AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MOVING SHIPS AND VESSELS AGAINST WIND, WAVES, CURRENT, OR TIDE OR AGAINST THE POWER OF THEM ALL ALL UNITED
Year: 1790

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
Earl STANHOPE, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventeenth day of August, in the thirtieth year of His
reign, did give and grant unto me, the said Charles Earl Stanhope, my
exccutors, administrators, and assigns, His special licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles Earl Stanhope, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, and every of them, during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, excrcise, and vend,
within that part of the Kingdom of Great Britain called England, the
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF MOVING SHIPS AND VESSELS AGAINST WIND, WAVES, CURRENT, OR TIDE
OR AGAINST THE POWER OF THEM ALL ALL UNITED;" in which said Letters Patent
it is provided that if I, the said Charles Earl Stanhope, should not particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an Instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within three calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all
liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, should utterly cease,
determine, and become void, as in and by the said Letters Patent, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Earl Stanhope, do hereby declare that the following description, and
the Drawings hereunto annexed, contain a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed (that
is to say)-
My said Invention consists in certain pieces of mechanism adapted to the
purpose of moving a ship or vessel, not only when the wind, tide, or current
is favorable, but likewise in calm weather, and even against wind, waves,
current, or tide, or against the power of them all united; and it consists also
in the manner of placing the said mechanism with respect to the ship or
vessel so as that the said. mechanism be not liable to be injured by other
vessels, nor much exposed to be broken, torn, or damaged by an heavy sea,
or in stormy weather, or by an enemy, the contrary of which is the case in
the use of masts, sails, and rigging. And it also consists in a certain method
(herein-after to be described) of reinoving the difficulties which must other-
wise ever attend the moving of ships or vessels at sea in stormy weather, by
means of any mechanism whatsoever acting against the water. Thero should
be a slit or opening made quite through the ship or vessel from top to bottom;
which slit should he made of timbers and boards, or entirely of timbers with
the seams calked, or made in any other manner that will effectually provent any
water that may rise up into the said slit from getting through from the said
slit into the said ship or vessel. The said slit, for reasons herein-after to be
montioned, ought when the machinery is working, to be covered at top and
be made air tight, or as nearly so as may be. The said slit may be made of
different forms and sizes; but the shape of the inside of the said slit of a
proper form, as the same would appear if it could be viewed from the star-
board side of the ship or vessel, is represented at A, B, C, D, E, F, A, in
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, the line C, D, representing the
bottom of the ship or vessel; and the shape of the inside of the said slit is
represented at F, E, D, d, e, f, 'F, in Figure 2, as the same would appear if
it could be viewed from the head of the ship or vessel, D, d, representing
tho bottom of the ship or vessel. The said slit should run lengthwise of, the
ship or vessel, and it ought to be at equal distances from the sides of the said
ship or vessel. The said slit may be differently placed, but one proper placo
for the said slit is at or near the center of the length of the ship or vessel.
In the above-mentioned slit I place an instrument, which I distinguish by the
appellation of a vibrator at G, HI, K, L, G, in Figure 1. The said vibrator
is represented as it would appear if it could be viewed from the starboard side
of the ship or vessel. At L, K, in Figure 2, the said vibrator is represented

page_text: as it would appear if it could be viewed from the head of the ship or vessel.
The said vibrator may be suspended different ways, but I prefer suspending
it upon a strong iron arbor, as at M, N, in Figure 2. The said vibrator so
suspended on the said arbor vibrates to and fro; that is to say, it moves from
the position represented by L, G, H, K, in Figure 1, to the position repre-
sented by 1, g, h, k, in the said Figure 1, and then back again, and so alter-
nately, carrying along with it in its vibrations the machines herein-after to be
described, and which machines I distinguish by the appellation of free
operators. The form of each of the said free operators, and also their
situation with respect to the above-mentioned vibrator, are represented at
a, P, Q, a, in Figure 1. A section of the said vibrator and free operators,
through the line R, T, S, in Figure 1, is represented in Figure 3, where
T, S, t, is the vibrator, and R, T, and r, t, are the two free operators, represented
in the position that the said free operators assume when the vibrator is moving
as aforesaid towards the head of the ship or vessel; but when the vibrator
is moving in the contrary direction, namely, towards the stern of the ship or
vessel, the resistance of the water acting against the said free operators causes
them to assume the position represented by the dotted lines at U, T, and t, u,
in Figure 3; so that when the said vibrator is moving with great force towards
the stern of the ship or vessel, the said free operators (being in the position
represented by U, T, and t, u, in Figure 8), will act violently against the water,
and move the vessel forwards in a contrary direction; but when the said
vibrator is moving from the stern towards the head of the ship or vessel, the
said vibrator, together with its free operators, will pass through the water with
but little resistance, on account of the tapering form R, T, S, t, r, of the said
vibrator and free operators when the said free operators are as aforesaid in
the position represented by R, T, and t, r, in the said Figure 3. The said
free operators have pivots at W and X, upon which they turn in pivot holes
made in the irons y, W, J, and Y, X, V, in Figure 1; one of the said irons
is represented by V, a, Y, a, v, b, b, V, in Figure 4, where X and x are
the pivot holes above mentioned. Figure 5 represents one end of the
aforesaid free operators, where X and a are the pivots that work in the
said pivot holes. The said iron represented in Figure 4 has three stops,
videlicet, a and a, and Y, against which the parts a and Y of each of the
free operators represented in Figure 5 stop alternatively, when the said
free operators assume the respective positions represented in Figure 8. The
said parts a and a in Figure 5, are likewise represented by a and à in
Figure 1. The parts shewn in Figure 3 are represented in Figure 6 on the
same scale as Figures 4 and 5; in which Figure 6, R and are sections of

