IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN SHIPS AND OTHER SUB- KERGED BODIES."
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Thomas Parlour, of Brooklyn, New
York, United States of America; now of 8, Southampton Buildings,
London, Shipwright, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN SHIPS AND OTHER SUB-
KERGED BODIES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Thomas
Parlour at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 4th October 1875.
I, JOSEPH THOMAS PARLOUR, of Brooklyn, New York, United States
of America, now of No. Southampton Buildings, London, Shipwright,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN SHIPS AND OTHER SUB-
MERGED BODIES," to be as follows:-
The said Invention is designed for raising ships and other objects
submerged in deep water, and is adapted for raising ships of the largest
dimensions and small vessels or bodies.
The Invention will secure the ship or body to be raised, and bring

page_text: heretofore employed for the purpose, and is therefore less dependent
upon the continuance of calm weather in securing the success of the
operations.
In raising ships or other bodies I use a number of frames and
grippers supported upon vessels or pontoons, and when the position of 5
the sunken ship is ascertained the said vessels or pontoons are sunk
with the said frames and grippers by the side of the sunken ship; and
to ensure the grippers passing over the sides of the sunken ship they
are guided by timbers or metal rods or ropes. The said frames and
grippers are operated by means of a steam or hydraulic cylinder acting 1
upon the centre shaft for closing the grippers; I employ for the purpose
two or more water-tight vessels or pontoons, preferably constructed
with water-tight compartments. I employ telescopic shafts or tubes,
one end of which is fastened to the vessel or pontoon, and the other end
extends above the surface of the water when said vessels or pontoons 1
are sunk. These telescopic shafts are also constructed water-tight, and
are provided with an extending frame or box at their lower ends which
is extended by means of screws or other suitable device below the
telescopic shaft into the sunken ship. The frame or box is provided
at the lower end with wheels, around which an endless chain passes 2
provided with buckets, boxes, or nippers. The chain also passes around
wheels fixed in the top of the telescopic shaft, by which means water
or other substances may be readily raised from the sunken ship or the
bottom of the sea. The telescopic shafts from which the water is
excluded are also used for conveying air to the workmen below, and the 2
air may be forced down through air pipes placed within the said shaft.
The telescopic shafts are provided with water-tight doors or valves at
their lower ends, through which the extending frames or boxes may
pass to the bottom of the ocean or into the hold of a ship. These doors
are made tight by means of elastic packing which fits around the
extending frames or boxes.
The telescopic shafts are also provided with air-tight doors at their
upper
ends to prevent the escape or entrance of the air when desirable.
These doors may be opened and closed by means of levers or other con-
venient device. Through these doors the workmen are carried down
into the hold of the ship. The telescopic shafts or tubes are braced or
supported by extending timbers or rods, which are fastened to said
shaft at one end and at the other end to the sunken vessel or other

