Improved Means of Defence Against Attack by Torpedoes, Submarine Boats and the like.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Aug., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 30th May, 1900-Accepted, 1st Nov., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION,
Improved Means of Defence Against Attack by Torpedoes, Submarine
Boats and the like.
I, GEORGE HORATIO JONES, of Great Russell Mansions, Great Russell Street, in
the County of London, Surgeon Dentist and Doctor of Dental Surgery (U.S.A.),
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improved means of defence against attack by torpedoes,
submarine boats and the like, and is chiefly designed to provide a guard or shield
which has sufficient buoyancy to enable it to displace more than its weight of
water and which is very strong and rigid and can be conveniently employed for
the protection of ships or vessels in a similar manner to the guards or shields
described in the Specifications of former Letters Patent granted to me and dated
respectively 1st November 1892, No. 19,672, 30th March 1894 No. 6437, and 23rd
November 1894 No. 22749.
According to one part of my said invention, I make the several parts or
sections of the guard or shield from metal plates or sheets placed at a short dis-
tance from each other and riveted or otherwise firmly secured together, with
suitable distance-pieces between them, in such a manner that each section tapers
gradually from the top downwards, the said plates or sheets meeting at their
lower end. The said plates or sheets are, moreover, strengthened or stiffened by
means of angle-irons or channel-irons. By these means great rigidity and resist-
ance to deformation are obtained. Each taper section is subdivided into numerous
water-tight compartments or space so that, in the event of the same being
pierced in any particular part, the amount of water admitted to the compartment
thus damaged, would not materially impair the buoyancy of the injured section.
The said buoyant guards or shields are preferably hinged or pivoted at their
upper part to the sides of the vessel at or about the armoured deck. This
armoured deck will extend to a short distance, say, nine inches, beyond the side
of the armour-belt or lower part of the ship, and in the recess thus formed the
box-shaped guard or shield will be stowed flush with the ship's side at its upper
part and finishing off in wedge-shaped form at its lower extremity.
Any suitable means can be employed for extending or retracting the said
guards or shields, for example the means described in any of my said former
specifications.
When extended into their defensive position, the guards or shields will enclose
an expansive water-cushion between their inner surface and the sides and bottom
of the ship to which they are attached, which will furnish ample protection
against torpedo attack directed at these parts.
The contour of the improved buoyant torpedo guard can be made to fit with
perfect accuracy the configuration of the particular part of the ship to which
each section is attached.
The box or tank mode of constructing the improved guard, whilst ensuring
reat rigidity, also admits of such a great reduction in the scantlings of 11

page_text: the material used that each section of the guard, even without taking into con-
sideration its buoyancy, is much lighter than any kind of steel plate torpedo-
guard heretofore constructed.
A great advantage in favor of this form of defence is the fact that, as the
buoyancy of the box or tank torpedo-guard is greatly in excess of its entire
weight, no additional immersion would be given to any ship on which these
guards or shields are fitted.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improved Means of Defence Against Attack by Torpedoes, Submarine
Boats and the like.
I, GEORGE HORATIO JONES, of Great Russell Mansions, Great Russell Street, in
the County of London, Surgeon Dentist and Doctor of Dental Surgery (U.S.A.),
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 fol-
lowing statement:-
-
My invention relates to improved means of defence against attack by tor-
pedoes, submarine boats and the like, and is chiefly designed to provide a buoyant
guard or shield which is very strong and rigid and which can be conveniently
employed for the protection of ships or vessels.
According to one construction, I make the several parts or sections of the
guard or shield from metal plates or sheets placed at a short distance from each
other and riveted or otherwise firmly secured together, with suitable distance-
pieces between them, in such a manner that each section tapers gradually from
the top downwards, the said plates or sheets meeting at their lower end. The
said plates or sheets are, moreover, strengthened or stiffened by means of angle-
irons or channel-irons to ensure great rigidity and resistance to deformation.
Each section is subdivided into numerous water-tight compartments or spaces so
that, in the event of the same being pierced in any particular part, the amount
of water admitted to the compartment thus damaged, would not materially impair
the buoyancy of the injured section.
Any suitable means can be employed for extending or retracting the said guards
or shields, and when extended into their defensive position, the guards or
shields will enclose such a water-cushion, between their inner surface and the
sides and bottom of the ship to which they are attached, as will furnish ample
protection against torpedo attack directed at these parts.
In the accompanying drawing, I have shown how my said invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice :-
Figure 1 is a front elevation, and
Figure 2 a vertical transverse section of a sectional guard or shield constructed
according to my said invention.
Figure 3 is a partial mid-ship section of a battle-ship constructed to receive my
improved guard or shield.
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation illustrating a detail of construction.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
The sections of the buoyant guard or shield are made with an inner skin a and

