ROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHIPS SHEATHING. ARMOUR SHEATHING: AND FASTENINOS:
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Josephi Bettéley, of 14, Goree Piazza, Liverpool; för
the invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHIPS SHEATHING.
ARMOUR SHEATHING: AND FASTENINOS:"
Sealed the 17th September 1867, and dated the 23rd March 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Betteley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on the 23rd
March 1867.
I, JOSEPH BETTELEY, of 14, Goree Piazza, Liverpool, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
SHIPS' SHEATHING, ARMOUR SHEATHING, AND FASTENINGS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of ships'
sheathing, armour sheathing, and fastenings. I make a thin sheet of brass
composed of 50 to 60 parts of copper, 40 to 50 parts of zinc, and a little lead
may be added with advantage; then I make an alloy or mixture of white
metal, say of 50 to 90 lbs. of lead, and from 10 lbs. to 50 lbs. of tin, to which
lead or tin may be
may be added 1 to 12% of regulus of antimony; more
used, but not more antimony, as it would cause the metal to be too brittle and
crack, I also apply this alloy of white metal and copper sheet; then I take
the sheet brass, place it over a fire, and when hot I place the white metal
mixture upon it, which melts, and I rub it over it until the brass sheet is

page_text: covered; by this means I make a sheathing metal with less copper than
formerly, and I also make it so that there will be no oxide of copper found on
the inner side, it being the white metal which is placed next the ship. This
metal is not liable to act chemically as copper does upon the ship's fastenings
or iron platings of ships. The outer or brass side of the metal oxidizing will
prevent barnicles and weeds adhering to the ship; this compound metal
I fasten to the ship by means of nails of the same composition as the brass
sheathing metal before described, which nails I coat with white metal except
their heads; when this sheathing metal is applied to an iron vessel the vessel
should be covered with wood sheathing and then the metal placed with its
white side next the ship and nailed in the ordinary manner. I take ordinary
lead and heat it until it becomes red and smokes, by which being heated above
the ordinary heat for melting lead it becomes hard; I then take this metal
and roll it between a pair of bright rollers, and afterwards cut it into sheets,
say, 4 feet long and 15 inches wide; after this metal is made I place it in hot
grease, oil, or earth oil, or hot water, by which it becomes hardened. I also
mix earth oil or petroleum oil with a caustic alkali, by which I make a soapy
mass for coating the sheathing; this hard lead when cold in the ingot has a
sonorous sound, and will ring unlike ordinary lead, which gives a dead
sound.
I also make a sheathing metal with lead 100 parts, tin 1 to 5 parts, and
antimony 1 to 5, to which arsenic may be added in a small quantity; or I
sometimes employ lead 100 parts, tin 1 to 5 parts; this makes a cheap metal.
These lead sheathings I also fasten on to the ship by means of composite nails,
as before described.
I also apply thin strips of brass, or copper, or nails of the compound named
before to the sheets of white metal whether composed of lead or its alloys;
the strips may be applied either at the joints or otherwise; the nails and the
sheet copper or brass have the property of throwing off an oxide of copper,
which acting upon the white metal sheathing is a great preventative to
fouling.
I make a compound sheathing metal as follows:- First I take a piece of
lead, soft or hard, and ou this I place a piece of metal composed of tin and
lead, or tin, lead, and antimony, or lead and antimony, and placing them one
on the other I pass them between rollers; by this means I obtain a better
surface than when lead only is employed, and more stiffness in the sheet;
I also can do this by first casting the lead in a mould, and afterwards melting
the alloyed metal upon it when hot. The compound ingot so obtained I pass
through rollers, and form sheets for ships' sheathing; these sheets I fasten on

page_text: by the aforesaid compound nails, and also I harden them by means of hot
water, oil, or other liquid.
In producing compound metal bolts for ships' sheathing I take an iron bolt
with screw and nut at one end, and I coat it with tin or tin and lead; then
I cast a white metal upon it, say lead, tin, and antimony, or lead and tin;
I prefer 75 lead, 20 tin, 5 antimony; this will make a bolt that will not affect
iron fastenings; the screw thread also is protected by the coating of tin or tin
and lead; these bolts I cast in metal moulds or chills, and when hot I place
them in hot oil, grease, with oil or hot water to harden their surfaces.
I also make armour sheathing to protect vessels from shot by combining
steel and irou in the following manner:-I make a pile one half its depth of
iron, the other half of steel, and by the application of heat in a furnace and
hammering or rolling I weld the two, and I afterwards pass these plates
through or between rollers or under the hammers until they are reduced to
the required thickness. This sheathing will be found stronger than either all
steel or iron. I place the steel side next the ship, and the iron outside.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Betteley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BETTELEY, of 14, Gorie Piazza, Liverpool, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Betteley, Her special licence, that I, the said Joseph Betteley, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Betteley, iny 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 THE MANUFACTURE
OF SHIPS SHEATHING, ARMOUR SHEATHING, AND FASTENINGS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Betteley, 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