page_text: stationary object, which supports are extended or contracted by means
of screws or screw shackles to keep them rigid as the telescopic shafts
are adjusted.
The bottom of the telescopic shafts are strengthened by means of
flange pieces of wood or metal, the bottom of the latter being covered
with india-rubber or other elastic packing to keep the water from
passing into the shafts between the same and the deck. The said shafts
may be bolted or clamped to the sunken vessel. The telescopic shafts
may be used independent of the vessels or pontoons as they are
constructed water-tight and will float, and may be towed to the required
position over the sunken vessel, and may be sunk by confining one end
to a timber supported on two floating vessels, the other end being
weighted and lowered down between guides that have been placed in
proper position.
A water-tight box or frame is employed for the protection of divers
while working from the pressure of air or water, which box or frame is
attached to an extending and adjusting frame which reaches above the
surface, and is fixed to a support on floating vessels or pontoons.
These extending frames work in boxes which work on pivots and guides
moving in said boxes.
.
•
The bottom of the telescopic shafts are provided with glass windows,
through which the water is lighted by means of lamps in the frames,
and these windows are made with holes through which the workmen
may pass their arms, the water being kept out by india-rubber sleeve
gloves or suits tightly secured around the said holes.
The ballast or water is removed from the sunken pontoons by means
of endless chains, plungers, scrapers, or by pumps working in slots
inside the pontoon by steam or other power.
An outlet pipe with valves for discharging water from the interior of
the sunken ship is attached to said shafts. The valves are arranged to
open outward by means of levers worked from the surface of the water.
Air may be forced down the air pipes located in the telescopic shafts to
protect the sunken ship from the pressure of the water and raise the
ship by its own buoyancy. Extending screw clamps are also used to
strengthen the ship to resist the outward or inward pressure.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Lotters Patent,
filed by tho said Joseph Thomas Parlour in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 4th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
THOMAS PARLOUR, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of 1
America, now of 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Shipwright, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Thomas Parlour, Her
special licence, that I, the said Joseph Thomas Parlour, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Thomas Parlour, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at 1
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 MACHINERY AND APPARATUS FOR RAISING
SUNKEN SHIPS AND OTHER SUBMERGED BODIES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Joseph Thomas Parlour, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or onc
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to 2
bo performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the dato
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Thomas Parlour, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner 3
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to tho
accompanying Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
The said Invention is designed for raising ships and other objects
submerged in deep water, and is adapted for raising ships of the largest 3
dimensions, and small vessels or bodies.

page_text: The Invention will secure the ship or body to be raised, and bring the
same to the surface more speedily than the apparatus or machinery
heretofore employed for the purpose, and is therefore less dependent
upon the continuance of calm weather in securing the success of the
operations.
According to one method of practising my Invention for raising ships
or other bodies I use frames and grippers supported upon ships or
pontoons, and when the position of the sunken ship or other body is
ascertained the said ships or pontoons with the said frames and grip-
pers upon them are sunk by the side of the submerged ship or other
body, or over the same, and to ensure the grippers passing over the
sides of the sunken ship they are guided by timbers or metal tubes,
chains, or ropes. The said frames or grippers are operated for closing
them by means of steam or hydraulic power. A water-tight box or
tube and frame are employed for the protection of divers while working
from the pressure of air or water, which box or frame is attached to an
extending and adjusting frame which reaches above the surface, and is
fixed to a support on the floating vessels or pontoons. These extending
frames work in sleeves or boxes which turn on trunnions or pivots and
guides moving up and down in said boxes, and the said frames are made
tight in the said boxes by hydraulic packing screws or other suitable
devices. The bottom of the telescopic shaft. is provided with glass
windows, "bulls' eyes," or frames, through which the surrounding water
is lighted by means of lamps in these window frames, and these windows
are made with holes through which the workmen may pass their arms,
the water being kept out by india-rubber sleeve gloves, or suit, or other
suitable devices tightly secured around said holes.
I
Figure 1 shows my improved apparatus for the protection of divers
while clearing away the rigging and other obstructions from a sunken
vessel previous to commencing to apply the apparatus for raising the
same; Figure 2 shews a modification of the same; Figure 3 shews my
improved apparatus for raising submerged ships as arranged above a ship
before grasping the same; Figure 4 shows the said apparatus grasping
a ship, and in the position for commencing to raise the same.