page_text: an outer skin 6 preferably of mild steel plating with the butts worked flush and
secured by butt-straps c, these skins being arranged on a series of vertical
frames d of Z-shaped or other suitable cross-section. The section of the guard
shown in Figures 1 and 2 is adapted to be applied to existing ships or vessels
and is accordingly tapered down to a feather-edge at the top and bottom, as
shown at e, so as to form an unbroken surface with the uncovered portions of
the ship's hull. The front edges of the front sections and the rear edges of the
rear sections are similarly tapered, whilst the ends of sections which abut against
or are contiguous to the edges of adjacent sections, are closed by dish plates with
outwardly-extending flanges to which the ends and edges of the skin plating are
rivetted from the outside.
The sections of the guard can be supported and extended and contracted by
means of hydraulic cylinders f, Figure 4, which may be secured to the guard by
means of screw-threaded bolts g engaging with screw-threaded discs h on the
outer skin b and passing through stiffening discs j on the inner skin a of the
guard. By these means, the cylinders of can be very readily connected to or
disconnected from the guards while the vessel is at sea. The cylinders f move
over annular pistons k mounted on the ends of tubes through which fluid under
pressure is supplied from a hydraulic accumulator, a pump, or the like. The
cylinders f slide freely in tubular guides or pockets m secured to the side of the
vessel. The pockets m can be formed into hydraulic cylinders in which work
annular pistons, arranged on the ends of the cylinder f for retracting the guards.
It is obvious that, if desired, other suitable means can be employed for sup-
porting and extending and retracting the sections of the guard or shield, for
example, the said buoyant guards or shields can be hinged or pivoted to the
upper sides or to the bottom of the vessel and be extended and retracted by
hydraulic pistons or cylinders.
In Figure 3, I have shown an arrangement in which the skin n of the vessel
is formed with recesses on each side, into which the sections of the guard fit
when retracted, the said guard being made with square edges 9 which fit closely
against the walls of the recesses p so as to bring the outer surface of the guard
flush with the skin of the ship.
Or, in cases where the ship is built with an armoured deck, extending a short
distance, say nine inches, beyond the side of the armour-belt or lower part of
the ship the box-shaped guard or shield can be hinged or pivoted to the side
of the ship so that, when retracted, its upper part will fit into the recess formed
beneath the said armoured deck with its outer surface flush with the ship's side,
its lower part either finishing off in wedge-shaped form or being made square
and fitting into correspondingly-shaped recesses in the ship's side as in the
arrangement shown in Figure 3.
The contour of the improved buoyant torpedo guard can be made to fit with
perfect accuracy the configuration of the particular part of the ship to which each
section is attached.
The hollow spaces of the guard may be filled or partially filled with a light
substance such as cork or other similar material so that even if the skin of the
guard or shield be perforated, the guard will still remain buoyant since the sub-
stance filling its interior will prevent the ingress of water. Or the guard may
consist of a double skin enclosing cork or other light material, or hollow tubes
closed at the ends, or hollow boxes arranged in any suitable manner between the
skins, for the purpose of ensuring the desired buoyancy.
The box or tank mode of constructing the improved guard, whilst ensuring
great rigidity, also admits of such a great reduction in the scantlings of all the
material used that each section of the guard, even without taking into considera-
tion its buoyancy, is much lighter than any kind of steel-plate torpedo-guard
heretofore constructed.
A great advantage in favour of this form of defence is the fact that, as the
buoyancy of the box or tank torpedo-guard can be made in excess of its entire

page_text: weight, no additional immersion need be given to any ship on which these guards
or shields are fitted.
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:-
1. A buoyant torpedo-guard or shield substantially as, and for the purposes,
specified.
2. A torpedo-guard, or shield consisting of metal plates or sheets placed at a
short distance from each other with angle- or channel-irons between them so as
to form water-tight compartments or spaces, substantially as described.
3. The combination, with a ship or vessel and a buoyant torpedo-guard or
shield, of means for extending and retracting said shield, substantially as
described.
4. The improved torpedo-guard or shield constructed substantially as herein-
before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2, or to Figure 3, of the
accompanying drawing, for the purpose specified.
5. The modification of my invention in which the interior of the buoyant
shield is filled or partially filled or combined with cork or other light substance,
or with hollow bodies, for the purpose specified.
Dated this 20th do
F
1000
५
GEORGE HORATIO JONES.
D. Young & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.