second engine - second engine (second steam engine); crankshaft - crankshaft; hot well - reservoir hot water; parallel motion linkage - parallel motion mechanism; cylinder - cylinder; side lever - side lever.
The wheels of the steamer were 11 m in diameter with 36 blades. The vessel was propelled by two 600 kW side-lever steam engines, one of which is shown in fig. 5. Each steam engine had one cylinder with a diameter of 241 cm, steam entered the cylinder at a pressure of 120 kPa, which was then considered a model of expensive innovative technology. When the steamer moves with the work of two cylinders of both steam engines on at full speed the speed reached 16 rpm, and with the additional help of sails, the speed of the Collins liner reached 12-13 knots.
The consumption of fuel (coal) was 1 ton for every 265 revolutions of the steamer wheel, or 85 tons for 24 hours. During the voyage, the steamer consumed an amount of coal almost equal to the weight of the steamer itself.
The Atlantic liner set off from Liverpool on its maiden voyage on April 27, 1850. It reached New York in a record time of 10 days and 16 hours. That is, during this time he made a transatlantic voyage. Such was the ship technology of that time.
The first warships of that time were steam frigates. On the eve of the Crimean War, the last battle of sailing warships was the destruction of the Turkish fleet at Sinop by the squadron of Admiral Nakhimov. During the siege of Sevastopol sailing ships of the Russian fleet were flooded in the fairway to block enemy ships from entering the Sevastopol Bay. Steam frigates participated in the Crimean War in the fleets of both belligerents. The first battle of steamers was indicative: the battle of the steam frigate "Vladimir" with the Turkish steamer "Pervaz-Bakhri".
Inventor Story by: Robert Fulton
The country: USA
Time of invention: 1807
With the invention of Watt, experiments began on the use of a new machine in shipping. The steamboat built by the French inventor Geoffroy can be considered the most successful attempt. In 1781, his steam boat, with the help of a steam engine, could already swim against the current for an hour.
The first steamboat suitable for navigation was invented by Irish engineer and mechanic Robert Fulton. He was born into a poor peasant family, was a brilliant self-taught.
Fulton built and tested his first, still imperfect, steamer on the Seine in Paris. In 1803, the experiment was a success, the ship sailed along the Seine for 1.5 hours, developing a speed of 5 km per hour.
In 1807, Fulton built the Clermont paddle steamer, installing Watt's double-acting steam engine there. The length of the steamer was 43 m, the engine power was 20 hp. s., tonnage - 15 tons. In 1807, the Claremont made its first flight along the Hudson from New York to Albany with a length of 150 miles (270 km). Taking place against the current and with a headwind, the flight took 32 hours. Fulton's Claremont laid the foundation for steam shipping. Since that time, steamships began to be built in other countries.
Following the invention of the river steamboat, attempts are being made to technically improve all types of maritime transport. Already in 1819, the Savannah steamer appeared on the transatlantic line between America and Europe, 
who delivered a cargo of cotton from the USA to England. Savannah was on the road for 26 days. In the same 1819, Savannah came to the port of St. Petersburg. It was the first foreign steamship to visit Russia. In 1825, the English steamship Enterprise traveled from London to Calcutta in 113 days. In 1829, the Dutch steamship Curacao traveled from Holland to the West Indies in 32 days.
However, maritime shipbuilding until the 40s of the XIX century. developed relatively slowly. The construction of steamships was hampered by design flaws identified during operation, which could not be immediately eliminated. And only a fundamental change 
designs of steamships and engines, as well as the transition to new building materials for the construction of ships stimulated the rapid development of maritime shipbuilding.
The transition to the construction of steel hulls for steamships was of the greatest importance for shipbuilding.
Others very an important factor The development of the navy was the invention of the propeller, which replaced the paddle wheels of the first steamships. Until the end of the 30s of the XIX century. steamships were built with paddle wheels that broke sea waves. They were the most vulnerable spot during the battle, their damage immediately put the ship out of action.
In 1838, the English engineer and inventor Smith built the first, quite suitable for practical purposes, Archimedes steamship with a propeller. Soon a number of improvements were made to screw steamers, and by the end of the 40s of the XIX century. the propeller began to rapidly replace paddle wheels, primarily in the navy.