page_text: irons fastened to the free operators, to secure their sharp edges from being
injured. The form T, S, t, of the vibrator in the said Figure 6 (being a
section of the said vibrator through the line T, S, in Figure 1) shows how
peculiarly it is calculated to cut through the water with case. The said form
renders it expedient, for the convenience of taking tho iron V, a, Y,.a, V, in
Figure 4, on and off, to place under it other irons represented by b, V, Z, and
b, v, Z, in the said Figure 4; which irons have also the advantage of
strengthening the vibrator; one of the said irons is represented at V, Z,
in Figure 1. The iron y, W, J, in Figure 1, is made in a similar manner to
the iron Y, X, V, and has irons under it like the iron V, Z. The parts of
the free operators of a reddish colour in the different Figures, may properly
bo made of tough mahogany, or of other strong wood not liable to warp in
water. In order to strengthon the vibrator, there is an iron plate fixed to
the thick edge of the said vibrator, which plate clasps it a little way over its
sides as at m, m, in Figure 1, whereby great strength is obtained with but
little addition of weight. In order to preserve the sharp edge of the vibrator,
and also the more effectually to prevent the vibrator from warping, and also
to make it cut through the water with but little resistance, it is proper to
cover the vibrator, or at least the lower parts thereof, with very thin iron
plate. In order to prevent the wood of the vibrator and of the free operators
from imbibing water, it is expedient to soak them in drying oil; and in order
to preserve the iron and other parts, it is proper to paint, varnish, or japan
the whole over, except the pivots and stops, which ought always to bo kept
well greased when out of water. It is expedient to be able to unship the
vibrator with facility, which can easily be done by separating it from the
arbor M, N, in Figure 2, with which it is connected by means of the follow-
ing parts formed expressly for that purpose. The piece represented in
Figuro 7 makes part of the arbor at M, N, in Figure 2, which arbor is
supposed cut off at N, in Figure 7. The part 2 of the edge of the piece
represented in Figure 7, is shown at n in Figure 2, and the shape of the
remainder c, c, of the edge of the said piece is represented at c, c, in
Figure 2. The said part c, c, in Figure 2, is behind the part c, c, of the
piccc c, c, p, p, p, in Figure 1. In Figure 7 thero is a groove for a wedge
represented by i, which corresponds with i in Figure 2, and the wedge that
fastens the vibrator to the aforesaid part of the said arbor is represented
by i, i, i, in Figure 1. The vibrator may be connected with the said arbor
(or with pivots instead of an arbor) by means of bolts or screws or a
square, or by any other means, but I prefer the method above described.
Figure 8 represents a vibrator of a form somewhat different from that repre-

