IMPROVEMENTS IN FITTING SHIPS AND OTHER FLOATING STRUCTURES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Chatwood, of the Lancashire Safe and
Lock Works, Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FITTING SHIPS AND OTHER FLOATING STRUCTURES, TO
Dean
Sealed the 6th July 1875, and dated the 14th January 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Chatwood at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th January 1875.
I, SAMUEL CHATWOOD, of the Lancashire Safe and Lock Works,
Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FITTING SHIPS AND OTHER FLOATING
STRUCTURES TO PROTECT THEM AGAINST FIRE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fitting, ships and
For this purpose
other floating structures to protect them against fire.
I take advantage of the ship's displacement to provide a sufficient and

page_text: permanent head of water for a system of hydrants which I place along
the bottom or sides of vessels. The hydrants in the accessible portions
of the ship should be provided with hose and jets, and those which are
placed in the bold and other inaccessible parts should be provided with
fusible plugs, which on the application of undue heat will melt. The
cocks of these hydrants should be connected with lever keys on deck to
permit of their being turned off when the fire is extinguished.
Secondly. My Invention consists in making ships' decks hollow, or
placing one or more pipes beneath the decks and filling the cavity with
a substance capable of evolving gas or moisture on the application of
heat, or, by preference, I fill it with water and provide the under surfaces
of the decks or the pipes with a scries of fusible plugs, which on the
occurrence of undue heat in any compartment will melt, and so allow
the water contained in the hollow deck or in the pipes to be sprinkled
upon the fire before it can have got much power and without opening
the hatch or allowing an inlet of air. I connect the hollow deck or
pipes by a series of stop-cocks to a large service pipe on one or both sides
of the vessel connected with one or more cisterns, but, by preference, I
place one at each end of the vessel. (The pipes may be of such diameter
and so arranged that when not required for water they may be air-tight,
and so add to the flotation of the ship in storm.) In the unlikely event of
the small quantity of water which the action of heat would release, not
being sufficient to extinguish the fire, then the cock belonging to the
section of deck under which the fire has broken out may be opened,
allowing the full pressure of the cisterns to play upon the fire without
incurring the great danger of letting in the air upon the fire. One of
Seimen's or other pyrometers should be placed in each compartment of
the ship, and be so arranged as to complete an electric circuit at any
given point, sound an alarm, and register the heat on a system of dials in
the captain's cabin or other suitable places.
Thirdly. In steam vessels I provide a steam pipe to pass into or
through all or part of the compartments of a ship and fit the same with
fusible plugs, which on the occurrence of fire will melt and allow the
steam to fill the compartment and extinguish the fire.
As in cases of fire in a ship at sea it often happens that the machinery
11 T
hoft
hofte in

page_text: line with the keel, and it may be from end to end of the vessel. The
shaft or shafts may either be arranged to revolve or to be rocked. If a
revolving shaft is used I provide it at suitable distances with ratchet
levers, and if a rocking shaft I connect levers to it at suitable distances.
The levers I arrange to be worked in sections for convenience of working
by the crew or passengers, and when not in use they may fit into recesses
in the deck. Where steam power is available the shaft may be worked
by the engines of the vessel or by a separate engine, the hand levers in
this case being merely auxiliary, suitable pumps are connected with each
end of the shaft, and if need be at such intervals as may be desirable,
each being connected with the main cisterns.
The pumps may be chain, screw, suction, or force pumps, but I prefer
to place a pair of plunger lifts of comparitively large diameter at eacli
end with smaller ones between, which may be connected or not according
to the exigencies either of fire or force available.
Parts of these improvements
als annlienble to
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Chatwood in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
CHATWOOD, of the Lancashire Safe and Lock Works, Bolton, in the
County of Lancaster, send greeting.
.
'
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of January, in the year'
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Chatwood, Her special.
license that I; the said Samuel Chatwood, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Chatwood, 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.

