IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF SHIPS AND FLOATING BATTERIES, AND IN RENDERING THEM CAPABLE OF RESISTING THE DESTRUCTIVE FORCE OF SHOT, SHELL, AND OTHER MISSILES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT. to Thomas Roberts, of Holborn, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF SHIPS AND FLOATING BATTERIES, AND IN RENDERING THEM
CAPABLE OF RESISTING THE DESTRUCTIVE FORCE OF SHOT, SHELL, AND OTHER
MISSILES."
Sealed the 31st May 1861, and dated the 8th December 1860...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Roberts at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
December 1860.
I, THOMAS ROBERTS, of Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND FLOATING BATTERIES,. AND IN RENDERING THEM
CAPABLE OF RESISTING THE DESTRUCTIVE FORCE OF. SHOT, SHELL, AND OTHER
MISSILES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object combining, great strength and durability in
the construction of ships and floating batteries, and rendering them capable of
resisting the action of shot, shell, or other missiles.
I construct the keel of the vessel in the form of a hollow cylinder, composed
of plates of iron rivetted or otherwise fastened together, by which arrangement
I obtain great strength and buoyancy. The hollow keel may. be used for
stowage, communication being had thereto by means of doors or openings.

page_text: The sides of the vessel are constructed of wood and longitudinal iron T-plates,
rivetted to the main ribs of double iron T-plates. In the spaces between the
main ribs. I place steel plate springs, and pack or fill up with cork, hemp,
onkum, wool, or other soft or yielding substance, which yet at the same time
offers a firm resistance to shot or other missile, and prevents its passage
through the vessel's side. The aforesaid yielding materials are saturated with
waterproof and fireproof preparations, in order to render them perfectly
impervious to water, and at the same time uninflammable. I rivet, bolt, or
otherwise fasten to the longitudinal T-plates, wood and main ribs, a second
case or hull composed of iron T-plates, and wood laid perpendicularly to the
keel of the vessel, and the joints are caulked with the waterproof composition.
And finally to the sides or part of the vessel exposed to the shot, shell, &c.,
I rivet or bolt plates of steel and iron rolled and hammered of an angular or
splayed rustic shape or form, with dogs' teeth of tempered steel fastened
thereon by means of screws working in slots to allow play to the dogs' teeth
when struck by the shot. I use steel springs for the purpose of counteracting
the recoil, and bringing the dogs' teeth to their original position. By the use
of these angular or splayed rustic plates there is no flat surface exposed to the
action of the shot, consequently its force or power of penetration must be
considerably weakened. The effect of shot or shell coming in contact with
the dogs' teeth would be to smash or splinter the missile. I enclose the sides
or part of the sides of the vessel with an outer covering of wood or iron, in
order to prevent or avoid resistance to the water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said. Thomas Roberts in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,. I, THOMAS
ROBERTS, of Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Roberts, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Roberts, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Roberts, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during

page_text: 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
CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND FLOATING BATTERIES, AND IN RENDERING THEM CAPABLE
OF RESISTING THE DESTRUCTIVE FORCE OF SHOT, SHELL, AND OTHER MISSILES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Roberts, 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 Thomas Roberts, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists in improved constructions of ships and floating
batteries, so as to combine great strength and durability, and render them
capable of resisting the action of shot, shell, or other missiles, which improve-
ments will be readily understood by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon:-
་
Fig. 1 of the Drawings represents a vertical section of part of a ship's side
constructed according to my improvements; Fig. 2, a front elevation, and
Fig. 3 a horizontal section of the same, drawn to the scale of one inch to the
foot; Fig. 4 is a vertical section at one of the joints of the armour plates,
drawn full size; and Fig. 5, a vertical section of part of one of the sides of a
ship of war, drawn to a scale of one quarter of an inch to the foot.
The main.ribs of the vessel are shewn at a; they are composed of wrought
iron,
of dimensions suitable to the size and requirements of the vessel; tliey
may be rolled in the form of a girder, with an outer and inner flange or form
of plate and angle iron rivetted together in the usual manner. To the main
ribs a are rivetted horizontal T-plates 6 of wrought iron or steel, of about one
quarter of an inch in thickness, and between these T-plates are placed timber
baulks or planks c, about nine inches square, which planks are bolted to the
main ribs a by bolts d, and. the joints between the said T-plates 6 and timber
planks are well caulked with oakum or other suitable material, and thereby
form the hull of the ship or floating. battery. The planking will be sheathed
with copper under the water line in the usual manner, but in order that the
copper sheathing may not come in contact with the iron T-plates b, the

