ERICSSON

SWEDEN (see also List of Individuals)

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31.7.1803 Långbanshyttan/S - 8.3.1889 New York NY/USA

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Johan (John) Ericsson moved in 1826 to England after having been with the Swedish Army from 1821, finally as a captain. He developed there his pumps and heating machines for mining purposes in Cornwall. Ericsson was present in 1829 when Stephenson's locomotive The Rocket was launched between Manchester and Liverpool. Ericsson's own design, the Novelty participated in a competition. In 1839, Ericsson went to the United States with plans for a steam frigate, which finally matured in the 600 ton Princeton. Until the outbreak of the American Civil War, he worked upon the development of the "caloric" or the hot-air engine. Despite his achievement was brilliant it did not satisfy his expectations, because the power of the compressed air was overestimated. When the Confederate Government presented the formidable ironclad ram Virginia, there was consternation in the North. Yet Ericsson's hastily built Monitor successfully engaged the Confederate ironclad in Hampton Roads. This was a great chapter in history and Ericsson's name became immortal. After the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac, Ericsson lived quietly in New York and there added other inventions to engineering. He was a Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers from 1881. In 1926, the Ericsson monument was unveiled in Washington DC.

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Ericsson was a great engineer and contributed also to the water sciences. He proposed during his stay in England an early screw propeller for boats in canals after having experienced the problems with naval propulsion in the canals of Sweden prior to having joined the Army. He also devised a centrifugal blower for mining in Cornwall. Ericsson is currently remembered for his naval design Monitor in 1862.

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_{Anonymous (1889). John Ericsson. Engineering News 21: 239-240. P}

_{Anonymous (1926). Memorial to John Ericsson is unveiled in Washington. Mechanical Engineering 48(7): 772-773. P}

_{Anonymous (1944). Johan Ericsson. Svenska män och kvinnor 2: 431-433. Bonniers: Stockholm. Ericsson, J. (1913). Chicago water works. Journal Western Society of Engineers 18(8): 763-796. Grünberg, A. (1922). John Ericsson och hans verk. Teknisk Tidskrift 52(41): 651-653; 52(42): 668-670. P}

_{Hildebrand, B., Althin, T. (1953). John Ericsson. Svenskt biografiskt Lexikon 14: 94-116.}

_{Bonnier: Stockholm, with bibliography. P}

_{Smith, E.C. (1939). The first 20 years of screw propulsion. Trans. Newcomen Soc. 19: 145-164.}