Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who helped create the first steamboat that was used for business. This steamboat, called the North River Steamboat (also known as the Clermont), made its first trip in 1807. It traveled on the Hudson River from New York City to Albany and back, covering 300 nautical miles (560 kilometers) in 62 hours. The success of this steamboat changed how goods and people moved along major American rivers.

Fulton became interested in steam engines and steamboats in 1777, when he was about 12 years old. During this time, he visited William Henry, a state delegate from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. William Henry was interested in steam engines and had learned about James Watt, the inventor of the Watt steam engine, during a trip to England.

In 1800, Fulton was asked by Napoleon Bonaparte, the leader of France, to design a submarine. He created the Nautilus, which was the first working submarine in history. Fulton is also credited with inventing some of the first torpedoes used by the Royal Navy.

Early life

Robert Fulton was born on November 14, 1765, on a farm in Little Britain, Pennsylvania. His father, Robert Fulton, married Mary Smith. She was the daughter of Captain Joseph Smith and the sister of Colonel Lester Smith. Her family was relatively wealthy. Robert had three sisters named Isabella, Elizabeth, and Mary. He also had a younger brother named Abraham.

For six years, he lived in Philadelphia. There, he painted portraits and landscapes. He also drew houses and machines. He sent money home to help support his mother. In 1785, after his father passed away, Fulton bought a farm in Hopewell Township, Washington County, near Pittsburgh. The farm cost £80, which was worth about $13,638 in 2018. He moved his mother and family there.

Career

In early 1786, Fulton began showing signs of tuberculosis. An important doctor suggested he take a trip across the ocean to improve his health. Fulton traveled to Europe, where he would live for twenty years. He left for England in the autumn of 1786, carrying letters of introduction from important people he had met in Philadelphia. He already communicated with artist Benjamin West, whose father had been a close friend of West’s father. West welcomed Fulton into his home, where Fulton lived for several years and studied painting. Fulton earned money by painting portraits and landscapes, which helped him support himself. He also continued working on mechanical inventions.

Fulton became interested in the "Canal Mania." In 1793, he began developing ideas for canals with inclined planes instead of locks. He received a patent for this idea in 1794 and also worked on steam-powered boats. He wrote a pamphlet about canals and patented a dredging machine and other inventions. In 1794, he moved to Manchester to learn more about English canal engineering. There, he became friends with Robert Owen, a cotton manufacturer and early socialist. Owen agreed to fund Fulton’s designs for inclined planes and earth-digging machines. Owen also helped Fulton connect with a canal company, which gave him a contract. However, Fulton was not successful with this project and gave up the contract after a short time.

As early as 1793, Fulton shared plans for steam-powered vessels with the United States and British governments. The first steamships appeared earlier. The earliest steam-powered ship, which used an engine to move oars, was built by Claude de Jouffroy in France in 1776. It was called Palmipède and tested on the Doubs River. In 1783, de Jouffroy built Pyroscaphe, the first paddle steamer, which sailed on the Saône River. The first successful steamboat trial in America was conducted by inventor John Fitch on the Delaware River on August 22, 1787. William Symington also tested steamboats in 1788, and it is likely Fulton knew about these efforts.

In Britain, Fulton met the Duke of Bridgewater, Francis Egerton, whose canal was the first in the country. The canal was used to test a steam tug. Fulton became very interested in canals and wrote a treatise on canal construction in 1796, suggesting improvements to locks and other features. Between 1796 and 1799, Fulton worked for the Duke of Bridgewater. A boat was built in the Duke’s timber yard, supervised by Benjamin Powell. After installing machinery from engineers Bateman and Sherratt of Salford, the boat was named Bonaparte in honor of Fulton’s service under Napoleon. After expensive trials, the team feared the paddles might damage the canal’s clay lining and abandoned the experiment. In 1801, the Duke ordered eight vessels for his canal based on Charlotte Dundas, built by Symington.

In 1797, Fulton went to Paris, where he was known as an inventor. He studied French, German, mathematics, and chemistry. He also exhibited the first panorama painting shown in Paris, Vue de Paris depuis les Tuileries (1800), on a street now called Rue des Panoramas. While in France, Fulton designed the first working muscle-powered submarine, Nautilus, between 1793 and 1797. He also experimented with torpedoes. When tested, his submarine operated underwater for 17 minutes in 25 feet of water. He asked the government to fund its construction but was refused twice. Eventually, he approached the Minister of Marine and, in 1800, received permission to build the submarine. The shipyard Perrier in Rouen built it, and the submarine sailed on the Seine River in July 1800.

In France, Fulton met Robert R. Livingston, who later became U.S. Ambassador to France in 1801. The two men decided to collaborate on building a steamboat and testing it on the Seine. Fulton experimented with hull shapes, made drawings and models, and had a steamboat constructed. The first trial was successful, but the hull was later rebuilt and strengthened. On August 9, 1803, the boat sank during a test on the Seine River. The boat was 66 feet long, with an 8-foot beam, and traveled at 2.5 to 3.5 knots against the current.