page_text: 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
FITTING SHIPS AND OTHER FLOATING STRUCTURES TO PROTECT THEM AGAINST FIRE,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Chatwood,
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Chatwood, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fitting ships and
other floating structures to protect them against fire. For this purpose
I take advantage of the ship's displacement to provide a sufficient and
permanent head of water for a system of hydrants which I place along
the bottom or sides of vessels. The hydrants in the accessible portions
of the ship should be provided with hose and jets, and those which are
placed in the hold and other inaccessible parts should be provided with
fusible plugs, which on the application of undue heat will melt. The
cocks of these hydrants should be connected with lever keys on deck to
permit of their being turned off when the fire is extinguished.
.
Secondly. My Invention consists in making ships' decks hollow, or
placing one or more pipes beneath the decks and filling the cavity with
a substance capable of evolving gas or moisture on the application of
heat, or by preference I fill it with water, and provide the under surfaces
of the decks or the pipes with a series of fusible plugs, which on the
occurrence of undue heat in any compartment will melt, and so allow the
water contained in the hollow deck or in the pipes to be sprinkled upon the
fire before it can have got much power and without opening the hatch
or allowing an inlet of air. I connect the hollow deck or pipes by a
series of stop-cocks to a large service pipe on one or both sides of the
vessel, connected with one or more cisterns, but, by preference I place

page_text: one at cach end of the vessel. In the unlikely event of the small
quantity of water which the action of heat would release, not being
sufficient to extinguish the fire, then the cock belonging to the section
of deck under which the fire has broken out may be opened, allowing
the full pressure of the cisterns to play upon the fire without incurring
the great danger of letting in the air upon the fire. One of Siemens'
or other pyrometer should be placed in each compartment of the ship,
and be so arranged as to complete an electric circuit along given
point, sound an alarm, and register the heat on a system of dials in the
captain's cabin or other suitable places.
Thirdly. In steam vessels I provide a steam pipe to pass into or
through all or part of the compartments of a ship, and fit the same with
fusible plugs, which on the occurrence of fire will melt and allow the
steam to fill the compartment and extinguish the fire.
Fourthly. As in cases of fire in a ship at sea it often happens that the
machinery of the ship is unworkable or inaccessible I provide a shaft or
shafts in a line with the keel, and may be from end to end of the vessel.
The shaft or shafts may either be arranged to revolve or to be rocked.
If a revolving shaft is used I provide it at suitable distances with ratchet
levers, and if a rocking shaft I connect levers to it at suitable distances.
The levers I arrange to be worked in sections for convenience of working
by the crew or passengers, and when not in use they fit into recesses
in the deck. Where steam power is available the shaft may be worked.
by the engines of the vessel or by a separate engine, the hand levers in
this case being merely auxiliary, suitable pumps are connected with each
end of the shaft, and if need be at such intervals as may be desirable,
each being connected with the main cisterns.
The pumps may be chain, screw, suction, or force pumps, but I prefer
to place a pair of plunger lifts of comparatively large diameter at each
end with smaller ones between, which may be connected or not according
to the exigencies either of fire or force available.
Parts of these improvements are also applicable to other floating
structures to protect them against fire.
In order that my Invention may be most fully understood, and
readily carried into effect, I will describe the Drawings hereunto.
annexed.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a longitudinal section; Figure 2, a plan of a
steam vessel fitted in accordance with my Invention; Figure 1, Sheet 2,
shows a transverse section of the same to a larger scale; and Figure 2,
Sheet 2, an enlarged view of part of Figure 1, Sheet 1. a is the main
running from end to end of the vessel; are the sea cocks for admitting
water into the main; c are closed cisterns on the main; they also act as
air vessels; d, are air vessels. The cisterns and air vessels provide a-
small supply of water under pressure which can be used whilst the pumps
are being got into work; e are the pumps, and e¹ their handles, e' their
shafts are the hydrants leading to the various decks; they are fitted
with. hose connections f'; f' is a pipe leading to the bilge, so that the
pumps can also be used as bilge pumps.
Sheet 3 illustrates the second part of my Invention; Figure 1 is a
cross section of three decks fitted in the different ways which I propose.
to usc. The left-hand half of the upper deck is hollow and the space
is filled with a vaporizing substance, such as alum. The right-hand
half shows the hollow deck fitted with fusible plugs attached to the
under part of the deck, the hollow in this case being kept full of water.
The middle deck is not hollow, the space being in this case replaced by
pipes. The pipes in the left-hand half are filled with a vaporizing
substance. The right-hand half of the middle deck and the whole of
the lower deck show pipes filled with water and fitted with fusible
plugs. a is the water main with connecting pipes to supply, the hollow
decks or perforated pipes should their supply of water or vaporizing.
material be insufficient.
Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the perforated hollow
deck with the space filled with a vaporizing substance, and Figure 3 is
an enlarged view of the hollow deck fitted with fusible plugs.
Figures 4 and 5 show the details of a nozzle and fusible-plug; in
these Figures g. is the fusible metal; g', a. non-conducting fusible
substance, and g², an air space between them, the object of this arrange-
ment being to keep the fusible metal out of contact with the water, so
that it may, the more readily melt..
In steam vessels the pipes shown on Sheet 3 may be supplied with

