Improvements in the Making, Building, and Fitting of Airtight and Watertight Appliances in Ships, Vessels, Boats, or Rafts, to Make them more Buoyant and less Easily Sinkable, in Cases of Battle, Collision, Shipwreck, Tempest, Accident, or other
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 31st July, 1886.
Complete Left, 26th Apr., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 22nd July, 1887.
Improvements in the Making, Building, and Fitting of Airtight and
Watertight Appliances in Ships, Vessels, Boats, or Rafts, to
Make them more Buoyant and less Easily Sinkable, by Adding,
Adapting, Protecting, and Utilising Numerous Separate Re-
movable Airtight and Watertight Cells or Cases Made of
Metal, or other Suitable Material, and thereby Rendering Un-
necessary or Greatly Lessening the Danger of having to Close
any Watertight Doors of any Watertight Compartments in Cases
of Battle, Collision, Shipwreck, Tempest, Accident, or other
I WILLIAM JOHNSTONN NELSON NEALE Barrister at Law, Recorder of Walsall,
formerly an officer of the Royal Navy, but now residing at The Vineyard, Perry Barr,
in the County of Stafford, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
For improvements in the making building, and fitting of watertight and airtight
appliances and contrivances in Ships vessels boats and Rafts, for the purpose
of rendering them more buoyant and less easily sinkable, in cases of battle, collision,
Shipwreck, Tempest, accident or other emergencies; I desire to carry out my
invention in the method hereinafter named; that is to say, In any Ship Vessel Boat
or Raft, built or made either wholly or in part, of wood or of metal, or of both,
or of any other material, to which it is desired to give power of floating; I propose
constructing of wood or of metal, or partly of wood and partly of metal, and either
on the inner or on the outer sides, of such ships, vessels boats or rafts, one or more
hollow decks, or hollow pillars, or hollow sides, or hollow fenders, in order therein
to protect fit apply or arrange, any adequate number of separate and removable cells
or cases previously made airtight and watertight, and formed of any suitable material,
but preferably of thin sheet copper securely soldered or closed, not to admit the
passage of air or of water; such cells or cases to be of any requisite shape or size,

page_text: but preferably of a hexagon shape, like the cells of bees, and measuring a length of
twelve inches, and a diameter of five inches: each such cell or case, to be separate
detached and removable at pleasure, yet capable of being packed one over the other, so
as to waste as little space as possible in their use and arrangement in time of safety ;
yet in case of the ship vessel boat or raft breaking up in pieces, such cells or cases being
set free, to afford to any sailor or passenger struggling with the waves, most useful
assistance in prolonging or saving life; each such airtight cell or case, being easily
grasped, and possessing considerable power of floatation; care being taken in the
building and fitting of such ship vessel boat or raft, that a sufficient number of such
airtight cells or cases, shall be contained and arranged in the hollow decks, hollow
sides, hollow pillars, and hollow fenders above named, so as to render the floating
of such ship vessel boat or raft, as far as possible independent and exclusive, of any
watertight compartments with watertight doors; such watertight doors being most
difficult to close effectually, and such compartments being always liable to crack and
become useless, by rolling of the ship and pressure of the water.
Dated this 27th day of July 1886
Improvements in the Making, Building, and Fitting of Airtight and
Watertight Appliances in Ships, Vessels, Boats, or Rafts, to 2
Make them more Buoyant and less Easily Sinkable, by Adding,
Adapting, Protecting, and Utilising Numerous Separate Re-
movable Airtight and Watertight Cells or Cases Made of
Metal, or other Suitable Material, and thereby Rendering Un-
necessary or Greatly Lessening the Danger of having to Close 2
any Watertight Doors of any Watertight Compartments in Cases
of Battle, Collision, Shipwreck, Tempest, Accident, or other
Emergencies.
I WILLIAM JOHNSTONN NELSON NEALE Barrister at Law, Recorder of Walsall,
formerly an officer of the Royal Navy, but now residing at "The Vineyard Perry
Barr, in the County of Stafford, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows, and also do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:—
For improvements in the making building and fitting of watertight and airtight
appliances, and contrivances, in ships, vessels, boats, and rafts, for the purpose
of rendering them more buoyant and less easily sinkable, in cases of battle, collision,
shipwreck, tempest accident and other emergencies, I desire to carry out my invention
in the method hereinafter named, that is to say-
In any ship, vessel, boat, or raft, built or made, either wholly or in part of wood, 4

