Bulletin - United States National Museum (1960) (20319613838)

Title: Bulletin - United States National Museum

Identifier: bulletinunitedst2191960unit (find matches)

Year: 1877 (1870s)

Authors: United States National Museum; Smithsonian Institution; United States. Dept. of the Interior

Subjects: Science

Publisher: Washington : Smithsonian Institution Press, (etc. ); for sale by the Supt. of Docs. , U. S. Govt Print. Off.

Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries

Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

Text Appearing Before Image:

and made a speed of 4 miles per hour. The great diffi- cuhies Stevens met in the construction of the high- pressure, fast-turning engine, required for his screw- propulsion, discouraged his work in this direction, and he turned to paddle-wheel propulsion in his first large steamboat, the Phoenix. The model may not represent the form and appear- ance of the orginal boat accurately but the model's boiler and engine, etc., are based on the original machinery now preserved in the Watercraft Collec- tion (U.SNM 181179). The model is of an open boat having a straight keel and skeg, curved stem, rather upright flat transom, nearly straight sheer, rather full entrance and run, twin screws set abaft the post, and with the iron rudder set off from the transom on outriggers to clear the wheels. Engine and boiler are located a little abaft amidships. The boat is rather fiat floored, with a firm round bilge and upright side. Xo draw- ings or pictures of the original boat exist and all that is known about the hull is that it was of a then common rowing Whitehall type, which this model does not represent, being probably of a longer boat. Under the direction of Colonel Stevens' sons, the boiler and engine were overhauled in 1844 by Isaac Dripps, who was Superintendent of Machinery on the Camden and Amboy Railroad and afterwards held the same position on the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was under strict orders not to change or improve upon the original but merely to correct damaged parts. A new hull was built, and in October 1844 boat and machinery were tested on the Hudson River; a speed of 8 miles per hour was obtained. The model represents a boat 24 feet 8 inches over- all, 6 feet 1 inch beam, 4 feet 11 inches width of transom, 2 feet A)i inches depth. Scale of model is 2 inches to the foot. Model made in the Museum.

Text Appearing After Image:

Engi.ne .WD Boii.ER i_LS.\M 181179J Desig.ned bv John .Siene.ns and used in ins liiM sicduibuai, u-sied in New York Harbor, 1804. The propeller (USNM 180597) is a full-sized replica of the one used in tests in 1804-05. (.Smilhsonian photo 6if;i.) 472S4C—60- -10 125

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1960

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