page_text: sented in Figure 1; the principal difference consists in the shape of the bottom of
the vibrator, by means of which the free operators are applied to greater advan-
tage, and that in the manner shewn at P, Q, in the said Figure 8. The shape
in Figure 8 of the slit in the ship or vessel is also different from that represented
in Figure 1, namely, so as to admit the vibrator and free operators into that
part of the slit A, B, C, D, E, F, A, that is represented by D, E, F, in the said.
Figure 8, without disconnecting the vibrator from its arbor or axis, and which
can be immediately performed merely by causing the vibrator to describe a
larger arch towards one end of the said slit, namely the end in D, E, F, in
Figure 8. This is a convenient property, as it enables the persons in the ship
or vessel when in shoal water to place the said vibrator and free operators
out of harm's way in an instant. The said vibrator has a spring, repre-
sented at S, S, in Figure 8, which is particularly useful in changing the direc-
tion of the revolution of the vibrator, and thereby causing it to perform its
vibrations through the water in a shorter time, by which means the velocity of
the ship or vessel is increased. The said spring is again represented in
Figure 8, at S, S, whilst striking against a strong stop or small anvil R, which
can be made to recede or project further into the slit of the ship or vessel by
means of a screw or otherwise. The said vibrator in Figure 8 is suspended
upon and connected with an arbor in the same manner as that represented in
Figures 1 and 2, and it vibrates to and fro in like manner. The vibrators
in Figures 1 and 2 and in Figure 8 may be made to vibrate as aforesaid, by
means of a steam engine or any other forcible power whatsoever applied to
work the aforesaid arbors of the said vibrators respectively. The steam engine
being a well-known machine it is unnecessary to describe it herein. In
Figure 9 is represented another manner of connecting free operators with a
vibrator; A, B, C, c, b, A, being a transverse section of a vibrator, and
B, D, C, H,h,g,d, b, c, C, B, being the fixed part of an hinge, and D, E, F, G, g, D,
being one of the free operators with its moveable part of the hinge, and the
dotted line d, e, f, g, G, d, being the other free operator with its moveable part
of the hinge, and P being a section of a cylindrical hole in each of the said
parts for a pin which serves as a common center for both the said free
operators and connects them (as the pin of an hinge) with the fixed part of
the hinge above mentioned. The said pin should first pass through a portion
of the fixed part of the binge, then through the moveable part belonging to
one of the free operators, then through another portion of the fixed part of
the hinge, then through the moveable part belonging to the other free operator,
and then through another portion of the fixed part of the hinge, and so on
alternately. The part marked D in Figure 9 is the stop against which one

page_text: of the free operators stops, and the part marked d is of a similar shape (only
reversed), and is the stop against which the other free operator stops. Figure 9
represents the position of the said free operators when the vibrator is moving
from the head towards the stern of the ship or vessel, and Figuro 10 repre-
sents the position of the said free operators when the vibrator is moving from
the stern towards the head of the ship or vessel, the same letters representing
the corresponding parts. H, h, in Figure 9, represents another stop, against
which the sunk part G of one of the said free operators, and also the sunk part
g of the other free operator, stop when the said free operators are in the posi
tion represented in Figure 10. The said vibrators and free operators may be
made to work as aforesaid in slits open at top as well as at bottoni; but the
following method is far preferable, namely, to cover the slit in which the
vibrator works by boards or otherwise, as represented at A, F, in Figure 1,
and at F, A, B, in Figure 8, and to make the said slit air tight, or as nearly
so as may be, and then by means of such a pump as is represented (by a
section) in Figure 11, or by any other forcing or sucking pump, or by bellows,
or by a ventilator or other apparatus (worked either by hand or by the steam
engine, or by any other moving power whatsoever,) to drive, draw, force, or
introduce common air from the open air or from the ship, or to drive, draw,
force, or introduce any other kind of air or gas into the said slit thus covered.
The object of thus covering the slit, and of making it air tight, and of intro-
ducing air therein as aforesaid, is to depress the water that may rise in the
suid slit, so as to drive it all out at the bottom of the said slit, or as nearly so
as may be. By thus causing air to take its placo various excellent effects are
produced by the said depression of the water, for when water is permitted to
rise in the slit it rushes against the stern end of the same when the ship
or vessel moves forwards, and the water thereby retards the motion of the ship
or vessel, especially when the ship or vessel moves with considerable velocity;
but when the water is depressed as aforosaid, it can no longer rush against the
stern end of the said slit or opening, and can therefore no longer retard the
motion of the ship or vessel. Again, when water is permitted to rise in
the said slit its surface is compressed only by the weight of the atmosphere,
and it is then liable to bo violently agitated by the powerful undulation of the
water and by the progressive motion of the ship or vessel, and also by the
motion of the apparatus for moving the ship or vessel; but when the top of
the slit is covered and made air tight, or nearly so, then the water will be less
agitated; because as the air in the slit becomes compressed by the effort of
the water to rise into the said slit, the spring of the air in the said slit is
increased, whereby it presses with greater force against the surface of the

