A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN THE FORM OF THE HULLS OF STEAM VESSELS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ross Winans and Thomas Winans, of the City and
County of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, United States of America,
for the Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN THE FORM OF
THE HULLS OF STEAM VESSELS."
Sealed the 30th September 1858, and dated the 19th June 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ross Winans and Thomas
Winans at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 19th June 1858.
We, Ross WINANS and THOMAS WINANS, of the City and County of
Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, United States of America, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVE-
MENT IN THE FORM OF THE HULLS OF STEAM VESSELS," to be as follows:-
The shape of the steam ships heretofore constructed has been such that
when changing from an upright to an inclined position, different figures, and
consequently varying resistances, are presented to the action of the winds and
waves respectively, which tend to keep the vessel constantly rolling. The
object of our Invention is to diminish this variation of resistance to the winds
and waves which causes a vessel to roll, and also to diminish those resistances
which prevent the vessel when "careened," or inclined to one side, from
"righting" or returning to its normal upright position, while at the same:

page_text: time we obtain increased strength and stowage, and a capacity for greater
average speed. We accomplish these objects by giving to the hull such a
form that the transverse section of the exterior in any part will be represented
by a circle.
The hull of a vessel having the form which we propose is a spindle, which
may be constructed of any suitable materials and with any kind of framing
that may be deemed advisable. At every point in its length the cross section
of the hull is a circle, and its longitudinal axial section, taken in any direction,
is formed of two arcs of a circle. Such a bull when loaded may be immersed
to or nearly up to the axis of the spindle.
In an application for another Patent made simultaneously with the applica-
tion for this, we have described the arrangement of a propelling wheel, which
we consider to be the most advantageous for use with the spindle-shaped hull,
but the kind of propeller used, or its position, may be varied at the discretion
of the constructor.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ross Winans and Thomas Winans in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, Ross
WINANS and THOMAS WINANS, of the City and County of Baltimore, in the
State of Maryland, United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
1858, in the twenty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said Ross Winans and Thomas
Winans, Her special license that we, the said Ross Winans and Thomas
Winans, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said Ross Winans and Thomas Winans, our 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 Inven-
tion of "A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN THE FORM OF THE HULLS OF
STEAM VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Ross
Winans and Thomas Winans, by an instrument in writing under our hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said

page_text: 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 we, the said Ross Winans and Thomas Winans,
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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1 represents a plan of the hull of a vessel of our improved form;
Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section at the line x, x, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3
represents transverse sections at the lines y, y, and z, z, of Fig. 1; Figs. 4, 5, 6,
and 7, details to be referred to hereafter.
The shape of the steam ships heretofore constructed has been such that
when changing from an upright to an inclined position, different figures, and
consequently varying resistances, are presented to the action of the winds and
waves respectively, which tend to keep the vessel constantly rolling. The
object of our Invention is to diminish this variation of resistance to the winds
and waves, which causes a vessel to roll, and also to diminish those resistances
which prevent the vessel when "careened," or inclined to one side, from
righting" or returning to its normal or upright position, while at the same
time we obtain increased strength and stowage, and a capacity for greater
average speed. We accomplish these objects by giving to the hull such a form
that the transverse section of the exterior in any part will be represented
by a circle.
66
The hull of a vessel having the form which we propose is a spindle, which
may be constructed of any suitable materials, and with any kind of framing
that may be deemed advisable. At every point in its length the cross section
of the hull is a circle (as shown in Fig. 3), and its longitudinal axial section,
taken in any direction, is formed of two arcs of a circle, as shown in Figs. 1
and 2. Such a hull when loaded may be immersed to or nearly up to the axis
of the spindle.
In an application for another Patent, made simultaneously with the applica-
tion for this, we have described the arrangement of a propelling wheel which
we consider to be the most advantageous for use with the spindle-shaped hull,
but the kind of propeller used, or its position, may be varied at the discretion
of the constructor.
The stability necessary for a vessel of this form when unloaded may be given
to it by placing the machinery at a point low in the vessel, or by ballast, or by
both combined, as may be deemed most convenient or advantageous. When

