IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS FOR CONTAINING AND TRANSPORTING OILS OR BURNING FLUIDS, ALSO IN RAISING SUCH OILS OR BURNING FLUIDS, AND SUPPLYING THE SAME AS FUEL TO THE FURNACES OF STEAM SHIPS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO THE BALLASTING OF SHIPS WITH WATER
Year: 1868

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS FOR CONTAINING AND TRANSPORTING OILS OR
BURNING FLUIDS, ALSO IN RAISING SUCH OILS OR BURNING FLUIDS, AND
SUPPLYING THE SAME AS FUEL TO THE FURNACES OF STEAM SHIPS, PARTS OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO THE BALLASTING OF SHIPS WITH
WATER." A communication from abroad by John Henry Smith, of
the City and County of Allegheny, and Ellbridge Gerry Benedict,
of Southwest, in the County of Warren, State of Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th January 1868.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
5 of. Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS FOR CONTAINING AND TRANSPORTING
OILS OR BURNING FLUIDS, ALSO IN RAISING SUCH OILS .OR BURNING FLUIDS, AND
SUPPLYING THE SAME AS FUEL TO THE FURNACES OP STEAM SHIPS, PARTS OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO THE BALLASTING OF SHIPS WITH

page_text: WATER," a communication to me from abroad by John Henry Smith, of
the City and County of Allegheny, and Ellbridge Gerry Benedict, of
Southwest, in the County of Warren, State of Pennsylvania, United
States of America, to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in providing the hulls of ships with a special
compartment for containing oils and burning fluids, and in protecting
the same with water contained in a water chamber and tank between
two decks; the oil compartment is provided with pipes for supplying
and discharging the oils and burning fluids, and for supplying the
compartments with water or air, for the purpose cither of raising the
oils by hydrostatic or pneumatic pressure, or for supplying water to be
used as water ballast.
In carrying out this Invention the lower part or bottom of the hull
is used as a compartment for receiving and holding oils and burning
fluids in bulk, such compartment being protected by two decks or
floors above it made perfectly watertight, and arranged with relation to
each other so that a water space is left between them; on either side
of the hull are openings which will allow water to flow freely into the
said water space. A portion of the lower deck or floor is made arched,
as herein-after referred to. The furnace and steam boiler when employed
may be made in any desired form, but in connection therewith there is
a T-shaped pipe provided with a number of small branches which enter
small openings in one end of the furnace. This pipe communicates with
the oil chamber by passing through the arched portion of the lower
deck or floor. On each side of the hull of the ship are other pipes
and cocks which are connected to reservoirs, and pass down through
the decks before referred to into the oil compartment. At the forward
part of the upper deck of the ship there is another reservoir provided
with a close cover, and to which is connected a pipe and cock which
passes down through the decks to the bottom of the hull of the ship;
a syphon-shaped pipe is used for conducting water from between the
decks into the oil compartment which is below them.
As the construction and arrangement of the several parts of our
improvements will be readily understood from the foregoing description,
we will therefore proceed to describe the operation of the same.
The oil is conveyed into its compartments through the medium of the
covered reservoir and pipe connected therewith, and when the com-
partment for the oil is filled the valve or cock on the supply pipe is

page_text: closed, and when it is desired to force oil into the furnace the valves
or cocks of the other pipes are opened, and water being introduced into
the reservoirs connected therewith the oil will be forced up through
the T-pipe and out at the outlets of the branch pipes by the pressure
of the water upon the oil, thereby supplying oil to the furnace of the
steam boiler by hydrostatic pressure. It will readily be observed that
by means of air pumps oil may also be forced up to the furnace by
pneumatic pressure, and it will also be observed that the oil may be
forced to any other desired locality from the oil compartments either
by hydrostatic or pneumatic pressure. When the oil is consumed as
an article of fuel, or has been removed from the vessel the valves of
the oil and water pipes are closed, and when it is desired to lighten up
the vessel the valve of the syphon pipe is closed, and water is pumped
out of the oil compartment by any known means.
When the ship is constructed with a compartment for holding water
for ballasting the ship the water compartment should be divided by a
partition placed in the centre running lengthwise, and the two compart-
ments thus formed should be divided into two series of small compart-
ments by transverse partitions with a small opening in each, so that
the chambers of each compartment will communicate with each other.
When the compartment is constructed for the purpose of ballasting the
ship with water one end of the syphon pipe should pass through the side
of the hull for conducting the water into the water compartment.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th July 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-first
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license, that I,
the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors,
administrators, or 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
SHIPS FOR CONTAINING AND TRANSPORTING OILS OR BURNING FLUIDS, ALSO IN
RAISING SUCH OILS OR BURNING FLUIDS, AND SUPPLYING THE SAME AS FUEL TO
THE FURNACES OF STEAM SHIPS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE
TO THE BALLASTING OF SHIPS WITH WATER," a communication from abroad
by John Henry Smith, of the City and County of Allegheny, and
Elbridge Gerry Benedict, of Southwest, in the County of Warren, State
of Pennsylvania, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing, under my hand and seal, 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 Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
The said Invention consists in providing the hulls of ships and other
vessels with a special compartment for containing oils and burning
fluids, and in protecting the same with water contained in a water
chamber situate between two decks. The oil compartment is provided
with pipes for supplying and discharging the oils and burning fluids,
and for supplying the compartment with water or air for the purpose
either of raising the oils by hydrostatic or pneumatic pressure, or for
supplying water to be used as water ballast.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.

