IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR RAISING VESSELS AND OTHER SUNKEN BODIES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO STOPPING AD DIGING HAL" PROVISIONAL SPATION
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Collis Browne, of the Naval and Military
Club, Hanover Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR RAISING VESSELS AND
OTHER SUNKEN BODIES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO STOPPING
AD
DIGING HAL"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Collis Browne
at the Office of the Commissioners of, Patents,, with his Petition, on the
29th April 1864.
I, JOHN COLLIS BROWNE, of the Naval and Military Club, Hanover Square,
5 in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR RAISING VESSELS AND
OTHER SUNKEN BODIES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO STOPPING OR
PLUGGING HOLES IN SHIPS," to be as follows:-
This, Invention relates to certain improved. means and apparatus: to be
employed in. the operations of raising sunken vessels or ships or other bodies,
and also for stopping or plugging holes in ships or vessels in the event of
leakage or the penetration of their hulls by shot or shells.
I propose to construct a bag or flexible receptacle composed of elastic or
yielding waterproof fabric, or compound of india-rubber or other waterproof

page_text: solution and textile fabric, or of sheet metal and such fabric combined, of any
dimensions, according to the purpose required; the mouth or top of the bag is
closed by a circular disc of wood or metal, around which the bag in fastened
by rivets or other convenient mode of attachment. The disc has an opening
in the centre for the purpose of receiving a metallic tube inserted therein or
into a neck of the bag, and fixed in a water-tight manner therein. The tube
is provided with a tap or cock, above which the tube is terminated by a screw
or winding thread for the attachment of a flexible hose.
To apply the apparatus to the purpose of raising sunken vessels or bodies
the receptacle is to be applied, attached, or introduced thereto in an empty or
collapsed state, after which it is to be dilated or filled with an air or gas by aid of
a vessel engaged for the purpose, the effect of which will be to exercise a buoyant
force tending to raise the vessel or body. Several bags or receptacles of various
sizes or shapes may be applied, according to the weight of the object to be
raised; or in order to dilate the receptacle with a gas, a mixture of an acid
and an alkali or other chemical compounds capable of generating gas by their
combination may be previously inserted therein in a state of dry powder or
otherwise, and a small quantity of water may be caused to run down the hose
into the receptacle, whereby chemical action will take place, creating carbonic
acid, hydrogen, or other gases, and cause the inflation of the receptacle or bag.
Or carbonate of lime or magnesia or soda may be supplied to the receptacle,
and a small glass, metallic, or other vessel filled with sulphuric acid placed
therein, the stopper or cock of which may be withdrawn by a string passing
down the hose, whereby a combination will ensue, resulting in the production
of carbonic acid so as to inflate the bag. Thus, in the case of a leak or hole
in the side of the vessel the collapsed receptacle or bag could readily be placed
in position therein, and the inflation being immediately produced it would
follow that the inner and outer ends of the bag would swell out and form a
plug or stopper incapable of being driven from its place by the pressure of the
water. The tap could be closed or opened whenever desired to place or
remove the bag, that is to say, to maintain or take away the inflated character
of the same.
The apparatus would also serve to sustain persons in the water in the event
of shipwreck, and thus act as a life buoy. In order to introduce the chemical
compounds it is only necessary to detach the hose from the short tube, 'when
they can be readily inserted through the open tap and then enclosed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Collis Browne in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COLLIS BROWNE, of the Naval and Military Club, Hanover Square, in the.
County of Middlesex, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Collis Browne, Her special licence that
I, the said John Collis Browne, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Collins Browne, my executors, adminis-.
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR
RAISING VESSELS AND OTHER SUNKEN BODIES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO STOPPING OR PLUGGING HOLES IN SHIPS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Collis Browne, 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 John Collis Browne, 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 :-
My Invention relates to certain improved means and apparatus to be
employed in the operation of raising sunken vessels or ships or other bodies,
and also for stopping or plugging holes in ships or vessels in the event of
leakage or the penetration of their hulls by shot or shells.
In order to explain my said Invention completely, I now proceed to describe
the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical
effect.
.