Heated by burning fossil fuels (coal, fuel oil) to produce steam.
In 1736 English inventor Jonathan Hull proposed a powered tug.
I didn't find anything other than this picture.
In 1783, Marquis Claude François Dorothée de Jouffroy d "Abbans built the experimental paddle steamer Pyroscaphe.
After fifteen minutes of sailing, the boat sank.
In 1785, American inventor John Fitch built a steam rowboat.
Later, he began to operate regular commercial services on the Delaware River, between Philadelphia and Burlington.
Fitch's boat model "Perseverance". Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin
In 1801, Scottish engineer and inventor William Symington patented, and with the support of Lord Dundas, built the Charlotte Dundas steamship.
The most famous steamship builder was an American engineer and inventor.
He also owns the project of one of the first submarines.
About Fulton
Robert Fulton was born on November 14, 1765 in Little Britain, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA. His father was Irish, and his mother was from Scotland, they were engaged in farming. When the child was only three years old, the father died, and the mother and children moved to Lancaster, selling the farm. At school, young Robert did not shine with success, preferring to spend his free time in local weapons workshops, drawing, drafting and making fireworks. At the age of 12, Robert became interested in steam engines, and already at the age of 14 he successfully tested his boat, equipped with a hand-wheeled propulsion unit.
From the age of 17, Fulton lived in Philadelphia, working first as an assistant jeweler, and then as an artist and draftsman. In 1786, at the age of 21, that is, upon reaching the age of majority, Fulton, taking advantage of the advice of Benjamin Franklin, left for England, where he studied the art of a draftsman and architecture with the famous Benjamin West.
In 1797 Fulton moved to France. Here he experimented with torpedoes, and in 1800 presented Napoleon I with a practical model of the submarine "Nautilus - 1".
"Nautilus - 3" project of 1806.
Apparently, thanks to this design, the submarine is called a "boat".
The boat was tested in the harbor of Le Havre, she passed under water 460 meters at a depth of 7.6 m.
The project remained unclaimed, as a result of which Fulton devoted his future activities to the construction of steamships.
In the same year, 1800, Fulton began experiments with steam engines and three years later built a steam ship 20 m long and 2.4 m wide. During tests on the Seine River, the steamer accelerated to 3 knots (knot = 1 nautical mile = 1.8 km) against the stream.
Encouraged by the success, Fulton ordered a more powerful steam engine from the firm. In 1806, the engine was brought to New York, where Fulton also moved to supervise the construction of the ship.
The ship went on its maiden voyage on August 17, 1807. Fulton named it the "North River Steamboat" but was later called the "Cleremont".
The passage carried passengers between the city of New York and the capital of the state of New York - the city of Albany.
Fulton patented his steamboat on February 11, 1809, and built several more steamboats in the following years.
After that, steam engines began to be widely used in shipbuilding.
In 1811, John Stevens built a steam ferry that runs between Hoboken and New York.
In 1812, Scottish engineer Henry Bell built the Comet steam boat.
The ship got its name in honor of the "Big Comet of 1811".
Replica. Port of Glasgow.
In 1825, Bell built a second steamer, the Comet II, which also sank. 62 people died.
The first Russian steamship "Elizaveta" was built at the factory of Charles Byrd in 1815. He made flights between St. Petersburg and Kronstadt.
In 1819 The American sailing mail ship Savannah, equipped with a steam engine and removable side wheels, left Savannah (USA) for Liverpool and crossed the Atlantic in 24 days. Most of the way it passed under sail.
From Liverpool, the ship continued its historic journey, heading to Stockholm and then St. Petersburg.
On November 5, 1821, the steamer Savannah was shipwrecked off Long Island. For almost three decades after that, no US-built steamship crossed the Atlantic.
Sirius is believed to be the first ship to travel this route exclusively on steam, it made a transatlantic crossing from the Irish city of Cork to New York in 1938.
Before 1839 were built paddle steamers, and the first screw steam ship was the Archimedes, built by the English inventor