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.
Samuel Owen
Samuel Owen was also engaged in the development of steam engine-driven ships and was the first person in Sweden to build a ship with a steam engine. His first ship was called "Amphitrite", built in 1818 at his shipyard close to the workshop; it had a steam engine with 6 hp. His new steam ship was a sensation for the people around the waters around Stockholm but many were also skeptical of the new "fire and air engines" that required a lot of wood for the steam boiler. He also carried out tests with early types of propeller. In July 1816 he presented the first propeller-driven steamship "The Witch of Stockholm". These early propeller designs, however, required many years before they came into practical use. The steamships in those days were normally driven by paddle wheels.