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Figure 4. — Marestier's drawings of the Savannahs engine (from plate 7 in Withington's transla- 

 tion of the Marestier report). The graphic dimensions do not precisely correspond to 

 the scale of dimensions in Marestier's text, nor with other recorded measurements. 



stowed 75 tons of coal and 25 cords of wood, and cost 

 $50,000. Apparently quoting Preble '" to a great 

 extent, he also states that the engine developed 90 

 horsepower and had a 40-inch diameter cylinder with 

 a stroke of 5 feet. 



Preble states that the ship was purchased for con- 

 version to a steamer after launching and gives state- 

 ments by Stevens Rogers, sailing master of the 

 Savannah, to the eflfect that the ship was built as a 

 Havre packet and that the project ruined financially 

 one of the investors, William Scarborough. Rogers, 

 who made these statements in 1856, also said the ship 



1° Geo. Henry Preble, A Chronological History of the Origin and 

 Development of Steam Navigation, 1543-1882, Philadelphia, 1883. 



was built by "Crocker and Fickett." Contemporary 

 newspapers, quoted by Preble, state that the ship had 

 32 berths in staterooms for passengers. 



Morrison " credits the building of the Savannah to 

 Francis Fickett and says she was intended for the 

 Havre packet run. He states that the vessel cost 

 $50,000; that her paddle wheels, each with eight 

 buckets, were 16 feet in diameter; and that she had 

 canvas wheel boxes supported by an iron frame. 

 Morrison also relates the history of the ship after her 

 return from Russia — the removal and the sale of her 

 machinery to James P. Allaire, the operation of the 



^' John H. Morrison, A History oj American Steam Navigation, 

 New York, 1930. 



PAPER 21: THE PIONEER STEAMSHIP SAVANNAH: A STUDY FOR A SCALE MODEL 



67 



