IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS OF APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED ON BOARD SHIP FOR DISCHARGING OIL OR OTHER FLUIDS UPON WAVES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Rose of 72 Leadenhall Street in the City of
London Merchant Shipper for an Invention of IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS
OF APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED ON BOARD SHIP FOR DISCHARGING OIL OR
OTHER FLUIDS UPON WAVES.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Rose at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th October 1882.
RICHARD ROSE of 72 Leadenhall Street in the City of London Merchant
Shipper IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS OF APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED ON BOARD
SHIP FOR DISCHARGING OIL OR OTHER FLUIDS UPON WAVES
This invention relates to improved means for subduing the violence of the waves
of the sea during a dangerous storm; whereby the progress of the vessel through
the water is very greatly facilitated, and she floats in comparative safety. The
invention is particularly applicable to vessels about to be constructed, as certain
spaces within the hull may be utilized that are otherwise wholly or comparatively
useless. But as an element of safety these improvements are equally applicable to
vessels now in use. In either case the invention consists in fitting or supplying
the vessel with tanks or reservoirs of oil, or oil blended with a suitable fluid, so
arranged that the oil may at any moment when required be instantly ejected from
any part of the hull. In the case of vessels about to be constructed, or that are
in the course of construction, the oil tanks or reservoirs may be adapted to any
part of the vessel that will best meet the requirements of the designer or
constructer. Thus a small space above the keel and either above or below the keelson
may be made available to receive a capacious oil tank, without interfering to any
appreciable extent with the internal stowage capacity of the vessel. In like manner
spaces at the lower or other part of the hull both fore and aft, may be rendered
valuable to receive tanks made to a corresponding figure. Or the space between
the outer skin of the hull and the inner lining may be fitted with tanks arranged
according to the requirements of the ship builder. For vessels that are in use the
tanks are made to occupy spaces that interfere as little as possible with the carrying

page_text: capacity of the ship. The oil tank, or the several tanks, as the case may be,
cominunicate by means of a main feed pipe with a suitable force pump, portable
or otherwise, the size and power of which must be regulated according to the size
or tonnage of the vessel. The pump (or pumps if more than one is required) is
placed in the most convenient part of the vessel and inay be actuated either by
manual power, steam or gas engine, by hydraulic pressure, or any other suitable
power, in either case the mechanical force must be capable of being brought into
instant requisition. The delivery pipe or outlet of the pump, or pumps, com-
municates with a main pipe running horizontally or otherwise round the vessel,
and by preference above the water line. The oil main is furnished with a number
of lateral outlets which extend through the vessel's side and cach terminates with
a projecting nozzle These outlets are arranged at any desired interval apart
extending along the port and starboard sides and at the bow and stern of the hull.
Each outlet is fitted with a cock or valve by which the egress of the oil may be
controlled at pleasure, so that when the tanks are charged and the pump put in
action the oil is discharged with great force, like the jets of a fire engine, upon the
surface of the waves. The effect of this is that the violence. of the waves is
completely broken and the water rolls harmlessly under the hull, and-the-vessel
moves in a body of water comparatively still. By this means the sea is
sufficiently becalmed to admit of boats being lowered or to approach alongside and
allow of the embarcation of passengers or crew. Any number of the oil jets are
brought into action from any part of the hull as the commander may see fit, and
due provision is made for the unejected oil to flow back into the tank. Boats or
other small vessels may in like manner be fitted-with-these-means-of-preservation.
Vessels provided with this safety apparatus will be enabled-to weather storins that
would otherwise be totally destructive to them and thus an incalculable amount of
life and property must be annually preserved.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Richard Rose in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th April 1883.
RICHARD ROSE of 72 Leadenhall Street in the City of London Merchant
Shipper IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS OF APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED ON BOARD
SHIP FOR DISCHARGING OIL OR OTHER FLUIDS UPON WAVES.
