IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING OR FLOATING SUNKEN AND STRANDED VESSELS AND OTHER BODIES
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I JOHN
WILLIAM FRASER; of Arundel Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Artist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-second day of June, in the second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John William Fraser, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said John. William Fraser, my exors, adiñors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John William Fraser, my exors,
adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the terin of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING
OR FLOATING SUNKEN AND STRANDED VESSELS AND OTHER BODIES;" in which sail
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John William Fraser,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her
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 and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John William Fraser, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the construction of certain vessels and apparatus,
and the use of them in raising or floating sunken or stranded ships, or other
bodies, which vessels though necessarily of large dimensions, may by my
mode of construction be made manageable in or under water, and easily sunk
and attached to the wreck. or body to be raised, and afterwards rendered
buoyant, so as to effect the object in view. The vessels which I construct
for this purpose are of large size, and require therefore to be made of strong
materials to do the work; they are made so as to be of a specific gravity
rather less than that of the water in which they float, and so as to maintain
a horizontal position in respect of their length, in order that they may be
conveniently manageable, and this is performed by a portion or portions
containing air, in the manner herein-after explained, which may be interior
or exterior, though I much prefer the interior. The details of the construction
of such vessels and the mode of using them are contained in the following
description and accompanying Drawing.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS..
Figure 1 represents a cylindrical wrought-iron vessel with hemispherical
ends, eleven feet in diameter and thirty-four feet long, constructed of iron one
quarter of an inch thick, and strengthened with ribs or hoops of angle iron
c, in substance about seven pounds weight per foot, shown in section at
a, a, a, a, Figure 2. Figure 2, S, S, are two wrought-iron spherical air vessels
seven feet in diameter, made of plates of iron a quarter of an inch thick;
these spheres are filled with air and closed, and must be sufficiently strong
to resist. the pressure of and be impervious to the water at the depth in
which they may be immersed. vis a valve six inches in diameter attached
to the bottom of the vessel, and is so constructed that it can be opened or
shut either from the outside or inside of the vessel, as occasion may require,
by turning the screw spindle s. C, C, are two short chains by' which the
vessel is attached to the wreck or body to be raised, as will be explained
hereafter, the whole of which must be strong enough to hold the vessel under
water when filled with air. P is an iron pipe two feet in diameter and two
feet long, riveted to and opening into the vessel. L is a ladder leading fro

page_text: the pipe P to the valve v. When the vessel is launched on the water and
full of air, it floats with the valve v downwards, as Figure 3, in which position
it is retained by iron ballast b, which must be securely fastened to the vessel
so that it cannot be displaced in any position in which the vessel may be
turned.. The quantity of ballast 'may vary as to each vessel, and can only
be ascertained with accuracy by experiment in each instance, though an
approximation may be made by calculation. The ballast admits of easy
change, and the specific gravity is adjusted thereby. The air vessels S, S,
are supported by stays s, t, in a vessel of the above dimensions, about ten
inches from the bottom and equidistant from the two sides, but the position
and size of the air vessels must always depend upon the construction and
weight of the vessel, as they are to be of sufficient capacity to float the
whole, including ballast, chains, &c. when the vessel is full of water; they
should also be placed in such a position, near each extremity of the vessel,
as to support the same in a horizontal position when immersed. The
position of the wreck or sunken body being ascertained by means of
diving apparatus, a rope is made fast to each end, with a buoy to each rope
to indicate the exact position of the wreck, after which two small vessels,
such as cutters, are moored over the wreck, as shown by Figures 4, 5, and 6.
Figure 4, sunken vessel., Figures 5 and 6, cutters for the purpose of getting
a chain around the wreck, which may be done in various ways, but I use two
chains as shewn by D, D, each longer than the vessel to be raised. To one
end of each is attached a large ring at R, and to the other end a hawser H,
the end of each hawser being rove through the ring of the other chain. By
having open the two parts at p, Figure 6, and veering away the chains from
the sterns of each cutter, the chains will be drawn along the bottom at the
sides of the sunken vessel, as shewn by Figure 4. The large ring on the end
of each chain is stopped up at the stem and stern of the wreck, to prevent the
sweep chain getting under the keel; the bites of the hawsers are then thrown
overboard and the ends hove in at the bow of each eutter, the chains will be
drawn close to, and if the vessel is not imbedded will be drawn under the
bilge, when the chain will be in the position shewn at Figures 7 and 8,
one of the large rings. being at the stem and the other at the stern, when
a diver descends and with a short piece of chains, c, he connects the two
chains together at the stem and stern. To each sweep chain at p, c, are
short pendant chains to attach the vessel to. All being ready to sink that
vessel, a man descends by the ladder and opens the valve, when the water
rises and fills the vessel, in which state it just floats, being almost entirely
immersed in the water; its specific gravity ought to be nearly the same as

page_text: the water surrounding it, but rather less, so that it may float at the surface,
as at Figure 9, and be turned either side up at pleasure. In future I shall
call it a submarine vessel for the sake of distinction. To the submarine
vessel at C, C, Figure 9, are attached ropes, each of which are passed through
blocks which the diver attaches to the pendant chains of the sweep chains
at p, c, Figure 7, the other ends of the ropes or whips leading up between the
wreck and submarine vessel to the cutter. By pulling upon the two whips w, w,
the submarine vessel is drawn down until the pendant chains come in contact
with the blocks, as shewn by Figure 10, when the diver shackles the
pendant chain of the sweep chain to the pendant chains of the submarine
vessel, and such is the means pursued whatever be the number of submarine
vessels that may be considered necessary to raise the wreck. After the sub-
marine vessels are securely attached in their places, the valves closed by
the diver, and all being ready for raising the wreck, a steamboat is moored by
her stern to the head of the wreck, and what other moorings may be necessary
to keep her from over the wreck. To the engines of the steamboat are
attached air pumps; a hose from each is led into each submarine vessel-through
the pipes P, P, when by working the air pumps simultaneously the water is
displaced through the large pipe P by the air pumped in and those submarine
vessels are filled with air. As soon as a sufficient quantity of air is forced into
them to render the specific gravity of the whole mass less than the water, it
will immediately rise to the surface. I would remark that although I have
named iron as the material of which such submarine vessels should be made,
and although I prefer that material, yet other materials might be used,
provided the requisite strength and floating properties be obtained, for it is
obvious that my Invention does not relate to the materials of which the
submarine vessels are constructed, nor to the precise shape or dimensions
shown and described, as variations may be made, provided the principle of
.my Invention be retained.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I do not claim the
mode of getting a chain or chains around the sunken vessel as herein described,
nor the blocks, chains, or other well-known mechanical means used, but I
claim as my Invention the construction and application of the submarine
vessels as herein described,
In witness whereof, I, the said John William Fraser, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-eight.
JOHN WILLIAM (L.s.) FRASER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of Decem-
ber, in the year of our Lord 1838, the aforesaid John William Fraser came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her 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-second day of December, in the year of our Lord
Que thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.