- John Ericsson
Infobox Person
name = John Ericsson
birth_date = birth date|1803|7|31
birth_place =Långbanshyttan ,Värmland
death_date = death date and age|1889|3|8|1803|7|31
death_place =New York
occupation = engineer, innovator:"This article is about John Ericsson, the Swedish-American inventor. For John Ericson, the actor, see John Ericson.John Ericsson (
July 31 ,1803 –March 8 ,1889 ) was a Swedishinventor and mechanicalengineer , as was his brother,Nils Ericson . He was born atLångbanshyttan inVärmland ,Sweden , but primarily came to be active in theUnited States .Early career
John's and Nils's father Olof Ericsson who worked as the supervisor for a mine in Värmland had lost money in speculations and had to move his family from Värmland to Forsvik in 1810. There he worked as a 'director of blastings' during the excavation of the Swedish
Göta Canal . The extraordinary skills of the two brothers were discovered by Baltzar von Platen, the architect of the Göta Canal. The two brothers were dubbed cadets of mechanics of the Swedish Royal Navy and engaged as trainees at the canal enterprise. At the age of fourteen, John was already working independently as a surveyor. His assistant had to carry a footstool for him to reach the instruments duringsurveying work.At the age of seventeen he joined the
Swedish army inJämtland , serving in theJämtland Field Ranger Regiment , as aSecond Lieutenant , but was soon promoted toLieutenant . He was sent to northern Sweden to do surveying, and in his spare time he constructed aheat engine which used the fumes from the fire instead of steam as a propellant. His skill and interest in mechanics made him resign from the army and move toEngland in 1826. However, his heat engine was no success, as his prototype was designed to usebirch wood as fuel and would not work well withcoal , which was the main fuel used in England.Notwithstanding the disappointment, he invented several other mechanisms instead based on
steam , improving the heating process by adding fans to increaseoxygen supply to the fire bed. In 1829 the steam engine he built withJohn Braithwaite , "Novelty", joined theRainhill Trials , a competition arranged by theLiverpool and Manchester Railway , although it was the fastest in the competition, it suffered recurring boiler problems and could not continue to compete, the competition being won by the English engineer George and his sonRobert Stephenson with "Rocket".By helping to quell the celebrated Astor House fire, Ericsson's steam fire engine proved an outstanding technical success, but met with resistance from London's established 'Fire Laddies' and municipal authorities. An engine Ericsson constructed for Sir John Franklin's use failed under the Antarctic conditions for which, out of Franklin's desire to conceal his destination, it had not been designed. At this stage of Ercisson's career the most successful and enduring of his inventions was the steam condenser, which allowed a steamer to produce fresh water for its boilers while at sea. His 'deep sea lead,' a pressure-activated fathometer was another minor, but enduring success.
The commercial failure and development costs of some of the machines devised and built by Ericsson during this period put him into debtors' prison for an interval and at this time he also married 19-year-old Amelia Byam, a marriage that was nothing but a huge disaster and ended in the couple's separation until Amelia's death.
Propeller design
He then improved the ship design with two screw-
propeller s moving in different directions (as opposed to earlier tests with this technology, which used a single screw). However, theAdmiralty disapproved of the invention, which led to the fortunate contact with the encouraging American captainRobert Stockton who had Ericsson design a propeller steamer for him and told him to bring his invention to the United States of America, as it would supposedly be more welcomed in that milieu. As a result, Ericsson moved toNew York in 1839. Stockton's plan was for Ericsson to oversee the development of a new class offrigate with Stockton using his considerable political connections to grease the wheels. Finally, after the election of PresidentJohn Tyler , funds were allocated for a new design. Unfortunately they only received funding for a 700-tonsloop instead of a frigate. The sloop eventually became the USS Princeton, named after Stockton's hometown.The ship took about three years to complete and was perhaps the most advanced warship of its time. In addition to twin screw propellers, it was originally designed to mount a 12-inch muzzle loading gun on a revolving pedestal. The gun had also been designed by Ericsson and used the hoop construction method to pre-tension the
breech , adding to its strength and safely allowing the use of a larger charge. Other innovations on the ship design included a collapsible funnel and an improved recoil system.The relations between Ericsson and Stockton had grown tense over time and, nearing the completion of the ship, Stockton began working to force Ericsson out of the project. Stockton carefully avoided letting outsiders know that Ericsson was the primary inventor. Stockton attempted to claim as much credit for himself as possible, even designing a second 12-inch gun to be mounted on the Princeton. Unfortunately, not understanding the design of the first gun (originally name "The Orator", renamed by Stockton to "The Oregon"), the second gun was fatally flawed.