The object of this invention is that by means of special apparatus, oil or a
compound fluid may be projected and diffused over a stormy sea, so that the
violence of the waves may be subdued; and the vessel, bont, or other craft be
thereby enabled to float in water comparatively still. The main point is to have
the power of discharging the fluid to any given quarter around the vessel so that
as the broken waves advance they may be met by the subduing oily fluid and so
caused to roll harmlessly away. The stilling effect of oil upon a stormy sea has
been proved in a great number of instances to the saving of both life and property.
In those cases where the improvements are to be applied to vessels about to be
constructed they are adapted as far as practicablo to meet the views of the designer
or constructer. The oil tanks or reservoirs are fitted in any convenient part of the
bull that will least interfere with the stowage capacity. In this way spaces in the
lower part of the ship may be utilised to receive these tanks, or the oil may be
carried in a tank or tanks arranged above the keelson, which space is now frequently
used as a tank for water ballast. Or a portion of the space between the outer skin
of the hull and the inner lining may have suitable receptacles for oil fitted therein.
From each oil tank a pipe is led to and communicates with the reservoir of a force
pump which may be actuated by steam or manual power according to the tonnage
of the vessel. The outlet passage of the force-puiap is connected by a pipe to
another pipe or main which is carried horizontally round the inside of the vessel.
This oil main is furnished with a number of jets or nozzles projecting through the
ship's side and each one is controlled by a cock or valve to regulate the outflow of
the oil, or oily fluid, so that any one or more of the jets may be brought into
operation as circumstances may require. In lieu of this arrangement the outlets
for the oil may be disposed inside the bulwarks and be furnished each with an
internal screw so that a flexible hose with a discharging jet may be quickly
attached thereto and the oil projected or scattered in any required direction. As a
rule it would be rarely necessary to employ more than a single jet at at time, but
it is assumed that sufficient pumping force would be provided to supply several jets
if required. Oil has so large a dispersive power on water that a very small
quantity will cover a large area and therefore with a view of economizing it and
at the same time aid in dispersing it; I arrange the pump outlet, in some cases, so
that the oil may be ejected in conjunction with a stream of water. Or a jet of
steam, or other suitable elastic fluid may be employed in carrying it to a distance
from the ship's side. Another arrangement for distributing the oil when a ship is
labouring against an adverso wind is to have a spare spar or topsail yard fitted with
one or more pieces of perforated tubing, these are connected together at the ends
in an oil tight manner. The spar is furnished with a bridle rope and hawser by
which the distance it is allowed to float from the ship is controlled. A flexiblo
tube is lashed to and carried along the hawser and opens into the perforated tube on
the spar. When this apparatus is afloat and has been brought in the direction of
the tempestuous waves the oil is pumped through the tubes and escapes by the
perforations and the waves are thereby subdued all around and in the wake of the
spar. In the arrangement of an apparatus of a portable nature and one particularly
adapted for use on board the smaller class of merchant shipping, yachts, fishing and

page_text: life boats, and indeed any craft exposed to danger in stormy weather. Such an
apparatus is constructed as follows, a cylindrical vessel is made (by preference of
copper) of sufficient strength to bear an internal pressure of from one to five hundred
pounds upon the square inch. This vessel is of sufficient capacity to contain the
charge of oil and leave a space above the oil for the compressed air which acts
as the projecting force for distributing the oil in the direction of the broken water.
A small powerful air pump is arranged inside the cylinder, the bucket rod of
which is carried through a stuffing box in the dome cover of the cylinder. The
pump rod carries at the upper end the operating lever or a cross handle. The
inlet air valve is arranged just inside the concave bottom of the cylinder, and the air
after passing through a second valve is forced into the upper part of the cylinder.
