The Steamship “President” – Long Island Boating World

The first ship to cross the Atlantic with steam power was the American-built Savannah in 1819. Although the trip across the Atlantic was augmented by the use of steam, the Savannah holds the title. By 1821, her steam engines had been removed and she was strictly under sail when she sank off Long Island in 1821. Yet it was clear that the age of sail would be ending by the end of the 19th century.
Soon, every maritime engineer was looking at ways to employ steam power on newer and larger ships. Why not? Both in Britain and America, this was the age of “King Coal,” supplied by mines in Northern England and Wales to America’s Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Robert Fulton had proved the theory of steam-driven boats in the ferries he built (They were initially called “Fulton’s Folly”) to ply the Hudson, the East River, and New York Harbor. Coal brought reliable heat to houses and smaller steam engines that were beginning to power the start of the Industrial Revolution in Europe and America.

Soon, Britons and Americans were teaming up to build the largest passenger ship ever built to be powered with bigger engines than the Savannah had. The engines would drive large side-wheels slightly aft of midships. She would still be augmented by sail power when necessary for both speed and safety, should the steam engines malfunction. Don’t forget that this was like going to the moon in those days. The President was in a joint venture between American and British shipbuilding entrepreneurs. It was designed by Macgregor Laird and was positioned as a luxury liner on the run from Britain to America. No expense was held back on her interior. The cabins were as stately as the best European hotels. The corridors were lined with oil paintings commissioned to show the discovery of the New World by Columbus. She could carry 154 passengers comfortably and the salon spread out over 2700 sq. ft., enormous for her day. The length of this wonder of the sea was 243 ft., beam 41 ft., and she weighed 2,350 gross tons and her engines were 600hp each.
The President was built by the shipyard of London, Curling, and Young and she was fashioned exclusively of wood in Liverpool. Engineered into her hull were allegedly several “Watertight” compartments to keep her afloat in distress. (Hmm…that sounds very familiar) Her hull was laid in Liverpool on November 23, 1838. Building wooden ships of that size took time in those days, so she wasn’t launched until Dec. 9 of the next year, 1839. Then the three masts were positioned, the luxurious interior completed and all the finishing touches were made for her maiden voyage to New York on August 1, 1840.
The President was topped off with a novel third deck, which was disadvantageous to her seaworthiness as it made the ship prone to excessive rolling in heavier seas. This must have made the trip very pleasant with all the passengers heaving ho! all over the decks. On her maiden voyage to New York, she was found to be excessively sluggish. It was determined that her steam engines were too small to give her the thrust she needed. Rather than going through the expense of repowering her, the cheap owners decided to re-design the paddle wheel paddles to give her extra umph, which turned out to do very little, if anything. In addition, in very heavy seas and extreme ship rolling, the paddle wheels would lose substantial bite into the water on the side that was rising further to, or completely out of, the water and spin free until she rolled back down to either her starboard or port. This made her hard to control and indicated that side-wheelers were more successful in calmer waters, such as harbors, rivers, and lakes, rather than in the open ocean, which is prone to huge waves in severe storms. After sailing twice to America and Europe, it was noticed that her hull required a “Refit” to correct her now severely twisted and weakened hull. Anyone, even just slightly maritime inclined, can see where this is going and it ain’t good. Once the “Fixes” were in, it was determined she was shipshape at last. She started for America, arrived and unloaded her very lucky passengers.
On March 11, 1841, the President cleared New York Harbor and entered the Atlantic. Her hull, already known to be weak, was stuffed full of heavy cargo below the passengers’ quarters and salon to give her what was thought to be “extra stability” in rough seas. I can’t imagine such stupidity today! Oops! Actually, I can and I don’t have to imagine it! I frankly don’t know who the decision maker in New York on that one was, but he should have been tied to an anchor and thrown in New York Harbor for pure stupidity. The captain must have approved, so they should have thrown him in, too! Underpowered engines + compromised hull + excessive cargo = disaster. She was escorted to the shipping lanes by the Black Ball Packet ship Orpheus and her captain, Cole, kept her in sight until darkness fell over the sea on March 12. He reported that at that time, the President was laboring in extremely rough seas. She was between the Nantucket Shoals and Georges Bank, where waves can rise four stories high in a gale, which was the case. That storm did not relent until midnight of March 13. At that point, Captain Cole saw no sign of her. Having seen her struggling in the rough seas prior to losing sight, he assumed that she had floundered and sunk with all hands and passengers on board. After the storm, several ships making their way to New York came upon pieces of unidentified wreckage that could have been her remains. To this day, no one has found any undersea wreckage that can linked to being the President.
All the relatives of the seamen lost received five shillings a week for eight weeks.
Widows of the passengers received a total of five pounds each and orphaned children received five shillings. The company then declared bankruptcy to fend off any other claims and later restarted as the first Anglo surf board manufacturing company in Hawaii, which still exists on a side alley in Honolulu. Their most popular longboard is named “The President”!