IMPROVEMENTS IN BUILDING IRON, STEEL, OR COMPOSITE SHIPS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Edward Scott, of Greenock, in the County
of Renfrew, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BUILDING IRON, STEEL, OR COMPOSITE SHIPS."
Scaled the 5th September 1871, and dated the 7th March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Edward Scott
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 7th March 1871.
I, JAMES EDWARD SCOTT, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew,
North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BUILDING IRON, STEEL, OR COMPOSITE SHIPS," to be as
follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the building of iron, steel, or
composite ships in an improved manner, and so that such ships, par-
ticularly when of considerable or excessive length as compared with
their breadth and depth, may be stronger for a given weight of material
than as hitherto constructed. The improved mode of building also
possesses certain advantages in its practical carrying out.
The Invention consists principally in the case of iron or steel ships
in fixing the outside plating arranged longitudinally as at present upon

page_text: longitudinal frames instead of upon transverse vertical frames. At the
sides these longitudinal frames may be formed of iron of I section, or
of reversely united pairs of ordinary angle iron; but as the keel is
approached the depth of the frames measured normally to the plating
requires to be gradually increased, and the frames at such parts will be
most conveniently formed of plates with angle iron rivetted in reversed
positions to their inner and outer edges. Inside the longitudinal frames
transverso vertical frames are fixed at comparatively distant intervals to
tic and connect the insido flanges of the longitudinal frames. With this
improved construction the plates can be made of lengths suitable for a
uniform pitching of the rivet holes throughout, as the butts do not
requiro to be adjusted to vertical lines, as they have ordinarily to be
to suit vertical frames, and the rivet holes can consequently he punched
by well-known apparatus with self-acting feeding or pitching details.
In the case of composite ships the external wood planking is by this
Invention fixed diagonally or in inclined lines upon the frames, which
are disposed longitudinally, as in the proposed iron or steel ships.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Edward Scott in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
EDWARD SCOTT, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Edward Scott, Her special
licence that I, the said James Edward Scott, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Edward;
Scott, 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 :

page_text: "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUILDING IRON, STEEL, OR COMPOSITE SHIPS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Edward Scott, 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 calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Edward Scott, 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 in writing, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object the building of iron, steel, or
composite ships in an improved and economical manner, and so that
such ships, particularly when of considerable or excessive length as
compared with their breadth and depth, may be stronger for a given
weight of material than as hitherto constructed. My improved mode of
building also possesses certain advantages in its practical carrying out.
In carrying out my Invention in the case of iron or steel ships the
outside plating arranged longitudinally as at present is fixed upon
longitudinal frames instead of upon transverse vertical frames; or
instead of being fixed partly on transverse vertical frames and partly
on longitudinal frames, according to a mixed system proposed by John
Scott Russell, but which carries out neither the vertical nor longitudinal
system perfectly, notwithstanding its comparatively greater weight of
material. My improved longitudinal system also differs from others
that have been proposed in respect that the longitudinal frames are in
it combined with transverse tie frames and transverse beams. In the
case of composite ships the external wood planking is by my Invention
fixed diagonally or in inclined lines upon the frames, which are disposed
longitudinally, as in my improved iron or steel ships.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
two examples of ships as constructed with my improvements.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of an iron or steel ship as sectioned
transversely. In this example the usual longitudinal plating is shown

page_text: as attached to longitudinal frames, which at the sides are represented
as formed of angle iron of the section shown on an cularged scale
in Figure 2. These longitudinal frames may be formed otherwise if
preferred, as, for example, of reversed angle irons rivetted together, as
shown in Figure 3, or of the section shown in Figure 4. From the
turn of the bilge to the keel the depths of the frames measured normally
to the plating require to be gradually increased to the ordinary depths of
floors, so as to give the requisite strength to the flat part of the bottom,
and in these cases the frames will be most conveniently formed, as
shown in Figure 1, of plates with angle iron rivetted in reversed
positions to their inner and outer edges. The spacing of the longi-
tudinal frames should range according to size of vessel, from 18 inches
to 24 inches, as measured at their outer edges amidships, and the frames
should take the same sheer as the ordinary plate lines continuously
through the bulkheads, until it becomes necessary from the diminished
girth forward and aft to run or gore two into one. At the ends the
frames should be connected by plates forming hooks and crutches, so as
to completely unite both sides of the vessel. The frames may be placed
normally to or square off the plating, so that no bevilling or even heating
will be required, except at the ends, where the curvature is too great to
admit of the bars being set cold. Inside of the longitudinal frames
there are fixed to them at spaces corresponding to every third beamı
transverse vertical frames of angle iron rivetted back to back, which
extend from the upper deck, passing continuously through the lower
deck stringer plates, and overlapped across the centre line, their use
being to tie and connect the longitudinal frames by their inner flanges.
The flat of the Door is additionally strengthened transversely by means
of plates rivetted to the transverse tie frames and let down between the
longitudinal frames and connected to the latter. The beams are fitted
in the ordinary manner across the ship at right angles to the centre line,
and are connected to the ship's side by double angle irons, whilst those
beams which occur at the tie frames have kuce plates extending from
the insides of the tie frames to the outside plating, and are raised or set
up with the tie frames, so as to preserve the form. Each bulkhead is
fitted in the ordinary manner across the ship, being let in over the
longitudinal frames, and also made water-tight round them. The
reverse bars on the longitudinal frames may be either cut and kneed,
as in the case of ordinary keclsons at bulkheads, or they may be
allowed to pass through. The stringers should be of the ordinary

