IMPROVEMENTS IN FLOATING LIGHTS, BEACONS, FLOATING BATTERIES, AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Moody, of Goole, in the County of York,
Managing Director to the Goole Steam Shipping Company, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FLOATING LIGHTS, BEACONS, FLOATING
BATTERIES, AND OTHER VESSELS."
Sealed the 16th February 1866, and dated the 24th August 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Moody at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th August
1865.
I, JOHN MOODY, of Goole, in the County of York, Managing Director to
the Goole Steam Shipping Company, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FLOATING LIGHTS, BEACONS, FLOATING
BATTERIES, AND OTHER VESSELS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is so to construct a floating vessel that it may
remain comparatively steady on a rough sea when a vessel of ordinary con-
struction would roll violently. For this purpose I make the vessel of a star-
like form with four or other number of arms. It is made with a flat bottom,
and over it is a deck arched in all directions. The size of the vessel will
vary considerably according to the purpose for which it is required, but its
extreme length from the extremity of one arm to the extremity of the oppo

page_text: site should exceed that of the length of waves to which the vessel is to be
exposed. When the vessel is to be employed to carry a light or a beacon I
make a tower-like erection at the centre of the structure in which may be
any doors and windows necessary for the convenience of the crew; in all
other places the arched deck has no opening made through it, or should such
openings be required they are arranged so that they may be securely, closed.
A floating structure of this description suitably moored will be useful to
support and secure telegraph cables from distance to distance, so that should
any fault occur it will be one length only that it will be necessary to repair or
replace. I also construct floating batteries in a similar manner; in this case
the arched deck is formed of armour. plates, the central tower before-men-
tioned is replaced by a battery for guns. The structure may also be pro-
pelled by steam power. The arched form of the deck in the floating light or
beacon or telegraph station will deflect the waves which break on it, and will
not oppose any great resistance to them. In the case of the floating battery
the enemies' shot will be similarly deflected from the arched deck.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Moody in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MOODY, of Goole, in the County of York, Managing Director to the Goole
Steam Shipping Company, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Moody, Her special licence that I, the said John Moody,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Moody, 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
FLOATING LIGHTS, BEACONS, FLOATING BATTERIES, AND OTHER VESSELS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Moody, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of

page_text: 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 John Moody, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is so to construct a floating vessel that it may
remain comparatively steady on a rough sea, when a vessel of ordinary
construction would roll violently. For this purpose I make the vessel of a
star-like form, with four or other number of arms. It is made with a flat
bottom, and over it is a deck arched in all directions. When the vessel is to
be employed to carry a light or a beacon, I make a tower-like erection at the
centre of the structure, in which may be any doors and windows necessary for
the convenience of the crew; in all other places the arched deck has no
opening made through it, or should such openings be required they are arranged.
so that they may be securely closed. A floating structure of this description.
suitably moored will be useful to support and secure telegraph cables from
distance to distance, so that should any fault occur it will be one length only
that it will be necessary to repair or replace. I also construct floating batteries.
in a similar manner; in this case the arched deck is formed of armour plates
and the central tower before mentioned is replaced by a battery for guns. The
structure may also be propelled by steam power. The arched form of the
deck in the floating light, or beacon, or telegraph station, will deflect the
waves which break on it and will not oppose any great resistance to them. In
the case of the floating battery the enemies' shot will be similarly deflected
from the arched deck.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention I will proceed more fully to
describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a plan, and Figure 2 a side elevation of a floating light-ship
or vessel constructed according to my Invention, where the lantern is raised
on a mast as in other floating light-ships or vessels. In constructing a light-
ship or vessel for any particular place, the dimensions will as heretofore
depend on the nature of the sea for which it is to be constructed. It is pre-
ferred that these light-ships or vessels should be built of iron, but this is not

page_text: essential. Figure 3 shews a plan, and Figure 4 a side elevation of a light-
ship or vessel constructed according to my Invention, where the lantern is at
the
upper part of a tower, and it is preferred that the same should be built of
iron; Figure 5 shows a plan, and Figure 6 an elevation of a floating beacon
constructed according to my Invention, which I prefer to be hollow and built
of iron. The anchoring of this vessel is shown to be from the centre, but if
desired this may be varied. When using structures according to my Invention
for sustaining telegraphic wires, they will be like those employed for beacons,
the wires being supported by suitable masts or otherwise, as the particular
circumstances may require; Figure 7 shows a plan, and Figure 8 an elevation
of a floating battery constructed according to my Invention, which should be
built of iron and armour-plated with best known means of rendering the
vessel shot-proof, and it will be desirable to build the vessel in sections with
water-tight bulkheads in such manner that should any parts be injured by shot
or otherwise so as to admit water, there shall be at all times, as far as possible,
sufficient buoyancy to float the vessel.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would remark that I have not thought it necessary to
show the internal construction of any of the vessels built according to my
Invention, as the same will vary according to the purpose to which each
vessel is to be applied, but a ship builder will readily construct vessels of a
star-like form, according to my Invention. In the Drawings I have shown
the body or vessel of each construction to consist of four radii, but vessels for
these purposes may be constructed with three, or more than four radial parts,
and they may in those cases which require it be built with water-tight bulk-
heads or partitions so as to retain buoyancy, notwithstanding water may get
into some of the sections of which the interior of a floating vessel according
to my Invention is composed, whether for floating lights or for batteries.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Moody, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JOHN MOODY. (L.S.)