Improvements in Submarine Boats.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Feb., 1897-Accepted, 22nd May, 1897
Improvements in Submarine Boats.
I, SIMON LAKE, of the corner of Third and Mount Streets, Atlantic
Highlands, Monmount County, New Jersey, United States of America, Engineer,
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 following
statement:-
This invention has for its object primarily to adapt a submarine vessel for
travelling upon the sea bed in order to maintain a fixed course thereupon inde-
pendently of the influence of tides, currents and other conditions commonly
encountered by floating vessels, or submarine boats navigating between the surface
and the bed of the sea, whereby the latter have been caused to drift more or less
out of a fixed course. A further object of the invention is to adapt the vessel to
rest firmly and steadily upon the sea bed during the operation of such part of its
contained apparatus as may be designed for use while the propelling and steering
mechanisms are inactive.
The invention consists essentially in the combination, with the hull of a vessel
adapted for submergence at will, of supporting wheels depending from said hull
and adapted to rest upon the water bed during the submergence of the hull for
sustaining the latter, and means for driving said wheels; whereby the vessel is
adapted to travel upon and in positive contact with the water bed, and to thus
positively determine its course thereon.
The invention also includes certain details of construction to adapt the vessel
for commercial uses; but it is to be understood that the essential feature of the
improvement is equally capable of embodiment in a submarine torpedo boat for
purposes of naval warfare, its positiveness of propulsion and stability adapting it
as readily for the latter purpose as for the former.
My present invention unites in the same structure a hull, capable of submergence
below the surface of the water, with supporting wheels and means for driving
them; thus adapting the vessel for navigation in any depth of water at which the
hull is capable of resisting the external pressure, and for traversing any predeter-
mined course as accurately as with a vehicle upon land, while the load applied to
the supporting wheels may be regulated at pleasure by varying the quantity of
water ballast within the hull, the pressure of the wheels being obviously determined
by the nature of the sea bed.
It is well known that one of the chief difficulties, if not the greatest, encountered
in submarine navigation has been the instability of the hull when deprived of its
buoyancy sufficiently to enable it to sink below the surface, which has caused the
vessel to alternately rise to the surface and descend to the bottom under variations
in its water ballast. All efforts toward maintaining the requisite equilibrium
between the hull and the surrounding water, by automatically or otherwise shifting
and varying the quantity of ballast, have hitherto been unsuccessful in this class
of vessel; but by the employment of supporting traction wheels and sufficiently
destroying the buoyancy of the hull to enable it to bear positively upon such
wheels and maintain them continuously in contact with the sea bed, I am enabled
to absolutely overcome the obstacle recited above to navigation or propulsion
below the surface of the water.
While the present improvement constitutes a radical departure from the methods

page_text: of navigation below the surface heretofore known, I wish it to be understood that
1 do not limit my invention to embodiment in a vessel having for its means of
submarine propulsion only the supporting wheels for travelling upon the water
bed as I propose to employ also such other apparatus as may be found useful at
times in propelling the vessel through the water above the sea bed, as in rising to
the surface when it is not desired to check the headway for the use of the apparatus
shown and described herein for the purpose.
The present improvement having been designed more especially for commercial
purposes, as already stated, I have illustrated it herein as embodied in a wrecking
car for use in, searching for and raising wrecked vessels and for unloading their
cargoes.
In the drawings annexed,
Fig. 1 is an elevation of a vessel embodying. my invention with its hull in
section at the centre line, and Fig. 2 is a plan of the same with the hull similarly
in section ;
Fig. 3 is a front view of the vessel in the act of transferring the cargo of a
wrecked vessel V at one side to a submerged freight car or receptacle upon the
opposite side.
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the vessel with the freight car in tow upon the
water bed.
Fig. 5 is a plan of one end of the drop keel section, and Fig. 6 a longitudinal
section of one of the sucker bars; both described in detail hereinafter.
The hull A is preferably of cylindroconoidal shape and is shown provided with
a 'midship pilot house A¹ and with a compartment A2 for a lookout at the extreme
forward end having a rear door e leading into the main air-tight diving compart-
ment or chamber a communicating by the door e with a smaller auxiliary chamber
or compartment 6 having a rear door e² for communication with the interior of the
hull. The bottom of the compartment a is provided with an outer trap door el for
egress and ingress, and with a hoisting drum d, driven by an electric motor d²,
having its cable d' run over a pulley block d suspended from a swinging crane d³
fixed upon the forward end of the hull (Fig. 3).
A screw propeller S is mounted externally at the stern upon an axial shaft S¹
coupled to a convertible electric motor and dynamo C connected by conducting
wires E³ to the binding posts E2 of a system of storage batteries E' contained
within suitable tanks E disposed upon opposite sides of the hull; and to a steam
engine B deriving its power from a steam boiler B₁ with furnace supplied with
fuel by a pipe B2 from the oil tank D and with smoke stack B³ projected
upwardly through the shell A and surmounted by a drop cap B for closing the
saine when desired.
The buoyancy of the hull is reduced for submergence by the admission of water
from the exterior through valved pipes w into water tanks W W, which may be
suitably connected together; and such water ballast is expelled, when desired,
through pipes g by means of a pump g' actuated by an electric motor g².
A transverse shaft P¹ is provided forward of the middle of the hull carrying
externally a pair of depending wheels P for supporting and steadying the vessel
when resting upon the water bed, such shaft being connected to and driven by an
electric motor (connected with the system of storage batteries E') by means of
gears i; and the rudder R has a bearing wheel R¹ journaled therein for the purpose
of steering when running upon the water bed.
To preserve a level keel during the operation of submerging the vessel, the
weights f, suspended from drums in suitable recesses in the bottom of the hull
and driven by electric motors 2, may be lowered to the bottom and the buoyancy
of the hull nearly destroyed by admitting water to the tanks W, when the winding
of the drums to restore the weights to their respective recesses will operate to draw
the vessel positively to the bottom and maintain it firmly upon its supporting
wheels for positive propulsion by the traction of the latter. While, upon the
surface, the vessel may be driven by the steam engine B or the dyna-electric

page_text: machine C operated as a motor, the latter being adapted when driven by the steam
engine at suitable times to operate as a dynamo in storing the batteries E.
To prevent the vessel's sinking to depths at which the shell A is unadapted to
resist the external pressure, in case the pumping machinery or other apparatus
becomes disabled, the keel K is provided with a detachable portion K¹ sustained
by buttons t whose shanks are projected downward through the shell for the
engagement of their heads with shouldered recesses u in the top of the keel
portion K¹. The button shanks are provided upon their upper ends with lateral
arms connected together by a link t' and with the piston rod s of a hydraulic
cylinders by a connecting rods. The inlet pipe v of the cylinder constitutes the
discharge pipe of a safety valve having its inlet pipe connected with the
exterior of the vessel. The safety valve being set to blow off at the desired external
water pressure, the sinking of the vessel to a corresponding depth causes the valve
to open automatically and admit water to the cylinders whose piston actuates the
arms in simultaneously turning the button heads for the release of the keel
portion K¹; the loss of which causes the vessel to rise to the surface.
Egress from the submerged vessel is effected by the diver's entering the com-
partment a, closing the doors and opening the air cock a¹ connected with the air
reservoirs c, which are supplied while the vessel is at the surface by a pump c¹,
driven by the steam engine, through the supply pipe c². The air pressure in the
diving compartment having been equalized with that of the surrounding water, the
trap door el may be opened for his exit.
A second diver may be admitted to the compartment a by first shutting himself
in the compartment and opening the air cock 6' to equalize the pressure berein
with that of the compartment a, and then opening the door e into the latter. For
re-establishing communication of the compartments a and b with the interior of the
vessel, the cocks a² and 62 are opened successively so as to equalize the air pressu es
upon the opposite sides of the doors e and e³ to enable them to be opened.
When it is desired to attach the vessel to the side of a submerged wreck for
drilling holes in the latter in order to secure thereto chains for raising it, or for any
other object, hollow sucker bars m are projected laterally through stuffing boxes n
applied to suitable apertures therefor in the hull and provided each upon its outer
end with a disk or flange m' having a recess m² in its outer face and surrounded
with a flexible rubber packing ring m³ having a thin outer edge and clamped to the
edge of such disk by means of a metal band m'. The vessel being run alongside of
the wreck, each of said sucker bars is projected outward to seat the thin edge of
the packing ring m³ upon the surface of the wrecked vessel, the bars clamped in
place by means of; set screws n' in the stuffing boxes n, and the contents of the
enclosed spaces exhausted by means of the pump p, the external water pressure
operating to retain the disks firmly scated against the side of the wrecked vessel.
The horizontal drill o may then be run out through the stuffing box o' and
operated by means of a crank, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, or by other suitable
means, to bore a hole in the wrecked vessel's side; the wrecking apparatus being
shifted as required for each additional hole, by forcing air under the disks m¹ to
counteract the external pressure thereon in order to release their hold. It will be
observed that the thin edges of the packing rings m³ adapt them to conform closely
to the surface to which they are applied so as to prevent leakage under the
disks m'.
When seeking for wrecked vessels known to contain treasure which are liable to
have become embedded in the sand or mud and thus hidden from view in the lapse
of time, the vertical drill r may be operated at intervals in traversing a given area
in which the wreck sought is believed to lie, so as to obtain soundings below the
surface of the water bed. For this purpose, a vertical casing having a stuffing
box at its upper end and intermediate gate valve may be applied to a suitable
aperture in the bottom of the hull so as to surround the adjacent portion of such
drill, whose shank would be projected upwardly through the shell into an external
sleeve or pocket to admit of the use of a drill of sufficient length. By raising

page_text: the drill above the gate valve ³, its point may be seen through an inspection window
in the door and, the gate valve having been closed, to exclude the water, the
door may be opened for the renewal of the drill head to the lower end of the shank
or the inspection of the borings when the drill is suitably formed for retaining the
same.
For unloading a sunken vessel, as V, (Fig. 3), it will be found in many instances
desirable to transfer the cargo without raising it to the surface, in which case the
floating freight car or receptacle with hatch and supporting wheels /² may be
employed. In this device the forward axle is shown pivoted to the body or shell
and provided with a tongue or draw bar ³ for its attachment to a suitable stud or
pin upon the exterior of the hull A. This car is provided with compressed air
tanks connected with its interior by a pipe having the valve and with an air
pipe having the valve leading from the interior to the exterior of the shell.
A suitable internal check valve is provided in the bottom (Fig.14), and a water
inlet pipe with valve / is provided externally near the bottom with an operating
lever having one end connected by a cord to a pull handle and the other end
similarly connected to a float l³.
The car having been floated to the desired location and the hatch closed, the
pull handle is actuated' to open the valve and admit water to the interior, and the
cock opened to release the air to be displaced. When the buoyancy is sufficiently
reduced, the car sinks slowly beneath the surface, thereby causing the float to
actuate the lever and close the valve so as to check the inflow of water. The
car having reached the bottom by a gradual descent, the valve / may be again
opened in order to fill the interior, and the hatch removed for the reception of
freight.
The load having been received, the hatch h¹ and valves 1 and 2 closed, and the
valve opened, the confined water is expelled through the bottom check valve by
the compressed air admitted to the interior of the car from the tanks j; whereby
the buoyancy of the car is partially or wholly restored, so that its weight upon the
supporting wheels is reduced sufficiently to enable it to be towed easily upon the
water bed, as in Fig. 4, or that it may rise to the surface where it may be towed to
its destination by a floating vessel.
While I have described certain details of the apparatus illustrated in the
drawing at some length in the foregoing, it is to be understood that each portion of
the improvement may be varied to some extent without departing from my
invention. Thus, the motors described and shown for actuating the several parts
of the apparatus may be replaced by others of suitable character; and the means of
adınitting and expelling the water ballast may be replaced by any others capable
of performing the work required.
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 submarine vessel provided with means for submerging and maintaining it
in contact with the water bed, depending wheels adapted to support the vessel
while upon the water bed, means for driving said wheels to propel the vessel,
and means for guiding the vessel over the water bed, as and for the purpose set
forth.
2. A submarine vessel provided with a detachable keel section, a safety valve
having its inlet connected with the exterior of the vessel, and means operated
by the said safety valve for automatically disengaging the said keel section,
substantially as shown and described.
"3. A submarine vessel provided with a detachable' keel section, a safety valve
having its inlet connected with the exterior of the vessel, a hydraulic cylinder
connected at one end with the discharge of the said safety valve, and a piston
within the said cylinder connected to release levers 'for the said keel section and
adapted to disengage the latter, substantially as shown and described.

page_text: 4. A submarine vessel provided with a detachable keel section formed with
shouldered recesses in its upper side, buttons projected downward through the hull
with their heads locked normally within the said recesses in the keel section and
provided with laterally projecting release levers within the hull, a safety valve
having its inlet connected with the exterior of said vessel, a hydraulic cylinder
connected at one end with the discharge of the said safety valve, and a piston
within said cylinder connected to the said release levers, substantially as shown and
described.
5. In a submarine vessel provided with means for supporting and steadying it
when resting upon the water bed, and a diving compartment having a bottom door
and means for supplying said compartment with compressed air at the pressure of
the surrounding water, the combination, with hoisting mechanism fixed within said
diving compartment and means for actuating the same, of a crane pivoted upon the
exterior of said vessel, and a line leading from said hoisting mechanism through
said door of the diving compartment to said crane, as and for the purpose set
forth.
6. A submarine vessel provided with à hollow bar projected through the wall of
the hull without the same and having at its outer end a disk provided around the
edges with a yielding packing, a stuffing box in the interior of said wall for
excluding the water around said bar, an air pump, and a connection from the
said air pump to the inner end of the said hollow bar, as and for the purpose set
forth.
7. A submarine vessel provided with a hollow bar projected through the wall of
the bull without the same and having at its outer end a disk, a continuous rubber
band clamped around the edges of the said disk and provided with a flaring thin
outer edge, a stuffing box in the interior of said wall for excluding water around
the said bar, an air pump, and a connection from the said air pump to the inner end
of the said hollow bar, as and for the purpose set forth.
8. A subm rine vessel provided with a hollow bar projected through the wall of
the hull without the same and having at its outer end a disk, a continuous flaring
rubber band, with thin outer edge clamped around the edge of the said disk, a
stuffing box ii the interior of said wall for excluding water around the said bar,
a transverse set screw piercing the body of the stuffing box to retain the said bar in
position, an a pump, and a connection from the said air pump to the inner end of
the said holle y bar, as and for the purpose set forth.
9. A subm rine vessel provided with means for submerging the same, and having
a drill with its shank projected through an aperture in the hull surrounded by a
stuffing box for excluding the water, as herein set forth.
10. A submarine vessel provided with means for submerging the same and
having a drill with its shank projected through a suitable aperture in the hull
surrounded by a box or casing having at its inner end a stuffing box and an
adjacent door and provided with a gate valve intermediate to its ends, as and for
the purpose set forth.
11. The combination, with a submarine vessel provided with supporting wheels
upon its bottom and with means for submerging, propelling and guiding the same,
of an auxiliary car or receptacle similarly provided with supporting wheels, a
removable batch, means for admitting and expelling water to and from its interior,
and means for connecting it with the hull of said submarine vessel so as to be
towed thereby upon the water bed, as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 30th day of January 1897.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
17 St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for Applicant.