

!\1 ^ 



Howard I. Chapelle 



The Pioneer Steamship 



SAVANNAH: 



A Study for a Scale Model 



uNiveRSi-nt 



The original plans of the pioneer transatlantic steamer Savannah 

 no longer exists and many popular representations of the famous vessel 

 have been based on a lO-year-old model in the United States National 

 M.useum. This model, however, differs in several important respects 

 from contemporary illustrations. 



To correct these apparent inaccuracies in a new, authentic model, 

 a reconstruction of the original plans was undertaken, using as sources 

 the ship' s logbook and customhouse description, a French report on 

 American steam vessels published in 1823, and Kussian newspaper 

 accounts contemporary with the Savannah's visit to St. Petersburg 

 on her historic voyage of 1819 . The development of this research and 

 the resulting ijiformation in terms of her measurements ajid general 

 description are related here. 



The Author: Hoioard I. Chapelle is curator of transportation 

 in the United States National Ts/luseum, Smithsonian Institution. 



T^HE UNITED STATES NATIONAL 

 MUSEUM has in its watercraft collection a 

 rigged scale model purported to be of the 

 pioneer transatlantic steamer Savannah. For many 

 years this model was generally accepted as being a 

 reasonably accurate representation and was the basis 

 for countless illustrations. Curiously enough, the 

 model (USNM 160364) does not agree with the pub- 

 lished catalog description ' as to the side paddle 

 wheels. Neither does it agree with the material in the 

 Marestier report,^ which is accepted as the only 

 source for a contemporary picture of the Savannah. 



' Carl W. Mitman, Catalogue of the Watercraft Collection in the 

 United States National Museum, U.S. National Museum Bulletin 

 127, 1923. 



- Jean Baptiste Marestier, Mimoire sur les Bateaux & Vapeur 

 de Etats-Unis d' Amirique, Paris, 1823. 



The recent naming of an atomic-powered ship in 

 honor of the famous steamer greatly increased popular 

 interest in the pioneer ship and its supposed model. 

 Consequently, the National Museum undertook the 

 research necessary to correct or replace the existing 

 model. This research has been carried out by the 

 staff of the Museum's transportation division with 

 the aid of Frank O. Braynard of the American Mer- 

 chant Marine Institute, Eugene S. Ferguson, curator 

 of mechanical and civil engineering at the Museum, 

 and others. 



The Savannah crossed from Savannah, Georgia, to 

 Liverpool, England, in the period May 22 to June 20, 

 1819, and proceeded to the Baltic, where she entered 

 at St. Petersburg (now Leningrad), Stockholm, and 

 a few other ports. On her return she reached 

 Savannah on November 30, and on December 3 she 



62 



BULLETIN 228: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



