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HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY, TECHNOLOGY, OBJECTS AROUND US
Steamboat. History of invention and production
Directory / The history of technology, technology, objects around us A steamboat is a ship equipped with a reciprocating steam engine as an engine.
The idea of creating a self-propelled ship that could sail against the wind and currents came to people a very long time ago. The need for such ships was especially acute when going up the river. It was often impossible to sail, following a winding channel with a complex fairway, and it was difficult to row against the current. Barge haulers had to be hired to lift loads, but they performed this work very slowly. Already in the Middle Ages, some mechanics suggested using a water wheel to move the ship, which would be powered by people or animals (a description of such a mover is given in one ancient manuscript around 527). However, the real opportunity to build a high-speed self-propelled vessel with a large carrying capacity appeared only after the invention of the steam engine. The first steamship in history was built by the American Fitch. He also built in 1787 the second steamship "Perseverance". Curiously, in both cases, Fitch refused to use a paddle wheel. On his first steamboat, the machine set the oars in motion, so that it moved in the manner of a galley.
Fitch himself in 1786 described the movement of the ship as follows: “The stroke of the piston is approximately 3 feet, and each movement along the cylinder causes 40 revolutions of the working shaft. Each revolution of the shaft should set in motion 12 spade oars with a working movement of 5 feet 6 inches. These oars move vertically, imitating the movement of the oars in the hands of a rower on a boat.When 6 oars (after the stroke - stroke) rise from the water, 6 others sink for the next stroke.Two strokes of the oars (forward and backward along the course of the vessel) are about 11 feet and are obtained per revolution of the shaft. As the drawing attached to Fitch's description shows, the oars were mounted on frames; on each side of the ship there were three pairs of oars connected to each other. The movements of the oars, as the inventor himself writes, were similar to the movement of a hand oar without an oarlock. In Fitch's second steamboat, the oars were replaced by a propeller, in the use of which this inventor was far ahead of his time. In 1788, the Perseverance was already making regular flights between Philadelphia and Burlington, carrying 30 passengers each. In total, he walked about 1000 kilometers.
Despite the obvious success of Fitch's experiments, his invention was not developed at that time and died along with the inventor. But it cannot be said that his case had no consequences at all. The United States was the country where the need for a self-propelled ship was most acutely felt. There were very few good highways or dirt roads. Rivers were the only means of communication. Before others, Judge Livingston appreciated the capabilities of the steamer. He did not understand technical details, but he was a very sophisticated businessman and quickly realized that, with the proper scale and good organization of the business, the shipping service could give a very good profit. In 1798, Livingston won the right to establish a regular steamboat service on the Hudson River. The matter remained small - he did not have a steamer. For several years, Livingston tried to build a steam ship, using various mechanics. Several steam ships were made, but they all developed a speed of no more than 5 km / h. It was premature to think about regular shipping with such ships. Having lost faith in local mechanics, Livingston went to France in 1801. Here he met his compatriot Robert Fulton, who thought a lot about the steamship project, and at that time was working on the creation of a submarine. However, he did not have the funds to carry out both projects. The meeting turned out to be decisive. Livingston finally found a suitable mechanic, and Fulton a businessman willing to finance his work. In the autumn of 1802, an agreement was concluded between them. Fulton promised to build a steam ship capable of carrying 60 passengers at a speed of 13 km / h, and Livingston - to pay all running costs. The profit received from the operation of the ship was to be divided in half. Fulton's first experiments with self-propelled ships date back to 1793, when he, examining various types of paddle wheel, came to the conclusion that a wheel with three or six blades would be best. In 1794, having visited Manchester, he was convinced that the best engine for a self-propelled ship could only be a double-acting Watt steam engine. In subsequent years, Fulton thought a lot about the shape, projections and outlines of the ship. Before starting construction, he went to the waters in Plombières and here he conducted experiments with a meter-long model driven by a spring. In the spring of 1803, Fulton began building his first steamboat in Paris. It was flat-bottomed, without a protruding keel, with smooth skin. Watt's steam engine was borrowed from an acquaintance, but Fulton himself came up with the transmission scheme. The built ship was not strong enough - the hull could not withstand the weight of the machine. Once, during a storm on the Seine, the bottom broke through and the borrowed car, along with all the equipment, went to the bottom. With great difficulty, all this managed to get to the surface, and Fulton severely caught a cold during rescue work. Soon a new, much stronger hull was built, which was 23 m long and 2 m wide. In August 5, a trial test was carried out. For an hour and a half, the ship moved at a speed of 1803 km / h and showed good maneuverability.
