AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PROPELLING SHIPS
Year: 1884

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PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I SERKIS-BEY BALLIAN of N° 21, Rue de Trévise, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PROPELLING SHIPS" to be as follows:―
I place in the hold of the ship a steam engine and a pump capable of drawing
in a large quantity of water in communication with a tube of large diameter open
at front and back in such a manner that the water will be drawn in at the front
and ejected at the back which movement will communicate impulsion to the vessel.
The longitudinal tube is arranged in such a manner that at different points of its
length it is in communication with the hold by means of tubes or openings which
may be opened or closed at will in such a manner that the pump can also draw
water from the hold of the vessel.
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page_text: I SERKIS-BEY BALLIAN, of N° 21 Rue de Trévise, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PROPELLING. SHIPS." and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:—
My Invention consists in placing a pipe at the bottom of ships from one end to
the other of the keel; the size of the said pipe should vary with the tonnage of
the vessel and the speed to be given to it and in causing the water in which the
vessel floats to circulate from front to back or vice versa.
I thus obtain, not only a means of propelling the ships at a determined speed
but also a means of rendering the vessel unsinkable in case of accident. For this
purpose I arrange along the pipe a series of openings provided with valves and
communicating as required with the hold, so that the pump which serves as the
motor can also be employed to rapidly pump out water which from any cause may
have penetrated into the ship.
In order to enable my Invention to be fully understood I will now proceed to
describe the same by reference to the accompanying Drawing in which Figure 1,
is a plan and Figure 2, a longitudinal section of a vessel provided with my
apparatus.
.
M, is the vessel. A A¹ B, B¹ shew the pipe in which the water is forced to
circulate by means of a suction and force pump C, and of a motor D, to which
steam is supplied by means of the boiler E. I employ by preference a rotary
engine and a rotary pump as well as the boiler for which I have obtained Letters
Patent N° 5381, dated the 24th of March 1884, but any suitable engines, pump or
boilers may be employed.
Along the tube A, A, B, B¹, are arranged small tubes F, G, H, I, J, provided
with valves, cocks, or registers allowing of putting the tube in communication
with the interior of the hold at will. The main tube may terminate at each end
with a single opening but I prefer to terminate it by double openings as shewn in
the Drawing in order to leave a suitable space at the front for the stem and at the
rear for the stern post and the rudder.
Should the vessel from any cause spring a leak it will only be necessary to open
one or more of the lateral tubes and the water in the hold will be easily discharged
without impeding the progress of the ship. As in order to obtain a proper
propulsion it is necessary to make the tube and the pump of large dimensions
the size of the said tube and pump will always be sufficient for discharging the
water from the hold whatever may be the number and size of the leaks.
By my Invention a ship of war provided with my propelling and discharging
apparatus cannot founder in the event of its body or hull being pierced by a
number of shots. Whatever may be the number of holes thus produced the
discharging power will always be sufficient to keep the vessel afloat. Consequently
the armour-plates of vessels will be unnecessary so that a ship of war whether of
wood or of iron will be able to replace the enormous weight of the armour-plate
by a much larger supply of coal and by a larger number of more powerful guns.
It will be understood that although I have described and shewn a single main
tube more than one such tube may be employed; a separate tube may be provided
for effecting the backward movement of the vessel.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
The combination with a longitudinal tube placed in the lower part of the hold
of a ship bifurcated or not at one or both of its ends, the said longitudinal tube
being provided throughout its length with small discharge tubes of one or more
powerful suction and force pumps causing the water to circulate in the longitudinal
tube in either direction.