page_text: aforesaid T-plates under the water line will be of less depth than the timber
planks c, leaving a joint on the face between the planks about 1 inches deep,
and about of an inch wide, which will be well caulked watertight. In
order to give the sides of the ship above water additional strength to resist the
effect of shot and concentrated broadside, they are made of double thickness.
from about 5 feet under the load water line to the bulwarks. This extra
thickness is made by placing against the aforesaid horizontal timber planking c
vertical T-plates e, also composed of wrought iron or steel of about a quarter
of an inch in thickness, and between these T-plates e are placed vertical
timber baulks or planks f, also about nine inches square, and. the joints
between the said vertical timber planks f and vertical T-plates e are also well
caulked. The vertical timber planks fare bolted to the horizontal timber
planks c by bolts g, by which means the horizontal and vertical layers of
timber planking and iron T-plates are firmly bound together, and thereby
form the side of the ship or floating battery. The outer edges of the vertical
T-plates e are cut or shaped of an angular form, as at h, Fig. 1, in order to.fit
the insides of the aforesaid armour plates, which are represented in all the
Figures at i, and the angular spaces k between the vertical T-plates e are filled
with teak, oak, or other very hard wood, for the purpose of affording the
armour plates a good and firm foundation. In order to prevent shot, shell, or
other missiles from penetrating the ship's side, I cover the outsides of the
vessel to a depth of about five feet below the load water line with wrought
iron armour plates about two feet wide and about three inches thick. The
said armour plates are intended to be bent, rolled, or hammered into an
angulated form, in order that, no part of their surface shall present a flat:face
er surface at right angles. to the direction of the shot or other missiles.. The
armour plates are to be made of suitable lengths, and their horizontal and
vertical edges are to be planed so that at their joints they may fit close and
tight together. The armour plates are bolted to the ship's side at the
horizontal joints by bolts of the required length and strength.; and in order
to protect the horizontal joints of the armour plates and the bolts fastening
them to the ship's side they are covered with wrought-iron joint ribs m, about
six inches wide and four and a half inches deep, as shewn full size in Fig. 4,
the outside of each presenting an angular face to the direction of the shot or
missiles, and the insides fitting recesses formed by cutting each side of the
joints of the armour plates, and in the recesses between each joint rib and the
armour plates is placed a layer of sheet lead or copper n of about one-eighth
of an inch in thickness in order to deaden the force of the shot or other missiles
by which the joint rib may be struck. The joint ribs m are bolted to tho

page_text: ship's side by wrought-iron bolts o, which pass through the ship's side, and are
screwed up by nuts in the inside; thus the armour plates i and joint ribs m
are fastened to the ship's side. The angular edges p of the armour plates i
and the joint ribs m are formed of steel fitted in order that if struck the shot
or missiles may be split.
In the Provisional Specification it was stated that the keel of the vessel
was to be constructed in the form of a hollow cylinder composed of plates of
iron, rivetted or otherwise fastened together, and also that in the spaces
between the main ribs were placed springs and packings of cork, hemp, oakum,
wool, or other soft yielding substance, saturated with waterproof and fireproof
preparations, but these and other unimportant details I have now abandoned,
and therefore disclaim the use of them.
Having now described the general nature and particulars of my Invention,
I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details
herein set forth, either in the strength, dimensions, or angle of inclination of
the armour plates, or in the dimensions of the timber baulks, or any other
part of the construction; but what I claim as my Invention is,―
First, the construction of the hulls of ships of war and floating batteries by
a combination of iron or steel -plates and timber baulks or planks, as shewn
and described.
Secondly, the adoption of iron armour plates in the angulated form, as
therein shewn and described as a casing for ships of war and for floating
batteries, in order to render them invulnerable against shot, shell, or other
missiles.
And, thirdly, the modes of fastening the armour plates to the ship's side,
and of protecting the horizontal joints of the armour plates by covering them
with iron joint ribs, as shewn or described, or any mere modification
thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Roberts, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this
day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
E. T. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
London.
THOMAS ROBERTS. (L.S.)