page_text: or of metal, or of both, or of any other material to which it is desired to give
a power of floating, I propose constructing of wood or of metal, or partly of wood
and partly of metal, and either on the inner, or on the outer sides of such ships,
vessels, boats or rafts, one or more hollow decks, or hollow pillars, or hollow sides,
or hollow fenders, in order therein, to protect, fit, apply or arrange any adequate
number of separate and removable cells or cases, previously made airtight and
watertight, and formed of any suitable material, but preferably of thin sheet copper,
securely soldered or closed not to admit the passage of air or of water, such cells
or cases, to be of any requisite shape or size, but preferably of a hexagon shape like
the cells of bees, and measuring a length not exceeding twelve inches and a diameter
not exceeding five inches: each such cell or case, to be closed airtight and watertight
at each end, and to be separate, detached, and removable at pleasure; yet such cases
to be capable of being packed one over the other, so as to waste as little space
as possible in their use and arrangement in time of safety; yet in case of the
ship vessel boat or raft, breaking up in pieces, such cells or cases being set free,
to afford to any sailor or passenger grasping such cells, and struggling with the
waves, most useful assistance in prolonging or saving life, each such airtight cell
or case, being easily grasped, and possessing considerable power of floatation, care
being taken in the building and fitting of such ship vessel boat or raft, that a sufficient
number of such airtight cells or cases, shall be contained and arranged in the hollow
decks, hollow sides, hollow pillars, and hollow fenders above named, so as to increase
the floating power of such ship vessel boat or raft as far as possible independent and
exclusive, of any watertight compartments with watertight doors, such watertight
doors being most difficult to close effectually, and such compartments being always
liable to crack and become useless, by rolling of the ship and pressure of the water;
but as no rolling of the ship and no pressure of the water, nor any other accident
hitherto experienced at sea, could altogether destroy the whole number of airtight
cells, to be utilized by my present invention, the knowledge of such cells being fitted
on board a ship, would of itself give comfort and confidence of safety, to the minds of
passengers, and crew, and tend to prevent those panics of despair, which are often
more fatal to life, than even shipwreck or the enemy have occasioned, when all panic
has been absent.
.
In fitting ships with the said airtight cells, their number and sizes must be varied,
according to the size, material, and measured tonnage of the ship vessel raft or craft
to be fitted with them; care being taken, that for every ton of measured tonnage, in
such ship or craft, not less than one hundred of such airtight cells shall be fitted
in every ship or craft built of wood (though with metal fastenings) each such air tight
cell being if practicable of the larger size that is to say measuring not less than
about twelve inches long and not less than some five inches about in diameter these
sizes of airtight cells to be either increased or diminished if necessary, but still to
be of similar hexagonal or six sided shapes and proportions, though adapted to the
conveniences and forms of build, of the ships or craft requiring to be so fitted with
them: But when such ships or craft, are made not of wood, but of steel or iron, then
the number of such airtight cells, must be encreased by at least twenty five per cent.
in number, proportionately to the measured tonnage of such iron ship or craft; so
that for every measurement ton of an iron or steel ship, one hundred and. twenty
five air tight cells shall be fitted of the larger size, while for a wooden ship only one
hundred airtight cells of the larger size per measured ton are fitted, and in all cases
where I name airtight cells of the larger size, I include cells of smaller dimensions
to fill up cavities, that would otherwise be wasted, provided always, that the number
of such smaller cells, when added together, equal the floating capacity of the larger
cells, which they represent: Such airtight cells may be made of many materials, each
possessing different merits and drawbacks, but I only claim for those airtight cells
which are made of Aluminium, Copper, or Brass or Muntz's metal wood, iron,
galvanized iron, tin, or zinc: I claim also the hexagonal or six sided form of such
airtight cells, whether they be made detached and movable, however protected from
injury or dispersion, or are fitted so as to be irremovable; while for the chances

page_text: of saving or prolonging life, the air-tight cells capable of removal are best: I have
already given as the size of the larger cells, a measurement of not exceeding about
twelve inches long, and not exceeding about five inches in diameter, with six sides;
each side measuring about two and a half inches wide, carefully soldered, and secured,
to be air tight and water tight so that each of these cells might act as a life buoy
if needed, and each such cell measuring about fifteen inches in circumference. In
order to find safe spaces in ships and other craft in which to stow such air-tight cells,
where they can be protected from injury or dispersion, and yet be as much as possible
out of the way of the working of the ship, and interference with the sailors' duties, I
construct hollow pillars, made of deal-wood, in shape either square or of any more
convenient form, such pillars to be built up vertically at right angles with the keel
of the ship carrying them, at any convenient spot between the keel and the upper
deck, and then packed full of the said air tight cells for further convenience in
stowing these air cells I also construct hollow fenders made of stout deal planking
and placed longitutedly outside the ships bulwarks, with a convex formation towards
the sea, and pack them full also, with the said air tight cells: for the same purpose, I
construct one or more hollow decks, under the whole of the ship's upper deck, using light
deal planking for this purpose; leaving an intervening vacant space of at least twenty
inches so that at least three tiers of the larger size of the air tight cells may be packed
therein without loss of space, and in case of the ship springing a heavy leak, the
greatest resistance would be hereby offered against her suddenly foundering: In
addition to the foregoing various receptacles for the larger size air-tight cells,
I construct similar cells of smaller sizes, to be stowed away in the various waste places
between the ships ribs and timbers; protecting them wherever practicable, by
trelis-work of light deal-wood; care being taken in every case to interfere as little
as possible with the stowing and carrying of cargo. If these details of the improve-
ments combinations and arrangements of my invention are carefully carried out,
any workman of ordinary intelligence may render a ship or craft far more buoyant
and less easily sinkable; thus lessening the fear of travelling by sea and adding
greatly to its safety and the protection of life, the probability of help, and rescue, and
the great diminution of Shipwreck.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is―
1st. The formation of a large number of removable and separate air-tight and
water tight hexagonal or six sided cells or cases, too numerous to be all destroyed
by any probable sudden calamity, or any modification hereof.
2nd. The formation of the said hexagonal airtight and watertight cells or cases
either of aluminium or copper or brass or Muntz's metal or wood or iron, or
galvanized iron, or tin, or zinc, or any modification thereof.
3rd. The forination of hollow decks, hollow pillars, hollow outside fenders at the
summits of the ships bulwarks, to be fitted with the said hexagonal or other shaped
airtight and watertight cells or cases; or any modification thereof.
4th. The combination of any or all these said means for the continued floating of
an otherwise sinking or waterlogged ship; or any modification thereof.
Dated this Twenty fifth day of April in the year of our Lord 1887.