IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE ON BOARD SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Otto Wolff at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd January 1881. A communication
by Andreas Lehmann (Ship Owner and Proprietor of a Stone Quarry),
in Dresden.
OTTO WOLFF, Engineer and Patent Agent, of No. 12, Schloss Strasse, in the
City of Dresden, in the Kingdom of Saxony and German Empire. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE ON BOARD SHIPS AND OTHER
VESSELS." A communication by Andreas Lehmann (Ship Owner and Proprietor
of a Stone Quarry), in Dresden aforesaid.
My Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for extinguishing fire on
board ships and other vessels, which said apparatus consists of a water reservoir,
cistern, or receptacle, in the form of a flattened six-sided or sexagonal pyramid, so
that the heaviest part of the said reservoir, tank, or cistern, is at the bottom of the
same, whilst the side walls of the cistern or tank offer little or no resistance to
the wind.
The tank or cistern is perfectly air tight, and is provided with an air valve on'
the upper surface. Mains or main pipes run from the bottom of the tank or cistern
close under the deck towards each end of the ship.
Each of these pipes or tubes is provided with a stop cock or valve in the interior
of the tank cistern or reservoir. The rods to the cocks or valves extend through
the wall or walls, or the cover or lid to the said tank or cistern, so that the said
rods can be operated by means of a suitable key or handle, and the cocks or valves
opened or closed. For ships with deck-cabins, high forecastles, or other raised
parts or buildings, several tanks or cisterns are employed, and so fixed in raised
positions that each raised space or part has its own reservoir, tank, or cistern,
which said tank or cistern is so arranged that the same stands above the highest
point of the roof of the said raised part, deck cabin, &c., whereas other reservoirs
or tanks are employed for the deck and lower parts or compartments of the ship
or other vessel. Each of these said tanks or cisterns serves to feed two main pipes
which run the entire length of the ship according to the construction of the same.
Water is pumped into the said tank or cistern, or tanks or cisterns, by means of
the ordinary ships' pumps and suitable tubing or pipes. Branch pipes run or extend
equidistant from each other towards both sides of the ship, and are so connected to

page_text: the main pipes that a branch pipe on the one side of the said main lies equidistant
between two branch pipes on the opposite side of the said main pipe or pipes.
All these branch pipes are attached to the deck and run snugly or close beneath
the same parallel to each other towards the sides of the ship; the said branch pipes
are now led through the flooring, and are then carried close under the said flooring
to the opposite side of the ship.
These pipes are now directed downward to below the next flooring, when they
are again carried over to the opposite side of the ship, and so on until the hold is
reached, where these said pipes extend to the bottom of the same.
The double number of pipes will therefore be found beneath each flooring or
planking to those carried along the side walls, and the entire length of the piping
beneath each flooring is thus double the length of the piping beneath the deck.
Should it be desired to place a like large number of pipes under the deck, this
can be carried out by attaching a branch pipe to the main opposite to each of the
pipes running towards the other side of the ship. These pipes however terminate
above the first flooring. The ends of all the pipes are closed, but the whole of the
said pipes are provided with a row or rows of fine perforations which are so
arranged that the smallest perforations are at the greatest distance from the main
pipe.
These said perforations are arranged in this manner so that the water will be
ejected from the same in fine streams, and also from the upper pipes, where the
pressure is so very much less than in the lower compartments. The diameter of
the entire perforations must not for this reason exceed the diameter of the pipe
or tube.
Each main pipe must be of such diameter that the branch pipes are supplied
with a sufficient quantity of water; these pipes are carried over every room or
compartment of the ship or other vessel in which it seems possible that fire should
break out, and are consequently extended to the hold of the vessel, which is not so
easily accessible as the other rooms or compartments.
As soon as fire breaks out the cock or valve to the main pipe or tube leading to
the endangered part of the vessel is opened, water streams through the perforations
in the piping as the water in the tank or cistern or tanks or cisterns is sufficient,
until the pumps can be put into operation, when the tank, cistern, or reservoir acts
as an air vessel, so as to force the water through the perforations of the piping in
powerful streams. These streams (or the water thus ejected from the tubing) are
ejected with more or less force according to the power of the pumps which supply
the reservoir or cisterns with water. It is easily to be understood that any fire on
board ship (other than explosive matters) can be immediately attacked and
overcome in most cases without the employment of the pumps before the fire has
time to develope itself; whereas so much time is consumed before the ordinary
arrangements can be brought into operation that the fire has time to develope
itself, and thus many valuable ships and hundreds of human lives are jeopardized.