Editing SS Savannah (section)

===Presidential excursion===
[[File:James Monroe Portrait.jpg| thumb | upright |[[James Monroe]], fifth [[president of the United States]], took an excursion aboard ''Savannah'' shortly before her historic voyage. ]]
A few days after ''Savannah''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s arrival in Savannah Harbor, the President of the United States, [[James Monroe]], visited the nearby city of [[Charleston, South Carolina]] as part of an extended tour of inspection of [[arsenal]]s, fortifications and public works along the East coast of the United States. On hearing of the visit, ''Savannah''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s principal owner [[William Scarbrough]] instructed Rogers to sail north to Charleston to invite the President to return to the city of Savannah aboard the steamship.{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}}

''Savannah'' departed under steam for Charleston on April 14, and after an overnight stopover at [[Tybee Island Light]], arrived at Charleston two days later. Scarbrough's invitation was sent, but as the locals objected to the President leaving South Carolina on a Georgian vessel, he pledged to visit the ship at a later date. On April 30, ''Savannah'' made steam for her home port once again, arriving there the following day after a 27-hour voyage.{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}}

On May 7 and 8 ''Savannah'' took on coal, and on May 11, President Monroe made good on his promise and arrived to take an excursion on the ship. After the President and his entourage had been welcomed aboard, ''Savannah'' departed under steam around 8{{nbsp}}a.m. for Tybee Lighthouse, arriving there at 10:30&nbsp;a.m., and departing for town again at 11. Monroe dined on board, expressing enthusiasm to the ship's owner, Mr. Scarbrough, over the prospect of an American vessel inaugurating the world's first transatlantic steamship service. The President was also greatly impressed by ''Savannah''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> machinery, and invited Scarbrough to bring the ship to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] after her transatlantic crossing so that [[United States Congress|Congress]] could inspect the vessel with a view to purchasing her for use as a cruiser against Cuban pirates.<ref>Smithsonian, pp. 630–631.</ref>