John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American engineer and inventor. He worked in England and the United States.

Ericsson helped design the railroad steam locomotive called Novelty, which competed in the Rainhill Trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The trial was won by George Stephenson’s Rocket. Later in North America, he designed the United States Navy’s first screw-propelled steam frigate, USS Princeton, with Captain (later Commodore) Robert F. Stockton of the U.S. Navy. Stockton unfairly blamed Ericsson for a fatal accident on the ship in 1844.

Ericsson later partnered with Cornelius H. DeLamater of the DeLamater Iron Works in New York City. Together, they created the first armored ironclad warship with a rotating gun turret, USS Monitor. This ship helped save the U.S. Union Navy from destruction by the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia during the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862. The battle took place in the Chesapeake Bay, where the James and Elizabeth Rivers meet, during the American Civil War (1861–1865).

Early career

Johan Ericsson was born in Långban, Filipstad Municipality, Värmland, in the Kingdom of Sweden, which is located in Northern Europe/Scandinavia. He was the younger brother of Nils Ericson (1802–1870), a well-known builder of canals and railways in Sweden. Their father, Olaf Ericsson (1778–1818), worked as a supervisor for a mine in Värmland. He lost money in investments and moved his family to Forsvik in 1810. There, he worked as a director of rock-breaking operations during the construction of the Swedish Göta Canal.

The special talents of the two Ericsson brothers were noticed by Baltzar von Platen (1766–1829), the architect of the Göta Canal. They were called "cadets of mechanics" by the Swedish Royal Navy and trained as apprentices for the canal project. At age fourteen, Johan was already working as a surveyor independently. His assistant had to carry a footstool for him to reach the tools he used during his work. At seventeen, he joined the Swedish army in Jämtland, serving in the Jämtland Ranger Regiment as a Second Lieutenant. He was soon promoted to Lieutenant. He was sent to northern Sweden to do surveying and, in his spare time, built a heat engine that used smoke from a fire instead of steam to move. His interest in mechanics led him to leave the army and move to England in 1826. However, his heat engine was not successful because it was designed to burn birchwood, which did not work well with coal, the main fuel in England.

Despite this failure, Johan invented other machines that used steam. He improved the heating process by adding bellows to increase oxygen supply to the fire. In 1829, he and English engineer John Braithwaite (1797–1870) built a steam engine called Novelty for the Rainhill Trials organized by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The engine was praised but had repeated problems with its boiler. The competition was won by English engineers George and Robert Stephenson with their engine Rocket.

Braithwaite and Ericsson built two more engines, named William IV and Queen Adelaide after the new king and queen. These engines were larger and stronger than Novelty and had different features, such as a different type of blower called an "Induced Draught" that pulled gases from the fire. The engines were tested on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, but the railway did not buy them.

Their steam fire engine was a major technical success when it helped control the Argyll Rooms fire on February 5, 1830. It worked for five hours while other engines froze up. However, it faced opposition from London’s fire departments and city officials. A steam engine built by Braithwaite and Ericsson for Sir John Ross’s 1829 Arctic expedition failed and was abandoned on the shores of Prince Regent Inlet. At this time, Johan’s most successful invention was the surface condenser, which allowed a ship to collect fresh water for its boilers while at sea. His "deep sea lead," a pressure-activated tool to measure ocean depth, was also a minor but lasting success.

The cost of building some of Johan’s machines caused him to go into debt, leading to a period in debtors’ prison. During this time, he married 19-year-old Amelia Byam, a relationship that ended in separation until Amelia’s death.

In 1877, Johan was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society.

Education

His only formal education was simple officer training in the Swedish Army, where he reached the rank of captain. On March 27, 1822, John passed a test to become a surveyor in Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden. His father taught him how to be a miner and surveyor when he was a child.

Propeller design

He then improved ship design by using two screw-propellers that rotated in opposite directions (unlike earlier tests, which used only one screw). However, the British Admiralty of the Royal Navy did not support the invention in the late 1830s. This led to a helpful connection with Robert Stockton, a prominent American naval captain (and later commodore) who lived from 1795 to 1866. Stockton asked Ericsson to design a propeller-driven steamer for him and invited Ericsson to bring his invention to the United States, as it might be more accepted there. As a result, Ericsson moved to New York City in 1839. Stockton’s plan was for Ericsson to oversee the development of a new class of naval warship—a larger, heavier frigate. Stockton used his political influence to help secure funding for the project. After the death of the 9th President, William Henry Harrison (1773–1841, who served March–April 1841), and the succession of his former Vice President, John Tyler, to the presidency in the spring of 1841, the new administration allocated funds for a new naval design. However, the Navy received money only for a 700-ton sloop-of-war instead of the larger frigate. The sloop eventually became the USS Princeton, named after Stockton’s hometown in New Jersey and a famous university there.

