IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND OTHER FLOATING VESSELS
Year: 1872

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Robert Atkin at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th April
1872.
I, ROBERT ATKIN, of Crawford Street, Portman Square, in the County
of Middlesex, Master Mariner, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND OTHER FLOATING
VESSELS," to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
ships and other floating vessels.
For this purpose I use iron or steel in the construction of the frame
of the vessel as is now well known, and I form the ribs by preference
of a T section, or a section having a trough on each side may be used.
These ribs may be rolled to the shape required, or they may be built
up of parts rivetted or otherwise fastened together. I carry the ribs
up from the keel to the upper part of the vessel and bend them over to
form deck beams, or the deck beams may bo rivetted to the ribs to effect
a similar object.

page_text: The part where the ribs and deck beams join is rounded, and a
longitudinal plate joins them all together at that part, such plate being
by preference of an arched section. By these means I am enabled to
dispense with the "deck beam knees" ordinarily employed. The flanges
of the ribs and deck beams I place on the inside of the vessel, and
I plate the sides and deck of the vessel on the inside of these flanges.
The ribs may be arranged either vertically from the keel as heretofore,
or they may be arranged diagonally, but I prefer to arrange them in
radial lines struck from a point above the centre of the vessel, by which
means I obtain great strength of construction, thereby supporting the ends
of the vessel and preventing what is technically called "hogging." The
deck beams pass direct across the vessel, and the plating is arranged so
as to cross the path of the ribs and deck beams. The "breast hooks"
and "crutches" if required will be arranged on the outside of the
plating and between the ribs. The spaces between the ribs and deck
beams I fill in with picces of wood cut to fit and formed with a dove-
tail groove at their outer edges, which will project beyond the ribs and
deck beams.
When using T iron for the ribs and deck beams I place iron or steel
plates in the dovetail space between the wood filling, and I rivet or other-
wise fasten such plates to the ribs and deck beams through the plates,
thereby securely holding the wood filling to the frame of the vessel. On
the outside of the last-mentioned plates I drive into the dovetail spaces
wood of a corresponding form to protect these plates and make a flush
surface on the outside, on to which I fasten wooden planking by means:
of copper or composition screws or nails, passing into but not through
the wood filling.
Between the iron plating and wood filling and between the wood
filling and the planking I place all over the vessel a covering of hair felt,
and on the outside of the wood filling over the ribs I place sheet spelter
or other protecting metal fastened to the "filling" by suitable nails
or screws, and on the outside of the wood planking I fasten sheathing
in the ordinary way of sheathing wooden ships. The wood filling and
planking I glue on the edges, and I also glue the planking on the
inside with marine glue. The ribs are fastened to the keel, and on the
inside of the plating running fore and aft I fix a stout plate which will
be securely fastened to the ribs and plates, and such plate I also carry
up on the inside of the stem and stern post.

page_text: The "rudder case" I form as follows:-I form the case of an iron
or steel tube with a flange at each end, which I rivet to the deck plates
and to the plates under the "counter." On the inside of this iron tube
I place a spelter or other protecting metal tube, also having a flange at
each end, which is nailed or screwed to the "filling in," and on the
inside of the last-mentioned tube I place a copper tube also having a
flange at each end, which is nailed or screwed to the outside of the wood
planking.
In cases where pipes pass through the vessel I protect them in a
similar manner to the rudder case.