| Historical
Perspective
Two Centuries of Catamarans
By DAVID F. WINKLER, Ph.D.
Dr. David F. Winkler is a historian with the Naval Historical Foundation.
The deployment of the high-speed experimental ship Joint Venture (HSV-X1)
to Southwest Asia has attracted press attention on both sides of the Pacific
and rightfully so, given the unique characteristics of the Australian-built
catamaran. However, this is not the first time the U.S. Navy has deployed
twin-hulled craft. In fact, the American experience with catamarans goes
back nearly two centuries.
It was Christmas Eve in 1813, the War of 1812 had entered its second
year, and an increasingly effective British blockade was choking off American
commerce along the eastern seaboard. Despite some notable victories on
the high seas by the frigates Constitution, United States, and Essex,
the blockade diminished the U.S. economy and posed a direct threat to
America's port cities.
Robert Fulton, the famous designer and builder of vessels propelled with
steam-driven paddlewheels, hosted a group of American civic and military
leaders at his New York residence to address the British challenge.
Fulton unveiled plans for a maneuverable floating battery that employed
this new technology. His designs also addressed the vulnerability of exterior
paddlewheels to enemy gunfire by proposing a catamaran that placed the
paddlewheel between the two hulls.
The genius of the design was readily apparent to his guests. During periods
of protracted calm off America's port cities, the steam-powered vessel
could wreak havoc upon Britain's sail warships.
The British naval threat led Congress to pass a bill on 9 March 1814
authorizing construction of "one or more" of Fulton's vessels.
Responding to an inquiry from Secretary of the Navy William Jones, Fulton
said the vessel would be 138 feet in length and have an overall beam of
55 feet with two 20-foot hulls split by a 15-foot "race." To
accomplish her mission, the vessel would carry two dozen 32-pounder long
guns. Fulton estimated the cost for each vessel built at $200,000.
Jones authorized the project on 23 May 1814. Quickly built at an East
River yard owned by Adam and Noah Brown, the vessel was launched on 29
October 1814 and then taken to Fulton's Hudson River facility for installation
of the engine and guns. The armament used came from the cargo hold of
a British merchantman captured early in the war by the frigate President.
Despite the war's end in late 1814 and Fulton's untimely death in early
1815, the Navy decided to finish the project and accepted delivery of
the ship in June 1816. It was immediately placed "in ordinary"--the
term used at the time for mothballs. She was placed into service just
once--on 18 June 1817--to embark President James Monroe for a short demonstration
cruise. After that, she was again laid up and eventually used as a receiving
ship. Her days of service ended tragically on 4 June 1829 when a gunpowder
explosion gutted the vessel and claimed 24 lives.
Fulton's ship never received an official name, and is listed in the American
Dictionary of American Fighting Ships under the entries for "Demologos"
and "Fulton." Few details about the ship were retained by the
Navy and over the decades historians pondered the vessel's exact configuration,
relying on sketches and written descriptions. Finally, in 1960, plans
for Fulton's catamaran were discovered in the Danish Royal Archives. The
Danes had developed a strong interest in Fulton's design, apparently after
having felt the wrath of the Royal Navy.
Along with ships like the modern-day Joint Venture, Fulton's vessel illustrates
the Navy's willingness to seek out and employ new technologies. *
Source: Howard I. Chapelle Fulton's "Steam Battery": Blockship
and Catamaran (Smithsonian Institution, 1964).
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