The ship took about three years to complete and was perhaps the most advanced warship of its time. In addition to steam-powered twin screw propellers, it was originally designed to mount a 12-inch muzzle-loading gun on a revolving pedestal. Ericsson also designed the gun, which used hoop construction to strengthen the breech and allow safe use of a larger charge. Other innovations included a collapsible smoke funnel and an improved recoil system for the artillery.

Over time, the relationship between Ericsson and Stockton became tense. As the ship neared completion, Stockton worked to remove Ericsson from the project. Stockton avoided letting others know that Ericsson was the primary inventor and tried to claim credit for himself. He even designed a second 12-inch gun to be added to the Princeton. However, Stockton did not fully understand the design of the first gun (originally named “The Orator,” later renamed “The Oregon” by Stockton), so the second gun had serious flaws.

When launched, the USS Princeton was a major success. On October 20, 1843, it won a speed trial against the large passenger liner, paddle steamer SS Great Western, which had previously been considered the fastest steamer afloat. Unfortunately, during a demonstration of Stockton’s gun, the breech ruptured and exploded, killing U.S. Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas Walker Gilmer (from the cabinet of the 10th President, John Tyler, who served 1841–1845), as well as six others. Stockton tried to shift blame to Ericsson, with some success, even though Ericsson’s gun was safe and the failure was due to Stockton’s second gun. Stockton also refused to pay Ericsson and used his political influence to block the U.S. Navy from paying him.

Friendship with Cornelius H. DeLamater

When Ericsson moved from England to New York City, Samuel Risley of Greenwich Village encouraged him to work at the Phoenix Foundry. There, he met Cornelius H. DeLamater, an industrialist and owner of an iron and steel foundry. A strong friendship quickly formed between the two men. After this, Ericsson and DeLamater often worked together on business projects, always discussing ideas first. Their friendship remained strong, even though their work sometimes caused stress and Ericsson had a quick temper. DeLamater called Ericsson "John," and Ericsson called DeLamater by his middle name, "Harry." These close personal names were rare in Ericsson's other relationships. Over time, the DeLamater Iron Works, located on the west end of West 13th Street in Lower Manhattan near the Hudson River, became known as the place where Captain Ericsson could freely test new ideas and inventions.

The Iron Witch, the first iron steamboat, was built next. The first hot-air invention created by Captain Ericsson was introduced on the ship Ericsson, which was entirely built by DeLamater. The DeLamater Iron Works also launched the first submarine boat, the first self-propelled torpedo, and the first torpedo boat. When DeLamater died on February 2, 1889, Ericsson was deeply saddened. Ericsson passed away one month later, in March 1889, which surprised no one who knew him well.

Hot air engine

In the 1820s, Ericsson invented the caloric, or hot air, engine independently. This engine used hot air, called caloric in scientific language at the time, instead of steam as the working fluid. A similar device was patented earlier in 1816 by Reverend Robert Stirling (1790–1878). Because of Stirling’s earlier invention, the device is commonly known as the Stirling Engine. Ericsson’s engine was not successful at first due to differences in combustion temperatures between burning Swedish wood and British coal. Despite these challenges, Ericsson was later awarded the Rumford Prize by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1862 for his invention.

In 1830, Ericsson patented his second engine, which could operate using steam, air, or water. This rotative engine aimed to reduce the engine’s size without losing power.

By 1833, Captain Ericsson built his third engine, a hot air engine (or caloric engine), which was displayed in London. A person named John O. Sargent said, “the engine will prove the most important mechanical invention ever conceived by the human mind, and one that will confer greater benefits on civilized life than any that has ever preceded it.” This engine included a regenerator, a feature that inspired other inventors of hot air engines.

In 1852, the caloric ship, powered by Ericsson’s fourth engine, was built. A group of New York merchants and financiers, including John B. Kitching, Edward Dunham, and G.B. Lamar, supported the project. The ship’s keel was laid in April 1852 at the Perine, Patterson, and Stack shipyard in Williamsburgh. At the same time, Messrs. Hogg and Delamater began constructing the engine. The ship’s hull and machinery were built in secret because Ericsson and his backers believed the ship would revolutionize ocean transport with its economy and safety. They feared competitors might copy the engine’s design. The ship was launched on September 15, 1852, and in November, the engine operated under its own power. However, the ship was a failure. Earlier experimental engines based on the same design worked efficiently.

Later in life, the caloric engine made Ericsson wealthy because its boilerless design was safer and more practical for small industry than steam engines. The regenerator in his engine improved fuel efficiency. Around 1882, a ship named Ericsson, weighing 1,645 tons, was purchased by Captain Charles L. Dingley. It was built by John Ericsson (though some sources say it was built by DeLamater Iron Works) to test the hot air engine for ocean navigation.