When the ship was initially launched it was a tremendous success. On
October 20 1843 "Princeton" won a speed competition against the paddle-steamer SS "Great Western", which had until then been regarded as the fastest steamer afloat. Unfortunately, during a demonstration firing of Stockton's gun the breech broke, killing the US Secretary of StateAbel P. Upshur and the Secretary of the NavyThomas Gilmer , as well as six others. Stockton attempted to deflect blame onto Ericsson with moderate success despite the fact that Ericsson's gun was sound and it was Stockton's gun that had failed. Stockton also refused to pay Ericsson and, using his political connections, Stockton managed to block the Navy from paying him. These actions led to Ericsson's deep resentment toward the US Navy.Hot air engine
Ericsson then proceeded to invent independently the caloric, or
hot air engine in the 1820's which used hot air,caloric , in the scientific parlance of the day, instead of steam as a propellant. A similar device had been patented in 1816 by the ReverendRobert Stirling , whose technical priority of invention provides the usual term 'Stirling Engine' for the device. Ericsson's engine was not initially successful due to the differences in combustion temperatures between Swedish wood and British coal. In spite of his setbacks, Ericsson was awarded theRumford Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1862 for his invention. In his later years, the caloric engine would render Ericsson comfortably wealthy, as its boilerless design made it a much safer and more practical means of power for small industry than steam engines. Ericsson's incorporation of a 'regenerator' heat sink for his engine made it tremendously fuel-efficient.hip design
On
September 26 1854 Ericsson presentedNapoleon III of France with drawings of iron-clad armoredbattle ship s with adome -shaped gun tower, and even though the French emperor praised this invention, he did nothing to bring it to practical application.USS Monitor
Shortly after the
American Civil War broke out in 1861, the Confederacy quickly began developing an ironclad based on the hull of the USS "Merrimack" which had been burned by Federal troops before the naval base at Norfolk - Gosport Navy Yard - had been captured by the recently secededCommonwealth of Virginia . TheUnited States Congress addressed this issue in August 1861 and recommend that armored ships be built for the Union Navy. Ericsson still had a dislike of the U.S. Navy but he was convinced byCornelius Scranton Bushnell to work on an ironclad for them. Ericsson presented drawings of the USS "Monitor", a totally unique and novel design of armoured ship, which after much controversy was eventually built and finished onMarch 6 1862 . The ship went from plans to launch in approximately 100 days, an amazing achievement.On
March 8 , the Southern ironclad CSS "Virginia" was wreaking havoc on the Union Blockading Squadron in Virginia. Then, with the appearance of the "Monitor", a battle onMarch 9 1862 atHampton Roads ,Virginia , ended in a stalemate between the two iron warships, and saved the Northern fleet from defeat. After this, numerous monitors were built, and are believed to have considerably influenced the victory of the Northern states. Although primitive by modern standards, many basic design elements of the "Monitor" were copied in future warships by other designers.Later, Ericsson worked with
torpedo inventions, in particular "The Destroyer", atorpedo boat that could fire a cannon from an underwater port. He also provided some technical support forJohn Philip Holland in his early submarine experiments. In the book "Contributions to the Centennial Exhibition" (1877, reprinted 1976) he presented his "sun engines", which collected solar heat for ahot air engine . One of these designs earned Ericsson additional sums after being converted to work as a methane gas engine.Although none of his inventions created any large industries, he is regarded as one of the most influential mechanical engineers ever. After his death in 1889 his remains were brought from the United States to
Stockholm by USS "Baltimore" and to the final resting place atFilipstad , in hisVärmland .Inventions
*The
surface condenser
*Thehot air engine
*The "USS Monitor " for the Union Navy in theAmerican Civil War , was both designed and built by Ericsson
*Torpedo technology, especially "Destroyer ", an advancedtorpedo boat .
*The solar machine, using concave mirrors to gather sun radiation strong enough to run an engine.
*USS Princeton (1843)
*Hoop gun constructionFellowships
*
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1850
*Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences in 1852
*Honorary Doctorate atLund University in 1868Monuments and memorials
Monuments in honor of John Ericsson have been erected at:
*John Ericsson National Memorial on The Mall inWashington D.C.
*Battery Park , inNew York City
*Nybroplan inStockholm
*Kungsportsavenyn inGothenburg .
*John Ericsson fountain,Fairmount Park ,Philadelphia For ships named in his honor, see:
*USS "Ericsson"Trivia
In the 1936 film "
Hearts in Bondage ", which takes place partially aboard the "Monitor", John Ericsson was portrayed by actorFritz Leiber, Sr. External links
* [http://www.nps.gov/joer/ John Ericsson National Memorial] in Washington
* [http://www.johnericsson.org/ John Ericsson Society, New York - Centennial Anniversary year 2007]
* [http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/54.html John Ericsson] at National Inventors Hall of Fame
* [http://www.monitor.noaa.gov/ Monitor National Marine Sanctuary]
* [http://www.delectus.se/soren/staty/F/John_Ericsson_Fallstedt.html John Ericsson Statue] in Gothenburg
* [http://www.stirlingengines.org.uk/pioneers/pion4.html Some Pioneers in Air Engine Design - John Ericsson]
* [http://www.stirlingengines.org.uk/sun/sola2.html John Ericsson's solar engine]
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