Claude-François-Dorothée, marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans (30 September 1751 - 18 July 1832) was a French naval architect and engineer. He was the inventor of the first

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

Career

In 1773, Jouffroy d'Abbans met with the Perier brothers and studied in their workshop the ' (Fire pump), which had been used as a motive force for the hydraulic machine developed by

Chaillot Chaillot () is a quarter of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is adjacent to Passy to the southwest (administratively part of la Muette) and is bound by Avenue de la Grande-Armée to the north. It is home ...

, in order to apply it to ship propulsion. In 1776, Jouffroy d'Abbans developed a 13-meter steamboat, the '' Palmipède'', in which the engine moved oars equipped with rotating blades. The boat was tested on the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

named the ''

Pyroscaphe ''Pyroscaphe'' was an early experimental steamship built by Marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans in 1783. The first demonstration took place on 15 July 1783 on the river Saône in France. After the first demonstration, it was said that the hull had ope ...

'' ply on the

Saône The Saône ( , ; ; ) is a river in eastern France (modern Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté). It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges (department), Vosges Departments of France, department an ...

. However, the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

prohibited him from using his invention in Paris, and instead nominated Périer, one of de Jouffroy d'Abbans' opponents whose previous attempts had failed, to inspect the project. Further misfortunes due to the French Revolution hindered his progress. His claim was acknowledged by Arago and in 1840 by the French Academy. Jouffroy published ''Les bateaux à vapeur'' and wrote for the academy ''Mémoires sur les pompes à feu''. Impoverished, he retired to the

Hôtel des Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old soldi ...

and died there of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

. In 1803, more than 20 years after d'Abbans' inaugural trip,

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 ...

would succeed in sailing a steamship of his conception on the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

Personal life

Claude-François-Dorothée Jouffroy d'Abbans was born on September 30, 1751, in the Roches-Bettaincourt commune in

Grand-Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He died in Paris on July 18, 1832. The Marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans was held prisoner on the "Royal Fort of Saint Margaret Island", a prison island in France, from 1772 to 1773, following a romantic rivalry with the Count of Artois. It is said that he conceived of his steam-powered "Pyroscaphe" after seeing galleys manoeuvring in front of the island.

References

External links

Catholic Encyclopedia article

1751 births 1832 deaths 18th-century French inventors People from Haute-Marne People from Doubs {{France-engineer-stub