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The success of the Princeton was followed by the general adoption in America of the screw-propeller. When Ericsson left England, he confided his interests to Count Rosen, who, in 1843, placed an Ericsson propeller in the French frigate Pomone, and soon afterwards the British Admiralty determined to place it in the Amphion.
Again the forceps opened wide; again there was a rush; and this time the huge jaws closed upon the rapidly revolving screw-propeller. There was a tremendous crash, and the small but massive crab turned over so far that for an instant one of its sides was plainly visible above the water.
As for poor John Fitch, the man who long before any one else had used the "steam-boat" for commercial purposes, he came to a sad death. Broken in health and empty of purse, he had come to the end of his resources when his fifth boat, which was propelled by means of a screw-propeller, had been destroyed.
It is even said that the Chinese of centuries ago understood the value of the screw-propeller for inventing which our adoptive citizen Ericsson stands in bronze on New York's Battery. From the time of Robert Fulton, at any rate, dates the commercial usage of the steamboat.
This was presumably the first instance of a screw-propeller employed on a vessel actually used for commercial purposes. Finally, in pursuance of Ericsson's plans with Captain Stockton, he left England Nov. 1, 1839, and started for New York in the steamer "Great Western," where he arrived November 23, after a long and stormy passage.
There can be no doubt, however, that in connection with the steam-engine, and that admirable invention of modern date, the screw-propeller, iron ship-building is destined to attain and enjoy an enlarged existence; to the full maturity of which its present condition, healthful and prosperous as it appears, is but a promising adolescence.
In the present case, as we have noted above, the question is not so much one of invention as of influence in introduction, adaptation, and improvement. The screw-propeller was already known, but had not been introduced into and made a part of actual engineering practice.
The screw-propeller as a means of propulsion was known only as a freak idea, and was without status or recognition as a commercial or practical means for propelling ships.
We have referred to Watt's suggestion of the screw-propeller, and of the sketch of it sent to Dr. Small, September 30, 1770.
At the period of which I am writing, the screw-propeller, having fairly established its position, prompted a reconstruction of the navy, with no change of the principles just mentioned. The cruiser idea dictated the classes of vessels ordered, and the idea of relative size prescribed their dimensions.
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