Howard I. Chapelle 



FULTON'S 



"STEAM BATTERY": 



BLOCKSHIP and CATAMARAN 



Robert Fulton's "Ste./m Battery" ./ catamaran- 

 typt blockship, was built during the War of 1812. 

 Until recently, not enough material has been avail- 

 able to permit a reasonably accurate reconstruction of 

 what is generally acknowledged to be the first steam 

 man-of-war. 



II 'ith the discovery . in the Danish Royal Archives 

 at Copenhagen, of plans of this vessel, it is now pas- 

 sible to pre p. ire a reconstruction and to build ,/ model . 



This article summarises the history of the vessel, 

 describes the plans <iud the reconstruction, and also 

 evaluates its design with particular attention to the 

 double-hull construction . 



The Author: Howard I. Chapelle ii curator 

 of transportation in the Smithsonian Institution s 

 Museum of History and Technology. 



THE ll'INIII") ''I [HE FIRST STEAM MAN-OF-WAR 

 has been known for many years, and a great 

 deal has been written and published <>n the histor) 

 of this American vessel. Until recently, the onrj 

 available drawing of the ship lias been a patent draw- 

 ing made for Robert Fulton. This does not comply 

 with contemporary descriptions of the steamer and 

 the drawing or plan is out of proportion with the 

 known dimensions. The lack of plans has heretofore 

 made il impossible to illustrate the vessel with an) 

 degree of precision, or to build a scale model. 



The discover) in 1960 of some of the plans of this 

 historic ship in the Danish Royal Archives at I 

 hagen now makes possible a reasonabl) .Minute re- 

 construction of the vessel and a No clarifies some of the 

 incomplete .i\\d often confusing descriptions b) con- 

 tempoiar) writers. 



( )f the numerous published accounts of the ^hip that 



are available, the most complete is David B. Tyler's 

 "Fulton's Steam 1 rigate." ' A contemporai \ descrip- 

 tion of the vessel by the British Minister to Washing- 

 ton, 1820 23, Stratford Canning, was published by 

 Arthur J. May.-' In Naval and Mail Steamers of the 

 United States, b) Charles B. Stuart, and /■ S 

 \ •. of the United States, b) Frank M. Bennett.' the 

 histor) ol the ship and some descriptive facts .wr 

 given. Stuart, in an appendix, gives in lull the re- 

 port of the Supervisor) Committee (set up to admin- 

 istei the building contract). Tyler and Stuarl 

 the < lommittee Report are the principal sources from 

 which the following summarj of the ship's history is 

 drawn. 



\ ■ 6, pp. 253-274. 



1944 1, vol. I. |>|>. ; . 

 ' New York, 185 I, pp. 1 I 17. 

 " Pittsburgh, 1896, pp. 8 16. 



P VPI R 39: FULTI >N'S "si 1 \\l B ^TTERY" 





