SS Savannah
SS Savannah was an American hybrid sailing ship/sidewheel steamer built in 1818. She was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, transiting mainly under sail power from May to June 1819. In spite of this historic voyage, the great space taken up by her large engine and its fuel at the expense of cargo, and the public's anxiety over embracing her revolutionary steam power, kept Savannah from being a commercial success as a steamship. Originally laid down as a sailing packet, she was, following a severe and unrelated reversal of the financial fortunes of her owners, converted back into a sailing ship shortly after returning from Europe.
Savannah | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Savannah |
| Namesake | Savannah, Georgia |
| Owner | Scarbrough & Isaacs |
| Builder | Fickett & Crockett |
| Cost | $50,000 ($774,239 today) |
| Launched | August 22, 1818 |
| Completed | 1818 |
| Maiden voyage | May 24, 1819 |
| In service | March 28, 1819 |
| Out of service | November 5, 1821 |
| Fate | Wrecked at Long Island, November 5, 1821 |
| Notes | First steam-powered vessel to cross the Atlantic, May 24 – June 20, 1819 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Hybrid sailing ship/sidewheel steamer |
| Tons burthen | 319 74/94 |
| Length | 98 ft 6 in (30.02 m) p.p. |
| Beam | 25 ft 10 in (7.87 m) |
| Depth of hold | 14 ft 2 in (4.32 m) |
| Installed power | 90 hp (67 kW) |
| Propulsion | Sails, plus 1 × inclined direct-acting 90 hp (67 kW) steam engine driving 2 × 16 ft (4.9 m) paddlewheels |
| Sail plan | Ship-rigged |
Savannah was wrecked off Long Island, New York in 1821. No other American-owned steamship would cross the Atlantic for almost thirty years after Savannah's pioneering voyage. Two British sidewheel steamships, Brunel's SS Great Western and Menzies' SS Sirius, raced to New York in 1838, both voyages being made under steam power alone.