IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Emile Cardon, of 2, Rue Ste. Appoline, Paris,
Empire of France, Shipbuilder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS."
Sealed the 10th December 1869, and dated the 16th June 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Emile Cardon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th June 1869.
I, EMILE CARDON, of 2, Rue Ste. Appoline, Paris, Empire of France,
Shipbuilder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS," to be as follows:-
My improvements in the construction of ships are intended to reduce
to a great extent the resistance on the water, and consequently to
increase speed without affecting stability and burden. I obtain this
result by diminishing the part submerged of the midship frame, the
surface of which determines the resistance of the vessel.

page_text: To obtain the form of the midship frame, according to one arrange-
ment, I take a portion of the circumference of a circle drawn from a
radius equal to half that of the beam. I thus obtain a ship of great
speed, the resistance of which to the water will be where the tonnage
is equal, much less than that of ships made of ordinary shapes or forms.
By these means I obtain much more favourable conditions for the shape.
of ships, while the after part and bow portion are full, whereby the
ship is supported throughout its keel, the extreme portions being more
supported than in other ships.
For vessels requiring a very great speed by sails or by steam, instead
of forming the midship frame of a half circumference, I determine its.
submerged part by taking my great radius always from the ends of
the beam to the rabbit of the stern. I can thus take for the radius the
entire breadth of the beam, but without limit as to height, which I
adopt for fine or clipper ships.. Between these two characteristic forms
I can on the same basis make forms or shapes, each presenting the
required conditions for each special kind of ship by varying the radius.
of the two axes from half the beam to the whole beam..
The Invention then essentially consists, in obtaining the form or shape.
of ships by a radius of a circle. taken from the centre of the beam of
a ship, or at any point between the centre and the entire length of the
beam, and in some cases where the radius is somewhat greater than the
whole beam.
SPECIFICATION în pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said Emile Cardon in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EMILE
CARDON, of 2, Rue Ste. Appoline, Paris, Empire of France, Shipbuilder,
send greeting.
year
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suo-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Emile Cardon, Her special

page_text: licence that I, the said Emile Cardon, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Emile Cardon, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 CON-
STRUCTION OF SHIPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Emile Cardon, my executors or administrators, 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 Emile Cardon, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to
say:-
My improvements in the construction of ships are intended to reduce
to a great extent the resistance on the water, & consequently to
increase speed without affecting stability and burden.. I obtain this
result by diminishing the part submerged of the midship frame, the
surface of which determines the resistance of the vessel, by dispensing
with the enlargements below the flanks or sides, and by substituting the
forms about to be described for those ordinarily employed.
The accompanying Drawing represents three examples of different
forms, each applicable to a special kind of ship.
Figure 1 shows the bow and stern of a ship intended to obtain by sail
or steam a great speed. In this case I adopt for the form of the midship
frame the form represented by the outside line of Figure 1, which is a
portion of a circle described from a radius equal to half the beam. I
thus obtain a ship of great speed, the resistance of which to the water
will be, where the tonnage is equal, much less than that of ships made
of ordinarily shapes or forms, because the submerged part of the frame
which determines, as I have said, the resistance is diminished by the
suppression of the enlargement before alluded to. By these means I.

page_text: obtain much more favorable conditions for the shape of ships, as the
after part and bow portion are full, whereby the ship is supported
throughout, the extreme portions being more supported than in other
ships.
For vessels requiring a very great speed by sails or by steam, instead
of forming the midship frame of a half circle, I diminish its submerged
part by taking my largest radius always from the ends of the beam at
the rabbet of the keel. I can thus take for a radius the entire breath
of the beam, which gives the form represented at Figure 2 (but without
limit as to height), which I adopt for fine or clipper ships. Between
these two characteristic forms I can on the same principle make forms
or shapes, each presenting the required conditions for each special kind
of ship by varying the radius of the two arcs from half the beam to
the whole beam.
Figure 3 is an example of the form I thus obtain, the latter being
drawn by the arcs of circles with a radius equal to three-quarters of
the breadth of the beam.
All the forms of keels being thus established from this principle
present the advantages before alluded to for that represented at Figure 1,
that is to say, the acceleration of speed with an equal tonuage and the
good conditions of construction, ensuring the perfect connection of all
the parts of the ship.
The chief object of the present application for Letters Patent is,
therefore, to secure to me the property of the above described improve-
ments in the construction of ships, which improvements consist in the
form of the midship frame or the strongest part of the careen from the
rabbet of the keel up to the load water line, and which may end at
the flat board or riband of the hand rail. This form may vary from
that before described with a radius equal to half of the beam to taking
for radius the whole beam, in order to obtain in the latter case a greater
thinness of the beam, let it be understood that all the radii comprised
between the half portion of the beam and a radius equal to the entire
beam are to be embraced by the present application; the same reserve
is also made for all forms described with a little greater radius than the
beam.
The Invention then essentially consists in obtaining the form of
midship frame by a radius equal to half the beam or equal to any portion

page_text: of the beam from the half up to the whole, or even a little larger, than
the whole beam.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim
constructing ships of the form or forms herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Emile Cardon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.