CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS SO AS TO EXARLE THEM TO SAIL WITH GREATER VELOCITY
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MÓN-
CBIEFFE WILLOUGHBY, of Fair Street, Horsleydown, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-sixth day of June, One thousand eight hundred
and twenty-three, in the fourth year of His reign, give and grant unto me,
the said Moncrieffe Willoughby, my exors, admors, and assigns, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Moncrieffe
Willoughby, my exors, admors, and assigns, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS SO AS TO EXARLE
THEM TO SAIL WITH GREATER VELOCITY;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso that if I, the said said Moncrieffe Willoughby, shall
not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months after the date of the

page_text: said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and
advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and
become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Moncrieffe Willoughby, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the
following description thereof (that is to say) :-
My said Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of Vessels so as
to Enable them to Sail with greater Velocity" consists in affording them the
advantages of deep keels, and at the same time allowing the vessels to navigate
in shallow water when required. Vessels provided with deep keels are
enabled to use or carry a greater area of sail, without being at the same time
exposed to a greater liability of being upset. The disadvantages of a deep
keel, however, are that it renders a greater depth of water necessary and
hinders the vessel from navigating shallow passages, and therefore to obtain
both objects keels have been made adjustable or moveable, and such keels
have been termed sliding keels. The manner in which a keel operates to
preserve the upright position of a vessel is in the resistance which it meets
with in the water, which opposes any motion that would be communicated by &
side force, and, therefore, if such a force would have been sufficient to destroy
the upright position of the vessel the keel operates in the prevention thereof.
As however the less the depth of keel is the better, so my Invention consists in
applying the whole or any part of the weight intended as the ballast to the
vessel in the keel itself, by having a shifting ballast keel moving up & down
by suspenders through water-tight grooves running perpendicularly right.
through the centre of the hull of a flat-bottomed vessel, and thus I require a
less quantity of ballast and a less depth of keel than would be necessary with
the keels as at present constructed; and as there are many ways of effecting
this improvement, so I do not intend to confine myself to any one in particular,
as the means will vary with the dimensions and arrangements of the vessels to
which they may be applied. The most simple, however, and that which I
prefer, is to form the keel itself of cast or malleable iron, and in one or several
pieces. joined together. This my said improvement does not require any
peculiarity in the manner of applying it different from the arrangements
necessary for other sliding keels, excepting in the additional strength of the
parts intended to suspend or to raise and lower the keel. The methods of
suspending, raising, or lowering the keel do not therefore constitute any part

page_text: . of my
said Invention or improvement, but may be executed according to the
judgment of the workmen who may be employed to construct the same.
As, however, it may be desirable to give some instances or examples of
methods of carrying my said Invention into effect, I shall do so by a reference
to the Drawings which, as aforesaid, accompany this my said Specification,
and in all of which Drawings the same letters of reference indicate similar
.parts. A, A, in all the Figures the halls of the vessels. B the suspenders.
C the iron keels. The suspenders must be formed of some strong material,
such as the best wrought iron, and be made sharp fore and aft so as to cut
thro' the water with facility, and they must also be made broad so as to
answer the purpose of lee boards, and as shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
The ballast keels in Figs. 1 and 2 are prolonged in front of the suspenders, so
as when drawn up to fit the bottoms of the vessels from stem to stern, so that
in case of meeting with sand banks, such, for instance, as that shewn in section
at D, in Fig. 1, or hidden rocks, &c., the vessels might, if possessing any
considerable velocity at the time of striking, be enabled either to slide over
them, or at any rate be raised gently upon them until aground, when they
might immediately drop all sail, wind up the ballast keels, and be warped off.
The ballast keels in Figures 3, 4, and 5, have their fronts rounded off so as
not to be liable to catch and detain any sea weeds, &c., which might impede
the progress of the vessels through the water. In addition to the two
suspenders B, B, the ballast keels might also be strengthened by means of
four flat iron guys attached to each of them and running diagonally from the
keels, two on each side to the larboard and starboard of the vessel, and be
then secured above to the chains, as shewn at E, E, in Fig. 8.
must be also constructed partly of joints so as to fit the sides of the vessel, as
well as for the purpose of being flexible and yielding when the keel is to be
drawn up at any time. The suspenders B, B, &c., are guided and moved up
and down in perpendicular water-tight grooves made in the centres of the flat
bottomed vessels (as shown at F in Figs. 6 and 8), which are sections of two
vessels, and they may be either raised or lowered by manual labour in the
-manner shewn in Fig. 6, namely, by the suspender having a toothed rack G
made on one side of it, into which a toothed wheel or pinion H works, and
which is affixed upon an axis I with winches or handles to it, or in the case of
steam boats, such as Figs. 5 and 7, by the power of the steam engine. The
rudders of these vessels may either be made capable of being extended down-
wards to accompany the ballast keels in their movements, and as shewn in
Figs. 1 and 2 at J, J, and K, K, by their lower parts being incased or enclosed
in the ordinary rudders J, J, and in which case additional rudder hooks or
These guys

page_text: pintles L, L, and eyes must also be provided, or otherwise the rudders may be
made a little deeper than usual, so as to be on a level with the shifting keels
when drawn up, and as shewn in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 7. Lee boards, similar
in principle to those used by the Dutch, might also be placed on the two guys
to the starboard or larboard of the vessel, or the guys themselves be made of a
sufficient breadth to answer the same purpose. For vessels which are to be
hereafter built I recommend the forms of ballast keels shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 8, 4,
and 5, as preferable, but for those already constructed with sharp bottoms
there will be no occasion for lee boards; and I should recommend the ballast
keels to be of the shape shewn in Fig. 7, with two small suspenders B, B.
If the stems and sterns of vessels were, however, to be formed in very oblique
positions, so as to make very acute angles with the surface of the water, I am
of opinion that they might be enabled to move with such velocity as to skim
or, as it were, even to fly over the surface of the ocean, without having, as is
generally the case, to plough their way through the dead counteracting fluid.
I conceive that the adoption of my Invention will produce the following
amongst other important advantages (viz'):-When the ballast keels are
lowered down into the water, by acting upon the principles of a lever, a less
quantity of ballast, a third part, or perhaps even a quarter of the usual
quantity, may be sufficient to keep a vessel in an erect position, and her hull
being sunk to a less depth in the water, there will, of course, be less resistance
to her motion through it. When her keel is thus lowered upon the principle
of the lever, a vessel may be enabled to carry two or three times the usual
quantity of canvas, and as she will also have, as before said, less resistance to
overcome, so her velocity may be accelerated in a two-fold degree, and may
even equal that of the flying proas of the South Seas, which traverse the ocean
at the rate of from twenty to twenty-four miles per hour. When the ballast
keel is drawn up close to the hull, and the vessel is constructed with a flat
bottom, the vessel will draw but little water, and will be enabled to pass over
most of the shoals and bars at the mouths of rivers, and also to ascend them at:
their lowest ebbs, provided they afford water enough for the least navigation.
A vessel carrying no ballast in her hull will be enabled to stow a greater
cargo, and this, combined with the possibility of making quicker voyages, will,
in many cases, be a benefit of the very first importance, and particularly in the
conveyance of perishable articles, such as fruits, &c., &c. In the case of
steam packets, it is obvious that the adoption of the system must be highly
advantageous, as it would at once enable them to sail with safety and rapidity
upon the boisterous ocean, where it is universally allowed they are at present
so very crank. To the packet service, to the revenue cutters, and to small