Triumphs and wonders of the 19th century, the true mirror of a phenomenal era, a volume of original, entertaining and instructive historic and descriptive writings, showing the many and marvellous achievements which distinguish an hundred years of material, intellectual, social and moral progress .. . 66 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIXth CENTURY A contemporary authority states that, when British Admiral Sir JohnBorlase Warren ascended the Potomac River,, during the war of 1812, hisexpedition was reconnoitred by an American steamer. This appears to bethe first record of the use of such craft fo
Triumphs and wonders of the 19th century, the true mirror of a phenomenal era, a volume of original, entertaining and instructive historic and descriptive writings, showing the many and marvellous achievements which distinguish an hundred years of material, intellectual, social and moral progress .. . 66 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIXth CENTURY A contemporary authority states that, when British Admiral Sir JohnBorlase Warren ascended the Potomac River,, during the war of 1812, hisexpedition was reconnoitred by an American steamer. This appears to bethe first record of the use of such craft for military purposes. In 1814 theUnited States built the first steam war-vessel in the worlds history. Shewas called the Demologos, later the Fulton, and her completion marked truly,as her commissioners said, an era in warfare and the arts. She was^adouble-ended, twin-hulled floating battery of 2475 tons, carrying twenty 32-pdr. guns, protected by 4 ft. 10 in. of solid timber. She was driven by a sin-gle central paddle-wheel; her speed was o\ miles per hour; and she wasboth handy and seaworthy. France, in 1820, sent a commission to Americato report upon steam vessels of war ; and in 1830 the French had nine armedsteamers afloat and nine building. In 1821, the Comet, a small side-wheeler,. ACTION BETWEEN MONITOR AND MEIUUMAO. was commissioned as the first steam war-ship in the British navy, and in1840. at the bombardment of Acre, steam vessels fought their first battle. The growth of steam in navies had been retarded by its application solelyto paddle craft, whose wheels and machinery were incapable of protection inaction. During the years 1842-43, however, the United States built the sloop-of-war Princeton, of 954 tons. This vessel was the product of the genius ofJohn Ericsson, the ablest marine engineer the world has ever seen. She wasthe first screw-propelled steam warship ever built, and, in other respects, fore-si uulowed the advances which were to come. Thus, her machinery
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