The SS Savannah: Inspiration for National Maritime Day

The SS Savannah: Inspiration for National Maritime Day
— David Eugene Perry

The SS Savannah began life not as a purpose-built steamship, but as a sailing packet under construction at Fickett & Crockett’s shipyard in New York. While still on the slipway, she was purchased by Captain Moses Rogers, backed by the Savannah Steam Ship Company, with the bold idea of turning her into an auxiliary steamship capable of inaugurating the world’s first transatlantic steamship service. Her machinery was largely a New York/New Jersey industrial project: the Allaire Iron Works of New York supplied the engine cylinder, while the Speedwell Ironworks of New Jersey manufactured much of the remaining engine and running gear. 

After a successful trial in New York Harbor on March 22, 1819, Savannah began her symbolic journey south. On March 28, she sailed from New York for her operating port of Savannah, Georgia, using her engine for only part of the voyage because of rough weather. She arrived in Savannah on April 6, greeted by a large crowd despite coming in at 4 a.m. That coastal repositioning — New York-built, New Jersey-fitted, then sent south to Georgia — was effectively the prelude to her Atlantic fame. 

The presidential connection came almost immediately. Soon after Savannah reached Georgia, President James Monroe was touring East Coast arsenals, fortifications, and public works. When Monroe visited nearby Charleston, South Carolina, principal owner William Scarbrough sent the ship north to Charleston to invite the President to return to Savannah aboard her. Local objections prevented Monroe from leaving South Carolina on a Georgia vessel, but he promised to inspect the ship later. 

Monroe kept that promise. On May 11, 1819, he came aboard Savannah for an excursion from Savannah toward Tybee Lighthouse. He dined aboard, admired the ship’s machinery, and expressed enthusiasm that an American vessel might inaugurate the world’s first transatlantic steamship service. Most strikingly, Monroe invited Scarbrough to bring Savannah to Washington, D.C., after the Atlantic crossing so Congress could inspect her as a possible cruiser for use against Cuban pirates. 

Just days later, after final preparations, Savannah left Savannah Harbor on May 22, 1819, lingered at Tybee, and then began the Atlantic crossing in earnest at 5 a.m. on May 24, bound for Liverpool. She crossed mainly under sail, using steam for only about 80 hours of a 29-day, 11-hour voyage, but her achievement was still historic: she became the first steam-powered vessel to cross the Atlantic. 

…or was she?

While Savannah 1819 crossing earned her place in history as the first steam-powered vessel to cross the ocean —she was really a hybrid, using her steam engine for only part of the voyage and relying mostly on sail. Critics therefore argue that the Canadian-built Royal William, which crossed from Nova Scotia to England in 1833, deserves the stronger claim because she made the voyage almost entirely under steam, using sail only sparingly, such as during boiler maintenance.