MOVEABLE ARMOUR FOR PROTECTING SHIPS OF WAR AND BATTERIES FROM THE EFFECTS OF SHOT AND SHELL
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Josiah Harris of Ess Hill House, Newton Abbot,
in the County of Devon, Gentleman, for the Invention of "MOVEABLE
ARMOUR FOR PROTECTING SHIPS OF WAR AND BATTERIES FROM THE EFFECTS
OF SHOT AND SHELL."
in the County of Devon, Gentleman, for the Invention of "MOVEABLE
ARMOUR FOR PROTECTING SHIPS OF WAR AND BATTERIES FROM THE EFFECTS
OF SHOT AND SHELL."
Sealed the 26th February 1861, and dated the 27th October 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Josiah Harris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
October 1860.
I, JOSIAH HARRIS, of Ess Hill House, Newton Abbot, in the County of
Devon, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"MOVEABLE ARMOUR FOR PROTECTING SHIPS OF WAR AND BATTERIES FROM THE
EFFECTS OF SHOT AND SHELL," to be as follows:-
And consists of hanging of bars or plates of steel, iron, or other metals, or
combination of metals round the ships or batteries requiring protection. The
bars or plates are hung or fixed so that there is a vacancy between the inner
side of the bars or plates and the ship's side or the walls of the battery. The
bars or plates are made and formed as to be easily removed or attached. The
length, breadth, and thickness of the bars or plates vary according to circum-

page_text: stances. The form of the bars or plates can either be flat, round, half round,
or any other form. Two or more bars or plates, one over another, can be used
when greater resistance to shot or shell is required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Josiah Harris in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSIAH
HARRIS, of Ess Hill House, Newton Abbott, in the County of Devon, Gentle-
man, send greeting.
year of our
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of October, in the
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Josiah Harris, Her special licence that I, the said Josiah Harris,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Josiah
Harris, 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 "MOVEABLE ARMOUR
FOR PROTECTING SHIPS OF WAR AND BATTERIES FROM THE EFFECTS OF SHOT AND
SHELL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Josiah Harris,
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 per-
formed, 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 Josiah Harris, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
:
This Invention has for its object the constructing moveable armour for pro-
tecting ships of war and batteries from the effects of shot and shell, and con-
sists of hanging of bars or plates of steel, iron, or other metals or combination

page_text: of metals round the ships or batteries requiring protection. The bars or plates
are hung or fixed so that there is a vacancy between the inner side of the bars:
or plates and the ship's side or the walls of the battery. The bars. or plates are
made and formed as to be easily removed or attached. The length, breadth,
and thickness of the bars or plates vary according to circumstances. The form
of the bars or plates can either be flat, round, half round, or any other form.
Two or more bars or plates one over another can be used when greater resist-
ance to shot or shell is required.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a vessel having armour applied to it
in the manner I prefer in carrying out my Invention; Figure 2 is a transverse
section of a portion of the same, on a larger scale.
a, a, is the woodwork of the vessel; b, b, are screw bolts passing through it;
c, c, are nuts which screw on to the ends of the bolts b; d, d, are the protect-
ing bars or plates. As the Drawing shows, each bar is welded up into an oval
ring, so as when in place to form a double covering to the ship. The thickness
of the inner part of the ring, that is to say, the part nearest to the ship is com-
paratively small, whilst the exterior part of the ring or that which is at a
distance from the ship is much thicker, although not so thick as the armour
plates now ordinarily used, less thickness being required in consequence of the
elasticity of the bars or plates; the bars or plates have holes formed through
them for the passage of the screw bolts, and when it is desired to attach the
armour to the ship, the bars are placed over the ends of the bolts, and the nuts
are screwed on over them.
Figure 3 is a side view, and Figure 4 a vertical transverse section, of another
convenient arrangement for carrying out my Invention.
a, a, is the woodwork forming the side of a ship; b, b, are bars fixed to it
and carrying studs c, c, at short distances apart; d, d, are the protecting bars
or plates, they are not formed into rings as in the former case, but they are
curved, as the Drawing shows. At their ends holes are formed at a distance
apart, equal to the distance between the rows of studs on the ship's side.
When the bars or plates are applied to the ship's side, the studs c pass through
the holes in the ends of the bars or plates, which are then secured by pins e, e,
passing through the studs. The bars or plates may be arranged horizontally
in place of vertically, if preferred.

page_text: In applying armour bars or plates to batteries, I proceed in the same
manner as in applying them to ships.
In witness whereof, I, the said Josiah Harris, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOSIAH HARRIS. (L.S.)