Improvements in the Construction of Cargo Steamers.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Feb., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 7th Dec., 1899-Accepted, 7th Mar., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Cargo Steamers.
I, HENRY BURRELL, of 4, Devonshire Gardens, Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, Shipowner, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
The construction of cargo carrying steamers, of what I propose to call the
"straightback" type, is intended to secure the following objects, viz:-
1st. Greatly increased carrying capacity and structural strength in proportion
to the dead weight and first cost.
2nd. Better distribution of the weight of cargo carried, and consequent greater
stability and owing to design greater immersion is obtained.
3rd. Adaptability for carrying various cargoes in holds as grain, coal, &c., and
for carrying timber, cattle, &c.
'
4th. Diminished risk by absence of deck houses liable to be carried away by
heavy seas the poop and forecastle being well rounded into line of trunk.
5th. Accelerated despatch in loading and discharging by the arrangement of
hatchways with better disposition of mechanical appliances, as cranes, to plumb
two adjacent hatchways and load or discharge from or to either side of the ship
and consequently shorter time of voyage from loading at one end and discharging
at the other.
To effect these objects I propose to construct the hull of less depth relatively
to length, and upon such lines as to obtain a moderate speed, say of 10 knots,
in loaded trim, with the engines and boilers at the extreme after end with side or
transverse coal bunkers, or both, and divide the whole of the remaining body of
the hull into cargo holds. Transverse tanks amidships to be used for cargo when
ship is loaded. The vessel will have a poop for the officers' berths at sides, and
a hood on top of after part containing the steering gear arrangements, and at the
fore end a forecastle with quarters for the crew, and between these a
will run the whole length fore and aft. This trunk" will preferably form an
integral part of the hull rising from the main deck, the transverse main deck
beams being carried across it where clear of the hatchways, and it will be in
width rather over one-third of the beam, and in height flush with the poop aft
and forecastle forward, the top of the trunk line being parallel with the keel
fore and aft.
trunk
"
The hatchways will be so disposed that cranes, mounted on posts fixed at sides
of trunk and supported upon vertical struts carried down to the floors will plumb
two of the hatchways at once and load or deliver cargo from or to wharf or craft
on either side of ship. These cranes may be worked by steam, compressed air, -
hydraulic, electrical or other motive power, and the posts only will be left
standing when at sea.
This type of vessel will besides carrying general cargo be well adapted as. a
coaling steamer to supply coaling stations or war ships of a fleet while under
steam and provision may also be made for carrying a large supply of fresh water
for such ships with suitable pumps to deliver it by hose pipes while steaming

page_text: With modifications such a ship may be adapted also to carry oil in bulk in special
tanks.
Preferably no masts will be fitted except a pole mast for signalling purposes
and for carrying the mast head light.
T. J. DANSON, F.C.Inst.P.A.,
Agent for Applicant,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Improvements in the Construction of Cargo Steamers.
I, HENRY BURRELL, of 4, Devonshire Gardens, Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, Shipowner, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:--
"
The construction of cargo carrying steamers, of what I propose to call the
straightback" type, is intended to secure the following objects, viz:-
"
1st. Greatly increased carrying capacity and structural strength in proportion
to the dead weight and first cost.
2nd. Better distribution of the weight of cargo carried, and consequent greater
stability and, owing to design, greater immersion is obtained.
Brd. Adaptability for carrying various cargoes in holds as grain, coal, &c., and
for carrying timber, cattle, &c.
4th. Diminished risk by absence of deck houses liable to be carried away by
heavy seas the poop and forecastle being well rounded into line of trunk.
5th. Accelerated despatch in loading and discharging by the arrangement of
hatchways with better disposition of mechanical appliances, as cranes, to plumb
two adjacent hatchways and load or discharge from or to either side of the ship
and consequently shorter time of voyage from loading at one end and discharging
at the other.
To effect these objects I propose to construct the hull of less depth relatively
to length, and upon such lines as to obtain a moderate speed, say of 12 knots,
in loaded trim, with the engines and boilers at the extreme after end with side or
transverse coal bunkers, or both, and divide the whole of the remaining body of
the hull into cargo holds. Transverse tanks amidships to be used for cargo when
ship is loaded. The vessel will have a poop for the officers' berths at sides, and
a hood on top of after part containing the steering gear arrangements, and at the
"trunk"
fore end a forecastle with quarters for the crew, and between these a
will run the whole length fore and aft. This "trunk" will in all cases form an
integral part of the hull rising from the main deck, the transverse main deck
beams being carried across it where clear of the hatchways, and it will be in
width rather over one-third of the beam, and in height flush with the poop aft
and forecastle forward, the top of the trunk line being parallel with the keel
fore and aft.
