Chronological History of the Use of Multiple Hulled
Vessels_.[20] A poor copy of this print appears on page 13 of Bennett's
_Steam Navy of the United States_, and another and inaccurate sketch is
shown on page 8. These pictures were of no use in the reconstruction as
they show no details that are not in the Copenhagen plans. The patent
drawing does not show deck details and in fact does not represent the
vessel as built in any respect other than in being a catamaran with
paddle wheel amidships between the hulls.

The _Steam Battery_ did not have any particular influence on the design
of men-of-war that followed her. In the first place, steampower was not
viewed with favor by naval officers generally. This was without doubt
due to prejudice, but engines in 1820-30 were still unreliable when
required to run for long periods, as experienced by the early
ocean-going steamers. The great weight of the early steam engines and
their size in relation to power were important, and also important were
practical objections that prevented the design of efficient naval ocean
steamers until about 1840; even then, the paddle wheels made them very
vulnerable in action. Until the introduction of the screw propellor it
was not possible to design a really effective ocean-going naval steamer;
hence until about 1840-45, sail remained predominant in naval vessels
for ocean service, and steamers were accepted only in coast defense and
towing services, or as dispatch vessels.

No immediate use of the double hull in naval vessels of the maritime
powers resulted from the construction of the _Steam Battery_. The
flat-bottom chine-built design employed by Fulton in _North River_,
_Raritan_, and other early steamboats was utilized in the design for a
projected steamer by the British Admiralty in 1815-16. This vessel was
about 76 feet overall, 16-foot beam, and 8-foot 10 inches depth in hold.
Her design was for a flat-bottom, chine-built hull with no fore-and-aft
camber in the bottom, a sharp entrance, and a square-tuck stern with
slight overhang above the cross-seam. Her side frames were straight and
vertical amidships, but curved as the bow and stern were approached. She
was to be a side-paddle-wheel steamer, and her hull was diagonally
braced; the wheel and engine were to be about amidships where she was
dead flat for about 14 feet. However, the engine and boilers were not
installed; the engine was utilized ashore for pumping, and the vessel
was