The Barbary States War and the War of 1812 sawbigger ships coming into the Navy. Typical was our firstship-of-the-line, the USS Independence, followed bythe 74-gun USS North Carolina.THE YEARS FROM 1813 TO 1815Following the War of 1812, our Navy underwenttechnological changes. Before the Civil War, newscientific advances foreshadowed the incredibletechnological revolution that continues into today’sworld.One change was the use of steam. The Navy entereda new era, an era of the “steam-driven warship.”Harnessing the power of steam was the most importantdevelopment in the surface Navy during the first half ofthe 19th century. Steam began to replace wind as ameans of propulsion. It promised to eliminate some ofthe hazards and delays caused by ships being blown offcourse or left dead in the water.The principles of steam power were known forcenturies. But, it was Robert Fulton who successfullyused steam to power a commercial steamboat. Aftermaking a number of important modifications to JamesWatt’s basic steam engine, Fulton sailed his riverboatClermont up the Hudson River in 1807. Fulton helpedbuild USS Demologos, the Navy’s first warship to usesteam. It was originally intended to defend the port ofNew York during the War of 1812. The USS Demologoswas rechristened the USS Fulton in Robert Fulton’shonor.1815 TO THE CIVIL WARFrom 1815 to 1840, the Navy continued to expandits sailing fleet. In fact, more than 74 ships-of-the-linewere built. In 1837 the Navy launched the 3,104-tonU S SPe n n s y l v a n i a , t h e l a rg e s t o f A m e r i c a ’sships-of-the-line.In 1841, the Navy launched the USS Missouri andthe USS Mississippi. These were our first ocean-going,steam-driven capital ships. At the same time the USNavy was building bigger ships, it was developingsteam powered ships and iron clad ships.At the same time it was harnessing steam power forship propulsion, the Navy was making advances in shipconstruction. The Navy began making its ships withiron instead of wooden hulls. In 1843, the Navylaunched its first iron-hulled warship—the paddle sloopUSS Michigan. This side-wheeler was 163 feet long and5-8Student Notes:Figure 5-4.—During the War of 1812, Captain Isaac Hull, aboard the USS Constitution,defeated the British frigate Guerriere.
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