''Experiment'' was an early 19th-century

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

screw propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

, which was a new idea at the time.

History

''Experiment'' was a horse-powered

ferry boat A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

. It was a 12-ton, three-masted boat drawing a few feet of water, about long by

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

.) in 1807 to 1810, depending on the source. p. 31 ''Mr. Varnum Wilkinson, now living (1859), built "The Experiment," he thinks in 1809 or 1810. '' It was propelled by a "goose-foot paddle," a large mechanical screw propeller in the water instead of a paddle wheel at water surface. The new technology devised by Grieve and Wilkinson was powered by eight horses on a

treadmill A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type of ...

. The technology to propel the boat upstream was originally invented by David Grieve and granted a patent 24 February 1801 in the category of "Boats to ascend rivers". The complete recorded patent was lost in the 1836 U.S. Patent Office fire. The idea of propelling vessels by a mechanical screw in the water is now referred to as Ericsson's propeller.

Maiden voyage

It is reported that ''Experiment'' made one unsuccessful voyage, as it ran aground on the return trip. The mechanism and associated parts were put together by Ephraim Southworth; little thought was put into the construction and it was poorly built.Field, pp. 511–512
/ref> The maiden voyage was in June 1809 with a group of gentlemen from the Grand Lodge of the State.Rhode Island Society, p. 30
/ref> The first attempt of the "Screw Boat" began at Jackson's Wharf on Eddy's Point near

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, with a destination of

Pawtuxet Village Pawtuxet Village is a section of the New England cities of Warwick and Cranston, Rhode Island. It is located at the point where the Pawtuxet River flows into the Providence River and Narragansett Bay. History Pawtuxet means "Little Falls" in ...

. The eight horses for the "horse power" were owned by Marvin Morris; they were connected to a poorly designed contraption to make the boat move. It obtained a top speed of four

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

s with the help of a tide going in her direction and the wind on her back. It managed to get to Pawtuxet Village, where there was much celebration over its success. The return trip, however, resulted in humiliation when a gust of wind drove ''Experiment'' onto mud flats, causing its demise.Hazard, p. 294

Financial failure

The ''Experiment'' venture had sold shares of stock from a prospectus to raise money to build it. There was so much confidence in the venture that tickets were engraved by

William Hamlin William Hamlin (1772–1869) was an American entrepreneur and the first engraver for the state of Rhode Island. In one of his engravings, he published the first views of Providence, Rhode Island. He made a variety of technical etchings that ...

for its anticipated voyages to '' New-Port'' and Providence. Ultimately, the horse boat and all the associated items were seized by the Sheriff at the behest of Grieve's creditors and sold for lack of payments on the loans, since it was not a successful venture. Wilkinson later said that "after the frolic" it was "hauled up" and allowed to go to waste and ruin. Nevertheless, the ship was carefully studied by Daniel French, who did the drawings for

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...

's ''

North River Steamboat The ''North River Steamboat'' or ''North River'', colloquially known as the ''Clermont'', is widely regarded as the world's first vessel to demonstrate the viability of using steam propulsion for commercial water transportation. Built in 1807, ...

'' (known as ''Clermont''), and may have benefited that enterprise. ''Experiment'' is important as a precursor of public transportation on rivers, and it was the forerunner of a number of horse-powered boats, chiefly ferries used for more than a half-century along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Most commonly, those were

paddle wheel A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about ...

boats, not screw-type

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s. Inclined treadmills were often used.

References

Notes

Sources