CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM VESSELS, PARTS OF WHICHS ARE APPLICABLE TO SAILING AND OTHER
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry James, of the Old Kent Road, in the
Parish of Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM VESSELS, PARTS OF WHICH
Sealed the 16th March 1858, and dated the 19th September 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry James
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th September 1857.
I, WILLIAM HENRY JAMES, of the Old Kent Road, in the Parish of
Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the:
nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM VESSELS,
PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO SAILING AND OTHER VESSELS,"
to be as follows:-
These improvements consist, firstly, in forming the hulls of steam vessels of
two or more long hollow cylinders composed of metal, wood, or a combination
thereof, united together side by side, and strengthened internally by suitable
stays of similar materials, and having transverse tubular passages extending
from cylinder to cylinder above the lower points of junction, for enabling
persons to pass freely from one to the other. The upper and lower interstices
between these cylinders I form into numerous cells by means of transverse
partitions, which I cover over with plates of metal or planks of wood, the
upper portion of which will constitute the decks, and the lower portion the
bottoms of such vessels, which bottoms may be made either flat, concave,

page_text: convex, or corrugated, as may be preferred, for giving additional strength and
firmness thereto, the ends of which cylinders may be made hemispherical or
of any other eligible shape, or may be united with or made to terminate in
very oblate semispheroidal chambers, which would form suitable bows and
sterns to such vessels when made to correspond with their semicircular or
semicylindrical sides.
Secondly, instead of forming the. hulls of steam vessels of perfect cylinders
joined together as before described, I sometimes form such hulls of similar
contour, without any material diminution of strength, by covering externally
with metallic plates or planks of wood two or more cylindric frameworks of
similar materials joined together laterally, the upper portions of such coverings
constituting the decks, which may be made double and cellular if preferred,
and the lower portions the bottoms of such steam vessels, which bottoms may
be varied in shape, and the framework strengthened by any number of beams
or rods in lieu of the cellular partitions, and the vessels so formed may have
their bows and sterns similarly constructed, and may be advantageously
divided into any desired number of water-tight compartments, in the same
manner as when perfect cylinders are used, as before described.
Thirdly, in the employment of one or more pairs of paddle wheels with
enclosed sides, or with the sides of the paddles only enclosed, for the pro-
pulsion of vessels constructed as before described, which wheels may be
formed with one or more divisions, and the paddles so placed in each as to
alternate with those in the adjoining division or divisions, every pair of wheels,
or each wheel if preferred, being actuated by a separate engine.
Fourthly, in forming the hulls of comnion sailing or other vessels in a
similar manner as before proposed for steam vessels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry James in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY JAMES, of Old Kent Road, in the Parish of Camberwell, in the
County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, send greeting,
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: me, the said William Henry James, Her special licence, that I, the said
William Henry James, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Henry James, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM VESSELS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE APPLICABLE TO SAILING AND OTHER VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Henry James, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of 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 William Henry James, do bereby
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 tho
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:
.
My improvements in steam vessels, parts of, which improvements are
applicable to sailing and other vessels, consist as follows (reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed), viz., in forming the hulls of steam
vessels of two or more long, hollow cylinders composed of metal, wood, or a
combination thereof, united together side by side.. Horizontal views of two,
three, and four cylinders so united together (each combination forming a
separate hull), -are shewn -at (a, a).-Figure 1; -(b, b, b,) at Figure 2, and
c, c, c, c, Figure 3, in the annexed Sheet of Drawings. These cylinders
may be made of any desired lengths and diameters, and are to be strengthened
internally by suitable stays of similar materials, and firmly united together
externally by series of transverse partitions, extending from cylinder to
cylinder, as indicated by transverse lines at Figures 1, 2, and 3, and more
perfectly in perspective, as uniting two cylinders together, at Figure 16, and
are shewn also as occupying the intervening spaces between the several
cylinders composing hulls of vessels constructed upon this principle, as shewn
in section at Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 15, 17, and 18, the upper portions
of which partitions are then to be covered over with plates of metal or
planks of wood properly joined together to form or support the decks, and
the lower portions, when shaped accordingly, are also to be similarly covered

