IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION, PROPELLING, AND STEERING OF WAR STEAM SHIPS OR VESSELS
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Frederick Hope Pattison at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th May 1873.
I, FREDERICK HOPE PATTISON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION, PROPELLING, AND STEERING
OF WAR STEAM SHIPS OR VESSELS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object the constructing and working or
manoeuvring of small war steam ships, so as to be able successfully to
attack and sink the large ironclad and turret war steam ships now
And the
built and in use by means of these and this Invention.
nature and novelty of this Invention consists in building each of these
said new war steam ships of a small size (compared with the ships which
they are to attack) but of sufficient length, breadth of beam, and dis-
placement to carry one large fifty to seventy ton steel gun, placed near
the centre, capable of throwing a projectile at close quarters which
would pierce the strongest iron plating and wood framing of the largest.

page_text: ironclad and turret war ships now built, as the "Black Prince,"
"Devastation," and those of the "Monitor" class, and with its fuel
bunkers or spaces and steam boilers also placed near the centre, pre-
ferably in duplicate sets on each side or below the central part occupied
by the gun, which would be made of the best construction now known,
as of the "Armstrong" breech-loading class, mounted on a "Moncrieff"
raising or lowering or other suitable gun carriage; also having the
engines and propellers in duplicate sets, the former more towards, and
the latter quite near, each end of the ship, which would be made with
a long sharp and nearly vertical bow and stern, nearly alike, with a
helm and steering gear at each extreme end. The ship, like other war
ships and gun boats, would be built strongly of wood, or with strong
iron plating, or of the composite class, but with twenty or thirty feet
of its sides at the bow and stern where a shot might strike, clad with
armour plating of the strongest class now made of from, one thousand
to one thousand five hundred tons burden, sufficient to carry all its fuel
and machinery as above stated, and fitted with propellers preferably of
the double or twin screw class working low under each "quarter,"
and with a turbine or centrifugal propeller at each end, also of the
"Ruthven" class, with propelling nozzle on each side so as to be able
to propel the ship laterally or "broadside on" with the engines of such
a power as to be able with these screw and hydraulic propellers to
propel the ship at from fourteen to eighteen knots per hour, and so as
to be able to run to and from these large war ships so much faster
than them that it will always be able to keep its bow towards them so
that they could not bring their guns to bear on the broadside of this
new construction of single gunboat. Two, three, or four of these new
fast sailing small war single gun ships would preferably cruise together,
and chase, or approach, and attack or fire at a large ironclad war ship,
and also recede from it always with their bow or stern towards it,
whether keeping ahead, abreast, or astern, while within range of its
guns.
.
What I claim as the nature and novelty of my said Invention is the
construction of a single gun war ship for chasing and attacking ordinary
large ironclad war ships all as herein-before stated and as particularly set
forth in the following short Specification thereof, sufficient for a ship-
builder and marine engineer to construct my new ship from. The

page_text: water-tight compartments and from one thousand to one thousand five
hundred tons burden; made sharp and straight bow shaped at both
ends, fitted with rudders at its extremities; to have twenty or thirty
feet of its sides at both ends clad with the heaviest armour plating, and
strong teak or oak backing, such as fitted on the largest ironclads;
fitted with twin screws under the "quarters" at both ends actuated
by separate or coupled engines; to have a large breech loading steel
gun mounted on a "Moncrieff" raising and lowering carriage on a low
deck in the centre of the ship; fuel bunkers and boilers to be placed
near the centre of the ship.
For extra and auxiliary propelling and steering power a "Ruthven "
centrifugal propeller and engines to drive them would be fitted and
provided for use when desired in the centre near each end with lateral
propelling tubes or nozzles at each side a little nearer the centre than
the screw propellers. The propelling power of the ship to range from
fourteen to eighteen knots per hour.