The hatchways will be so disposed that cranes, mounted on posts fixed at sides
of trunk and supported upon vertical struts carried down to the floors will plumb
two of the hatchways. at once and load or deliver cargo from or to wharf or craft
on either side of ship. These cranes may be worked by steam, compressed air,
hydraulic, electrical, or other motive power, and the posts only will be left
standing when at sea.
This type of vessel will besides carrying general cargo be well adapted as a
coaling steamer to supply coaling stations or war ships of a fleet while under
steam and provision may also be made for carrying a large supply of fresh water
for such ships with suitable pumps to deliver it by hose pipes while steaming.
(

page_text: Preferably no masts will be fitted except a pole mast for signaining purposes
and for carrying the mast head light.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
On the accompanying sheets of drawings my invention is shewn as adapted
for carrying large cargoes in bulk, of coal, iron, or other ores, pig iron, grain, or,
in modified constructions, oil or liquid cargoes, and capable of adaptation for deck
loads of timber or cattle.
Sheets 1, 2, and 3 shew to a scale of 1/16 inch per foot continuously from sheet
to sheet, a shear or longitudinal section of a steamer (lying alongside a railway R R
on side of a dock or quay) 520 feet long between perpendiculars, 62 feet beam
and 32' 9" depth, with two decks and system of pillaring forming part of my
invention, forming Fig. 1, and a continuous main deck plan of same marked
Fig. 2. On Sheet 1 is also shewn to an approximate scale of 36 feet to an inch
an outline Fig. 3 shewing a steamer of dimensions given above, constructed
according to my invention with a straightback" trunk parallel with the keel,
the shear of the deck being shewn by a full line a dotted line indicating the deck
line of a steamer of same dimensions without shear for comparison.
"
On Sheet 4 is shewn to a scale of 1/4 inch per foot by Fig. 5 a portion of a half
transverse midship section of same steamer looking aft, and by Fig. 6 a half
transverse midship section looking forward, shewing the floors, frames, lower and
main deck with the trunk and the pillars or struts, also the cargo port in 'tween
decks with shoots for trimming cargo, by Figs. 8, 9, and 10.
On Sheet 3 is also shewn by Figs. 11, 12, and 13 the method of fitting inter-
changeable shifting boards between the pillaring.
Referring to Sheets 1, 2, and 3, Fig. 1, a steamer is shewn in which the engines
and boilers are at extreme after end in space between bulkheads A and B
marked ER and B R. Next the bulkhead, B is a transverse bunker C which may
be extended to next W T bulkhead or to any intermediate point as may be
required by the coal to be carried. Water-tight bulkheads are on frames, from
after end to bow, marked W T W T², W T³, WT, WT, WT, WT and W T³.
D is the poop with hood deck 11 containing the cabins and berths for officers &c.,
above which are the engine and boiler casings &c., and forward is the forecastle E
in which are berths for the crew. Between the poop D and the forecastle E the
straightback" trunk T, 28 ft. wide and 10 ft. 3 ins. high extends in an unbroken
line from end to end, and the sides T continued aft to X under poop, forming
with them an integral part of the upper structure, and, as shewn by the "shear"
line of the main deck F, a continuous fish bellied girder giving the greatest
strength to the ship at centre of her length where required. In the deck of the
trunk are formed the 7 cargo hatchways, G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, and G7, each
30 ft. long and 17 ft. wide. These hatchways, as shewn by the deck plan, are so
disposed that the 9 cranes placed 6 on starboard and 3 on port side of the trunk,
marked from aft to fore end C₁ P, CS, CS, CP, CS, CS, C7 S, C P and C9 S,-
P and S meaning port and starboard-will plumb adjacent hatchways, and deliver
or load from either side of ship, as indicated by the dotted circles.
