Moonstone Research & Publications
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Moonstone Research & Publications
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Excerpt from Appleton's Journal (January 4, 1873) at 55-56. The Pioneer Steamship and Its Navigators. Charles Lanman. The noble fleet of steamships that every Saturday leaves our city wharves for nearly all the great ports of the world, naturally directs the mind to the origin of ocean steam-navigation, and will render interesting an account of the pioneer steamship and its navigators. After the great principle of application of steam to the propelling vessels had been established by Robert Fulton, a few small steamers were built for coast-navigation, but the State of New York excluded them from her waters, upon the ground that she had the exclusive right of that kind of navigation. For the right to build the Walk-in-the-Water, for the navigation of the Great Lakes--the first of the kind ever built--New York claimed and received the sum of five hundred dollars, but the Supreme Court promptly disposed of this claim, and steam navigation in our waters became open to the world. The navigation of the ocean by steam now became an important question; and notwithstanding the disheartening prophecies of Dr. Lardner, there were people in this country who took a more hopeful view o the subject. In 1818 there flourished in Savannah, Georgia, the wealthy and enterprising commercial house of Scarborough & Isaacs. The head of the head of the house had great confidence that, at no distant day, the ocean would be navigated by steam. He went to New York and purchased a ship of about three hundred and fifty tons, then on the stocks, and, as a deserved compliment to his State and city, named her the Savannah, and determined, with her, to try the experiment of crossing the ocean without sails. In casting about for the right kind of men to assist him, he fixed upon Captain Moses Rogers, a person of great mechanical skill and ingenuity, who had been familiar and identified with the experiments of Fulton, but he was not a sea navigator. A thorough, experienced, and practical sailor was found in the person of Captain Stevens Rogers, the brother of Moses. After having been furnished with an engine by Stephen Vail of Morristown, conjointly with Daniel Dodd of Elizabethton, the Savannah was placed under the joint command of the two Captains Rogers--the one to superintend and direct her machinery, the other to act as sailing master. They were two as intrepid and able men as the country contained at that time, and under their direction, the ship sailed for Savannah on the 29th of March, 1819. The trial-trip was highly successful. The vessel then proceeded to Charleston, and, after being lionized there for a short time, took James Monroe, President of the United States, to Savannah. On the 26th of May she sailed direct for Liverpool, making the passage in twenty-two days, eighteen of which were under steam, some economy of fuel having been deemed advisable lest the supply should be exhausted. During the voyage across the Atlantic several amusing incidents occurred, but we have room only for the two following, obtained directly from the officers in command: When the ship was approaching Cape Clear under steam, she was discovered by the officers of the telegraph-station, and was reported to the admiral in command at Cork as a ship on fire. The admiral at once dispatched a fast cutter, well manned, to her relief; but great was their wonder at their total inability, under all sail and with a good breeze, to come up with the ship under bare poles. After several shots had been fired from the cutter, the engine of the ship was stopped, and the cutter permitted to approach, when her officers were invited on board to examine and admire the new invention. Soon after dropping her anchor in the harbor of Liverpool, a boat, manned with sailors in naval uniform, commanded by a lieutenant, came alongside, and the officer, in a tone more authoritative than pleasing, demanded of the first man he saw: "Where's your master?" "I have no master," replied the American. "Where's your captain, then, sir?" "He is below, sir," was the reply. On reaching the deck, Captain Rogers asked the Englishman what he wanted. "My commander wants to know by what authority you wear that pennant sir?" pointing with his sword to a coach-whip pennant flying at the main-mast head. To this the Captain replied: "By the authority of my government, which is republican, and permits me to do so." The officer then remarked that his commander considered it as an insult to him, and, commanding the American to haul down the pennant intimated that if it was not quickly done, he would be supplied with help. This was a little too much for Yankee spirit to endure, and Rogers instantly gave the order to haul down the coach-whip, and supply in its place with a broad blue pennant, such as were worn by the commanders of squadrons in our own navy, and ranking with the highest grade in that of the British, and