John Ericsson, Swedish-American Inventor

John Ericsson (July 31, 1803 - March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American inventor and mechanical engineer. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the steam locomotive Novelty, which competed in the Rainhill Trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, won by George Stephenson's Rocket. In America he designed the US Navy's first screw-propelled steam-frigate USS Princeton, in partnership with Captain Robert Stockton, who unjustly blamed him for a fatal accident. A new partnership with Cornelius H. DeLamater of the DeLamater Iron Works in New York resulted in the first armored ship with a rotating turret, USS Monitor, which dramatically saved the US naval blockading squadron from destruction by an ironclad Confederate vessel, CSS Virginia, at Hampton Roads in March 1862. Ericsson died in 1889 at the age of 85. Although none of his inventions created any large industries, he is regarded as one of the most influential mechanical engineers ever and without a doubt the best naval engineer in America in the 19th century. Photographed by Charles D. Fredricks, 1861

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Ericsson Mechanical Monitor Secession Swedish-american

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