A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF ARMOUR OR SHIELD FOR DEPENSIVE OR OFFENSIVE PURPOSES.”
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pierro Philippe Eugene, Count do Gendre, of the
Saint James's Club, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF ARMOUR OR SHIELD FOR
DEPENSIVE OR OFFENSIVE PURPOSES.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pierre Philippe Eugene,
Count de Gendre, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 23rd December 1873.
I, PIERRE PHILIPPE EUGENE, COUNT DE GENDRE, of the Saint James's
Club, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF ARMOUR
OR SHIELD FOR DEFENSIVE OR OFFENSIVE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel and peculiar system or manufacture
of armour or shield applicable and intended for use in defensive or
offensive purposes of all descriptions, such as for the protection of man,
or of ships or vessels, as well as for the protection of either temporary
or permanent fortifications, or similar structures or buildings, or other:
places requiring protection in time of war.

page_text: The object sought to be effected by this Invention is to offer to pro-
jectiles or other missiles a graduated yielding resistance, and this is
proposed to be obtained by the adaptation and use of the clastic and
yielding substance of steel (or iron) wire, steel (or iron) cord, steel
(or iron) ribbons, steel (or iron) blades, or steel (or iron) bars, which in
the composition of the armour material will be made in an interlaced
manner, so as greatly to increase their elasticity; the effect attained
being to retard the process of penetration of the projectile or missile
at a gradually increasing ratio, and at the same time complete rigidity
in the armour or shield will be obviated.
The metallic materials above named (or one or more of them) will be
adapted and used strongly interlaced together or interwoven, and will
be made with or without the addition of such textures, fabrics, or
substances in combination as linen, cotton, silk, gutta percha, india-
rubber, hempen or other cord or rope, or any suitable clastic or yielding
material, or any textile material, such as horsehair, felt, cork, or wool,
or the like. For example, when the shield is intended for body armour
or protection it will be manufactured with steel wire, such as is
generally used for pianoforte strings, which will be bent in regular
curves in layers or tiers, and will be so crossed and interwoven or inter-
laced as to present a continuous succession of small convex surfaces or
curves on which to receive the bullet or projectile. In consequence
of having to straighten and reverse these curves one after another the
impetus of the bullet or projectile will bo gradually stopped; and when
the impetus is greatly exhausted or nearly spent the bullet or projectile
will meet with a still greater number of concave curves which will be
filled or backed with strong cord or other suitable material, also inter.
laced with the wire, the object of which is to present a tough, yielding,
and elastic defence to the back wires or concave curves which, supported
or protected by the cord or other material will give way slightly
and form as it were a nest, in which the bullet or projectile will be
firmly retained and prevented from penetrating through the back of
the shield or armour.
It has been found by experiment that the wires in front of the shield
have acted like saws on the bullet or projectile, cutting it in some cases
into slices, and in others dividing or separating it into parts. When
so made so as effectually to resist and hold a rifle bullet or projectile at
short range it will have the advantage of lightness. As this improved

page_text: bullet or projectile-proof armour material can be made at less than
about half an ounce in weight per square inch, and not exceeding about
five-eighths of an inch in thickness, coolness in wear will also be obtained
by reason of air being admitted through the interstices or interlaced
portions of the armour.
The improved armour or shield, made as above described, will be very
portable, and can be quickly applied to the complete protection of
artillery or other men and batteries against the fire of sharpshooters or
other assailants; it may also be effectively employed when opening
trenches, or constructing fortifications or defences, also in protecting
flying or other batteries, or temporary forts, or other warlike con-
structions or defences.
When made and used as armour for ships or vessels it will be made
in the manner above described, but of stronger materials, such as steel
or iron cords, ribbons, blades, bands, or bars, and interlaced in a similar
manner with hempen or other cord or rope, or other suitable strong
elastic or yielding material.
This armour material or shield will have the advantage of great
comparative lightness, bolts or boltwork can be almost entirely dispensed
with in fitting the armour, as it can be so constructed, as if necessary
completely to surround the hull of a ship or vessel in one piece without
any joint. It will add to the buoyancy of the ship or vessel instead of
detracting from it, as the present heavy armour plating docs.
A further and important advantage or feature will be that when this
armour is struck, the blow will not injure or be any detriment to the
resisting power of the rest of the material, even in the immediate
vicinity of the locality of the blow; and whether used as armour for a
ship or vessel or as body armour.
30
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Pierre Philippe Eugene, Count de Gendre, in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
PHILIPPE EUGENE, COUNT DE GENDRE, of the Saint James's Club,
Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Pierre Philippe Eugene, 5
Count de Gendre, Her special licence that I, the said Pierre Philippe
Eugenc, Count de Gendre, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Pierre Philippe Eugene, Count de Gendre, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during 1
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
"A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF ARMOUR OR SHIELD FOR DEFENSIVE OR
OFFENSIVE PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the 1
said Pierre Philippe, Count de Gendre, my executors or administrators,
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 2
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Pierre Philippe, Count de Gendre,
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 2
in and by the following statement in writing:-
This Invention relates to a novel and peculiar system or manufacture
of armour or shield, which will be found very applicable, and is intended
for use in or for all descriptions of defensive or offensive purposes or
uses, such as for the protection of man, or of horses or other animals, 3
or of ships or vessels, as well as for the protection of either temporary
or permanent fortifications, or similar structures or buildings, or other
places requiring protection in time of war; it may also be employed in
the manufacture of helmets, for the lining or covering of knapsacks and
havresacks, also for the protection of artillery caissons and waggons, 3
and the manufacture of gabions and mantelets.
The object effected by this Invention is the presenting to projectiles
or other missiles of a graduated yielding resistance, which is obtained by