page_text: over to form the bottoms or a considerable portion of the bottoms of these
vessels, the spaces between these partitions, when so enclosed, constituting a
corresponding number of water-tight cells. These cylinders are also to be
'united together internally, and further strengthened in their union by
transverse tubular passages of similar materials situated above their lower
points of junction (which may have water-tight doors within them) for
enabling persons to pass with facility from the interior of any one one cylinder
to that of any other cylinder, as may be desired. The upper portion of each
of such tubular passages is represented and marked with the letter dat
Figures 1, 2, and 3, and also at Figure 16, where the upper portions of two
such tubular passages uniting two cylinders together are also shewn in per-
spective. The bottom of these hulls may be made either flat, as shewn in
section at Figures 9, 15, and 18, or concave, as at Figures 4, 7, 12, and 17,
or convex, as at Figure 8, or corrugated, as at Figures 5 and 6, or of any
other shape that may be desired, and their ends hemispherical, as shewn at
e e, e e, Figure 1, and at ffff, ffff, Figure 3, or cuneiform, as shewn
at 9 9, 9 g, Figure 1, or of any other desired shape; or may be united to
and made to terminate in very oblate semispherical or cuneiform chambers,
as shewn at h, h, Figure 1, and at i, i, Figure 2, so as to constitute suitable
bows and sterns to such vessels, which should be made to correspond and
harmonize with the semicylindric sides thereof, as at Figures 11 and 13,
where are represented a sailing vessel and steam vessel in perspective, the
hull of the former, as being composed of two cylinders with hemispherical
ends and a double rudder, and the latter as having semispheroidal bow and
stern in unision with its cylindric sides, and as being propelled by two pairs
of paddle wheels. At Figures 4, 5, and 6 are also shewn sections of hulls
composed of two, three, and eight cylinders so united together; and at
Figure 7 the hull of a vessel composed of three cylinders, the two outer ones
being larger than the central one, to allow of its having a concave bottom;
and at Figure 8, another hull of three cylinders, with the two outer ones
smaller than the central ones, to allow of its having a convex bottom. At
Figure 9 also is shewn in section the hull of a vessel composed of thirteen
cylinders, arranged in three tiers, the cylinders in the central tier being made
to alternate with those in the upper and lower tiers; and at Figure 12, the
hull of a vessel, with two cylinders placed side by side, but at such a distance
apart as to allow space for one or more paddle wheels or any other suitable
propelling apparatus to be placed between them. Any of these vessels may
likewise have keels attached to them, as shewn in section at Figures 7, 8, and 9,
and their decks made cellurar, as at Figures 4, 5, and 6; or the cylinders

page_text: before described may have other cylinders within and attached to them, by
partitions for affording additional strength and firmness thereto, as well as an
additional number of water-tight cells, as shewn in section in connection with
the central cylinder at Figure 8. Or otherwise, instead of forming the hulls
of steam vessels of perfect cylinders united together, as before described,
I sometimes form such hulls of similar external contour, by joining together,
side by side, two or more cylindric skeleton frameworks of similar materials,
of hemispherical, semspheroidal, cuneiform, or otherwise shaped ends for the
bows and sterns, such skeleton frameworks consisting of series of annular
rings placed parallel to and at any suitable distances from each other,
and firmly united together longitudinally by rods, bars, or beams, and
laterally to each other when so formed by transverse strappings, bars, or
partitions of similar materials, the external portion of these frameworks
being then covered over with and firmly attached to plates of metal,
properly rivetted or otherwise joined together, or with planks of wood
properly caulked and coated, so as to render the whole perfectly water-
tight. The hulls of which vessels so formed with skeleton frameworks,
together with their bows and sterns, may also be advantageously divided
into any desired number of water-tight partitions, as when perfect cylinders
are used, as before described. A section of the hull of a vessel so formed,
with skeleton frameworks of metal covered with metal, is shewn at Figure
18, another of wood and metal covered with metal at Figure 15, and
another of wood covered with planking of wood at Figure 17. Such hu
when composed entirely of metal may be constructed and the several parts
united together by any of the usual well-known methods of bending, rivetting,
screwing, bolting, or otherwise shaping and joining metals together, or when
of wood, or a combination of wood and metal, by any of the usual methods
of joining such materials together.
My other improvements in relation to steam vessels, as before described,
consist in the employment of one or more pairs of paddle wheels, either with
enclosed sides or with the sides of the paddles only enclosed, which wheels
may 'be formed with one or more division or divisions, and the paddles so place
in each division as to alternate with those in the adjoining division or divisions.
Every pair of paddle wheels so employed, or each paddle wheel if preferred,
may be actuated by a separate engine, to allow of their velocities varying, as
may be requisite, or of being varied at pleasure, a single paddle wheel of
each kind, as before described, being represented in perspective at Figures 10
and 14.
These improved hulls for steam vessels are likewise applicable for sailing

page_text: vessels, and vessels moved by the tide or otherwise, which other applications
thereof I likewise claim as my Invention.
In witness whereof, I,' the said William Henry James, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight.
W. H. JAMES. (L.S.).