page_text: water and deadens its agitation. But this desirable effect is produced in a
much greater degree by the water being artificially depressed in manner above
explained, as in that case the spring of the air in the slit is constantly superior
to the weight of the external atmosphere. Again, when water is permitted to
rise in the said slit, it tends to obstruct the motion of the above-mentioned
apparatus that is placed therein, and thereby causes a consumption of the
moving power to no purpose; whereas, when the slit is covered and made air
tight as aforesaid, and the water is thereby prevented from rising therein, this
obstruction is less considerable; but when the water is depressed in manner
above explained by the artificial introduction of air into the slit, the said
obstruction is intirely removed. In a rough sea the pump described in
Figure 11 will cause the water in the slit to be depressed although such
pump be not worked; for by the relative motion of the sea and the vessel the
water will frequently descend in the said slit, at which time the valves of the
said pump will open and admit air into the said slit, and which air so admitted
will tend to keep the water depressed therein; therefore in a rough sea I can
upon this principle depress the water in the said slit merely by using one valve
opening into the said slit (or opening into any trough, pipe, or vessel communi-
cating therewith) instead of using the pump above described. The Figures 1, 2,
and 8 of the Drawings hereunto annexed are drawn to a scale of half an inch
to every foot of the real size; Figure 3 is drawn to a scale of one inch to
every foot of the real size; and Figures 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10 a drawn to a scale
of two inches to every foot of the real size. The thickness of the parts of
Figure 8 is two thirds of the thickness of the corresponding parts of Figure 1,
as represented in Figure 2. The vibrator and free operators above described,
or their hinges, or pivots, or stops, or any of them, may be made of various
forms, sizes, and proportions according to the size and shape of the ship or vessel
to be impelled, and also according to the use or service for which the ship or
vessel shall be intended, and likewise according to the velocity with which the
ship or vessel shall be required to be moved. The size or power of the steam
engine or other moving force may be regulated according to the aforesaid cir-
cumstances. The free operators may also be made to work at different depths
in the water, or to form different angles with each other or with the vibrator.
The angle of vibration of the vibrator may also be either increased or dimi-
nished, or the vibrator may be made more or less tapering; but it would be
better to make it wider in proportion to its thickness than thicker in propor-
tion to its width, that it may pass through the water with the greater facility,
which is of particular importance. The vibrator may also be made of two or
more bars of iron instead of being made as aforesaid, and the free operators

page_text: may also be made of iron instead of iron and wood; but I prefer making both
them and the vibrator in the manner and of the materials above described.
The vibrator and free operators may be made of other metals, of other woods,
or of other materials. Whatever be the scale on which the free operators are
made, it is proper that they be not placed much nearer to each other than
about a quarter of an inch, in order that no capillary attraction may exist
between then. Two or more vibrators may be used instead of one, either on
one arbor or axis, or on two, or several; or free operators may be made to
move in a straight or other line instead of a circle, or vibrators may be made
to vibrate on two or more centers instead of one. The free operators may be
placed in an horizontal or in any oblique position instead of the vertical ono
represented in Figures 1 and 8. A ship or vessel may be moved head foremost
or stern foremost at pleasure by means of free operators used in contrary direc
tions as circumstances may require. Instead of one slit or opening in the ship
or vessel, for the purpose of inclosing vibrators as aforesaid, two or more slits
or openings may be used, being made in or placed at different parts of the
ship or vessel. The mechanism above described for moving ships or vessels
may be applied to ships or vessels of various forms, and the moving power
may be applied immediately to the vibrator itself, or it may be applied to
work its arbor or axis as above mentioned. In Figure 8 ono spring only is
represented at S, S, acting against the vibrator in one direction only. But
two or more springs may bo applied to act in contrary directions; or a spring
or springs may be applied to other parts of the mechanism to produce the like
effect or effects. The said spring or springs may be made of steel, of wood,
or of any other elastic material, or compressed air or steam may be made
to produce the same effect or effects, namely, to change the direction of the
momentum of the said vibrator, and to cause it to perform its vibrations
through the water in a shorter time. By the means herein described a ship
or vessel may be moved without the help of sails, or the said means may be
used in conjunction with sails. And be it remembered, that by the word slit,
wherever the samo shall herein-before have occurred, I mean any hollow or
cavity formed in or near any part of the ship or vessel for the purpose of con-
taining my Invention herein-before described. It is obvious that there are
various methods (more or less good) that may be used for moving a ship or
vessel at sea, by impelling any body or bodies forcibly against the water in one
direction, and then elevating such body or bodies into a slit, hole, or opening,
hollow, or cavity in such ship or vessel, and moving such body or bodies in the
opposite direction through air only, and so alternatively; provided always
that the water be depressed in such slit, hole, or opening, hollow, or cavity

page_text: according to my Invention for depressing the water, as herein-before described,
which Invention (considering the great difficulties thereby removed which
would otherwise be insuperable,) I deem to be essential to the success of any
mechanism whatsoever made upon the principle just mentioned, and acting in
that manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Earl Stanhope, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of November, in the year One
thousand seven hundred and ninety.
STANHOPE. (L.B.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered (being first
duly stamped) in the presence of
JN° GRUBB,
Patent Office.
THO® GREENUP,
of Devonshire Street.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of November, in the
year of our Lord 1790, the aforesaid Charles Earl Stanhope came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and aknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according
to the tenor of the Statutes made for that purpose.