Robert Fulton
The first successful trial run of a steamboat had been made several years earlier in the United States by inventor John Fitch, on the Delaware River on August 22, 1787. Attendees included delegates from the Constitutional Convention, who were observing while taking a break from their summer-long sessions at Independence Hall. The steamboat was propelled by a bank of oars on either side of the boat. The following year Fitch launched a boat powered by a steam engine driving several stern-mounted oars. These oars paddled in a manner similar to the motion of a swimming duck's feet. With this boat he carried up to thirty passengers for hire on numerous round-trip voyages on the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey.
Maritime history of the United Kingdom
Frederick W. Lanchester built the first power boat in 1898 using a , water-cooled engine. Since then power boats have been used as run-abouts and for racing, as well as for water-skiing. Both inboard and outboard engines are used. The British Power Boat Company built many power boats between 1927 and 1946 including Miss Britain III and PT9 that became the basis of Motor Torpedo Boats and the US PT boats during the Second World War. The power speed record rose from in 1930 to in 1939. After the war the record speed rose again with runs by Donald Campbell, who was killed during an attempt on the record in 1967.