page_text: the adaptation and use of the following elastic and yielding substances,
namely, wire, cord, ribbons, blades, or bars, made of steel or iron,
and which in the composition of the armour material are made combined
and interlaced, as hereafter more particularly described, in such a manner
as greatly to increase their elasticity; the effect attained being to retard
the process of penetration of the projectile or missile at a gradually
increasing ratio without necessitating complete rigidity in the armour
or shield.
In carrying the said manufacture into practical effect one or more
of the above-named metallic substances or materials are strongly inter-
laced or interwoven, and are made, or used, or adapted, either with or
without such other elastic or yielding substances, materials, textures,
textiles, or fabrics, separately or in combination, as gutta perch, india-
rubber, linen, cotton, silk, hempen or other cord or rope, or horsehair,
felt, cork, or wool, or such like materials. For example, when the
shield is intended for body armour or protection it is or may be manu-
factured with steel wire (such as is generally used for pianoforte strings)
bent in regular curves in layers or tiers, and crossed and interwoven or
interlaced, so as to present a continuous succession of small convex
surfaces or curves, against which the bullet or projectile has its first
impact. In consequence of having to straighten and reverse these
layers or tiers of outward or convex curves one after another the impetus
of the bullet or projectile is gradually reduced, and when it is nearly
exhausted the bullet or projectile meets with a greater number of con-
cavely curved wire, which are filled or backed with strong cord, or other
suitable material, also interlaced with the wires, so as to present a tough,
yielding, and elastic defence to the said concavely curved wires; which,
thus supported or protected, slightly give way, forming as it were a nest,
in which the bullet or projectile is firmly retained, so as to be prevented
from penetrating through the back of the shield or armour.
The front or convex wires of the shiold in some instances act liko
saws on the bullet or projectile and cut it into slices, and in others
divide or separate it into parts, which by themselves have not sufficient
momentum or impetus to penetrate further into the shield or armour.
Body armour thus made will effectually resist and hold a rifle bullet or
projectile even at very short ranges; it has a further important
advantage in that it is of great lightness, and can be made at less than
about half an ounce in weight per square inch of surface, and of a

page_text: thickness of about five-cighths of an inch. Another advantage is that
in wear it allows of the body being kept in a very temperate state by
reason of air having free access through the interstices between the
interlaced portions of the armour.
The improved armour or shield, made in this manner, is very portable,
and can be quickly applied to the complete protection of artillery men
and other men, and of batteries, against the fire of sharpshooters or
other assailants; it may also be effectively employed when opening
trenches or constructing fortifications or defences, also in protecting
flying or other batteries, or temporary forts, or other warlike con-
structions or defences.
When used as armour for ships or vessels it will be made of stronger
materials than the steel or iron wire, such as of cords, ribbons, blades,
bands, or bars of steel or iron, interlaced, as described, with hempen or
other cord or rope, or other suitable strong elastic or yielding material.
This armour material or shield has also the advantage of comparative
lightness. Bolts or boltwork can be almost entirely dispensed with in
fitting the armour, as it can be constructed if necessary in one picce
without any joint, so as completely to surround the hull of a ship or
vessel. Its application adds to the buoyancy of the ship or vessel
instead of detracting from it as the present heavy armour plating
docs.
•
A further and important advantage or feature is that when this
armour is struck the blow does not injuro or act as any detriment to
the resisting power of the rest of the material, even that part thereof
in the immediate vicinity of the locality of the blow; and the use of
this kind of armour or shield is attended with the additional advantage
that the balls or projectiles do not rebound or ricochet after impact but
remain lightly embedded in the metallic substance or tissue of the
armour or shield. It can moreover be used as supplementary to plate
or other armour, and this either as a covering or a lining.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature and
object of my said Invention, together with the manner in which the
same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, I
would remark in conclusion that I claim as my Invention the manu-
facture, application, and use of the novel and peculiar description of

page_text: armour or shield, substantially in the manner and for the defensive and
offensive purposes as herein particularly described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Philippe Eugene, Count de
Gendre, have hereunto set my hand and scal, this Nineteenth
day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-four.
PIERRE PHILIPPE EUGÉNE DE GENDRE. (L.s.)