First of all, Fulton offered his steamboat to Napoleon, but he was not interested in this invention. In the spring of 1804, Fulton left for England. Here he unsuccessfully tried to captivate the British government with the project of his submarine and at the same time followed the manufacture of a steam engine by the firm of Boulton and Watt. In the same year he traveled to Scotland to see the Charlotte Dundas built by Symington there. (Symington was perhaps the first European mechanic who successfully completed the construction of a self-propelled steam ship. Back in 1788, by order of a large Scottish landowner Patrick Miller, he built a small ship with a steam engine. This steamer was tested on Dalswinton Lake in Scotland and reached speeds of up to 8 km/h
A decade and a half later, Symington built a second steamship, the aforementioned Charlotte Dundas, for the owners of the Force Clydon Canal. It was intended to transport cargo barges.) The Symington steamer was undoubtedly a successful model. Its average speed without loaded barges was about 10 km/h. However, this experience did not interest the British. The ship was pulled ashore and doomed to be scrapped. Fulton was present during the tests of the Charlotte and had the opportunity to get acquainted with its device. Meanwhile, Livingston persistently called Fulton to America. His brother-in-law and competitor, Stevens, began building the steamship Phoenix in 1806, hoping to get a New York-Albany privilege that Livingston had due to expire in 1807. We had to hurry with the construction of our ship. Fulton arrived in New York in December 1806. From the beginning of spring, the ship's hull was laid. Soon, Watt's steam engine ordered earlier arrived from England. Installing it on the ship was very difficult. Fulton had to solve all the questions himself, since he could not find a single experienced mechanic in all of New York. The ship was a relatively small ship. It had a tonnage of 150 tons, a hull length of 43 m, and an engine power of 20 hp. Two masts were erected on it, and sails were hoisted to help the machines at the first opportunity. The steamer Fulton went on her maiden voyage on August 17, 1807. The first steamboat is often referred to as the Claremont. In fact, Fulton called it the "North River Steamboat", and Claremont was the name of his partner Livingston's estate, on the Hudson River 177 km from New York, which the steamer visited during the first voyage. The steamer then continued on to Albany.
The engine part consisted of a chest-shaped boiler 6 m long with a height and width of slightly more than 2 m and a vertical steam cylinder. Two cast-iron triangular balancers were suspended on both sides of the cylinder. The bases of these triangles were about 2 m. The balancers were mounted on a common strong iron rod, so that they worked together. At the top end of the piston rod was a T-shaped piece: a strong iron bar that moved in guides located on both sides of the cylinder. From each end of this part, strong wrought iron strips (rods) went down, which were connected by pivots to the ends of the balancers. The other ends of the triangles were cast with iron counterweights. From the top of each triangle went a connecting rod connected to a crank arranged on each of the paddle wheel shafts; close to each crank there were cast-iron wheels with a diameter of about 1 m. Each of them set in motion a gear with a diameter of about 1 m. Both gears were mounted on a common shaft, in the center of which was a flywheel with a diameter of 5 m.
This ship did not differ in anything special from its earlier predecessors, but it was he who was destined to open a new era in the history of shipping. In the same 1807, the Claremont set off on its maiden voyage, which ended quite successfully. Admiring the results of this trip, Fulton wrote to a friend: “I was ahead of all the boats and schooners, and it seemed that they were all at anchor. Now the suitability of steam power for propulsion of ships has been fully proven. York, it is unlikely that 30 people would have believed that my steamer would go even one mile an hour. As we moved away from the pier, where many curious spectators had gathered, I heard rather sarcastic remarks. That is how irresponsible people always greet those whom they call "philosophers "and" searchlights "". For the whole journey from New York to Albany, 150 miles long, made against the current and with a contrary wind, the Claremont spent 32 hours, covering the entire distance with the help of a steam engine. After some improvements in the design of his offspring, Fulton established permanent flights on this river route. The ship had three large cabins. One - for 36, the other - for 24, the third - for 18 passengers with 62 beds. In addition, it housed a kitchen, buffet and pantry. For all passengers, uniform rules were established. (Among them were those who, under the threat of a fine, forbade "gentlemen" to lie in boots on a bed or sit on a table.) The trip from New York to Albany cost seven dollars, which was a lot at the prices of that time. Nevertheless, there was no end to those who wanted to. For the first year of operation, "Clermont" gave revenue of 16 thousand dollars. In subsequent years, the Fulton-Livingston Company built several more steam ships. In 1816, she owned 16 steamboats. One of them, the Connecticut, already had a 60-horsepower machine and a tonnage of about 500 tons. The owners of sailing and rowing ships on the Hudson met the steamer with great hostility, seeing it as their formidable competitor from the very beginning. Every now and then they arranged collisions of steamers with scows and longboats or arranged traffic jams on their way. In 1811, a special law was passed, threatening severe punishment for deliberate harm brought to steamboats. Although Fulton himself repeatedly emphasized that the idea of the steamboat did not belong to him, it was he who first successfully brought it to life, and with his light hand, the shipping industry began to develop rapidly, first in America, and then throughout the world. In 1840, more than a thousand river steamers were already cruising on the Mississippi and its tributaries alone in the United States. At the same time, steam ships began to develop sea routes.
In 1819, the steamship Savannah crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time and arrived from America to England. Author: Ryzhov K.V.
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