page_text: I construct a strong bag or flexible receptacle composed of elastic or
yielding waterproof fabric, or compound of india-rubber or other waterproof
solution and textile fabric, or of sheet metal and such fabric combined, of any
dimensions, according to the purpose required. Two openings are made at
one end of the bag or receptacle, one of which is for the purpose of supplying
the receptacle with the materials hereafter named, and the other for with-
drawing them when required, and for cleansing out the receptacle. Both
these openings are continued in the form of necks for the purpose of inserting
and fastening a pipe, tube, or tap. The opening for emptying or cleansing the
receptacle may be provided with an ordinary tap or cock, but the entrance for
the supply of the materials should be provided with an union joint or nozzle,
having a valve or regulator for controlling the flow of liquid.
Now, in order to charge the receptacle certain arrangements of apparatus
are necessary. Assuming that it is required to apply the receptacle or any
number of them to the purpose of raising a sunken vessel or other body, the
receptacle is first charged with an alkaline substance by disconnecting the
union joint, and pouring in the alkali in a powdered state, the quantity of
such material being in accordance with the dimensions of the receptacle, the
ultimate object being to generate in such receptacle a sufficient quantity of
carbonic acid or other gas so as to inflate to its fullest extent the bag or
receptacle. The union joint is then to be again connected, and a hose or
tube extends therefrom (to any suitable length, according to the depth of
water in which operations are to be carried on) to a diffusing chamber or com-
pound tap provided with a number of cocks, from each of which (if necessary)
hoses or tubes are conveyed to similar receptacles, so that a number may be
simultaneously supplied with liquid. From this chamber a hose extends again,
either direct to a force pump or indirectly by means of a second diffusing
chamber, which is supplied by a force pump. The object of such second chamber
would be that a series of hoses and diffusing chambers first described might be
filled or supplied with liquid simultaneously, in the event of a very extensive
operation being necessary, as in the case of raising a large and heavily laden
vessel.
Now, in order to operate the general apparatus, a suitable steam or other
ship or vessel is employed, in which the whole is conveyed to the spot where
a wreck is sunk. The vessel contains a force pump and receptacle or tank
filled with liquid for the purpose of injection down the series of tubes or
ramifying hose described, and eventually into the receptacles.
I will now mention some of the materials 1 prefer to adopt in the process,
although I do not of course restrict myself to their use. The materials to

page_text: supply the receptacle, firstly, in a powdered state (or even in a moistened
state if more convenient) may be carbonate of soda, lime, or chalk; and the>
liquid to be injected may be diluted sulphuric or hydrochloric acid'; or:
carbonate of soda and tartaric acid may be respectively employed; or
steel or zinc filings and diluted sulphuric acid. The receptacle being
charged is conveyed below the surface. of the sea or water: by a diver or.
divers, and is attached to the sunken vessel or body in a collapsed state, by
any well-known means, such as by chains, hooks, nets, or by aid of suckers:
attached to the side of the ship, but I lay no claim to any special method>
of attachment. When a sufficient number of receptacles have been securely
fixed to the sunken vessel or body, the forcing pump is put in, action,
and the acid liquid is instantly injected into all the receptacles, thereby
inflating them in a most rapid manner with carbonic acid or other gas., This
sudden inflation is a most important and valuable feature of my Invention.
The sunken vessel or body is raised by the excessive buoyancy of the,
receptacles, and quickly brought to the surface, after which by any ordinary
means the wreck or body is towed to a place of safety, the hoses being securely
fastened by taps and non-return valves, if it should be necessary to detach
them from the pump, in order that the wreck or body may be taken in tow by
another vessel.
Fig. 1 of the Drawings represents a bag or receptacle a, provided with an
injecting hose and joint 6; c is the outlet tap; d is the diffusing chamber,
with several taps e,.e; the diffusing chamber may be in the form of a rose, as
at Fig. 2, or in form of a disc, Fig. 3. The hose is continued as at 6' to a
pump in the vessel, from which the operations are carried on, or to a second
diffusing chamber g, and thence to the pump. The taps or valves may be
arranged as required, in order to regulate the respective supplies of liquid.
Fig. 4 represents a part of a section of a ship's side h, with a bag or
receptacle a inserted in a hole caused by a shot or shell, or otherwise; i is a
metal tube for the purpose of injecting as before from a pump; k being a tap
for securing the inflation. The bag is passed through the hole in a collapsed
state, and when inflated forms a perfect and immoveable plug, swelling into
all the irregular surfaces or angles of a jagged hole or rupture, and thus
instantly prevents the rush of water into the vessel. In some cases, instead of
injecting the bag, I close one end with a disc of wood or metal around which
the bag is fastened by rivets or other means. The disc has an opening in the
centre for receiving a metallic chamber or tube, having a plate at top and
bottom, clamped together by a rod passing through the tube, and by a milled
edge screw button acting on a thread on the rod outside the bag. Another

page_text: tap on the disc serves for the alkali supply, and the chamber being filled with
dilute acid, the bag may be inflated when desired by unscrewing the rod and
releasing the bottom plate, when the liquid runs out and mixes with the
alkali.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I claim the method of raising sunken
vessels and other bodies, and of plugging holes in ships, by means of the
general arrangement and combination of apparatus described, whereby I am
enabled to inflate bags or receptacles under water by the production of
carbonic acid or other gas, substantially as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Collis Browne, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JOHN COLLIS BROWNE. (L.S.)
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.