Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Sept., 188"
Complete Left, 13th June, 1888
Complete Accepted, 13th July, 1888
1 Sir EDWARD JAMES REED, Knight Commander of the Bath, Member of
Parliament, of Broadway Chambers Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Naval
Constructor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The primary object of my Invention is to avoid the serious disadvantages which
recently built armoured ships would experience in battle from the total or large
separation of the armour devoted to the defence of their gun-machinery, turret
paths, &c. from the armour devoted to the protection of their hulls in the vicinity of
the water-line, which latter, in the vessels above referred to, is so limited as to afford
little or no guarantee for the retention of surplus buoyancy or of stability when the
immersion becomes much increased, or when an inclination of more than a very few
degrees is given to the hull transversely. And a further object is to avoid these
serious disadvantages by means of a different distribution of the armour, and a
different combination of the armoured parts, from any heretofore adopted in
armoured ships, this distribution and this combination being such as to involve little
or no addition cæteris paribus to the total amount of armour carried.
And my Invention consists in arranging & combining the armour of the ship as
follows:-taking a turret ship by way of example. Having determined the height
of the armour deck through and from which the turret rises, and also the least length
fore and aft which is necessary for the due enclosure of the turret base &c., I join
the respective ends of the line so obtained with the end of the armour to be placed
at the water-line of the ship, by lines which usually will have a considerable slope.
These lines form the boundaries of the side armour, which rises continuosly to them
These lines also form
from the line which determines the lower edge of the armour.
the boundaries of sloping armour decks, which may be rounded or sloped transversely
where desirable, and be increased in thickness to make them equivalent in strength to
the horizontal armour deck that would otherwise be employed.
The Invention may be varied in various ways, to suit different arrangements of
armament. The armour on one side of the ship may, for instance, be placed in a

page_text: different position (fore & aft) to that on the opposite side, to accomodate turrets
placed en echelon, the sloping decks being in this case brought obliquely athwart the
vessel. Again the sloping decks may terminate at the upper edge, of an armoured
belt, extended beyond the general side armour and beyond the sloping decks, at either
end or at both ends; or the sloping decks may be continuous at either end and extend
to the lower edge of armour. But the essential principle and characteristic of the
plan is that of employing the armour which protects the gun-machinery &c. on the
sides of the vessel, in combination with sloping decks arranged as hereinbefore
described, or in an equivalent manner, whereby the armour protection of the ship
and its vital contents are rendered complete, while its buoyancy and stability are by
the same means secured.
Dated this 14th day of September 1887.

page_text: Improvements in the Construction of Armoured Ships.
I Sir EDWARD JAMES REED, Knight Commander of the Bath, Member of Parliament,
of Broadway Chambers Westminster, in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
The primary object of my Invention is to avoid the serious disadvantages which
recently built armoured ships would experience in battle from the total or large
separation of the armour devoted to the defence of their gun-machinery, turret
paths, &c. from the armour devoted to the protection of their hulls in the vicinity of
the waterline, which latter, in the vessels above referred to, is so limited as to afford
little or no guarantee for the retention of surplus buoyancy or of stability, when the
immersion becomes much increased, or when an inclination of more than a very few
degrees is given to the hull transversely. And a further object is to avoid these
serious disadvantages by means of a different distribution of the armour, and a different
combination of the armoured parts from any heretofore adopted in armoured ships,
this distribution and this combination being such as to involve little or no addition
caeteris paribus to the total amount of armour carried.
And my Invention consists in arranging and combining the armour of the ship as
follows:-taking a turret ship by way of example. Having determined the height of
the armour deck, through and from which the turret rises, and also the least length
fore and aft which is necessary for the due enclosure of the turret base, &c. I join the
respective ends of the line so obtained with the end of the armour to be placed at the
water line of the ship, by lines which usually will have a considerable slope. These
lines form the boundaries of the side armour, which rises continuously to them from
These lines also form the
the line which determines the lower edge of the armour.
boundaries of sloping armour decks, which may be rounded or sloped transversely
where desirable, and be increased in thickness to make them equivalent in strength to
the horizontal armour deck that would otherwise be employed.