In 1883, John Ericsson built a solar air engine with 1 horsepower. The engine used a rectangular trough with a curved bottom lined with polished plates to reflect sunlight toward a cylindrical heater above the trough. This heater contained the working medium, such as steam or air, which transferred solar energy to the motor through cylinders with pistons and valves similar to those in traditional engines. Engineers and scientists later concluded that solar energy was too weak to be used effectively for producing power.

Ship design

On September 26, 1854, Ericsson showed Emperor Napoleon III of France drawings of iron-clad ships with a round-shaped gun tower. Although the emperor admired the design, he did not take steps to build the ship or use it for the French Navy. In 1851, Ericsson created a ship named the Caloric.

USSMonitor

After the American Civil War began in 1861, the Confederacy started building an ironclad ram on the burned remains of the USS Merrimack. The ship had been partially burned and sunk by Union troops before Confederate forces captured it. Around the same time, the U.S. Congress advised the Navy Department to build armored ships for the U.S. Navy. Although John Ericsson disliked the U.S. Navy due to past experiences, he agreed to design an ironclad ship after being encouraged by President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, and shipbuilder Cornelius Bushnell. Ericsson created plans for the USS Monitor, an armored ship with a rotating turret holding two large cannons. Despite debate over the design, the ship was built in a New York shipyard and launched on March 6, 1862, in about 100 days.

On March 8, 1862, the USS Merrimack, renamed CSS Virginia, attacked Union ships in the Chesapeake Bay, sinking the USS Congress and USS Cumberland and damaging the USS Minnesota. The next day, the USS Monitor arrived, leading the first battle between ironclad warships on March 9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Neither ship could sink the other, but the battle protected the Union’s remaining wooden ships from being destroyed. After this, the Union built many monitors, including versions with twin turrets, which helped enforce the naval blockade of Southern ports. Although the Monitor class had issues with navigation and engine failures, its design, especially the rotating gun turret, influenced future warships worldwide.

In December 1863, the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences honored John Ericsson as an Honorary Member.

Later designs

Later, Ericsson designed other naval vessels and weapons, such as a type of torpedo and a destroyer, which is a torpedo boat that could fire a cannon through an underwater opening. He also helped John Philip Holland with his early experiments to build submarines. In the book Contributions to the Centennial Exhibition (1877, reprinted 1976), he described his "sun engines," which used solar heat to power a hot air engine. One of these designs later helped Ericsson earn more money after being adapted to function as a methane gas engine.

Death and ensuing controversy

Ericsson died on March 8, 1889, the same day as the Battle of Hampton Roads, where his ship, the Monitor, played an important role. He wished to be buried in his home country, Sweden, which led to reports in the New York Times stating that the U.S. Navy did not show enough respect by choosing the USS Essex (1874), a less important ship, to transport his body. The Navy responded by sending his remains on the USS Baltimore, which was accompanied by other ships, including the USS Nantucket. On August 23, 1890, the ships left with a twenty-one gun salute, and the Swedish flag was raised on all vessels in the group. Approximately 100,000 people attended the funeral and departure events, including veterans who had served on the USS Monitor. Ericsson’s final resting place is in Filipstad, Värmland, Sweden.

Inventions

• A device that cools steam to create condensation
• A type of engine that uses heat from air
• The first monitor ship, USS Monitor, was designed and built by Ericsson for the Union Navy during the American Civil War
• Torpedo technology, including a type of advanced torpedo boat called a Destroyer
• A machine that uses curved mirrors to collect sunlight to power an engine
• The ship USS Princeton, built in 1843
• A method of building cannons using metal hoops to hold the barrel together
• A device used to move ships through water by spinning

Fellowships

• Became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from another country in 1850 and a member of Sweden in 1863
• Joined the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences in 1852
• Received an honorary doctorate from Lund University in 1868

Monuments and memorials

The stamp honoring John Ericsson was released on April 20, 1926, at the same time as the unveiling of the Ericsson Memorial in West Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., which is directly south of the Lincoln Memorial. The stamp shows the design of the memorial created by J. H. Frazer. The image on the stamp depicts Ericsson sitting with figures of Vision, Labor, and Adventure above and behind him.

Monuments honoring John Ericsson have been built in the following places:

• John Ericsson National Memorial on The Mall in Washington, D.C.
• John Ericsson Room at the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia
• John Ericsson Statue in Battery Park in New York City. Public Middle School 126 in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn is also named after him.
• Nybroplan in Stockholm
• Kungsportsavenyn in Gothenburg
• John Ericsson Street in Lund, Sweden
• John Ericsson Fountain in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
• Neighborhood of Ericsson in Minneapolis
• Långbanshyttan, his birthplace, in Sweden

Ships named in his honor include:

• USS Ericsson

The John Ericsson Republican League of Illinois is a Swedish-American political group.

Mount Ericsson, a mountain peak in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, is named after him.

In popular culture

Ericsson is an important character in Harry Harrison's books that imagine a different version of history. These books are called the Stars and Stripes trilogy.