page_text: A is the ship or vessel to be raised; B is the ship or pontoon carrying
the apparatus necessary for effecting the objects of my Invention.
In Figure 1 a is the said extending water-tight box or tube or
extending shaft; 6 is the frame; c, c, are the pivoted sleeves or boxes
for guiding the uprights 6', 6', of the said frame; d, d, are air pumps
for supplying air to the divers; e, e, are ladders extending from the
frame to the sunken vessel; f, f, are the divers' air tubes. These
tubes are extended down through the extension tube a, and are thereby
relieved from the external pressure to which they would otherwise be
subjected, and enable the divers to remain longer under water than with
the ordinary arrangement of these appliances.
In Figure 2 a is the aforesaid telescopic shaft or tube attached to the
side of the ship or pontoon B; a¹, a¹, represent chains for raising or
lowering the same. Racks or other suitable apparatus may be substi-
tuted for these chains. a³, a³, are the glass windows or bulls' eyes; a³,
a³, are the sleeve gloves. The said telescopic tube has doors at the
bottom, which are hinged or jointed inwardly to allow divers to pass
from the said tube to the hold of a vessel. The frame or box is provided
at the lower end with wheels or pulleys, around which endless chains
pass provided, with buckets, boxes, or nippers for discharging any kinds
of cargo; the chains also pass around wheels fixed on the top of the
telescopic shaft, by which means water or other substances may be
readily raised from the sunken ship or the bottom of the sea. The
telescopic shaft, from which water is excluded, permits the workmen to
work from the inside to batten down or stop holes in the ship or clear
away wreck; it is also used for conveying air to the workmen below,
and the air may be forced down through air pipes placed within the said
shaft.
In Figures 3 and 4, 9, 9', are the aforesaid frames and grippers for
raising the sunken ships; h, h, are hydraulic or steam cylinders for
forcing the grippers 9¹ through the sand under the bottom of the vessel,
as shewn in Figure 4; i is a hydraulic or steam cylinder for closing the
said grippers tightly upon the sides of the vessel. The ship or pontoon B
is made with air and water-tight compartments. In commencing
operations the pontoon is moored in the proper position above the sub-
merged vessel, and the bars j are lowered to the bottom; on these bars are
fitted guide boxes j", which are secured to the side of the ship or pontoon,

page_text: compartments are filled with water, and the pontoon B is sunk, being
guided on the bars by the boxes, and the grippers are operated by
the steam or hydraulic power to grasp the submerged vessel, as shown
in Figure 4; then the water is raised by means of chain pumps or
otherwise through the shaft k, and the said pontoon then rises, bringing
up the submerged vessel with her.
Figure 5 shows a submerged vessel, such as a large ironclad steam-
ship in the act of being raised by four ships fitted with my improved
apparatus, comprising the grippers and frames extending down from the
sides of the said ships, as above described.
.
To keep the sunken ship from collapsing from outward pressure, I:
supply the interior of the same with air. For this purpose I provide
the pontoons with telescopic shafts k fitted with water-tight doors or
valves at their lower ends, through which extending frames or boxes
may pass to the bottom of the ocean or into the hold of a submerged
ship. These doors are made tight by means of elastic packing, which
fits around the extending frames or boxes. The telescopic shafts are
also provided with air-tight doors at their upper ends to prevent the
escape or entrance of the air when desirable. These doors may be
opened and closed by means of levers or other convenient devices.
Through these doors the workmen pass from the pontoon down into the
hold of the sunken ship. The telescopic shafts or tubes are braced or
supported by timbers or rods 7, which are fastened to said shaft at one
end, and at the other end to the sides or deck of the ship or pontoon.
These supports are extended or contracted by means of screws or screw
shafts to keep them rigid as the telescopic shafts are adjusted. What-
ever may be the depth to which the ship or pontoon may be sunk the
tops of the said telescopic shafts always stand above the surface of the
_
It is sometimes necessary to secure the telescopic shafts by bolting or
clamping-the-same upon the deck over the hatchway of a sunken
vessel. For this purpose the telescopic shafts are-strengthened at
- their lower ends by means of flange pieces of wood or metal, the
5 bottom of the latter being covered with india-rubber or other elastic
packing to keep the water from passing into the shaft between the

