User:Dhartung/USS Fulton (1814)

The USS Fulton was a US Navy steamship that was the first steam-powered warship.

Background
Robert Fulton had developed the first practical commercial steamboat, the Clermont.

History
The Fulton was a 20-gun "steam battery", essentially a floating fort, intended for the defense of New York Harbor. Its wooden hull was five feet thick, and it was powered by a central paddle wheel, but was not exceptionally maneuverable or seaworthy.

Robert Fulton designed and built the ship, then termed the Demologos, in New York City during the War of 1812. When Fulton died, the Navy renamed the ship the Fulton, and she was later known as Fulton I or Fulton the First.

The Fulton only saw one day of service, ferrying President James Madison across New York Harbor. Most of her career was spent moored in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where she was used as a recruiting tool. In 1825 the ship was destroyed in an explosion that killed 25 people.