History And Facts About Clermont: The First Steamboat

Steamboats were one of the earliest modes of transportation, which made the life of people much easier at that time.

John Stevens developed the use of steam power for transportation. Along with James Watt, he pioneered steam navigation in America that contributed to the growth of the modern-day vessels.

The boats designed by John Fitch in 1787 were smaller in size, and less coal was used to run the boat. Later on, more designs of steamboats with advanced features were invented by some of the renowned personalities of New York City.

The first commercial steamboat that achieved heights of success was the Clermont or the North River Steamboat. It was designed by Robert Fulton in 1807, who was also famous for designing a submarine in France.

This first commercially successful steamboat was combined with a hull design and a steam engine. This led to the evolution of steamboats throughout the world.

Please keep reading to know more about the first steamboats and how exactly they worked.

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Who invented the first steamboat?

The first steam engine was invented in 1769 by James Watt, after whom the unit of power was given. In combination with more advanced hull designs, steam engines were utilized by Robert Fulton for the first time in the year 1807.

The boat named Clermont became immensely popular at that time in New York. Due to the booming evolution of steamboats after this invention, Fulton is regarded as the 'Father of Steam Navigation.'

The boat carried passengers and goods to Albany from New York City in about 32 hours. Its length was about 141 ft (43 m) and traveled about five mph (8 kph).

About 100 passengers were carried by boat, which completed a total trip of 150 mi (241 km) on the Hudson River. Due to the excessive noise of the steam engines, passengers referred to it as 'Fulton's Folly,' thinking that the boat would explode.

Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston rectified the flaws in 1811 with their new design of the Clermont, which they named New Orleans. It was another commercial boat, which traveled through the Mississippi River and carried both passengers and goods.

Before using this steamboat, John Fitch in 1787 demonstrated the working of a boat model utilizing steam power on the Delaware River. He also built a larger vessel capable of carrying more passengers from Philadelphia and Burlington in New Jersey.

After a prolonged battle for gaining patent with the rival inventor James Rumsey, four steamboat designs were put forth by Fitch. Although the steam-powered boat designed by Fitch was successful in its construction and working, he failed to carry on with his work due to a lack of funds.

How did the first steamboat work?

Although the first steamboat that crossed the Mississippi River became an extremely popular means of transportation, it was pretty dangerous as well. The construction of these boats, as well as their working, made them very noisy.

Steam engines worked with the steam production created by burning coal to heat water. This steam was then pushed into a cylinder, whose piston would move upwards due to the steam pressure.

As a result, the cylinder valve released the steam, thereby moving the piston downwards. This process continuously took place, propelling the boat forward by mechanically powering the paddle wheels.

The working of the boats was often interrupted due to extreme steam build-up or other technical faults, thereby imposing a great danger to the passengers aboard. The boilers often exploded due to too much pressure build-up of steam.

Thousands of lives were lost due to steamboat explosions. Also, the boats were light weighed due to which boulders, logs, debris, or any other obstacle caused them to sink. This resulted in the boats' very short life span of only four or five years.

Thus, it was pretty expensive than other forms of transportation used at that time, like keelboats, flatboats, and barges. Furthermore, steamboat travels became more dangerous due to the attacks of native Americans in their territories.

Much later in the 19th Century, larger vessels were built that were more sturdy and could carry more passengers. The Great Western was one such ship that crossed the Atlantic Ocean and could accommodate more than 200 passengers at that time.

Why is it called a steamboat?

Steamboats used the power of steam to propel the boat forward instead of using paddles. Water was heated by burning coal in the vessels, which led to steam build-up. The engines were thus powered by the pressure exerted by this steam formation, and as a result, the boats moved forward.

With the invention of these boats, trade and commerce flourished to a great extent. Transportation became much easier for the people traveling from New Orleans to Louisiana and Natchez in New York.

Steamboat traffic increased along the Mississippi River route with the inventions of boats with newer designs. Packet boats were also popular among the masses who traveled along the Southern Rivers. It was used as commercial cargo and also carried passengers.

How fast can a steamboat go?

Steamboats were able to move at about 5 mph (8.04 kph), significantly revolutionizing travel and trade through water routes. Before the invention of these, paddleboats took more than 12 mph (19.3 kph) to travel, which delayed trade and other activities to a great extent.

The New Orleans steamboat, designed by Fulton and Livingstone, traveled with an upstream speed of 3 mph (4.82 kph) and a downstream speed of 10 mph (16 kph).

The fastest steamboat built in 1864 was the Chauncey Vibbard that traveled from New York to Albany and carried about 2000 passengers.

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