page_text: 411
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 Joseph Berteley, o hereby declare
the nat
nature of iny 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:-
B.:.
**
For sheets of sheathing I make thin sheets of brass composed of 50 to 60
parts of copper, 40 to 50 parts of zinc, and a little lead may be added with
advantage; then I make an alloy or mixture of white metal, say, 50 to 90
lead, and 10 to 50 tin, to which is added regulus of antimony 1 to 12 in the
100 of metal; but prefer as a mix
mixture 75 parts lead, 20 parts tin, and 5
parts antimony; I then take the sheet brass, place it over a fire, and when
hot I place the white metal alloy upon it which melts, and I rub it over until
the brass sheet is covered. By this means I make a sheathing metal with less
copper than formerly, and also make it so that there will be no oxide of copper
formed on the white side; this metal being placed with its white side next the
ship is not liable to produce the same detrimental chemical action as copper
or yellow metal sheathing does on ships' iron fastening or on iron plating of
ships; the outer or brass side of this metal oxidizing prevents barnacles or
weeds adhering to the ship's bottom. This compound metal I fasten to the
ship by means of nails of the same composition as the brass sheathing metal
before described, which nails I coat with the white metal, except the heads.
When I sheath an iron vessel I first sheath the ship with wood plank, and
fasten it by means of bolts passing through or into the iron plates, which
be clenched or screwed; over this wood sheathing I place my metal sheathing
with its white side next to it and nail it on in the ordinary manner; by this
means I am enabled to sheath iron vessels. I take ordinary lead and heat it
until it becomes red and smoky, by which, being heated above the ordinary
heat of lead, it becomes hard; I then take this metal and roll it between a páir
of bright rollers, and afterwards cut it into sheets about 4 feet long and 14
inches wide; after this metal is made I place it in hot grease or oil at nearly
the melting point of the metal, and it becomes harder by being left to cool
together.
may
I make a compound sheathing metal as follows:-I take a piece of lead,
soft or hard, and on this I place a piece of hard metal composed of tin 10 to
50 parts, lead 50 to 90 parts, and antimony to be added 3 to 10 per cent., but
I prefer for covering sheets of metal for sheathing 75 parts lead, 20 parts tin,
5 parts antimony, and having placed them one on the other I afterwards press
し

page_text: them between rollers until they are joined, by this means I make a more rigid
or stiffer sheet of sheating metal; the portion of hard metal should not be less
than one-sixth of the thickness of the sheet, but in preference I use one-
fourth, by this means I obtain a harder surface and more rigidity in the
sheating plates; if less it would be liable to be thrown off by the action of
Sea water, and by this means I can inake a sheathing metal with a small
portion of the expensive metal, such as tin or antimony. I also can make
similar sheathing sheets by first casting the lead in an 'ingot, and afterwards
running the hard white metal over it when hot; this compound ingot of metal
I pass between rollers and form it into sheets of ships' sheathing. The sheets
are to be fastened to the ship's bottom by means of the composite nails, as
before described. I harden these sheets by immersion in hot oil or grease to
nearly the melting point of the metal by being left to cool together.
I also make a sheathing metal of 100 parts lead, 1 to 5 parts tin, and 1 to
5 parts regulus of autimony, this makes a cheap metal. "I also harden the
metal by immersion in hot oil, as described; this I fasten on the ship by
means of composite nails, as before described.
2.
"When sheathing ships I apply thin strips or sheets of brass or copper, or
nails of the composite metal described to the sheets of white metal, as
described; the strips or sheets may be applied either at their joints or other-
wise. The nails and sheet copper or brass have the property of throwing off
an oxide of copper, which chemically acts upon the whitesheathing metal and
is a great preventative against fouling.
!
1
I sometimes apply, the ordinary sheathing metal, either copper or yellow
metal, to the bottom of the vessel to about the light watermark in the
ordinary manner, and above it I place the white or other metals, already
described, above the copper or upper part of the ship. By this plan I cover
the copper or yellow metal fastening in the bottom of the ship by the copper
or yellow metal sheathing, and the upper part of the ship being iron fastened
is covered by my white metal, and from the exfoliation of the copper rising
from the copper or yellow metal on the lower part of the ship will to a great
degree prevent the whitesheathing metal from fouling, this white metal being
over the iron fastening will be a great protection against the chemical action
of the copper ou the iron fastening, and will in most cases dispense with what
is called boot topping, which is a wood sheathing put over iron fastening in
ships to preserve them from the chemical action of ordinary copper or yellow
metal sheathing. I sometimes corrugate the sheets of white metal sheathing
or form a small rib on the outside of the sheet; this is done by passing them
through rollers having the impress of the rib cut on them, and is formed in

page_text: the last passage between the rollers when making the sheets; this rib is for
the purpose of giving extra stiffness.
I make bolts for ships' fastening. I first take an iron screw bolt and nut and
I cast over it (in preference I use chills for the mould) a white metal con-
sisting of tin, lead, and antimony; I prefer 75 lead, 20 tin, 5 antimony; zinc
or copper may be added to increase the hardness, and I sometimes make the
whole bolt of the white metal and afterwards form the screw on it. The object
of this metal bolt for the fastening iron framed ships when planked with
wood, and so to make a bolt that will not chemically act detrimental on the
iron frame, as copper or yellow metal does, therefore I fasten such ships by
white metal bolts.
I make armour sheathing plate for ships by combining steel and iron in the
following manner:-I make a pile or plate of iron and another pile or plate
of steel; I then place them one on the other, which I afterwards heat in a
furnace to a welding heat, and when sufficiently hot I weld together by means
of the steam hammer, or by passing between rollers, the object being to make
such a metal sheathing as not to be so liable to crack when struck by shot.
The iron side being the outer one when placed on the ship has the property of
retarding the shot, and is not so liable to crack the plate as when all steel is
used, the inner side of the plate being steel from its extra hardness over iron
will not be so liable to be perforated or bent as when the sheathing plates are
all made of iron.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Betteley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
EDW. W. VERO.
JOSEPH BETTELEY. (L.S.)