Robert Fulton, the American engineer and inventor often credited with launching the age of the steamboat, never lived to see just how far his innovations would carry the United States. While he’s best remembered for the Clermont, the first commercially successful steamboat, his final and most ambitious project was a vessel of a very different kind: Demologos, the world’s first steam-powered warship. Commissioned during the War of 1812, the Demologos—a floating battery designed to defend New York Harbor—represented a bold leap in naval warfare. But fate intervened. Fulton died suddenly of tuberculosis in 1815 before the ship was completed. Renamed Fulton I in his honor, the vessel was delivered too late to see combat, and her revolutionary promise went largely unfulfilled.
But the story of steam in American naval history didn’t end there.
Nearly three decades later, the Navy launched a successor: USS Fulton II, a sidewheel steamer that embodied the evolution of Fulton’s dream. She was commissioned on May 18, 1837, under the command of Captain C. Perry. Just a year into service, on November 23, 1838, the Fulton II challenged the pride of the British fleet—the famed Great Western—to a head-to-head race.
And she won.
This wasn’t just a race; it was a symbolic victory. It marked a turning point where American ingenuity went toe-to-toe with British industrial power—and triumphed. While no shots were fired, the impact resonated. The U.S. Navy was no longer an upstart; it was becoming a force to reckon with.
That same year, President Martin Van Buren hailed the Navy’s progress, declaring:
“So effectual has been this protection that so far as the information of Government extends not a single outrage has been attempted on a vessel carrying the flag of the United States within the present year, in any quarter, however distant or exposed.”
Had Fulton lived to see that day in 1838, he would have been 72—old enough to witness the Navy’s transformation from coastal defense to a modern maritime presence. In the decades following Demologos, the U.S. Navy expanded its global squadrons, launched anti-piracy and anti-slavery patrols, bolstered diplomatic missions abroad, and advanced rapidly in shipbuilding and steam technology. The Fulton II’s race wasn’t just about speed. It was about ambition, innovation, and the enduring legacy of a man who dreamed of harnessing steam not just for commerce—but for national strength. And in that moment on the open sea, Robert Fulton’s vision finally came into its own.
Here is the full excerpt on the subject from Van Buren's 1838 State of the Union address:
"From the report of the Secretary of the Navy herewith transmitted it will appear that a large portion of the disposable naval force is either actively employed or in a state of preparation for the purposes of experience and discipline and the protection. of our commerce. So effectual has been this protection that so far as the information of Government extends not a single outrage has been attempted on a vessel carrying the flag of the United States within the present year, in any quarter, however distant or exposed."
References
Van Buren, Martin. Second Annual Message. The American Presidency Project, 3 Dec. 1838, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/second-annual-message-4.
"1809 – James Madison: The Warship That Almost Was." State of the Union History, 15 July 2015, https://www.stateoftheunionhistory.com/2015/07/1809-jame-madison-warship-that-almost.html.
Naval History and Heritage Command. "Steam Battery Fulton [or Demologos]." History.Navy.mil, U.S. Navy, https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-navy-ships/alphabetical-listing/f/steam-battery--fulton---or--demologos-0.html.
Naval History and Heritage Command. "Fulton II." Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, U.S. Navy, https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/f/fulton-ii.html.
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