1765-1815. US engineer and inventor who
designed the first successful steamships. He
produced a submarine, the Nautilus, for
Napoleon's government in France 1801, and
experimented with steam navigation on the
Seine, then returned to the USA. The first
steam vessel of note, known as the Clermont,
appeared on the Hudson 1807, sailing between
New York and Albany. The first steam warship
was the USS Fulton, of 38 tonnes, built
1814-15.