IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES FOR LOWERING BOATS FROM SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin John Kerridge, of Wimborne, in the
County of Dorset, Watch Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES FOR LOWERING BOATS FROM SHIPS AND
OTHER VESSELS."
Sealed the 22nd November 1872, and dated the 1st October 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin John
"
Kerridge at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 1st October 1872.
I, BENJAMIN JOHN KERRIDGE, of Wimborne, in the County of:
Dorset, Watch Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said :
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES FOR LOWERING:
BOATS FROM SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS"
According to this Invention two stanchions or davits are attached to
the side of the ship by hinge bolts at their lower ends near the line of
water, and when not in use are secured to the gunwale by lashing or
otherwise. To the upper ends of these davits an iron cradle is sus-
pended, which hangs loosely on its own axis, running through eyes in
the davits. In this cradle the boat rests, requiring no fastenings or
lashing of any kind when about to be used or lowered. To the upper
-

page_text: end of the davits is also attached by the same means a stout bar of iron
with an eye in the centre, and bent at both ends to allow of its swinging
under the boat when not required for use. This bar is for lowering the
apparatus into the water. When required a pair of double blocks and
tackle are attached by a hook to the eye in the centre of the bar, the
other end being fixed on to a convenient part of the rigging or other
convenient place. By this means a boat with crew ready to take the
water can be lowered by one or two men without stopping the progress
of the ship.
•
The apparatus is supposed to be always kept ready for use with
lowering tackle near at hand. Immediately it is required the crew
jump into the boat, the lashings at the gunwale are cut loose, and the
apparatus lowered into the water. Immediately the water is reached
the cradle and davits sink under, and the boat floats free of everything,
and as far from the side of the ship as the length of the davits admit, so
that all the oars can be used at once with effect.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin John Kerridge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
JOHN KERRIDGE, of Wimborne, in the County of Dorset, Watch Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in, the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Benjamin John Kerridge, Her special
Licence that I, the said Benjamin John Kerridge, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Benjamin
John Kerridge, my executors, administrators, 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 APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES FOR LOWERING BOATS FROM
SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Benjamin John Kerridge, 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 Benjamin John Kerridge, 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:-
According to this Invention two stanchions or davits are attached to
; the side of the ship by hinge bolts at their lower ends near the line of
water, and by preference above the same, and when not in use are

page_text: secured to the gunwale by lashing or otherwise. To the upper ends of
these davits an iron cradle is suspended, which hangs loosely on its own
axis, running through cyes in the davits. In this cradle the boat rests,
requiring no fastenings or lashing of any kind when about to be used or
lowered. To the upper ends of the davits is also attached by the same
means a stout bar of iron with an eye in the centre, and bent at both
ends to allow of its swinging under the boat when not required for use.
This bar is for lowering the apparatus into the water, and may also serve
for hoisting the boat back. When required a pair of double blocks and
tackle are attached by a hook to the cyc in the centre of the bar, the
other end being fixed on to a convenient part of the rigging, or other
convenient place. By this means a boat with crew ready to take the
water can be lowered by one or two men without stopping the progress
of the ship.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a view in side elevation
of a portion of apparatus, as seen from the deck of a vessel, constructed
according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a view of the same apparatus
also in side elevation, as seen from outside the ship; Figure 3 is a
detached view of the lowering bar; Figure 4 shews a side view of
cradle; and Figure 5, an end view of same with a boat in it; Figure 6
shews one of the hinged davits; Figure 7 is a view of the apparatus
complete with a boat ready to be lowered; Figure 8 shews the apparatus
lowered to the water; and Figure 9 illustrates one position the apparatus
is caused to occupy when a boat is to be hoisted from the water to
the ship.
Similar letters of reference refer to like parts in all the
Figures.
a, a, are the two stanchions or davits hinged at their lower ends to the
side of the ship or vessel; b, b, are stays or cross bars for strengthening
the stanchions if found necessary; c is a cradle, which is suspended from
and is hung between the stanchions or davits a, a; d is the lowering and
hoisting bar, which is also suspended by and caused to swing from the
davits a, a, in such manner that it can be raised up above the boat, or
be allowed to swing under or below the same as required; f'‚ƒ³, are
rings or eyes formed on or attached to the swinging bar d; g is a block to
be hooked on when required for lowering to the ring f; h is the tackle
for block, which is rove through another block suspended from a con-
venient part of the rigging, or from the mizzen mast. The eyes f', ƒ³,
are for receiving the blocks through which the hoisting tackles are

