CLERMONT

first serviceable steamboat (1807), designed by the U.S. engineer Robert Fulton and built in New York City by Charles Brown, with the financial backing of Robert Livingston. The Clermont was 133 feet (41 metres) long, 18 feet (5 metres) wide, and had a draft of 7 feet (2 metres). Engines built by Boulton and Watt in England drove the two side paddle wheels. On her first voyage, Aug. 7, 1807, she averaged close to five miles (or about eight kilometres) per hour for the 150 miles (240 kilometres) up the Hudson River to Albany. The Clermont inaugurated the first profitable venture in steam navigation, carrying paying passengers between Albany and New York City.