CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' CHANNELS
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, JAMES
Couch, of Stoke Devenport, Captain in the Royal Navy, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the fifth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Couch, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said James Couch, my exors, admors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Couch, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' CHANNELS;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said James
Couch, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in

page_text: appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Couch, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed and carried into effect, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
Figure 1 represents
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
part of a transverse section of a ship, showing my
improvements applied. Figure 2 is also part of the side of a ship. In each
of these Figures the same letters of reference indicate similar parts. a, a,
are the ship's channels, which it will be seen are built in solid to the ship's
side, which is clearly shown in the Drawing. b, b, are the ordinary chain-
plates, which are let into the solid ship's channels, and are consequently flush
therewith.. c, c, are extra plates to give additional security, and these plates
are bolted to the ship's side by the bolts d, d, whilst the chain-plates bare
further bolted to the ship's side, just below the eye to which the strap of the
dead eye is attached, and this bolt is represented by the letter e. Now it
will be evident that in case of the mast being carried over the ship's side
the strap of the dead-eye would either break, or the landyard might readily
be got at to be cut away, which is not the case when the bolt e does not
pass through the chain-plate in such manner as to retain the chain-plate
securely to the ship's side, and thus retain the dead-eye in such a position as
to be readily got at.
Now it will be also evident, from the above description, that by making the
:ship's channels solid as shown, and affixing the chain-plate, together with the solid
channel, by the bolts e to the side of the ship, great security will be obtained
to a ship's side; and in the event of a ship being struck by heavy seas, the
channels will not, as heretofore, be liable to be blown up, but such seas will be
thrown off the sides of the ship without doing injury; in addition to those
advantages such construction of ships' channels offer other advantages, such,
for instance, as rendering contact of vessels of less consequence, as the solid
channels will become fenders, and protect the sides of the ship.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Couch, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
JAS L.S.) COUCH.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-sixth day of March, in
the year of our Lord 1835, the aforesaid James Couch came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-five