Other USS Fultons in U.S. Navy

From Wikipedia.

Besides the USS Demologos, there were other ships by the name of Fulton in the U.S. Navy.

USS FULTON  (1837)--  Sidewheel steamer launched in 1837, captured by Confederates  in 1861 and destroyed when they evacuated Pensacola, Florida, in 1862.  I'll be writing about this ship in my Running the Blockade blog later today.

USS FULTON  (AS-1)--  A submarine tender launched in 1914, reclassified as a gunboat (PG-49) in 1930, and decommissioned  in 1934.

USS FULTON (SP-247), a tugboat, converted into a patrol vessel in commission 1917-1919.

USS FULTON  (AS-11)    A Fulton-class submarine tender, launched in 1940 and struck in 1991.

--Brock-Perry

USS Fulton-- Part 3: A Dead-End in Naval Architecture

The Demologos had an entirely innovative and unique design.  It was actually a catamaran, with its paddlewheel between two hulls. that were 5 feet thick to protect against cannon fire.  It was capable of 5.5 knots an hour under favorable conditions and designed to carry thirty 32-pounder cannons with 24 along the sides and 6 fore and aft.  However, it never had the full amount as the Navy had trouble acquiring that man guns.  It was also fitted for two 100-pounder guns fore and aft, but they also were never mounted.

The design protected the paddlewheels from enemy fire and also allowed for easier placement of broadside guns.

However, with its hull the way it was, the Demologos was not suited for travel on the open seas.

The design eventually ended as a dead end in naval architecture, especially with the introduction  of the screw propeller. in the 1840s.

--Brock-Perry

The USS Fulton (United States Floating Battery Demologos): Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Last month I was writing a lot about Stephen Champlin's naval career and one of his commands was the steamer Robert Fulton during the 1838 Patriot War.  Initially, I had some confusion until I figured out that the USS Fulton and the steamer Robert Fulton were two different ships.

But the USS Fulton had a War of 1812 connection.  And then there was a second USS Fulton that had a Civil War connection.

This is about the first USS Fulton, originally named the Demologos, a steam driven catamaran-type U.S. Navy frigate.

The Demologos was the first warship to be propelled by a steam engine and built to defend New York City from the Royal Navy during the War of 1812.  It was based on a design by inventor Robert Fulton and was renamed the USS Fulton after his death.  Because the war was over soon after it was built, it never saw action.  No other ship built by the U.S. Navy was anything like it.

Stats:  Laid down 1814,  Commissioned 1816.  Blown up 1829.

153.2 feet long.  58 foot beam.    Regarded as a steam battery.   Thirty  32-pdr. cannons  Two 100-pdr Columbiads

It was armored with five foot thick wooden planking.  It had two hulls with the paddle wheel between them.

--Brock-Perry

Steamer Robert Fulton-- Part 3: History of the Ship

HISTORY

1836--  Ran the Erie Canal

1838--  In the Patriot War, chartered by U.S. government with the steamer New England to carry troops from Buffalo to Detroit.  This was when Stephen Champlin was involved.  And, again, this is not the U.S. warship USS Fulton.

1838--  First enrollment  Cleveland, Griffith, Standart & Co.

1838--  April 25--  Owned by  Giddings & Co. Cleveland

1838--  October 6  Owned by John Pease & Co., Buffalo, NY.

1842--  Running the Monroe to Buffalo route.

--Brock-Perry

Stephen Champlin's Post War Service-- Part 3: The 1838 Patriot War

In 1838, during the Patriot War, he was put in command of the military force that was sent, along with the steamers Robert Fulton and New England, to prevent  the developing  invasion of Canada by private forces.
These forces had as their goal, the liberation of Canada from the yolk of British colonialism.  That the Canadians did not want to be free was overlooked by these men so the U.S. government found it necessary  to head off the invasion before it caused another confrontation with Britain.

On January 25, 1838, Champlin's ships broke through the ice of Buffalo Creek and proceeded up the lake.  They captured many of the "deluded liberators" and averted further bloodshed.

(I'd never heard of this incident, but there is a big article in Wikipedia about it.  There was also a Patriot's War in East Florida back during the War of 1812.  The steamer Robert Fulton mentioned here was not a U.S. Navy ship, but a steamer chartered by the U.S. government, as was the New England.  There were also two U.S. Navy ships named the USS Fulton, neither of which was this Robert Fulton ship.)

--Brock-Perry

Stephen Champlin's Post War Service-- Part 2: Five Operations for His Wound

His wife, Minerva Lydia Pomeroy was born June 28, 1798 and died June 8, 1859.  They had eight children.  Of interest, the first one born in 1818 was named Oliver Hazard Perry Champlin.  I have found nothing about him following his father's footsteps into the U.S. Navy.

In the spring of 1818, Stephen Chaplin was compelled to undergo further surgery on his leg to remove bone fragments.  He was then detached from the naval station at Erie and allowed because of his health to return to Connecticut. until November 1828.

In November 1828 he was put briefly in command of the steamer USS Fulton at New York, and served as her captain until December 30th at which time  it was decided that his leg made him unfit for such duties (as he had undergone  three more operations).  He returned to Connecticut, remaining there until  1834 when he returned to  Buffalo.

Considering where surgery stood in this period of time, he was risking his life each time and in great pain.

--Brock-Perry

Launched of the Steam Frigate USS Fulton (Demologos)

OCTOBER 16, 1814,  Launch of the frigate USS Fulton the First, in New York.  Originally named Demologos, but renamed the Fulton after Robert Fulton's death on February 24, 1815.

Robert Fulton was commissioned to apply his engineering skills and expertise to the defense of that place an New Yorkers believed their harbor was inadequately protected.  He designed a 150-foot long steam frigate/floating fort and Congress authorized its construction in March 1814 at a cost of $320,000.

--Brock-Perry