The system of vertical pillars (acting as both struts and binders) forms an
important feature in the structural strength of such a large steamer as I am
describing, which I will now refer to. In addition to the 8 water-tight bulk-
heads, there are at intervals along the whole extent of the cargo holds between
such bulkheads a series of pillars P P¹, shewn on Sheets 1, 2, and 3 on shear plan
section, and on Sheet 4 on midship section. The pillars P' extend from the
"floors" to the lower deck F¹, where they join into fore and aft girders K running
throughout the entire length of the holds, but the main pillars P continue upward
5-to the main deck F to the beams of which they are rivetted by gusset plates P³,
and their continuity is completed to the top of the trunk T by web plates M which

page_text: are rivetted to the deck beams, to the sides and top of the trunk, and further
strengthened by angle irons M' at edges next hatchways and at centres of their
width. Along the centre line of the ship at the ends of the hatchways are supple-
mentary pillars P³ from the floors to the transverse deck beams, to give strength
to the ship where the hatchway openings come. The pillars P P are shewn to an
enlarged scale by Fig. 7, Sheet 4, forming an H section by two rolled trough
or channel bars being rivetted back to back.
On the midship section, Figs. 5 & 6, Sheet 4, is also indicated in dotted lines
approximately the perspective of "shear" of deck from midship to bow and stern
respectively.
The disposition of the hatchways relatively to the cranes is an important feature
of my invention taken in conjunction with the construction of the hull and
straightback" trunk with a sheared deck, as affording exceptional facilities
for loading and discharging cargo. It will be seen by the deck plan, Sheets 1, 2,
and 3, that cranes C and C will work hatchways G and G2; crane C³ will work
hatchways G and G3; cranes C+ and C will work' hatchways G³ and G*; crane Co
will work hatchways G and G5; crane C will work hatchways G³ and G6; and
cranes C and C will work hatchways G and G7. All the cranes, port or star-
board can work to or from both sides of the ship. The curved lines Fig. 2,
Sheet 1, dotted in short dots -
indicate the minimum and maximum radii of
each crane Û and C2, and the long and short dots
indicate the radii
when the crane C₁ is working to or from port side, or the crane C2 is working to
or from the starboard side, and all the cranes can be operated in same way. The
outer circles in each case indicate the sweep of each crane when the jib is extended
to its full reach in one case on referring to cranes C' and C these outer circles
indicate that crane C may load or discharge to or from a barge or to or from
another ship on port side or close upon the ship on starboard side, and that
crane Camay load or deliver close upon the ship's port side or on to trucks on a
line of rails on a dock side. It is important to note that the minimum radii of
the cranes on both sides plumb the cargo ports H on that side of ship.
I will now describe Figs. 11, 12, and 13 on Sheet 3, shewing to a scale of 1/8th
inch per foot the application of interchangeable shifting or cargo boards with my
system of pillars. On Fig. 11 is shewn on transverse section the arrangement
of fore and aft boards S B in two lines corresponding to the two lines of H shaped
pillars Por ", and on Fig. 12 an arrangement of same fore and aft with transverse
boards in 'tween decks at the ends of the hatchways, which may be shipped into
channels provided on centre pillars P³. It will be seen that on Fig. 12 the boards,
which are all of the same length, throughout the hull are shipped one upon the
other into the jaws of the H section pillars P and P and there secured, without
loose bolts, as shewn by Fig. 13 in detail, and the transverse boards T S B are
similarly secured in the jaws of channel iron stanchions O, rivetted to the sides
of the H pillars P and P¹, and strips of channel iron forming temporary stan-
chions Q may be used to stiffen these boards if necessary.
un Sheets 1, 2, and 3, it will be seen that water ballast tanks W BT are only
at extreme aft end (under engines and boilers) and in fore peak, a portion of which
may be utilised for carrying oil or liquid cargo if so constructed, or for fresh
water in some cases.
The trimming of the steamer to an even keel, as may be required in rivers of
limited depth, as the coal bunkers are lightened, may be effected by emptying
the forward ballast tank and filling the after tanks.
Provision is shewn on Sheet 2 between W T bulkheads 4 and 6 for a very large
and deep tank, divided into two by bulkhead 5, to carry fresh water for the supply
of a fleet as of war steamers or others in an emergency. This very capacious hold
or other adjacent hold may be used for carrying oil or other liquid cargoes, or
ordinary grain or other cargoes, according to the requirements of the trade in
which the steamer is to be employed.
