IMPROVEMENTS IN BUILDING BOATS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Fawcus, of North Shields, in the County of
Northumberland, Ship Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BUILDING BOATS."
Sealed the 18th January 1868, and dated the 14th July 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Fawcus at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
July 1862.
I, GEORGE FAWOus, of North Shields, in the County. of Northumberland,
Ship Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BUILDING BOATS," to be as follows:-
The chief object of my Invention is. the constructing of boats in such
manner that any number of boats of the same size will fit one within the other.
I dispense with internal projections, and make.the thwarts to fold, and support"
them by an iron upright when shipped. I employ flat half-round or angle iron
or iron plates to impart the necessary'strength. Although I prefer to form the
boats with two bows, as shown in the accompanying Drawings, yet they may
be built with a bow and stern.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Fawcus in, the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
January 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE.
FAWCUS, of North Shields, in the County of Northumberland, Ship Builder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred, and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Fawcus, Her special licence that I, the said George
Fawcus, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Fawcus, my executors, administrators, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN BUILDING BOATS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said George Fawcus, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 George Faweus, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being: had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say-
The object of my Invention is the constructing of boats in such manner that
any number of boats of the same size will fit one within the other. I dispense,
if desired; with internal projections, and make the thwarts to fold, and support
'them by an iron upright when shipped. I employ flat half-round or angle
iron or iron plates to impart the necessary strength.'
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation; Figure 2 is a
plan; and Figure 3 is a vertical section of a boat, constructed according to my
Invention; Figure 4 is a vertical section, and Figure 5 is an end elevation, of
.

page_text: three boats stowed inside one another. Each boat is built in such manner that
its sides and ends have a gradual outward inclination to facilitate the stowing
of the boats one within the other.. The internal fittings are made as compact as
possible. The thwarts a, a, are fitted to the sides by dovetail joints b, b, or by
other fastening or method which combines a thrust and tie; they are supported
by stanchions c, as shewn at Figure 8. I prefer to form the stanchions of
metal, and to fit them into a thrust and tie joint. When the thwarts are
removed and packed they may be placed in the bilge, when each boat will
carry its own thwart and fittings. When the boats are stowed, as shown at
Figure 4, the outer edges of the gunwale of the inside boat rest on the gunwale
of the outside boat, one gunwale supporting the other, and so on, according to
the number of boats stowed together. By this arrangement the boats are-made
to support one another, and all are maintained in shape. Portable rowlocks
d, d, are inserted in holes formed in plates connected to the sides of the boats.
The plates or planks of the boat may be laid diagonally, as shewn, or longitu-
dinally. I prefer to form the boats with two bows, but they may be built with
bow and stern.
In some boats I
carry a copper or other metal plate along the lower edge of
the gunwale strake, the same for the bilge, and a like plate along the bottom
as a keel, prolonged upwards at the stems. Where the boat is alike at both
ends, I form at each end a bevilled groove in a stem plate, as shewn at
Figure 6, into which the rudder stock fits, as shewn at Figure 7. The rudder
band is united by a rule hinge joint to the rudder stock. A boat thus fitted
can sail in either direction, and with a rudder at the fore end a flat-bottomed
boat under sail would hold to windward as well as a deep-keeled or a sharp-
bottomed boat, or a boat with a broad stern and fine sharp bows. For boats
without keel or stem the end planks overlap and break joint.
In clincher-built boats I make use of what I term a "ram plank" as a kelson
stem, and middle plank, on which I plant a keel or not, as desired, and as shewn
at Figure 9. The next planks land on the edges of the centre plank, as in ordi-
nary clincher-built boats, and the planks at each end meet in the centre of the
ram plank, as shewn at. Figure 8, thereby forming an inside stem or stomach
piece. Instead, however, of the ends of the planks meeting, they may be
secured to the ram plank, as shewn at Figure 11. The boat is timbered in the
ordinary manner, and a gunwale is formed inside over the top timbers, as
shewn at Figure 10. Instead of the ordinary end knees I use an iron strap
outside and at the top of the bows of the boat. The boats are further fitted
with appliances for sculling, lifting, mooring, and towing. A lug is the, sail

page_text: I prefer for propelling the boats, which may be used as a cover when the boats
are stowed, or it may be rolled up to act as a fender along the outside of the
gunwale.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what.
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, building boats to
'fit one within the other, substantially in manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Fawcus, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, One thousand eight hundred
and it thro