then in a loud tone of voice, so that he might be heard by the English, he directed the engineer to get the hot-water pipes ready. This order had the desired effect, although there was no such apparatus on board, and the gallant lieutenant and his crew pulled for dear life. The hot-water jeers, which were subsequently leveled at the British officers, caused them to start upon an early cruise. The Savannah attracted great attention at Liverpool; was visited by the authorities, and, as her fame spread to London, the crown-officers, noblemen, and many leading merchants, visited her. The officers were very anxious to ascertain her speed, her errand and her destination. It was suspected by some that her design was to rescue Napoleon Bonaparte, then a prisoner at St. Helena, his brother Jerome having offered for that purpose a large sum. She was carefully watched by the British Government, and ships-of-war were stationed at certain points for that purpose, which, for a time, prevented her departure from Liverpool. She finally proceeded to Copenhagen, where she excited great manifestations of wonder and curiosity. Thence she proceeded to Stockholm, where she was visited by the royal family, ministers of state, and naval officers, who, by invitation, dined on board, and took an excursion among the neighboring islands, with which all were delighted. She then proceeded to St. Petersburg, having on board, as passenger, one Lord Lyndock, who was so much pleased with the performance of the steamship, that he presented to each of her officers some token of his esteem. To her sailing-master was presented an elegant snuffbox of pure and massive gold, on the cover of which, inlaid with patina, was a representation of Peter the Great asleep upon his horse, standing on the rock from which he viewed the Swedish army, with the serpent biting the heel of the horse, which awoke him in time to successfully attack the Swedes. At the bottom of the box was this inscription: "Presented by Sir Thomas Graham, Lord Lyndock, to Stevens Rogers, sailing master of the steamship Savannah, at St. Petersburg, October 10, 1819." Lord Lyndock had taken passage on the steamer by invitation of Christopher Hughes, then American minister to Sweden. Upon her arrival at St. Petersburg, the vessel was visited by the entire court, who tested her qualities by a trip to Cronstadt; and so well pleased was the emperor, that he caused the officers to be treated with marked attention. they were invited to be present at a review of eighty thousand troops by the emperor in person; and a frigate of the largest class was launched on the "Camels," and taken down to Cronstadt as an exhibition of the progress of the arts in Russia. The emperor solicited Captain Stevens Rogers to remain in the Russian seas with his steamer, offering him the protection of the government and the exclusive navigation of the Black and Baltic Seas for a number of years; and to Captain Moses Rogers the emperor presented a handsome silver tea-kettle. From St. Petersburg the Savannah sailed for Arendel, in Norway, and thence to Savannah, making the passage in twenty-five days. Thus ended the first voyage ever made across the Atlantic by steamship. That was about fifty years ago, and the history of ocean steam-navigation during that eventful period will form one of the most important and interesting chapters in our annals of prosperity. With regard to Captain Moses Rogers, he died many years ago. The chart used by Captain Rogers during his voyage, and the log-book of the Savannah, were solicited by the Navy Department about the year 1848, and it is believed that they are now in the safe keeping of the department in Washington. Having been unfortunate in losing much of their property by fire, the owners of the Savannah sent her to New York, where she was sold. Her engine was purchased and taken out by the proprietor of the Allaire Works, and, on the opening of the Crystal Palace in New York, her cylinder was presented by them for exhibition, and it remained until the palace was consumed by fire, although a facsimile of the cylinder and an engraving of the ship are in existence, which remained in the hands of the Captain of the Savannah until his death. Captain Stevens Rogers was born in 1788, and resided, during the latter part of his life in New London, Connecticut. He was a fine specimen of the old-fashioned type of shipmasters--some six feet in height, and of stalwart proportions; a most exemplary and excellent man, and universally respected and esteemed. When quite young, he was imprisoned by a British man-of-war, and, on being released, he determined afterward to have his credentials of citizenship always with him, so he had his name imprinted on his arm, the date and place of his birth, and the figure of a hand pointing to the American flag. These credentials were indelible, and remained until his strong arm was overcome by death in 1868. He died in New London, leaving behind him an unblemished reputation.
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