page_text: same and the deck while the holes for the bolts are being bored in the
deck.
The telescopic shafts may be used independently of the vessels or
pontoons B, as their construction renders them water-tight, and they
will float and may be towed to the required position over the sunken 5
vessel, and may be sunk by confining one end to a timber structure or
frame supported on a floating vessel, or two of such vessels, the other
end being weighted and lowered between guides that have been placed
in the proper position for this purpose.
An outlet pipe with valves for discharging water from the interior of 1
the sunken ship is attached to the said telescopic shaft. These valves
are arranged to open outward by means of levers worked from the
surface of the water, or from the interior of the said shaft. Air may be
forced down the air pipes located in the telescopic shafts to protect tho
sunken ship from the pressure of the water, and raise the ship by its 1
own buoyancy. Extending screws or screw clamps are also used to
strengthen the ship to resist the outward or inward pressure.
The ballast or water is removed from the sunken pontoons by means
of buckets, boxes, or frames mounted on enless chains, plungers, or by
scrapers or pumps inside the pontoon operated by steam, hydraulic, or
other power.
In Figure 6 I have shown a further modification of my apparatus for
raising sunken ships. p, p, are bridges attached to the sides of the ships
or pontoons B in such a manner that they can be swung outward, as
shewn, when in use, and brought to the side, fore and aft of the ship, a
when not in use. These bridges are constructed of wrought iron at p³,
with masts or logs of timber p³ at the top of the ironwork. When in
use the two bridges p are secured together at p by strong belts or other
suitable means; q, q, are hydraulic, steam, or other cylinders attached
to the side of the vessel, which operate the iron tubes or wooden bars or
rods q'. The said tubes or bars are attached to the cross beam q³, which
is constructed of iron or wood, and is connected by the rods q³ to the
grippers for forcing them through the sand under the sunken vessel, as
above described; q* is a similar vessel for operating the iron tube or
wooden bar q³ for opening or closing the grippers; the said tube or bar
extends through a guide box in the cross beam q³; 9º, 2º, are guide rods
attached to the gripper frames, and extending through guide boxes in

page_text: the girder qª…. A small tube:s extends down from the ship or pontoon
to the point of the gripper to conduct air down to the same and under
the sunken vessel to relieve the same from the downward pressure at the
moment when the said vessel commences to rise from the bottom.
Figure 7 is a plan or top view drawn to a reduced scale of ships and
bridges shown in Figure 6, as above described.
L
the girder q³.. A small tube:s extends down from the ship or pontoon
to the point of the gripper to conduct air down to the same and under
the sunken vessel to relieve the same from the downward pressure at the
moment when the said vessel commences to rise from the bottom.
Figure 7 is a plan or top view drawn to a reduced scale of ships and
bridges shewn in Figure 6, as above described.
Figure 8 is an outside or back elevation of one of the said gripper
frames detached. ·
Having thus fully described my said. Invention, and shown how the
same may be conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I
wish it understood that I claim,— .
First. The apparatus carried at the side of a ship or pontoon for
permitting access to a sunken vessel, and comprising the telescopic
shaft or tube a and other devices, whereby the divers are enabled to
clear away the rigging and other obstructions, from the said vessel and
perform other necessary operations before the raising of the same, as
shewn in Figure 1 of the Drawing, and as above specified..
Second. The modification of the above apparatus, shewn in Figure 2,
comprising the telescopic tube a provided with windows or bulls' eyes
and lamps, and with sleeve gloves or the like, as above set forth and
for the purposes specified.'
Third. The hydraulic or other cylinders carried on the supporting
ships or pontoons, and operating in combination with the frames and
grippers and other parts of the said apparatus, as above set forth and
for the purpose specified.
:
Fourth. A ship or pontoon constructed, with air and water-tight com-¨
partments, and carrying the said grippers and other parts of the said
raising apparatus, and provided with telescopic or extension shafts or
tubes, as above specified, so that the said ship or pontoon-can-be-sub--
merged and raised as desired, and when submerged will be supplied with
air through the said shafts or tubes k, as above set forth.
Fifth. The modification of my Invention illustrated-in Figures 6, 7,
and 8, comprising the swinging bridges attached to the sides of the
supporting ships or pontoons, the cross beam or girder carrying the

page_text: adjusting and operating the said grippers, and the means for conducting
air under the bottom of the submerged vessel, as above specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Thomas Parlour, have
horcunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of April, in
the ycar of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-
six
Witness,
JA'. EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
JOSEPH T. PARLOUR. (L.S.)