IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS AND VESSELS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to, Juan José Mendez, of Buenos. Ayres, in the
Argentine Republic, at present residing at No. 54, Piccadilly, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SHIPS AND VESSELS."
Scaled the 16th August 1870, and dated the 22nd June 1870...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Juan José Mendez, at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,, with his Petition, on
the 22nd June 1870.
I, JUAN JOSÉ MENDEZ, of Buenos Ayres, in the Argentine Republic,
5 at present residing at No. 54, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
SHIPS AND VESSELS," to be as follows:-
:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in ships and vessels.
In order to lessen the resistance of the water to the passage of a ship
or vessel to obtain greater stability and other advantages, I form the
bottom of the ship or vessel at the midship section of three semicircles of

page_text: equal radius. Two of these, one on either side, are convex outwards, and
the other semicircle, which connects the two outer semicircles, is con-
cave and forms with the other semicircles an like concave, thus
The central concavity runs horizontally from stem to stern of the vessel
without change of form, and a keel springs from the bottom of it. The
keel is of the same depth as the convexities on either side, and descends
to a line drawn as a tangent to the two outer semicircles. In passing
from the midship section to the stem and stern of the ship or vessel the
two convexities on either side of the central hollow decrease gradually
both in breadth and depth, and at the stem and stern they do not
appear.
The proportions of the curves may be to some extent varied without
departing from my Invention.
In the hollow or concavity, and on either side of the keel, if the ship
or vessel is to be propelled by steam, I arrange screw propellers. I
prefer to employ a series of such propellers on either side of the keel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Juan José Mendez in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JUAN JOSÉ
MENDEZ, of Buenos Ayres, in the Argentine Republic, at present
residing at No. 54, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Juan José Mendez, Her special licence that
I, the said Juan José Mendez, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Juan José Mendez, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS AND VESSELS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Juan José Mendez, my

page_text: executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Juan José Mendez, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :--
This Invention has for its object improvements in ships and vessels.
In order to lessen the resistance of the water to the passage of a ship
or vessel to obtain greater stability and other advantages I form the
bottom of the ship or vessel at the midship section of three semicircles
or arcs of equal radius. Two of these, one on either side, are convex
outwards, and the other semicircle or arc which connects the two outer
semicircles or arcs is concave and forms with the other semicircles or arcs
an S like curve thus N. The central concavity runs horizontally from
stem to stern of the vessel without change of form and a keel springs
from the bottom of it. The keel is of the same depth as the convexities
on either side and descends to a line drawn as a tangent to the two
outer semicircles or arcs. In passing from the midship section to the
stem and stern of the ship or vessel the two convexities on either side
of the central hollow decrease gradually both in breadth and depth, and
at the stem and stern they do not appear.
The proportions of the curves may be to some extent varied without
departing from my Invention.
In the hollow or concavity upon either side of the keel, if the ship
or vessel is to be propelled by steam, I arrange screw propellers; I prefer
to employ a series of such propellers on either side of the keel.
The annexed Drawings illustrate my Invention.
Figure 1 is a profile or elevation of a ship or vessel constructed
according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a plan of the same, and Figures 3
and 4 are midship sections. The lines marked 1, 2, and 3, on Figure 3,
indicate sections taken at the fore part of the ship or vessel on lines
similarly marked in Figures 1 and 2, and the lines marked 5, 6, and 7
in Figure 4, indicate sections taken at the after part of the ship or vessel,

page_text: also on lines similarly marked in Figures 1 and 2. a is the central
concavity of the bottom of the ship or vessel, and b and c are the
corresponding convexities on either side of it. The three arcs are in
the illustration which the Drawings give less than semicircles, but they
may in other cases if desired amount to semicircles.
The bottom of the concavity a is a straight line from end to end of
the ship or vessel until it passes into the rise at the bow and at the stern,
and the radius of the concavity is the same throughout. The convexitics b
and c, as the Drawings show, decrease in depth in passing from the
midship section until they cease to appear in the bow and stern of the
ship or vessel; d is the keel springing from the bottom of the concavity a
and of a depth equal to that of the convexities b and c.
In the hollow or concavity and on either side of the keel, if the ship
or vessel is to be propelled by steam, I arrange screw propellers; I prefer
to employ a series of such propellers on either side of the keel.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim
is the construction of ships and vessels with a central concavity running
along the bottom from end to end and with a convexity on either side
of it passing into the stem and stern substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Juan José Mendez, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.