In 1804, Fulton moved to Britain, where he was commissioned by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger to build weapons for the Royal Navy during Napoleon’s invasion scares. His inventions included the first modern naval "torpedoes" (modern "mines"). These were tested during the 1804 Raid on Boulogne but had limited success. Although Fulton continued working with the British until 1806, the British naval victory at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar reduced the risk of French invasion, and Fulton was no longer as active in his work.

In 1806, Fulton returned to the United States. In 1807, he and Robert R. Livingston built the first commercially successful steamboat, North River Steamboat (later called Clermont). Livingston’s shipping company used it to carry passengers between New York City and Albany, New York. Clermont completed a 150-nautical-mile trip in 32 hours. A passenger on the first voyage was lawyer Jones and his family from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. His infant daughter, Alexandra Jones, later became a nurse on a steamboat hospital during the American Civil War.

Clermont was the first successful steamboat in America. While it was being built, people called it "Fulton’s Folly." The boat had sails and a steam engine. At each end were short masts with small square sails that could be used when needed. The engine was in the center, surrounded by wood. It was 24-horsepower, with a tall smoke stack above it. Large paddle wheels, 15 feet in diameter, were on each side. The boat was 136 feet long and 18 feet wide, displacing 160 tons. Fulton received two patents for his steamboat, one in 1809 and another in 1811.

From 1811 until his death, Fulton was a member of the Erie Canal Commission, appointed by the Governor of New York.

Fulton’s final design was the floating battery Demologos, the first steam-driven warship in the world. It was built for the United States Navy for the War of 1812. The heavy vessel was not completed until after Fulton’s death and was named in his honor.

From October 1811 to January

Legacy

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania gave a marble statue of Robert Fulton to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol. Fulton was also recognized for creating steamship technology during New York City's Hudson-Fulton Celebration of the Centennial in 1909. A copy of his first steam-powered boat, the Clermont, was made for the event.

Five ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Fulton to honor Robert Fulton.

Fulton Hall at the United States Merchant Marine Academy is where the Department of Marine Engineering is located. It includes laboratories for studying diesel and steam engineering, refrigeration, marine engineering, thermodynamics, materials testing, machine shops, mechanical engineering, welding, electrical machinery, control systems, electric circuits, engine room simulators, and graphics.

Bronze statues of Fulton and Christopher Columbus are placed on the railings of the galleries in the Main Reading Room of the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. These statues are two of 16 historical figures, with each pair showing one of the eight pillars of civilization.

In 1910, the Guatemalan government built a bust of Fulton in one of the parks in Guatemala City.

In 2006, Fulton was added to the "National Inventors Hall of Fame" in Alexandria, Virginia.

Many places in the United States are named after Robert Fulton, including:

• Fulton, a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio

A 1940 film by 20th Century-Fox, Little Old New York, based on a 1920 play by Rida Johnson Young, tells a fictional story of Fulton’s life from his arrival in New York to the first trip of the Clermont. British actor Richard Greene played Fulton, with Brenda Joyce as Harriet Livingston. Alice Faye and Fred MacMurray portrayed friends who helped Fulton achieve his goals.

A fictional story about Fulton’s work was made by BBC television in the 1960s. In the first serial, Triton (1961, remade in 1968), two British naval officers, Captain Belwether and Lieutenant Lamb, secretly watch Fulton while he works for the French. In the sequel, Pegasus (1969), they are surprised to work with Fulton after he changes sides. In the 1961 series, Fulton was played by Reed De Rouen. In the 1968 and 1969 series, he was played by Robert Cawdron.

A cartoon character based on Robert Fulton appears in the 1955 Casper the Friendly Ghost short film Red, White, and Boo.

Author James McGee included Fulton’s experiments in early submarine warfare (against wooden warships) as a major part of his 2006 novel Ratcatcher.

In Invasion (2009), the tenth book in the "Kydd" naval warfare series by Julian Stockwin, Fulton and his submarine are an important part of the story.

Until 2016, Disney Springs at Walt Disney World had a restaurant called Fulton’s Crab House, with a building shaped like a steamboat.

Gallery

• In 1803, Robert Fulton presented his steamship to Napoleon Bonaparte.
• In 1806, Robert Fulton created a cross-sectional drawing of a submarine design.
• Robert Fulton’s tombstone is located at Trinity Church (Episcopal) in New York City.
• A sculpture of Robert Fulton by Caspar Buberl is displayed at the Brooklyn Museum, created in 1872.
• A marble statue of Robert Fulton by Howard Roberts is located in Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol, completed between 1878 and 1883.
• A commemorative stamp from 1909 honors the Hudson-Fulton Celebration.
• A 200th Anniversary commemorative stamp, issued in 1965, is based on the Houdon bust.

Publications

• A book titled "Torpedo War and Submarine Explosions," published in 1810.
• A book titled "A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation" from 1796. This version is archived on the Wayback Machine from December 31, 2004, and is available in DjVu and layered PDF formats from the University of Georgia Libraries.
• Another version of "A Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation" from 1796 is archived on the Wayback Machine from May 31, 2023, and is available through the Rare Book Room.