An aperture is made in the dome sufficiently wide to adinit of the charge of oil
being readily poured into the cylinder and this aperture is securely closed by a
metal nut. A pressure gauge is provided for indicating the pressure of air within
the vessel. The oil flows through an outlet passage near the bottom of the
cylinder and is fitted with a tap. A flexible tube or hose terminating with a metal
washer screws on to the outlet this tube may be of any convenient length, or it
may be kept on board in lengths to adapt it to any required distance. The delivery
jet which terminates the free end of the tube is by preference made with a very fine
bore so as to spread the oil in a slender stream and thus cause a small quantity to
be distributed over a large surface of water, the ejection being controlled by a tap.
In order to economise the oil as far as possible I prefer in some cases to use an
-adjustablo jet in which the bore of the ejecting aperture may be contracted or
enlarged at pleasure, as experience has proved that a very small quantity thrown-
well out will accomplish all that is required. When the apparatus has been charged
with oil, a short working of the pump will fill the upper part of the cylinder with
condensed air the pressure of which as it increases will be indicated on the gauge.
On opening the tap of the delivery jet the oil will be projected to a considerable
distance beyond the hull of the vessel from which it is used. It is obvious that this
apparatus may be modified in various ways to suit the size of the vessel, or to
adapt it to the details of any special purpose. In some cases it may be preferred to
use a powerful pump arranged in manner similar to a fire engine the jet being
constructed that a slender stream of oil would be carried forward with the out-
flowing stream of water. Thus a supply pipe conveying the oil from tho reservoir
may be so arranged as to enter the delivery jet at a suitable point near the issuing
orifice. In lieu of obtaining the requisite pressure upon the stream of oil by the
foregoing means I should in some cases make use of hydraulic pressure acting upon
a ram to impart the necessary velocity to the issuing jet. To meet those cases in
which it is desirable to diffuse oil over a tempestuous sea where the area to be
reached is otherwise inaccessible by the means I have described, I then use other
arrangements of apparatus for the purpose. In one modification a metal cylinder
is fitted with a powerful spring carrying at its upper part a disc fitting loosely in
the cylinder. The spring is compressed in the lower part of the cylinder by a lover
or other suitable contrivance so that it may be quickly brought into action and
discharge the oil in the form of a projectile. Or in lieu of a mechanical spring as
the propelling force, air in a highly compressed state may be employed, or an
explosive gaseous compound may be used for the like purpose. The oil is put into
a hollow ball or conical shell to be discharged from the cylinder or mortar.
shell may be made of wood, paper, metal or other suitable material and each would
be supplied with a fuse and a small charge of bursting powder or other suitable
explosive. When the cylinder is discharged the shell would fly through the air
and burst over, or on the sea and so scatter the oily contents over a wide area.
With a view of ensuring a gradual dispersion of the oil, which is very desirable in
allaying stormy water the shell may be filled with cork, pumice stone, or other
suitable absorbent thoroughly saturated with oil. These materials floating upon
the waves will part slowly with the oil and so cause it to be diffused in a very
effective manner. The shell apparatus may also be used as a means of conveying a
This

page_text: tubular attached to a floating shell. Either the shell or the tube may be
perforated so that a continuous stream of oil may be pumped through the tubo and
distributed at the desired quarter of a raging sea.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in
what manner the same may be used and carried into practical effect I wish it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details of arrangement that
are hereinbefore described as the same may be considerably varied without
departing from the essential features of my improvements but what I do claim and
desire to secure under the herein before in part recited Letters Patent is
Firstly The use application and arrangement of the apparatus designed for the
special purpose of storing and discharging oil or an oily fluid from on board ships,
boats, or other vessels upon the surface of waves, with a view to the saving of life
and property at sea substantially as hereinbefore described or any mere modification
thereof.
Secondly The use application and arrangement of portable or moveable
apparatus designed for the purpose of holding and discharging oil, or an oily fluid to
a distance from the ship, boat or other vessel substantially as herein before described
or any mere modification of the same. In witness whereof I the said Richard
Rose have hereunto set my hand and seal this 25th day of April in the year of
our Lord 1883
Witness
CHAS S. Jouns.
Patent Agent
(L.S.) RICHARD ROSE