Robert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor credited with inventing the first commercially viable steamboat. Napoleon Bonaparte commissioned him to create the Nautilus, the first practical submarine in history, in 1800. Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American politician who lived from 1765 to 1815.
His Early Life
On November 14, 1765, Robert Fulton was born on a farm in Little Britain, Pennsylvania. Isabella, Elizabeth, and Mary, as well as a younger brother, Abraham, were at least three of his siblings. Robert, his father, had been a close friend of Benjamin's father, a painter. Fulton later met and became friends with Fulton in England.
A drawing of Fulton's invention Nautilus
Fulton spent six years in Philadelphia, where he painted portraits and landscapes, as well as houses and machines, and was able to send money to his mother.
In 1785, he paid £80 Sterling for a farm in Hopewell, Pennsylvania, and his mother and family relocated there. He met Benjamin Franklin and other notables in Philadelphia. He decided to travel around Europe when he was 23 years old.
The first experiment
In 1777 Fulton became interested in steamships, when he visited William Henry of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who had previously learned about the steam engine of James Watt on a visit to England.
Henry then built his own engine and by 1767 he had tried putting the engine on a boat. The experiment failed because the ship sank, but his interest continued.
In 1786, Fulton went to study painting in Paris, and there he met James Rumsey, who was sitting for a portrait in Benjamin West's studio where Fulton was a student.
Rumsey was a Virginia inventor who self-managed the first steamship at Shepherdstown (now in West Virginia) in 1786.
In early 1793, Fulton proposed plans for steam-powered ships to both the United States and British governments, and in England he met with the Duke of Bridgewater. Symington had successfully piloted the steamship in 1788.
The first successful attempt was made on a steamer that inventor John Fitch had built on the Delaware River on August 22, 1787, in the presence of delegates from the Constitutional Convention. It is propelled by oar banks on both sides of the ship.
The following year Fitch launched a 60 ft (18 m) boat powered by a steam engine. Paddle this paddle in a manner similar to the movement of a duck's feet in a pond.
In this boat he carried thirty passengers on various round-trip trips between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey.
On August 26, 1791 Fitch was granted a patent after a dispute with Rumsey, who had created a similar invention.
In 1797, Fulton went to France, where Claude de Jouffroy had built a wheeled steamer. in 1783 began experimenting with torpedo submarines and torpedo boats.
Fulton was the inventor of the first panorama to be displayed in Paris, which was completed in 1800. The street where the panoramas are shown is still called “'Rue des Panoramas'” (Panorama Street) today.
While living in France Fulton designed the first submarine, the Nautilus between 1793 and 1797. He asked the government to subsidize its construction but he looked down twice.
Finally he approached the Minister of Marine Affairs and in 1800 was given permission to build.
Fulton presented his steamer to Bonaparte in 1803.
In France Fulton met with Chancellor Robert R. Livingston who was appointed US Ambassador to France in 1801, and they decided to build a ship together and try to run it on the Seine. Fulton experimented with the water resistance of various hull shapes, made drawings and models, and built steamers.
At first the boat ran flawlessly, but the hull was later rebuilt and strengthened, and on August 9, 1803, it rode as far as the Seine. The boat was 66 feet (20.1 m) long, 8 feet (2.4 m) beam, and made between 3 and 4 miles per hour (4.8 and 6.4 km/h) against the current.
In 1807, Fulton and Livingston jointly built the first commercial ship, the North River Steamboat (later known as the Clermont), which carried passengers between New York City and Albany, New York. Clermont is able to cover about 300 miles of travel with a long journey of 62 hours. From 1811 until his death, Fulton was a member of the Erie Canal Commission.
Fulton died in 1815. He is buried in the Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City, along with other famous Americans such as Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin.