IMPROVE- MENTS IN ARMOUR, AND IN MAKING AND APPLYING THE SAME FOR PROTECTING WOOD AND IRON SHIPS OF WAR AND BATTERIES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Tate, of Horsley Hill, near South Shields,
in the County of Durham, Shipowner, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ARMOUR, AND IN MAKING AND APPLYING THE SAME FOR PROTECTING
WOOD AND IRON SHIPS OF WAR AND BATTERIES."
Sealed the 16th June 1865, and dated the 19th December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Tate at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
December 1864.
I, WILLIAM TATE, of Horsley Hill, near South Shields, in the County of
Durham, Shipowner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR, AND IN MAKING AND APPLYING THE SAME FOR
PROTECTING WOOD AND IRON SHIPS OF WAR AND BATTERIES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the use and inprovements in the manufacture
and mode of applying iron or steel, flat or 'round wire (galvanized or un-
galvanized) rope, stranded or other flat belts or sheets (of small and large
sized wire), applied singly in belts or sheets of iron or steel, or intermixed
as one belt or sheet, composed of one-third steel and two-thirds iron wire,
as armour for wood and iron ships of war and batteries in place of iron plates.
The iron and steel flat belts or sheets to be manufactured to suit the full
length of the ships or batteries (from fifty feet up to five hundred feet if
required) and from four inches to thirty inches broad, and from half an inch

page_text: to two inches in thickness (more or less). These belts or sheets to be laid on
in tiers as many as may be required, and be applied singly or in conjunction
with iron or steel plates of any thickness or dimensions, with leather and
millboard if required, and planked with teak wood, and bolted and fastened
in a substantial manner, and plated neatly over with iron or steel plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Tate in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th
June 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
TATE, of Horsley Hill, near South Shields, in the County of Durham, Ship-
owner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Tate, Her special licence that I, the
said William Tate, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Tate, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR, AND IN MAKING AND APPLYING THE SAME FOR
PROTECTING WOOD AND IRON SHIPS OF WAR AND BATTERIES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Tate, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 William Tate, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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, reference being had to the 2 Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in the use and improvements in the manufacture

page_text: and the mode of applying iron and steel, flat and round wire, galvanized
and ungalvanized, rope, stranded flat belts or sheets, or woven or plaited.
sheets or belts of any kind, of large and small size, wires, woven wires in
sheets, of round or flat wires applied singly in belts or sheets of iron or steel.
wires or intermixed as one belt or sheet, being by preference one-third steel.
and two-thirds iron wire, as armour for wood and iron ships of war and
batteries used singly on intermixed with sheets of millboard, leather, or.
compressed cotton, or in conjunction with wrought iron or steel plates of any
dimensions. The iron or steel flat belts or sheets should be manufactured
to suit the full length of the ships or batteries requiring the same, and
from half an inch up to any thickness upwards, and from four inches up to
any dimensions in breadth. These belts or sheets should be laid on the one
and a quarter inch iron plates, which should be well secured and fastened
to the twenty-one inches of teak wood ship side, to be laid in tiers in
conjunction with millboard or sheets of leather well stitched to any dimen-
sions, or sheets of compressed cotton of any thickness, to be all laid on
in tiers as many as may be required, and when the proper strength has been.
obtained, then planked over with three-inch teak or other hard wood, all well
bolted and screw bolted through all to good fastenings insido skin of the ship
of war, and covered neatly over all with half-inch wrought iron or steel plates
twenty-four inches or more in breadth, or of any thickness of iron or steel
plates. Gutta percha, may be used, if desired, in coating the millboard,.
leather, and cotton compressed.
Having thus far described the nature of the said Invention, I will now
proceed to the further explanation thereof, and to particularly describe
and ascertain in what manner the same is to be performed, which I shall do
by referring to the Drawings accompanying this Specification, by the figures
and letters placed thereon and herein referred to, that is to say :-
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
The Figures marked Number 1 and 1° represent a midship section from.
the model eighteen feet in length and seven feet down the ship's side. Thick-
ness, including teak wood on ship, twenty-seven and three-quarters of an
inch; also showing the mode of applying and fastening the flat iron, steel,
or one-third steel and two-thirds wire rope, stranded belts, or sheets. The
armour to be of all breadths, thickness, and length of flat wire, left and
right handed stranded ropes, belts, or sheets, applying the same to the sides
of wood and iron ships of war and batteries. Iron straps leading from the
inside of the ship coming over the top of the covering board or gunwale,

page_text: Jeading down the side of the ship of war to the extent of the wire armour,
and to be eight inches or upwards in breadth and half an inch to one inch
in thickness, more or less, as may be ordered, having three lines of holes
properly drilled at equal distances as may be ordered or required to suit the
inside fastenings running down to the extent of the iron straps, with iron
straps eight inches in breadth, running fore and aft, to secure the edges of the
iron or steel plates, to bolt and screw and fasten the wire and other armour
to the ship's or batteries sides. The thickness to be of any dimension as
may be required to fasten the various breadths of armour to the ship's or
batteries sides. The thickness to be of any dimensions as may be required
to fasten the various breadths of armour and teak wood, wrought iron, or
steel plates of any dimensions; to be all well compressed by screwing to the
side of the ships of war or batteries; to have extra iron screw bolts set well
up inside the ship. The iron strapping to be about six feet or upwards apart,
as may be desired, and in the middle of the main strapping additional straps
six inches more or less in breadth and balf an inch and upwards may be
applied, if required, in thickness, with the same number of holes leading down
from the edge of the covering board to the extent of the flat wire rope,
stranded armour, belts, or sheets, with various lengths and thicknesses of
iron bolts with flat washers under their heads as extra fastening if required,
going through iron washer plates six inches by six and three quarters
of an inch in thickness, more or less, running through each tier or breadth
of the armour as may be ordered and applied, to further secure the within-
named armour. The wrought-iron or steel plates to be of the length and
dimensions to suit the port holes of the ships and batteries from stem to
stern, in length, for example, of eighteen feet, more or less.
For batteries on land or sea, much larger lengths, breadths, and thick-
nesses of the flat wire rope or sheet armour, millboard, leather, compressed
cotton, and wrought-iron or steel plates may be made use of, including
dimensions of all kinds of the above-named armour, including teak and all
other kinds of hard wood, with heavy iron screw-bolt fastenings, strapping,
and bolting, &c., all the above-named armour to be in combination with each
other if required. The millboard to be put together in twelve sheets, each
one-twelfth part of an inch thick, with the solution of gutta percha, making a
sheet one inch thick. I also coat over the leather with the same solution to
prevent the damp or weather from injuring the millboard, leather, or cotton.
This section contains sixteen inches teak wood, one inch plate iron or steel,
seven inches of wire, teak three inches, and a half-inch plate of iron or steel.
The Figure marked No. 2 represents, for example, the thickness of the

page_text: midship section of armour of a ship of war, eighteen feet long and seven feet
deep, by thirty-four inches and a quarter in thickness, showing the mode of
applying the armour to the side of the ship as described, in conjunction
with No. 1 section Drawing, showing the sides when finished, except the
ports and adjuncts.
The section Drawing shows the following:-Teak wood on ship's side
twenty-one inches, with a wrought-iron or steel plate one and a quarter inch
thick, next comes four sheets of half-inch wire, then one sheet of millboard
one inch in thickness, in twelve parts, put together and covered with the
solution of gutta percha; then three sheets of half-inch wire as above
described; then one-inch sheet of millboard, as before; then four sheets
of half-inch wire; then another sheet of one-inch millboard as described;
then comes three inches of teak wood planking, and finished neatly over with
half-inch wrought-iron or steel plates as described; the fastenings in this armour
are in conjunction with No. 1 section Drawing. The whole armour of ship
side to be well compressed by hydraulic screw or pressure, and fastened
through to the inside teak or iron frame fastenings set well up with screw
bolts of large dimensions.
The Figure marked No. 3 represents a section showing a different mode
of using the armour in conjunction with No. 1 and 2 Drawings, exhibiting
a midship section of a ship of war as follows:-Section, eighteen feet long,
seven feet deep, by twenty-nine inches in thickness, as follows:-Teak wood
on ship's side twenty-one inches in thickness; then two and a half inches
wrought-iron plates or steel plates, well bolted and fastened through the teak
wood; then three sheets of balf-inch wire; then one sheet or sheets of one
and a quarter inch millboard, coated and put together with the solution of
gutta percha as above named; then three sheets of half-inch wire all well
screwed and compressed together and iron-fastened with screw bolts; then
covered neatly over with one and a quarter inch wrought-iron or steel plates,
all well compressed together and fastened through by large iron screw bolts
to inside frame of iron or teak wood. The wire armour, which may be of
various breadths (but mostly of twenty-one inches), has to be of various
lengths to suit port holes and other contingencies as may be required. The
tiers or thicknesses of the within-named wire rope, stranded flat belt or sheet
armour is to be increased in the number of tiers or thicknesses if required
until the proper strength is obtained. The wire belts or sheets to be applied
to the sides of the ship in single or double sheets full length of the ship if
required, only where it does not come in contact with the port holes, there
smaller and various lengths to be used, or in short lengths in three or four

page_text: tiers or thicknesses in various lengths, the ends of each fitting close and over-
lapping or jointing each other as may be ordered and required in all and
every case attending the same. Note. The flat wire rope, stranded rope, or
armour to be manufactured from patterns of the left and right handed
stranded iron or steel, flat wire rope or sheet, or two-thirds iron and one-
third flat wire rope, belts or sheets of iron, or armour of small or large iron,
or steel wires or cord twisted small, or large iron or steel wires, from four
inches, and all breadths upwards, and of various thicknesses. As named
before, for any use it might be applied to otherwise than armour. A small
hemp yarn running through the middle of each left and right handed strand
of the above-named wire flat belts, rope, stranded armour, and a small steel
wire running through the middle of every fifth right-handed strand of the
iron flat wire rope, also a small steel wire running through the crossing
strand of the same, and a small iron wire running through the middle of
every third left-handed strand of the steel flat wire rope, stranded rope, or
armour with a small iron wire in the crossing strand of the same, or a small
brass wire running through the middle of every seventh left-handed strand of
the iron or steel flat wire rope, stranded rope, or iron belts, with a small
brass wire running through the crossing strand of each, also a small cord
twisted iron wire to be applied as bands three or four inches broad to be
applied to the ends of the within-named wire rope when cut into lengths,
to protect the ends of the same when applying it to the sides of the ship or
batteries.
As regards the Figures placed on said Drawings, A denotes the ordinary
side of the vessel; B, the wire rope stranded flat belts disposed in manner
aforesaid; b, teak wood or other suitable substance interposed between
the stranded flat belts and the outer plates; C, the outer plates; D, the
strapping. The small circles show the bolt holes for fastening the strapping.
E, square washers, some only marked, to the heads of the bolts which pass
through the flat stranded wire rope, and are secured in the ordinary side of
the ship.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would here remark that I reserve to
myself the right to use iron, steel, brass, zinc, copper, and other wire, for
the manufacture of flat or round wires ropes, stranded rope belts, or wire
woven or unwoven in sheets, with the use of copper or zinc plates, and
also the right to use either flat wire ropes, or round wire ropes, or plaited
wire in sheets or ropes, that is, ropes of any and all kinds, with compressed
cotton, gutta percha, or other material which I claim as being the Invention.

page_text: herein-before set forth and illustrated in the Drawings marked Nos. 1, 2,
and 3, accompanying this Specification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tate, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
WILLIAM TATE. (L.S.)