the engine, machinery and boilers for $78,000, a 

 total of $147,800. He intended to have the boilers, 

 valves, fastenings, and air pumps of brass or copper, 

 which would raise the machinery costs 59 percent 

 above that of stationary engines and boilers then in 

 use. 



On May 23, 1814, the Secretary of the Navy 

 authorized the Coast Defense Society and its com- 

 mittee to act as Navy agents and to enter into the 

 contracts required to build a vessel, and to draw on 

 the Navy storekeepers or Navy Yard commandants 

 for such stores or articles on hand needed for con- 

 struction. The contracts were prepared and the 

 committee now was officially empowered to act for 

 the Society, with Rutgers, Wolcott. Morris, Dearborn, 

 N lite hill, and Fulton. On June 4, Dearborn asked 

 the \ i\\ Department for $25,000 advance, for work 

 had started. On the 6th, he informed the Secretary 

 that he had been ordered to assume command of 

 the defenses of Boston and that Rutgers had been 

 appointed chairman of the construction committee 

 in his place. 



It is apparent that the Navy Department was 

 pressed for funds, due to the very extensive ship- 

 building programs on Lakes Erie, Ontario, and 

 Champlain in addition to the seagoing vessels being 

 built in some of the coastal ports. This was certainly 

 one cause for the Secretary of the Navy's reluctance 

 to carry out the requirements of the bill passed by 

 Congress immediately after its signature and, also, 

 this reluctance caused the supervisory committee 

 much embarrassment in its administration of the 

 contract. 



Another factor which caused difficulty in the ad- 

 ministiation of the contract was the position of Adam 

 and Noah Brown. The brothers were deeply in- 

 volved in the shipbuilding program on the Lakes, 

 in which they were associated at times with Henry 

 Eckford. The Browns constructed a blockhouse, 

 shops, and quarters at Erie; in addition to Perry's 

 two brigs and five of his schooners, they also built 

 some of the Lake ( )ntario vessels and, later, the 

 Saratoga on Lake Champlain. In their New York 

 yard, whose operation continued throughout the 

 war, they built some large letter-of-marqucs: the 

 General Armstrong, Prince de Neufchatel, .~tln<i, Paul 

 Jones, and some smaller vessels. They also cut down 

 the 2-decked, merchant ship China into a single llush- 

 il'ik [etter-of-marque, renamed Torktown; and they 

 had a contract to build the sloop-of-war Peacock. 

 It is remarkable that the Browns could undertake 



and complete so much work between 1813 and 1815 

 and still be able to build the steam battery in a very 

 short time. 



With the contracts in order, the Browns began 

 building. The keels of the battery were laid June 

 20, 1814. It is apparent that the Browns prepared 

 the original hull plans, undoubtedly before the build- 

 ing authority was obtained. The vessel required 

 only about four months to build; she was launched 

 October 29, 1814, at 9 a.m. This was an excellent 

 performance, considering the size of the vessel, the 

 amount of timber required and handled in her massive 

 construction, and the other work being done by the 

 builders. During the ship's construction, sightseers 

 were a nuisance and finally guards had to be obtained. 

 During the building of the steam battery, work had to 

 be practically stopped on the sloop-of-war Pun ink 

 at one period after she had been partially planked. 



There were difficulties in obtaining metalwork for 

 the vessel during her construction, due to the blockade 

 and the demand for such material for other ship- 

 building at New York. On November 21, 1814, the 

 ship was towed from the Browns' yard on the East River 

 by Fulton's Car of Neptune and Fulton, each lashed to 

 the sides of the battery, and taken to Fulton's works 

 on the North River. There Fulton supervised in 

 person the completion of the vessel and construction 

 of her machinery. Undoubtedly only a little of his 

 time was required in inspection of the Browns' work 

 on the battery, for the shipbuilders had been closely 

 associated with Fulton throughout the life of the 

 project and were fully capable as ship designers. The 

 work on the machinery was another matter, however, 

 for men capable of working metal were scarce and few 

 workmen could read plans. Fulton had some of the 

 work done outside of his own plant, particularly the 

 brass and copper work (mostly by John Youle's 

 foundry). As a result, Fulton was required to move 

 from plant to plant, keeping each job under almost 

 constant observation and personally supervising the 

 workmen. The equipment then available for building 

 a large engine was inadequate in many ways. The 

 large steam cylinder presented a problem : it had to be 

 recast several times and some of the other parts gave 

 trouble, cither in casting or in machining and fitting. 



(inns for the battery were another problem. ( >nly 

 3 long guns (32-pdr.), were available at the Navy Yard. 

 The Secretary of the Navy promised some captured 

 guns then at Philadelphia. Because of the blockade, 

 these had to come overland to New York. The 

 Captured guns thus obtained were probably English. 



142 



BULLETIN 240: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