Referring again to Sheet 4, Fig. 8, one of the cargo ports H with its door and

page_text: fittings, forming a hopper. with a spout, is. shewn open, being served by a bucket.
from one of the cranes, delivering into the shoot S hinged to the lower part of the
door and discharging into the trimming hatchway T H in the lower deck. When
not in use the hinged door CD and the shoot S fold together close to the
ship's side as shewn by Fig. 10 and in face view by Fig. 9.
On Sheets 1, 2, and 3 on "shear" elevation and deck plan letters H shew cargo
doors in 'tween decks adjacent to bulkheads to facilitate loading into the main
holds so as to complete the same and plumbed by the cranes, and on Sheet 4 is
shewn a detail of such a port H as above described.
I now proceed to refer to the objects of my invention as stated in my Provisional
Specification and to explain how such objects are obtained as distinct from existing
types.
1st. A steamer constructed according to my invention, with the trunk top
parallel with keel and main deck with "shear," has greatly increased capacity
in proportion to dead weight, and first cost. The "straightback trunk with
66
"
"3
sheared main deck extending nearly the whole length of the steamer and
forming an integral part of her hull, forms a girder giving great structural
strength.
2nd. The weight of the cargo is better distributed in the most capacious parts
of the hull, the engines and boilers being aft, and greater immersion will be
assigned in fixing the freeboard, owing to the straightback" trunk and the
sheared" main deck being allowed for, besides giving additional stability and
structural strength.
3rd. Referring to this clause it will be seen at once that such a steamer is adapted
for various cargoes in the long range of holds in most capacious parts of the
ship, such as grain, coal, pig iron, and the like, or timber, cattle, and the like on
deck or in 'tween decks.
4th. This is obvious as the only structural projections above the main deck are the
continuous trunk, the poop, and the forecastle, all united with and forming integral
parts of the hull.
5th. Referring to facilities for loading and discharging these are obtained by the
disposition of the hatchways and cranes relatively to each other in conjunction
with a system of shifting or cargo boards, which, being all of one length, arc
interchangeable so that any of them will fit between any series of the pillars, which
are formed of section as shewn by Figs. 11, 12, and 13, Sheet 3, so that they can
be readily shipped between the fore and aft pillars to divide the cargo in the various
holds and assist in loading up by the transverse boards in the 'tween decks.
Another important feature in a steamer of my type is that one of the holds (say
between bulkheads 4 and 5) can be utilised as a fresh water tank or tanks of great
capacity to carry water to other ships of a fleet or to transports when needed, and
that the engines and boilers being at stern do not involve a large hollow space
in the weakest part of the ship as when amidships.
It will be understood that the examples of my type of steamer which I illustrate
are only intended to shew one method of carrying out the principle of my inven-
tion as such methods will depend upon the varying requirements of the trade in
which the steamer is to be employed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
"
First. The improvements in trunk cargo steamers consisting in forming them
with a
straightback" trunk parallel with the keel and forming an integral part
of the hull in combination with a "sheared" main deck, with the objects herein-
before stated; substantially as described and shewn.
Second. In such trunk cargo steamers the arrangement of a double series of
equidistant pillars forming an integral part of the structure as struts or binders
between the floors, the decks, and the trunk, substantially as described and shewn.

page_text: Third. In such trunk cargo steamers having such a series of equidistant pillars, the
formation of such pillars of such section as to admit of the fitting into them a
double line of shifting or cargo boards all of one length and interchangeable; with
the objects hereinbefore stated and substantially as shewn by Figs. 11, 12, and 13,
Sheet 3.
Fourth. A steamer or other ship having hatchways so disposed relatively to
cranes that each crane will load to or deliver from two hatchways on either side
of ship; substantially as described and shown.
"
Fifth. The arrangement and disposition of the various features of my invention,
viz, straightback trunk parallel with the deck; the sheared" main deck;
the system of series of equidistant pillaring to strengthen the ship of such section
as to admit of the fixing of interchangeable shifting boards; the shifting boards
to fit into said pillars; the disposition of hatchways in trunk deck; the cranes
to work from or to said hatchways; the cargo ports into 'tween decks forming
shoots; in combination arranged and operating substantially as described and
shewn.
T
1
1
6 T
1000
T. J. DANSON, F.C.Inst.P.A.,
Agent for Applicant,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.