page_text: Figure 1 of the Drawings is a longitudinal section of a ship provided
with the said improvement; Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same;
Figure 3 is an end view of the furnace of the steam boiler.
The hull of the ship may be constructed in any of the known forms,
and be provided with the ordinary appendages belonging thereto. The
lower part or bottom of the hull is used as a compartment for receiving
and holding oils and burning fluids in bulk. m and n represent two
decks, which are made perfectly water-tight, and arranged with relation
to each other so that a space marked is left between them. On
either side of the hull are openings 5, which will allow water to flow
freely into the space . A portion of the deck n is made arched, as
indicated at D in Figures 1 and 2. The steam boiler furnace 3, shown
in end elevation at Figure 3, rests on the deck m, and is made of iron,
and "waterlined," as in the case of furnaces of locomotive boilers and
the boiler furnaces of steam ships; 4 represents the steam boiler. As
the furnace and steam boiler may be made in any desired form, I do not
confine myself to any one form of either furnace or boiler. B represents
a T-shaped pipe provided with a number of small branches X, which
enter small openings in one end of the furnace, such openings being
arranged as represented in Figure 3, and provided with a flange 2, as
shewn in Figure 1. On each side of the hull of the ship are other
pipes and cocks c and c¹, which are connected to reservoirs and f;
the pipes c and c₁ pass down through the decks m and n into the oil
compartment. At the forward part of the upper deck of the ship there
is another reservoir e, to which is connected a pipe and cock A; the
pipe passes down through the decks m and n to the bottom of the hull
of the ship. The T-shaped pipe B which conducts the oil to the boiler
furnace passes through the decks or floors m and n, so that the lower
end of the said pipe will pass through the deck in the arched portion.
A syphon-shaped pipe o is used for conducting water from between the
decks and n into the oil compartment which is below the deck n.
The several cocks and valves on the pipes c, c', A, B, and C, are
marked 1 in the Drawings. The reservoir e should be provided with a
close cover.
As the construction and arrangement of the second parts of the
improvements will be readily understood from the foregoing description,

page_text: The oil is conveyed into its compartment at D through the medium
of the reservoir e and pipe A, and when the compartment for the oil
is filled the valve or cock of the pipe A is closed, and should it be
desired to force oil into the furnace the valves or cocks 1 of the
pipes B, c, c', and o are opened, and water being introduced into the
reservoirs and g the oil will be forced up through the T-pipe B and
out of the outlets of the branch pipes X by the pressure of the water
upon the oil, thereby supplying oil to the furnace of the steam boiler
by hydrostatic pressure. It will readily be observed that by means of
air pumps oil may also be forced up to the furnace by pneumatic
pressure, and it will also be observed that the oil may be forced or
conveyed to any other desired locality from the oil compartment D,
either by hydrostatic or pneumatic pressure. When the oil is consumed
as liquid fuel or has been removed from the vessel the valves or cocks
of the oil and water pipes A, c, c', respectively are closed, and when
it is desired to lighten the vessel the valve of the syphon pipe o is also
closed, and water is pumped out of the oil compartment by any known
means. When the ship is constructed with a compartment for holding
water for ballasting the ship the water compartment should be divided
by a partition placed in the centre running lengthwise, and the two
compartments thus formed should be divided into two series of small
compartments by transverse partitions with a small opening in each, so
that the chamber of cach compartment will communicate with cach
other. By thus dividing the water compartment into two parts, and
then subdividing these two parts into smaller compartments, surging and
sudden flowing of the water fore and aft and from side to side by the
rocking and undulating motion of the ship will be prevented. When
the compartment is constructed for the purpose of ballasting the ship
with water one end of the syphon pipe o should pass through the
side of the hull of the ship for conducting the water into the water
compartment.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. Providing the hulls of ships and other vessels with a special
compartment for containing oils and burning fluids, such compartment

page_text: being protected with water and furnished with supply and discharge
pipes, substantially as herein-before described.
Second. Raising oils and burning fluids from the hulls of ships by
hydrostatic or pneumatic pressure, as and for the purpose herein-before
described.
Third. The peculiar arrangement and construction of the interior
lower portion of ship's hulls, as herein described, with a view to prevent
surging of the water ballast.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of
July, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.8.)