John Ericsson John Ericsson ( July 31 , 1803 – March 8 , 1889 ) was a Swedish - American inventor and mechanical engineer , as was his brother Nils Ericson . He was born at Långbanshyttan in Värmland , Sweden , but primarily came to be active in England and the United States . He is remembered best for designing the steam locomotive " Novelty " ( in partnership with engineer John Braithwaite ) and the ironclad ship USS " Monitor " . Early career . John ' s and Nils ' s father Olaf 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 during surveying work . At the age of seventeen he joined the Swedish army in Jämtland , serving in the Jämtland Field Ranger Regiment , as a Second Lieutenant , but was soon promoted to Lieutenant . He was sent to northern Sweden to do surveying , and in his spare time he constructed a heat 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 to England in 1826 . However his heat engine was not a success , as his prototype was designed to burn birch wood and would not work well with coal ( 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 increase oxygen supply to the fire bed . In 1829 he and John Braithwaite built " Novelty " for the Rainhill Trials arranged by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway . It proved considerably faster than the other entrants but suffered recurring boiler problems , and the competition was won by English engineers George and Robert Stephenson with " Rocket " . Two further engines were built by Braithwaite and Ericsson , named " William IV " and " Queen Adelaide " after the new king and queen . These were generally larger and more robust than " Novelty " and differed in several details ( for example it is thought that a different design of blower was used which was an ‘ Induced Draught ’ type , sucking the gases from the fire ) . The pair ran trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway but the railway declined to purchase the new designs . Their innovative steam fire engine proved an outstanding technical success by helping to quell the memorable Argyll Rooms fire on 5 February 1830 ( where it worked for five hours when the other engines were frozen up ) , but was 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 . 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 - propellers moving in different directions ( as opposed to earlier tests with this technology , which used a single screw ) . However , the Admiralty disapproved of the invention , which led to the fortunate contact with the encouraging American captain Robert Stockton who had Ericsson design a propeller steamer for him and invited him to bring his invention to the United States of America , as it would supposedly be more welcomed in that place . As a result , Ericsson moved to New York in 1839 . Stockton ' s plan was for Ericsson to oversee the development of a new class of frigate with Stockton using his considerable political connections to grease the wheels . Finally , after the succession to the Presidency by John Tyler , funds were allocated for a new design . Unfortunately they only received funding for a 700 - ton sloop instead of a frigate . The sloop eventually became 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 hoop construction to pre - tension the breech , adding to its strength and allowing safe 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 , approaching 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 gun to be mounted in " Princeton " . Unfortunately , not understanding the design of the first gun ( originally named " The Orator " , renamed " The Oregon " by Stockton ) , the second gun was fatally flawed . When launched , " Princeton " was an enormous success . On October 20 , 1843 , she won a speed trial against the paddle steamer SS " Great Western " , until then considered the fastest steamer afloat . Unfortunately , during a firing demonstration of Stockton ' s gun , the breech ruptured , killing Secretary of State Abel P . Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer , as well as six others . Stockton attempted to deflect the blame onto Ericsson , with moderate success , despite the fact Ericsson ' s gun was sound and it was Stockton ' s gun that had failed . Stockton also refused to pay Ericsson , and by using his political connections , Stockton blocked the Navy from paying him . These actions led to Ericsson ' s later deep resentment toward the U . S . Navy . Friendship with Cornelius H . DeLamater . When Ericsson arrived from England and settled in New York , he was persuaded by Samuel Risley of Greenwich Village to give his work to the Phoenix Foundry . There he met Cornelius H . DeLamater and soon a mutual attachment developed between the two , and rarely thereafter did Ericsson or DeLamater enter upon a business venture without first consulting the other . " Personally , their friendship never faltered , though strained by the pressures of business and Ericsson ' s quick temper , DeLamater called Ericsson " John " and Ericsson called DeLamater by his middle nickname " Harry " , intimacies almost unknown in Ericsson ' s other relationships . In time , the DeLamater Iron Works became known as the Asylum where Capt Ericsson had free rein to experiment and attempt new feats . The Iron Witch was next constructed , the first iron steamboat . The first hot - air invention of Capt Ericsson was first introduced in the ship " Ericsson " , built entirely by DeLamater . The DeLamater Iron Works also launched the first submarine boat , first self - propelled torpedo , and first torpedo boat . When DeLamater died on February 2 , 1889 , Ericsson could not be consoled . Ericsson ' s death one month later was not surprising to his close friends and acquaintances . " Hot air engine . Ericsson then proceeded to invent independently the caloric , or hot air engine in the 1820s 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 Reverend Robert 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 the Rumford 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 . Apparently in the post Civil War era some time before or around 1882 , from the publishing date , a ship was purchased by a Captain CHARLES L DINGLEY called the " Ericsson " with a weight of 1 , 645 tons that was built by John Ericsson ( Although the above section on John Ericsson ' s Friendship with Cornelius H . DeLamater says that the ship known as the " Ericsson " was built by the DeLamater Iron Works ) to try out the hot air engine as a motive power in open ocean navigation . Ship design . On September 26 , 1854 Ericsson presented Napoleon III of France with drawings of iron - clad armored battle ship s with a dome - 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 began constructing an ironclad ram upon the hull of USS " Merrimack " which had been partially burned and then sunken by Federal troops before it was captured by forces loyal to the Commonwealth of Virginia . Nearly concurrently , the United States Congress had recommended in August 1861 that armored ships be built for the American Navy . Ericsson still had a dislike for the U . S . Navy , but he was nevertheless convinced by Lincoln ' s hard - working Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles , and Cornelius Scranton Bushnell to submit an ironclad ship design to them . Ericsson later presented drawings of USS " Monitor " , a novel design of armored ship which included a rotating turret housing a pair of large cannons . Despite controversy over the unique design , the keel was eventually laid down and the ironclad was launched on March 6 , 1862 . The ship went from plans to launch in approximately 100 days , an amazing achievement . On March 8 , the former USS Merrimack , rechristened CSS " Virginia " , was wreaking havoc on the wooden Union Blockading Squadron in Virginia , sinking the USS Congress and USS " Cumberland " . The " Monitor " appeared the next day , initiating the first battle between ironclad warships on March 9 , 1862 at Hampton Roads , Virginia . The battle ended in a tactical stalemate between the two ironclad warships , neither of which appeared capable of sinking the other , but strategically saved the remaining Union fleet from defeat . After this , numerous monitors were built for the Union , including twin turret versions , and contributed greatly to the naval victory of the Union over the rebellious states . Despite their low draft and subsequent problems in navigating in high seas , many basic design elements of the " Monitor " class were copied in future warships by other designers and navies . The rotating turret in particular is considered one of the greatest technological advances in naval history , still found on warships today . Later Ericsson designed other naval vessels and weapons , including a type of torpedo and a " Destroyer " , a torpedo boat that could fire a cannon from an underwater port . He also provided some technical support for John 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 a hot air engine . One of these designs earned Ericsson additional income after being converted to work as a methane gas engine . Legacy . Although none of his inventions created any large industries , he is regarded as one of the most influential mechanical engineers ever . Ericsson died on March 8 , 1889 , the anniversary of the famous Battle of Hampton Roads of which his famous " Monitor " played a central role . After his death his remains were brought from the United States to Stockholm by USS " Baltimore " ; his final resting place is at Filipstad , in Värmland . Monuments and memorials . Monuments in honor of John Ericsson have been erected at : For ships named in his honor , see : Organizations :