His method is described in a letter to his old friend Joel Barlow; it says in part:
“I have had some trouble with the torpedo experiments in consequence of the determined opposition of the officers of the navy, for which I now thank them. They had placed splinter nets across the bow of the vessel with weights which held them to the ground; booms were floated in the water and spaced out 20 feet from her sides to guard her sides. Grappling oars with sword blades and ballast in slings, to show how they could sink my boats, made a formidable appearance against one poor torpedo boat and eight poor men. Moreover, all this would not have saved them had the nets not been to the ground; I was not prepared for nets thus arranged. Hence the committee gave me till the 29th of this month to show how I would get through the nets or carry them away. I am now prepared to prove that nets and booms are no better protection than cobwebs. Commodore Rodgers opposes me with much ardor and ingenuity; the reason he says I cannot do it is that I have not practical nautical knowledge; this might be true but reflection for the last 113 days has given me knowledge to the same effect, so that with a log-ship of about two hundred tons burden arranged with torpedoes and without cannon, I will destroy any ship that ever was built, that is, if she dare to lay at anchor, or if in fact she does not run away faster than I can run to overtake her; this fortunately can be done in port, along our coast, or in open sea: I have just finished a model of this log torpedo ship, also a bullet-proof torpedo boat that acts without oars,—thus you see I am on the highroad to success and in good spirits.”
But although Fulton’s system was not then adopted, he had gained the recognition of the United States Navy, and had presented the germ for expansion in other minds for submarine warfare, now practiced by navies throughout the world. Moreover, he had the honor of building, in 1814, the first steam war-ship, the Demologus, meaning “The Voice of the People,” later named Fulton.
This alone gives the inventor high honor, for in time it changed all the navies of the world. Our country has recognized Fulton’s patriotism by naming its first submarine tender to burn oil in her engines, the Fulton (1914), and has retained his name “torpedo” for all its submarine craft.
[3] Extract from letter from Robert Fulton to Benjamin West, March 23, 1809:
“My Steamboats are doing wonders, the one of last year cleared 16,000 dollars. I am now building two more; when finished there will be two running between New York and Albany and one between New York and New Brunswick in Jersey on the route to Philadelphia. There is a fair calculation that these Boats will clear 25,000 dollars a year, of which I have half so that I am doing very well.”
CHAPTER XVI
Ferry-boats and River-boats
The few remaining years in Robert Fulton’s life were very busy ones. In 1809 he formed a stock company to finance the building of steam ferries to run from New York to Jersey City, and so thoroughly was Fulton trusted that the entire construction of the new boats was left solely to him. Before this time there had been rowboat and sail-boat ferries, and a “horse-boat,” propelled by paddles which were turned by the feet of four blind horses walking a tread-mill.