 He improved a steam steering engine for that frigate, which was the first successful steam steerer used in the Navy.Robie later served for a time as Fleet Engineer on the North Atlantic and Gulf Squadrons, and from 1874 to 1877, was Chief Engineer of the Norfolk Navy Yard.Later duties included special inspection duty at Pitsburg, Ohio and the Cold Spring Foundry in New York, Fleet Engineer in the Pacific on the flagship USS "Pensacola", Chief Engineer at Boston, then New York and finally Norfolk Navy yards.