part of the cargo of the British ship John of Lancaster 

 captured by the frigate President early in the war. 

 Apparently 24 guns were obtained this way; only 

 2 were obtained from the Navy Yard. In July the 

 Supervising Committee carried out some experimental 

 damage studies, in which a 32-pdr. was fired at a 

 target representing a section of the topsides of the 

 battery. Drawings of the result were sent to the 

 Secretary of the Navy. 



Further problems arose over the delays of the gov- 

 ernment in making payments: the banks discounted 

 the Treasury notes, so the Committee members had 

 to advance $5,000 out of their own pockets. There 

 was fear that British agents might damage the vessel, 

 and although the project was undoubtedly known to 

 the British, no evidence of any act of sabotage was 

 ever found. Captain David Porter was assigned to 

 the command of the battery in November, and it was 

 upon his request that the vessel was later rigged with 

 sails. 



With the Steam Battery approaching completion, the 

 Secretary of the Navy became more enthusiastic and 

 the construction of other batteries of this type was 

 again proposed. Captain Stiles, a Baltimore mer- 

 chant, offered to build a steam battery, the hull to 

 cost $50,000; the entire cost of the vessel, $150,000, 

 was raised in Baltimore and the frames of a battery- 

 erected. Another battery was projected at Phila- 

 delphia and the Secretary of the Navy wanted one or 

 more built at Sackett's Harbor, but naval officers and 

 Fulton objected. A bill put before Congress to 

 authorize another half million to build steam batteries 

 passed the first reading January 9, 1815, went to the 

 House February 22, 1815, but the end of the war 

 prevented any further action on it. 



( )n February 24, 1815, Fulton died. He had been 

 to Trenton, New Jersey, to attend a hearing on the 

 steamboat monopoly and, on the way back, the 

 ferry on North River was caught in the ice. Fulton 

 and his lawyer, Emmet, had to walk over the ice to 

 get ashore. On the way, Emmet fell through and 

 Fulton got wet and chilled while helping him. After 

 two or three days in bed Fulton went to his foundry 

 to inspect the battery's machinery causing a relapse 

 from which he died. This resulted in some delay in 

 completing the machinery and stopped work on the 

 Mul,. an 80-foot, manually propelled, torpedo boat 

 that Fulton was having built in the Browns' yard. 



It was decided to suspend work on the Baltimore 

 batter) aftei an expenditure of $61,500, but the 



,\r\\ Yoik batten was to be Completed to prove the 



project was practical. The final payment of $50,000 

 was made four months after it was requested. 



Charles Stoudinger, Fulton's foreman or superin- 

 tendent, was able to complete and install the ship's 

 machinery. On June 10, 1815, the vessel was given 

 a short trial run in the harbor with Stoudinger and 

 the Navy inspector, Captain Smith, on board. This 

 trial revealed the need of some mechanical alterations; 

 sails were not used, and it was found she could stem 

 the strong tide and a fresh headwind. The vessel 

 also was visited by the officers of French men-of-war 

 at anchor in the harbor. 



On July 4, 1815, she was given another trial. 

 She left Fulton's works at Corlear's Hook at 9 a.m., 

 ran out to Sandy Hook Lighthouse, bore west and 

 returned, a total of 53 miles under steam, reaching 

 her slip at 5:20 p.m. She was found to steer "like 

 a pilot boat." This prolonged trial revealed that 

 the stokehold was not sufficiently ventilated and more 

 deck openings were required. The windsails used in 

 existing hatches were inadequate. The paddle wheel 

 was too low and had to be raised 18 inches, and there 

 were still some desirable modifications to be made in 

 the machinery. 



On September 11, 1815, she was again given a 

 trial run. All alterations had been made, including 

 the addition of hatches and raising the paddle wheel, 

 and her battery was on board with all stores, supplies, 

 and equipment. She had 26 long guns (32-pdr.), 

 mounted on pivoted carriages, and now drew 10 

 feet 4 inches. On this day she left her slip at 8:38 

 a.m. and went through the Narrows into the Lower 

 Bay, where she maneuvered around the new frigate 

 Java at anchor there. The battery then was given 

 a thorough trial under steam and sail and, with the 

 ship underway, her guns were fired to see if con- 

 cussion would damage the machinery. The vessel 

 was found to be a practical one, capable of meeting 

 the government's requirements in all respects; her 

 speed was 5H knots. However, the stokehold temper- 

 ature had reached 116° Fahrenheit! She returned 

 to her slip at 7:00 p.m. 



On December 28, 1815, the Committee in a written 

 report to the Secretary of the Navy, 5 gave a description 

 of the vessel and praised her performance. At this 

 time a set of plans was made bv "Mr. Morgan," 



1 See pages 172 through 176 for this report, which is repro- 

 duced from Charles B. Stuart, Naval ami Mail Steamers of the 

 United States (New York, 1853), app., pp. 155 159. 



144 



BULLETIN 240: CONTRIBUTIONS I-'ROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