The Invention may be varied in various ways, to suit different arrangements of
armament. The armour on one side of the ship may, for instance, be placed in a
different position (fore and aft) to that on the opposite side, to accommodate turrets
placed en echelon, the sloping decks being in this case brought obliquely athwart the
vessel. Again, the sloping decks may terminate at the upper edge of an armoured
belt, extended beyond the general side armour and beyond the sloping decks, at either
end or at both ends; or the sloping decks may be continuous at either end and extend

page_text: to the lower edge of armour. But the essential principle and characteristic of the plan
is that of employing the armour which protects the gun-machinery, &c. on the sides of
the vessel, in combination with sloping decks arranged as hereinbefore described, or in
an equivalent manner, whereby the armour protection of the ship and its vital contents
are rendered complete, while its buoyancy and stability are by the same means
secured.
The manner in which I carry this Invention into effect is illustrated in the
accompanying drawings which shew various applications of the Invention. Figs. 1
and 2 (Sheet 1) shew the elevation and plan respectively of an armoured ship,
according to the first of these applications, and figs. 3, 4 & 5 (Sheet 2) are transverse
sections of the same,-observing that the scale of the sections in this as well as in all
the other illustrations of this Specification is twice as large as that of the corresponding
elevations and plans. The vessel illustrated in figs. 1 to 5 carries her principal
armament in two Turrets a. and a' which in this case are abreast of each other. The
dimensions of these as well as their position (transversely and longitudinally) and their
height above the waterline W.L. are determined by considerations which lie outside
the scope of this patent. These Turrets rise out of a horizontal platform b. 1 (Figs. 1
& 2) under which the machinery for working the guns is to be placed. From this
platform the armoured decks slope down forward and aft, the top of the side armour
being coincident with these sloping decks as shown.
The side armour is continued down to the line fixed upon for the lower edge of
armour, and consequently covers the area marked by shade lines in fig. 1.
No other thick armour, excepting that of the Turret, is needed for the protection of
the gun-machinery or any other like appliances, nor are any vertical transverse bulk-
heads required.
The sloping decks are in this illustration carried out to the stem and sternpost of the
vessel; this arrangement, however, does not form a part of my Invention and the
Armour-Decks at the extreme ends of the vessel may be dispensed with, or they may
be carried out horizontally, as shown in the other illustrations.
It will be understood by reference to the illustrations that the vessel with such an
arrangement of armour will not only be protected if loaded at her designed waterline,
but will also retain a large measure of its protection when the vessel is floating at a
deeper draught, and indeed when it is immersed to the line at which in the usual kind
of belted vessels the top of the armour-belt would become wholly immersed.
In figs. 6 & 7 (Sheet 2) a variation of this arrangement is shewn. These figures
are the elevation and plan respectively, of part of the Armour Deck and the side
armour of a vessel. The case illustrated in these figures, is one which may by
some be deemed necessary, and its peculiarity consists in breaks d. and which
are interposed in the slopes of the Armour Decks. The purpose of these breaks
is to prevent a shot or shell, which may have struck the lower part of the sloping
deck, from traversing the whole length of the slope, the presence of the breaks d.
and having the effect of deflecting the shot as it passes along one of the
slopes. In figs. 6 and 7 these breaks extend in a straight line from one side of
the ship to the other; but a further variation is shewn in figs. S and 9 (Sheet. 2)
in which the breaks d. and dare formed in two parts inclined to each other,
the object being to deflect shot and shell to the outside of the ship.
Sometimes it may be necessary to make further departures from the single slopes
as illustrated in fig. 1. It is for instance frequently the case that such an arrangement
would not leave height enough for the Engines and Boilers, or would not conveniently
allow of Passage-ways or other internal structural parts being suitably arranged. Such
a case is illustrated in fig. 10 (Sheet 3). In this case a horizontal portion of Armour
Deck, e. f. has been interposed between two portions of the sloping Armour Deck in
the After-body, while in the Fore-body instead of the single slope 61 c¹, two successive
slopes of different inclination have been introduced. A great number of modifications
of this kind are possible, but their character depends in each application upon the
special requirements of the vessel and her internal arrangements, and every designer

page_text: who is conversant with the subject, will be able to introduce such modifications where
they are required.
