IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROPULSION OF SHIPS, AND IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Barr, of Bristol, in the County of Somerset,
but temporarily residing at Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROPULSION OF
SHIPS, AND IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR.”—A communication from
Alexander Young, residing at Balmain, near Sydney, in the Colony
of New South Wales.
Sealed the 20th February 1872, and dated the 24th August 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Barr at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th August 1871.
I, JAMES BARB, of Bristol, in the County of Somerset, but temporarily
5 residing at Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRO-
PULSION OF SHIPS, AND IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFORE," to be as follows,
that is to say :-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in the propulsion of
O ships, whereby the power exerted by the engines in putting the ship

page_text: and water in motion is more efficiently utilized than by the systems of
propulsion at present used, consists in providing at the interior of the
ship one or more vortex wheels or pumps whose inlet passage or passages
are in communication with the water at the outside of the ship, and
preferably at the same or at a higher level than the centre of the vortex
wheel or pump. The discharge pipe or pipes of the vortox wheel or
pump communicate with one or more nozzles situated in the lower part
of the hull, and these have an angular direction, so that the water when
discharged at the high speed due to the velocity of the vortex wheel or
pump is projected into unbroken water, and therefore effects the pro-
pulsion of the ship with less waste of power than hitherto. The same
arrangement of apparatus may be used for propelling the ship either
forwards or backwards. The angle at which the water is projected is
by preference 45° with the line of the ship's keel, that however may
be varied as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Barr in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th February 1872.
. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BARR, of Bristol, in the County of Somerset, but temporarily residing
at Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
36th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Barr, Her special license that I, the
said James Barr, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said James Barr, my executors, administrators, or
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 PROPULS.ON OF
SHIPS, AND IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR," a communication to me
from Alexander Young, residing at Balmain, near Sydney, in the Colony
of New South Wales, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the

page_text: said James Barr, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal,.
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven--
tion, 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 James Barr, 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 and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in the propulsion
of ships, whereby the power exerted by the engines in putting the ship
and water in motion is more efficiently utilized than by the systems of
propulsion at present used, consists in providing at the interior of the
ship one or more vortex wheels or pumps, whose inlet passage or
passages are in communication with the water at the outside of the
ship, and preferably at the same or at a higher level than the centre of
the vortex wheel or pump. The discharge pipe or pipes of the vortex
wheel or pump communicate with one or more nozzles situated in the
lower part of the hull, and these have an angular direction, so that the
water when discharged at the high speed duo to the velocity of the vortex
wheel or pump is projected into unbroken water, and therefore effects the
propulsion of the ship with less waste of power than hitherto. The same
arrangement of apparatus may be used for propelling the ship either
forwards or backwards. The angle at which the water is projected is by
preference 45° with the line of the ship's keel, that however may be
varied as required.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, that is to say :—
Upon the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended, Figure 1 is a longi-
tudinal vertical section of a vessel; Figure 2 shews certain detached parts
of the same in horizontal section taken upon the line A, B, Figure 1;
whilst Figure 3 is a transverse section amidships, shewing one arrange-
ment under which my improvements in the propulsion of ships is
effected. The same letters of reference mark the same or corresponding
parts upon the different Figures on which they occur.

page_text: Under the arrangement shewn upon the accompanying Drawings my
Invention consists of a centrifugal pump or vortex wheel A, actuated by
a pair of inverted direct-acting engines B, the crank shaft a of which is
coupled direct to the pump spindle 6 by means of the couplings c. The
suction or admission pipe C of the pump A is in communication with an
opening d formed in the bottom of the vessel, through which the water
is admitted, and rising upwards through the passages D formed at each
side of the pump A is admitted to the disc or wheel E of the said
pump A at the centre thereof, being discharged at the periphery of the
disc or wheel, and forced outwards by the centrifugal action of the
pump into the after discharge pipe F when it is desired to propel
the ship ahead, or into the forward discharge pipe F" when backing, its
admission into either of the said pipes For F' being governed by the
throttle valves e and e¹ situated respectively therein, that valve marked e
and situated in the after discharge pipe F being open, and that marked e
and situated in the forward discharge pipe F being closed when the
vessel is being propelled ahead, and vice versa when being backed. The
extremitics of each of the discharge pipes F and F are in the arrange-
ment shewn formed into double nozzles f, and directed downwards at an
angle through the shell of the vessel, being situated one on either side of
the keel g, as more particularly shewn at Figure 2, and as the water is
discharged through the nozzles ƒ at a high speed, due to the velocity at
which the pump A is rotated, it is projected into an unbroken or solid
body of water beneath the plane of the ship's flotation, and thus becomes
the means of propulsion. The angle at which the water is projected
through the nozzle pipes f under this arrangement is preferably forty-
five degrees (45°) with the ship's keel; any other angle approximate
thereto may, however, be similarly adopted.
It is to be understood that I do not limit my Invention to the par-
ticular arrangement of apparatus herein-before set forth and illustrated
upon the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended, as any other form of
centrifugal pump or vortex wheel may be used, and other styles of
engine may be adopted for driving the same, and in like manner their
position in the ship and general arrangement may be modified to suit
the special construction of any vessel to which they may be applied.
It is further to be understood that in place of passing the angular
nozzles through the ship's bottom, as in the arrangement herein-before
set forth, the discharge pipes may be directed to the sides of the vessel

page_text: and made to terminate in angular nozzles outside or inside the shell
thereof, and whether situated at the bottom of the vessels or at the sides
thereof it is to be understood that any number of such nozzles may be
employed in connection with each discharge pipe.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used
or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that
what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
propulsion of ships or vessels by means of one, two, three, or any other
number of jets of water discharged or projected below water from inside
the ships or vessels through pipes or nozzles passing through the vessel's
bottom at an angle of forty-five degrees (45°), or at any angle ap-
proximate thereto, by means of one or more centrifugal pumps or vortex
wheels, as herein-before described, or any mere modification thereof.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Barr, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of February One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-two.