page_text: steam instead of water in accordance with the third part of my
Invention.
:
The fourth part of my Invention is illustrated on Sheets 1, 4, and 5.
Sheet 4 shows a method of giving a rotary motion to a pump shaft.
Figure 1 is a plan view, and Figure 2 is a transverse section. e³ is the
pump shaft, and e¹ are the handles which are alternately raised and
lowered. by the men working the pump; are the cross arms carrying the
handles; they are pivotted at the main centres j. These cross arms
each carry two pawls and which take into the teeth of the ratchet /
on the shaft e². The pawl is pivotted on the arms m and is kept up
to its work by a weight at its outer extremity. The arm m is connected
to the cross arm by a connecting rod n. The other pawl ³ is worked
as follows:-It is pivotted on the arms m¹ and is kept up to its work by
its own weight. The arms m³ are connected by the rod n' to one end of
a rocking lever o which is pivotted at its centre to the main frame p, the
other end being provided with a slot working on a pin q on the cross
arm h. Thus, whilst the pawl is descending and causing the shaft to
revolve the pawl 2 is also descending and taking its feed, but when the
pawls are ascending . causes the shaft to revolve, and ¹ is taking its
feed.
Sheet 5 shows the way of giving a rocking motion to the shaft.
Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2, a cross section of my arrangement as
before. e¹ are the handles, and e² the pump shaft. At the bottom of
the standard which carries the handles, treadles q, q, are fixed so that
the men on each side of the pump not only pull or push the handles,.
but by getting on to the treadles can use their weight more effectively.
The shaft is shown with a cross arm working two pumps.
At Figures 3, 4, and 5, Sheet 1, are shown ways of utilizing the steam
power on board a steamer or where steam power is available; in-
Figure 3, the pump is shown worked from a pin on the free end of the
crank shaft of the main engine; Figure 4 shows a small steam cylinder,
the piston and piston rod of which are hollow and through which one of
the rods from the hand pumps is allowed to work; this rod may be
secured by a cotter passing through a slot in the rod to the hollow piston
rod. The steam cylinder is supplied with steam from the main boiler or
otherwise, and in this way the pumps may either be worked by hand or
steam; Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view of this arrangement..
:

page_text: Sheet 6 shows details of several of the parts;. Figure 1 and Figure 2
show a double-acting pump; the piston rod is a barrel and is of half the
volume of the cylinder. The piston in ascending forces out the water
from the cylinder which is half full, the other half of its volume being
occupied with the piston rod. In descending a volume of water equal t
to half the capacity of the cylinder is again forced out, leaving the
portion of the cylinder surrounding the piston full of water which is
again forced out in the up stroke and so on. The piston is perforated
and is fitted with ordinary clack valves.
Figures 3 and 4 show the hose connections on the hydrants.
Figures 5 and 6 show the valves between the main and branches.
. Figures 7 and 8 show the sea cocks; the lower part is the sea valve and
the upper a non-return valve to prevent the water running back from
the mains to the sea.
Figures 9 and 10 show nozzles for attaching the hose on the decks.
Figures 11 and 12 show an arrangement of deck box for getting at
the rod for opening or closing the valves in any compartment of the ship
without opening the hatches, and so admitting air.
1
1
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that what I 2
claim is,―
First. The system of mains opening to the sea and provided with
hydrants and pumps, substantially as described.
Second. The hollow deck or decks provided with pipes which are
filled with a vaporising substance, or which are filled with water and 2
provided with fusible plugs, substantially as described.
Third. Making the shaft of the pumps for filling the main continuous,
or having shafts and pumps in various parts of the ship, so that the
main can be supplied even when part of the ship is inaccessible, sub-
stantially as described.
Fourth. The arrangement for giving a rotary motion to the shafts of
ships' pumps, substantially as described in connection with Figures 1
and 2, Sheet 4 of the Drawings.
:

page_text: Fifth. The combination of a treadle and hand rail for giving an
oscillating motion to the shaft of ships' pumps, substantially as shown
in Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 5 of the Drawings.
Sixth. The double-acting ship's pump having a piston rod of half the
volume of the cylinder, substantially as described in connection with
Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 6 of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Chatwood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.