We mentioned at an earlier stage the names of John and R. L. Stevens, who had interested themselves in steamboat experiments. Just about the time that the Clermont was ready for her life’s work these two men had built another steamship, called the Phœnix. Originally intended for the Hudson River, since now the Clermont’s success had obtained for Livingston and Fulton the monopoly of the steam navigation thereon, the two Stevenses decided to send their craft to the Delaware River. They therefore took her round to Philadelphia by sea in June, 1809, one of the owners being in command. She arrived quite safely, and for several years plied profitably on the Delaware. This is important as being the first occasion in history when the steamship took to the sea, for it was not until the James Watt achieved her distinction in 1811 that a British ship had shown her full confidence in steam. Impelled by the impetus which had been given by Fulton and Stevens, the North American continent, with its vast extent of waterways, quickly realised the possibilities of the steamboat, so that in the next decade this novel type of craft became familiar in many parts.
FULTON’S PLANS OF A LATER STEAMBOAT THAN THE CLERMONT-NORTH RIVER, SHOWING APPLICATION OF THE SQUARE SIDE-CONNECTING-ROD ENGINE.
From the Original in the possession of the New Jersey Historical Society.
THE “COMET.”
From the Model in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
ENGINE OF THE “COMET.”
In the Victoria and Albert Museum.