IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING AND SHEATHING SHIPS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Betteley, of Cavendish House, Bootle, in
the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSTRUCTING AND SHEATHING SHIPS."
Sealed the 7th January 1870, and dated the 11th September 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Betteley at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th September 1869.
I, JOSEPH BETTELEY, of Cavendish House, Bootle, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING AND SHEATHING SHIPS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in constructing and
sheathing ships.
In constructing the frame for a composite ship, that is to say, a ship
with an iron or steel frame planked with wood, I form the ribs of the
ship of double flanged or trough iron, and I connect the ribs on one side

page_text: of the ship with those on the other by means of floors or connecting
beams of iron or steel. In some case I form each floor of a deep plate
rivetted to one of the flanges of the trough form ribs. The ribs are
carried down to the keel, and may be continuous from side to side, and
the wooden planking is fastened to the ribs from the keel upwards. Or
the ribs may stop short at the bilge on either side of the ship, and be
connected together by means of two floor plates, one on either side of
the rib; a timber floor is then introduced between the two metal floors,
and is bolted to them. The wood planking is fastened to the timber
floor from the keel to the bilge, and from the bilge upwards the
planking is fastened to the ribs. Or in some cases I use two iron floor
plates in connection with each pair of ribs, as above described, and make
the floor plates with flanges. The planking from the keel to the bilge is
in this case fastened to the flanges of the floor plates, and from the bilge
upwards the planking is fastened to the ribs.
In sheathing ships I employ plates of zinc or other metal japanned,
that is to say, coated with a varnish rendered hard and insoluble by
heat, these plates are fastened to the ship with the japanned side
outwards. For a long time the polished surface of the japan will prevent
the adhesion of marine animals and plants, and when this surface is lost
the protection of the metal sheathing, which up to this time has been
protected from wear, remains. A varnish may be substituted for the
japan, it may be of the color of yellow metal or green, or of any other
color which may be preferred.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Betteley in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BETTELEY, of Cavendish House, Bootle, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,

page_text: give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Betteley, Her special licence
that I, the said Joseph Betteley, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Betteley, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING
AND SHEATHING SHIPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Joseph Betteley, my 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 Joseph Betteley, 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 constructing and
sheathing ships.
In constructing the frame for a composite ship, that is to say, a ship
with an iron or steel frame planked with wood, I form the ribs of the
ship of double flanged or trough iron, and I connect the ribs on one
side of the ship with those on the other by means of floors or.connecting
beams of iron or steel. In some cases I form each floor of a deep
plate rivetted to one of the flanges of the trough form ribs. The ribs
are carried down to the keel, and may be continuous from side to
side, and the wooden planking is fastened to the ribs from the keel
upwards.
Figure 1 shows a portion of a transverse section of a ship thus
constructed. a, a, are the ribs, as shown; the ribs on the two sides
meet in the centre of the ship upon a keel plate 6 to which they are
rivetted, and the ribs on the two sides are also connected by the floors
5 or connecting beams c, c. The keel d is bolted to the keel plate, and
the timber planking e is fastened to the ribs from the keel upwards.
fis the keelson.

page_text: Figure 2 is a plan of a portion of the structure; Figure 3 is a section
of one of the ribs; and Figure 4 a transverse section taken at the
line 1, 1, Figure 1.
Or according to another form of my Invention the ribs may stop
short at the bilge on either side of the ship, and be connected together
by means of two floor plates, one on either side of the rib; a timber
floor is then introduced between the two metal floors, and is bolted to
them. The wood planking is fastened to the timber floor from the keel
to the bilge, and from the bilge upwards the planking is fastened to
the ribs.
Figure 5 shews a portion of a midship section of a ship thus con-
structed; Figure 6 is a plan of the same; Figure 7 is a transverse
section taken at the line 2, 2, Figure 5. a, a, are the ribs, which in this
case may terminate at the bilge; b, b, are the floor plates or beams
rivetted to the flanges of the ribs; c, c, are the timber floors between the
floor plates, and the floor plates are fixed to them by through bolts.
The keel and the timber planking as far as the bilge on either side are
fastened to the timber floors, and from the bilge upwards the planking
is bolted to the ribs. Or according to another form of my Invention
I use two iron floor plates in connection with each pair of ribs, as
above described, and make the floor plates with flanges. The planking
from the keel to the bilge is in this case fastened to the flanges of the
floor plates, and from the bilge upwards the planking is fastened to
the ribs.
Figure 8 shows a portion of a transverse section of a ship thus con-
structed; Figure 9 is a plan, and Figure 10 is a transverse section
taken at the line 3, 3, Figure 8. a, a, are the ribs which may terminate
near the bilge; b, b, are the floor plates or beams with angle iron
flanges at their edges; c is the keelson running along the top of the
floors. The floors are fixed to the keel by bolts, and the timber
sheathing is bolted to the floors from the keel to the bilge, and above
the bilge it is bolted to the ribs.
The improvements in sheathing ships consist in the coating of metal
or sheet metal, say, zinc, iron, or lead and its alloys, say lead and tin
with composite material, as follows:-
1st. A coating composed of yellow ochre mixed with asphalte or
bitumen and an alkali, say, lime, and this is dissolved by heat, and is

page_text: thinned by petroleum oil or spirits, and put on the plates by dipping
them into it, or by a brush.
2nd. A composition composed of gum or rosin varnish combined with
yellow ochre or ground coke, coals, or a material with carbonic base;
this I put on in a hot or cold state.
3rd. In coating lead and its alloys or iron plates I use a second coat
over those stated in Nos. 1 and 2, which consists of a material or paint
compounded with verdegris oxide or sulphate of copper. This coating
may consist of a metallic soap combined with sulphate of copper. Into
this coating I sometimes mix yellow ochre, so as to obtain a yellow
metal color, this I put on by a brush. The Nos. 1 and 2 coatings are
preservatives to the metal, and No. 3 an anti-fouling coating.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Betteley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.