and made a speed of 4 miles per hour. The great diffi- 

 cuhies Stevens met in the construction of the high- 

 pressure, fast-turning engine, required for his screw- 

 propulsion, discouraged his work in this direction, 

 and he turned to paddle-wheel propulsion in his first 

 large steamboat, the Phoenix. 



The model may not represent the form and appear- 

 ance of the orginal boat accurately but the model's 

 boiler and engine, etc., are based on the original 

 machinery now preserved in the Watercraft Collec- 

 tion (U.SNM 181179). 



The model is of an open boat having a straight keel 

 and skeg, curved stem, rather upright flat transom, 

 nearly straight sheer, rather full entrance and run, 

 twin screws set abaft the post, and with the iron 

 rudder set off from the transom on outriggers to 

 clear the wheels. Engine and boiler are located a 

 little abaft amidships. The boat is rather fiat floored, 

 with a firm round bilge and upright side. Xo draw- 



ings or pictures of the original boat exist and all that 

 is known about the hull is that it was of a then common 

 rowing Whitehall type, which this model does not 

 represent, being probably of a longer boat. 



Under the direction of Colonel Stevens' sons, the 

 boiler and engine were overhauled in 1844 by Isaac 

 Dripps, who was Superintendent of Machinery on the 

 Camden and Amboy Railroad and afterwards held 

 the same position on the Pennsylvania Railroad. He 

 was under strict orders not to change or improve 

 upon the original but merely to correct damaged 

 parts. A new hull was built, and in October 1844 

 boat and machinery were tested on the Hudson 

 River; a speed of 8 miles per hour was obtained. 



The model represents a boat 24 feet 8 inches over- 

 all, 6 feet 1 inch beam, 4 feet 11 inches width of 

 transom, 2 feet A]i inches depth. Scale of model is 

 2 inches to the foot. 



Model made in the Museum. 



Engi.ne .WD Boii.ER i_LS.\M 181179J Desig.ned bv John .Siene.ns and used in ins liiM sicduibuai, u-sied in 

 New York Harbor, 1804. The propeller (USNM 180597) is a full-sized replica of the one used in tests in 

 1804-05. {.Smilhsonian photo 6if;i.) 



472S4C — 60- 



-10 



125 



