摘要：In August 1837 a fifteen metre long boat theFrancis B. Ogden steamed down the River Thames from Somerset House, near Waterloo Bridge to the steam engine factory of the Seaward Brothers at Limehouse. The vessel was towing the Admiralty barge, an elegant and ornate 18thcentury oared ceremonial craft. On board were a number of leading figures from the higher reaches of the Royal Navy's administration and policy-making body, the Admiralty. Admiral Sir Charles Adam, the First Sea Lord; Captain Sir William Symonds, Surveyor of the Navy; Captain Sir Edward Parry, Arctic explorer and Controller of Steam Machinery[1]; Captain Francis Beaufort, the Hydrographer of the Navy and other leading figures. The journey was completed at an unusually high speed, without accident
