Commercial steamboat
Barco de vapor comercial
- Date
- 1807 · confidence high
- Place
- New York, United States
- Credited to
- Robert Fulton
- People
- 👤 Robert Fulton1765–1815
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
The 'Clermont' (North River Steamboat) established the first regular, profitable steamboat service between New York and Albany on the Hudson River. It proved that steam navigation could be a business.
Precedents: Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans (Pyroscaphe, Lyon, 1783), John Fitch (Philadelphia, 1787) and William Symington (Charlotte Dundas, Scotland, 1802-1803). Fulton was the first to achieve sustained commercial success.
What it led to
- Mississippi river navigation and the settlement of the American interior
- Transatlantic steam navigation (the Great Western, 1838)
- Independence from the wind in trade and naval warfare
- Industrial ports and shipyards