page_text: dimensions, and fitted in the usual way. The lower-deck stringer plates
should be arranged to butt where the tie frames pass, so as to be
fitted round these frames, the strength being made up by double-butt
straps. The sparring and ceiling is to be fitted vertically across tho
longitudinal frames at the turn of the bilge where the ceiling ends,
and the longitudinal frame which forms the sponcing will serve as a
gutter or waterway for any water which may get into the hold above
the ceiling.
With my improved construction the skin plates can be made of
lengths suitable for a uniform pitching of the rivet holes throughout,
and with the exception of the extreme plates at each end the lengths
may be all multiples of the same size. The longitudinal frames and the
landings of the plates can consequently be punched from the same
template, or by apparatus with self-acting feeding or pitching details.
This feature, the economical advantage of which will be obvious to
every practical shipbuilder, markedly distinguishes my system from the
mixed system herein-before referred to.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a composite ship as sectioned trans-
versely, in building which according to my present Invention I dispose
the longitudinal and tic frames as herein-before described for iron or
steel ships, and in addition I bend flat plates round the outside of the
longitudinal frames under the tic frames, and connect them to the latter
in the flat of the bottom by angle irons on the lower edges of the
intercostal plates, thus tying both outer and inner edges of the longi-
tudinal frames. At the centre line a strake of plating is applied
sufficiently broad to embrace the garboard strakes and the butts of the
diagonal outside planking running fore and aft, and having bolted to it
the wooden keel, stem, and sternpost. At cach bilge I apply a strake
of plating embracing two of the longitudinal frames, and extending
over about three-fifths of the ship's length amidships, and I also apply
similar strakes of plating at each deck, in connection with which the
beams and stringer plates are fitted, as in iron ships. The external
diagonal planking is bolted to the longitudinal frames and to the several
longitudinal strakes of plating.
In erecting my improved iron or steel ships I commence by setting
the central longitudinal frame in position on blocks, and raise upon it
the tie frames with their beams, securing them as is done with ordinary
transverse vertical frames. The first longitudinal frames on each side

page_text: may then be bolted to the tie frames, and the first strakes of plating
be bolted to them, after which the remaining longitudinal frames and
strakes of plating may be added consecutively.
In erecting composite ships it is necessary to have all the longitudinal
frames secured to the tie frames, and the longitudinal strakes of plating 5
in their positions before putting on the outside planking.
In order further to show the advantages of my improved system of
ship construction, I append comparative statements showing the trans-
verse sectional area of metal in iron and composite strips of given sizes
as constructed on the ordinary system and on my improved longitudinal 1
svetom rosnativolv
Ordinary or Transverse System.
"Eq. in.
Improved Longitudinal System. 15
Keelsons, plates and angles 121-97 Longitudinal web plates
-
Stringer plates
Stringer angles -
Tie and diagonal plates
Keel
Garboard strakes
Bq. in.
168-75
-
135.52 Longitudinal web angles
230-75
1-99
44-80 Stringer plates
-
135-52
-
81-20 Stringer angles
0
35-81 20
27-50 Tic and diagonal plates
->
81-20
-
54.00 Keel
-
27-50
Garboard strakes
-
54.00
-
165-12
"
-
105.00
upper part of bilgo
From upper part of bilge to
-
405-12 25
08-32
slicer strake
"
105.00
08.32
->
9-1.08 From sheer strake to spar
From garboard to upper
part of bilge
From upper part of bilge to
sheer strake
Sheer strakes
-
Sk
From sheer strake to spar
deck
-
From garboard strakes to
Sheer strakes

page_text: Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated;
but that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
1. The building of iron or steel ships substantially in accordance
with the improved longitudinal system herein-before described.
And, 2. The building of composite ships with the outside planking
disposed diagonally on longitudinal frames which are combined with
transverse beams, tie frames, and tie plates, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Edward Scott, have hercuito
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.