A MACHINE FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
KEMP, of Burslem, in the County of Stafford, Teacher, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of April, in the fifth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Kemp, His especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Kemp, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Kemp, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "A MACHINE FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said William
Kemp, 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 His 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Kemp, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to performed, are fully described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to a machine for raising heavy bodies from the bottom
of the water, so contrived and constructed that it may be so applied and
regulated that sunken vessels of any tonnage may be raised from any depth to
the surface of the water. But in order that my Invention may be fully
described and ascertained, I will now describe the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and the figures and letters marked thereon, (that is to say):-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of a machine constructed according to my Invention;
Fig. 2 is a plan of Fig. 1. In each of the figures the same letters refer to
similar parts. a, a, is a vessel composed of wood, copper, or other material,
made perfectly air-tight and strong enough to bear being filled with water
without any danger of it bursting. It has the lower end open, for the purpose
of admitting air within. B, B, is an end or bottom made of a material that
will always float, and so constructed that it moves easily up and down inside
the vessel a, a, but prevented coming out of the vessel a, a, by a projecting
edge or ledge c, c, at the lower end withinside the vessel a, a. D is a safety-
valve to prevent the air, when rising and expanding, bursting the vessel a, a.
If at any time the vessel a, a, should be overcharged, E, E, is a gage that is
used for determinating the quantity of air in the vessel a, a. It is composed
of two lines similarly divided or marked. At the end of one of the lines, which
runs easily through a groove, is a hollow ball, which is placed within the
vessel a, a, and consequently will float on the top of the water within the
vessel a, a.
The other line has one end fastened to the groove. By com-
paring the other ends of the lines, which are long enough to reach to the
surface of the water, the exact space occupied by air within the vessel a, a,
may be ascertained. The method of using this machine is to fill it with water
and sink it to the body that is intended to be raised, and to be firmly fastened
to it with the open end downwards, by persons below the surface of the water,
in a bell or other diving apparatus. The bottom being composed of a material
that will float, will then be at the top, withinside the vessel a, a.
The gage
being fastened to the lower end of the vessel, the machine is then ready to be
charged with air. An air-pump is then to be used, which has a pipe to conduct
the air under and into the vessel a, a. When the air enters the vessel a, a, it
naturally displaces the water at the top, withinside the vessel a, a, and the
moveable bottom, which will always be at the top of the water within the

page_text: vessel, gradually descends. When a sufficient quantity of air has been forced
into the vessel a, a, which must in no instance exceed the quantity of air that
would fill the vessel a, a. When the top of the yessel a, a, is at the surface of
the water, the machine is then fully charged, as it will then lift the greatest
weight that it possibly can raise to the surface of the water. Another machine
may then be treated in precisely the same manner, and so on until as many
are charged with air as will overcome the extra gravity of the body to be
raised above that of the water. As soon as such is the case, the whole mass
(machines, vessels, &c.) will gradually rise to the surface of the water.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would remark, that I am aware that it is not
new to apply air in vessels for raising sunken vessels. I do not, therefore,
claim the same generally, but do confine my Invention to the application of
vessels open at one end, having means of regulating and indicating the
quantity of air, as above described, when used for raising sunken vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Kemp, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of October, in
the year of our Lord 1835, the aforesaid William Kemp came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, 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-first day of October, in the year of our Lord One