page_text: rove; i is a chain stay attached at one end to one davit, and at the other
to the ship's side for taking any excessive strain off the davits; when
the boat is suspended in the cradle the swinging frame d is brought
inside the gunwale, as shewn at Figures 1 and 2, and this to some extent
would tend to keep the davits in a vertical position, while at the same
time the frame is in a convenient position inboard for hooking on the
lowering tackle; 1, 2, are lashings by which the davits are firmly secured
when required to the ship's side; m, m, are projections on the davits a, a,
for the bar d to rest on when required.
I
The action is as follows:-The apparatus is intended to be always kept
ready for use, or with at any rate lowering tackle near at hand. Imme-
diately it is required the block with tackle h is booked on to the eye ƒ,
or of course the block and tackle may be always kept there ready for
use, and the crew jump into the boat, as, for example, as shewn at
Figure 7; the lashings 1, 2, at the gunwale are then cut or let loose, and
the apparatus lowered into the water, as shewn at Figure 8. As soon as
the water is reached the cradle c and davits a, a, sink under the water,
as shewn by the dotted lines, Figure 8, and the boat floats free of every-
thing, and as far from the side of the ship as the length of the davits
may be, or as they admit, so that all the oars can be used at once and
with effect.
When the boat is lowered the cradle c is hoisted back to the ship's
side empty, and turned over, so as to bring it above and inside the gun-
wale. Blocks with tackles are then hooked on to the eyes f¹and ƒ³,
and the boat is hoisted in the ordinary way, as shewn at Figure 9.
While hoisting the centre tackle h is kept taut to take the strain, as
soon as the boat is close up to the bar haul on the central tackle h until
the bar d is in a horizontal line or parallel with the centre of the cradle,
the boat is then lowered into the cradle, the crew. get out, and the
bar d and davits are secured to the gunwale and bulwarks, as before
described, or in very smooth water the boat may be floated into tho
cradle, and hoisted back in it to the ship.
.
Some advantages attending the use of this apparatus are,―
First. The boat can be lowered in any weather without stopping the

page_text: Third. Extreme simplicity of construction, the boat being free of
lashings or tackle of any kind.
Fourth. The facility afforded for taking up the boat out of the
water.
Fifth. The small number of hands required to lower and raise the 5
apparatus, two or three men with a pair of double blocks being sufficient
for the
purpose.
Sixth. Impossibility of fouling tackle, and therefore less chance of
losing lives.
Seventh. That in case of the lowering tackle fouling and being cut, or 1
from any accident running free, the boat would be lowered horizontally
on the water, and the lowering gear would instantly sink free of the
boat, thus avoiding the danger of the boat hanging by either bow or
stern from the davits.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what 1
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not limit myself
to the precise details or arrangements described for carrying my Invention
into effect, because the same may be varied without departing from my
Invention, although I am aware that attempts have heretofore been
made to construct apparatus with davits hinged to the side of a ship for a
the purpose of lowering boats into the water from the ship's side; it
must therefore be clearly understood that I lay no claim to the use of
such hinged davits when taken separately and alone, but I claim as my
improvements in apparatus or appliances for lowering boats from ships
and other vessels,―
First. The employment of a frame or cradle to carry the boat to be
lowered, which frame or cradle is suspended to, from, or on davits in
such manner that as soon as the cradle containing the boat is lowered
into the water the boat is instantly free of the same and of the ship
from which she has been lowered, all substantially in manner herein.
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
2
Second. The particular construction, arrangement, and method of
action of the swinging frame and hinged davits or equivalent means for
lowering the cradle with or without the boat, and for hoisting the boat
and cradle together or separately, and for placing the boat again in the a
cradle, together with the means and appliances described for securing

page_text: the swinging bar, cradle, and davits, all substantially in manner herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, together
with any mere modifications thereof.
-
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin John Kerridge, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-three
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
-
the above-named Benjamin John
Kerridge, in the presence of
FRANK H. TANNER,
Sol'.,
Wimborne,
Dorset.
JOHN CORBIN,
Eastbrook,
Wimborne.
B. J. KERRIDGE. (L.S.)