page_text: loading, the center of gravity of the entire mass will be lowered as in ordinary
vessels, and any required degree of stability may be given by a proper distri-
bution of the cargo. If by rolling the position of the vessel should be changed,
so that the normally vertical line (shown in Fig. 3) passing through its center
should become inclined (as shown in Fig. 4), it is obvious that the section
being a circle, there will still be the same symmetrical figure presented to the
action of the winds or waves; and the center of gravity having been raised (as
indicated in Fig. 4), will tend to fall back to its normal position (as shown in
Fig. 3) with no other resistance than the mere friction of the surface of the
vessel against the air and water in which it rolls. There is little, therefore, to
prevent the vessel from resuming its upright position when directed from it;
and there is, for the same reason, but little to cause it to deviate from the
upright position; the winds or the waves acting upon the sides (in the direction
shown by the arrows in Fig. 3), would meet with the least possible resistance,
which the same sectional area could be made to present, and glancing from
the round surface of the vessel, would produce the least possible effect. The
action of the waves from beneath, as they rise and fall, would in like manner
meet in any position of the vessel the same figure of resistance, and therefore
would not tend to turn it one way more than another, except so far as might
arise from the mere friction of the water against the sides. These advantages
cannot be attained in a vessel of ordinary construction, which presents a large
area of surface, comparatively plane, especially to the wind, the gusts or
intermittent impulses of which chiefly occasion careening, the lulls of the wind
between the impulses permitting the vessel to return to a nearly upright
position, and thus, by alternate impulses and lulls, keeping the vessel rolling.
The advantage derived from the transverse section of the vessel being at all
points circular has an effect upon the progress of the vessel equally favorable,
for as the end of the spindle advances through the water, no matter what may
be the position of the vessel (even if it should roll), the same form will be
constantly exposed to the water beneath, to the waves on the surface, and to
the wind. From this uniformity of figure arising from the equal divergence
of the sides in all directions from the point of the spindle, there will be com-
paratively little in the action of the winds or waves to prevent the vessel from
holding its course. In connection with this is the further advantage that
water will pass off the vessel easily, there being no flat decks or bulwarks to
retain it. This mode of construction will therefore avoid the discomfort and
risk arising from shipping seas, to which all quick-sailing vessels as heretofore
constructed are liable.
Another advantage peculiar to this form of construction is, that while the

page_text: vessel offers the least resistance to external forces tending to roll it, at the
same time it opposes the best form of resistance to such forces as tend to
injure it, presenting always a complete arch to any external force. Combined.
with this, is the further advantage that for an equal length and area of surface
of the whole vessel, this form of cross section includes a greater space than any:
other could, affording with the least amount of building material the greatest
stowage. Owing to the advantageous form which such a vessel presents
laterally to external forces, it may be made, particularly when the longitudinal.
lines are well selected, of great length, which will have the effect of
diminishing its pitching when crossing the waves; this advantage is enhanced
by the fact that it is not necessary for a vessel of this form, as it is for those
of ordinary construction, that it should pass over the crest of the wave.
We have described the longitudinal section as represented by arcs of circles,
but other curves or combinations of curves may be advantageously employed;
and, if thought preferable, they may be such that the vessel shall be sharper:
at one end than at the other, as shown in Fig. 5, or the central portion.
may be a cylinder, and the ends bounded by cones with curved sides, giving a
longitudinal section, such as is shown in Fig. 6, or the central portion may be:
a cylinder, and the ends cones, with straight sides, giving a longitudinal section:
similar to that shown in Fig. 7, but we do not deem this to be as good a form
as those before mentioned. Where different curves or right lines enter into
these longitudinal sections, it is best that the curves should meet at a common
tangent, and that the straight lines should meet the curves in a direction in
which the former are tangent to the latter. But whatever may be the.
longitudinal lines, the condition of the transverse sections being circular must
be observed.
It may also be deemed advisable in some cases to provide the vessel with a
keel, which belonging to the portion almost always immersed, will in no wise
effect the above described properties of the figure of the hull, except that it
will tend to check the oscillations of the vessel about its center of figure, and
facilitate the steering. Vessels of this form of hull might be steered in more
convenient ways than by the use of the ordinary rudder; one plan for this
purpose is as follows:-At some suitable point along the length of the vessel,*
either before or abaft the centre, a vertical shaft should be passed through a
stuffing box in the bottom, or through a pipe projecting from the bottom into
the interior above the water line. At the lower end of this shaft a blade of
sufficient size should project, which should be symmetrical on both sides of
the axis of the shaft, and sufficiently curved or sloped on its top to enable it to
make an entire rotation without touching the curved bottom. More than one

page_text: such rudder might be provided or placed in different positions. The upper
end of the shaft should be connected with a tiller, wheel, or other steering
apparatus. For the purposes of access to the interior of the hull, and of
ventilation, &c., suitable entrances must be provided, which would be best
arranged in pipes or towers passing through the upper part of the hull, and
reaching to such a distance above, as may be deemed most expedient.
For the purposes of facilitating the loading and unloading of the vessel,
affording additional ingress and egress, promoting ventilation, and lighting the
interior, a portion of the top of the hull may be fitted with hatches, dead
lights, or other similar contrivances, capable of being opened and closed at
pleasure.
We are aware that two or more spindle-shaped bodies have been used as
floats to sustain bridges, or as supports to a deck or platform placed between
or over them, for a vessel to be used only in rivers or still waters, but such
arrangements cannot be confounded with our Invention, for these spindle-
shaped bodies are more or less rigidly connected with each other, and the
displacement of either, or the effects of the winds and waves operate upon
such, a vessel as a whole, and therefore it cannot perform the office that our
single spindle-shaped hull does.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that
under the above recited Letters Patent we claim as our improvement in steam
vessels, constructing the hull in the form of a spindle, substantially as above
described..
In witness whereof, we, the said Ross Winans and Thomas Winans,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Thirteenth day of Sep-
tember, in the year of our Lord 1858.
Witness,
GEO. BECKENBAUGH.
KOSS WINANS. (L.S.)
THOS. WINANS. (L.S.)