It is by no means necessary to make the Armour Decks horizontal transversely, as
has been shewn in the sections figs. 3, 4, & 5 (Sheet 2); and in figs. 11 & 12 (Sheet 3)
two transverse sections are shewn, in which other shapes are given to the Deck
transversely.
In fig. 11 the sides of the Deck Armour are sloped towards the side armour with a
view of reducing the height of the latter. The inclination which can be given to
these transverse slopes, is unlimited, but I prefer to keep it in the same limits as
the inclination given to the Armour-Decks longitudinally, so as not to render
increased thickness necessary. Fig. 12 (Sheet 3) illustrates the section of a vessel in
which the Armour Deck is rounded towards the sides of the ship, with the same
object.
Another variation of my Invention is illustrated in figs. 13 to 16 (Sheet 4). Fig. 13
is the elevation, fig. 14 the plan, and figs. 15 & 16 two transverse sections of an
armoured vessel, at D. D' and E. E' respectively. The Turrets a. and a are in this
case placed "en echelon" and the horizontal platform b. through which the turrets
rise is accordingly oblique in direction. The sloping Decks b. c. and be¹ (fig. 14)
have in this case the same obliquity as the platform b.6. Consequently the side
armour which rises up to the height of the Armour Deck at the sides of the ship, is
differently disposed on the two opposite sides. In fig. 13 where the starboard side is
exposed to view, the armour on that side has been marked by shado lines, and the
Armour Deck as it appears on the starboard side is shewn in full lines. The Armour
Deck on the Port side which is in this figure hidden from view, is indicated in dotted
lines, and the side armour on the Port side rises up to those lines. It will be noticed
from figs. 15 and 16 that the sloping Armour Decks in this case have an inclination
transversely, in consequence of their obliquity, and it will be further observed from
fig. 13 that the Armour protection on the water-line is differently disposed on the two
sides of the vessel.
A different mode of adapting my Invention to vessels with Turrets " en echelon" is
illustrated in figs. 17 to 20 (Sheet 5). Fig. 17 is the elevation, fig. 18 the plan and
figs. 19 and 20 are two transverse sections. In this case the Armour is disposed in
such a fashion, as to leave the protection on the waterline symmetrical or nearly so,
and extending from c. to c¹ (fig. 17) on each side.
The Turrets a. and a rise in this case out of two different horizontal platforms b.
and from which two slopes g. and g (figs. 17 & 18) somewhat similar to those
in fig. 1 pass towards each extremity of the vessel, while the intervening spaces are
covered by two other slopes h. and h¹ (fig. 18) (usually with some curvature) and a
narrow horizontal Deck i of oblique direction, which latter may, however be dispensed
with.
The cases which have been illustrated and explained are only examples of the
numerous variations which can be given to the application of my Invention to
armoured vessels, which may be modified to suit the requirements of each different
application.
It must be understood that the application of Turrets for the guns in the examples
chosen for explanation is not essential for my Invention and that in any and all of the
cases described, and in any other variations of the same, it is immaterial whether the
guns are carried in Turrets or "en Barbette," or in any other manner, as long as
the combination of Deck-Armour and Side-Armour is carried out in the manner
described.
These various arrangements and combinations of side armour and stout sloping
Decks are attended by a much larger protection of cubic space within a ship than is
secured by the adoption of armour belts and gun or turret breastworks as heretofore
employed; and add greatly to the protected buoyancy and stability, as compared with
that provided by them; and add likewise to the protected spaces in which the ship's
officers and crew can be properly stationed in time of action.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
:-
1st. The arrangement and combination of side armour and sloping decks, herein-
before described, whereby the armour which protects the gun-machinery &c. in
common with the armour which protects the waterline region of the ship is employed
in giving protection to the ship itself and to its vital contents.
2nd. The various methods of carrying out this arrangement and combination
hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings hereunto annexed, together
with such other modifications thereof as accomplish the same object.
Dated this Thirteenth day of June 1888.