IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS OF WAR, FORTS, AND BATTERIES, AND IN MOUNTING AND WORKING GUNS THEREIN.
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Walker, of Cowper Street, City Road, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS OF WAR, FORTS, AND BATTERIES,
AND IN MOUNTING AND WORKING GUNS THEREIN.".
Sealed the 17th August 1866, and dated the 22nd February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Walker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd February 1866.
I, JOHN WALKER, of Cowper Street, City Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS OF WAR, FORTS, AND
BATTERIES, AND IN MOUNTING AND WORKING GUNS THEREIN," to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention consists in constructing those portions.
of the sides of vessels of war and those portions of forts and batteries where
the port holes are situated as hereafter described. Opposite each gun in
the vessel I form a recess having the form of a portion of a circle cor-
responding to the radius of the fore part of the gun from the muzzle to the
trunnions, and in this recess I construct three port holes in the following
manner: On the bottom I lay an iron plate of the desired thickness, and
in this plate I cut a hole or mortice to the proper shape to receive the
ends of several plates to form the divisions between the port holes. These

page_text: plates are rolled to the desired shape to form the curved recess, and I let
three or four of them, according to the distance between the port holes,
into the mortise with their thick edges outwards; as these plates are
fo: med like the keystone of an arch they present the strongest form
against heavy shot. Over the port holes I place a top plate corresponding
exactly with the bottom plate, and fitting on to the top end of the plates
which divide the port holes. These dividing plates have longitudinal
grooves rolled so as to come opposite each other to admit of bolts to draw
the top and bottom plates solidly on to the ends of the dividing plates;
these dividing plates for ships may be rolled thin in the middle, leaving
the bearings at each edge of the desired thickness. For forts and batteries I
construct all above the surface with longitudinal timbers laid on the solid
foundation, on these timbers I lay timbers across, and fasten them all together
with holding-down bolts, making a solid mass, I then fasten thereon the
sole plates of the port holes; these plates are cut out in the same way as
before described for ships, but much heavier. I carry back or form recesses
in the hull of the ship or outside of the fort between the sets of port holes
and portions of circles to allow the covers of the port holes to fall back and
be out of the line of fire. The construction of ships, forts, and batteries as
before described is particularly adapted to the employment of guns
mounted so as to revolve as hereafter described.
The second part of my Invention relates to mounting and working guns
in vessels of war, forts, and batteries. I first mount the gun slide upon
which the gun carriage is supported upon a shaft free to revolve in a socket
or tube carried through the deck or floor and free to move in an elongated
slot, the inner face of which is circular at both ends. For greater strength
the shaft is furnished at the top with a collar, and for the ready training
of the gun I fit friction rollers near the shaft and under the slide. In order
to retain the gun when trained I either use blocks or I apply a worm to
work into a worm wheel on the head of the shaft. The worm may be
used not only to retain the gun in the required position, but the gun may
also be trained by it. After firing the gun may be turned round for
loading. In order to work guns in pairs and to communicate an up-and-
down motion to them, to allow of one gun being raised for firing while the
other is lowered and protected to be loaded, I support the bottom of my.
pipe or socket on a bed plate attached by chains to a drum on or forming
part of a horizontal shaft, and on one side of that shaft, and I connect a
platform to the top of the socket. I cut away or leave a space in the deck
or floor to receive the platform. I make similar arrangements and connect

page_text: another pipe or socket on the opposite side of the same horizontal shaft.
Round the apertures in the deck or floor I erect a short screen,; which
when the guns are in position for firing comes below the level of the mouth
thereof. One gun and apparatus balances the other, and supposing them
to be fitted amidship in, for instance, a gunboat, the guns may be made
to sweep the horizon. Now suppose the slides with their vertical shafts
fitted in the socket, and the guns and carriages on the slides, one gun will
be up above the deck ready for firing, and the other will be below the deck
being loaded, in which act the gunners will be fully protected. The deck
gun having been fired rotation is imparted to the horizontal shaft, when
that gun descends and the loaded gun is raised for firing, and so on.
Should two guns not be required, then a weight to balance one gun, and
apparatus must be connected to the opposite side of the horizontal shaft.
For the midship guns the sockets are not free to move in a slot as is the
case for port hole and embrasure guns. Instead of running guns out for
firing I simply bring the muzzles up to or near the port holes or embrasures,
and to protect them and to carry off the smoke consequent on the dis-
charge I place a tube on the outside of the gun, and run it out when the
gun is ready for being fired by sliding it along the gun. In constructing
new guns I flute the outside of the barrel, but for guns already, constructed
I place longitudinal ribs on the inside of the tube, thus recesses are formed
through which the air is drawn and the place of discharge ventilated. on the
firing of the gun.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WALKER, of Cowper Street, City Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting. .
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Walker, Her special licence that 1, the said
John Walker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Walker, my executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS OF WAR, FORTS, AND
BATTERIES, AND IN MOUNTING AND WORKING GUNS THEREIN," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Walker, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 John Walker, 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 fol-
lowing statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
The first part of my Invention consists in constructing those portions of
the sides of vessels of war and those portions of forts and batteries where
the port holes are situated as hereafter described. Opposite each gun
in the vessel I form a recess having the form of a portion of a circle cor-
responding to the radius of the fore part of the gun from the muzzle to the
trunnions, and in this recess I construct three port holes in the following
manner: On the bottom I lay an iron plate of the desired thickness, and
in this plate I cut a hole or mortice to the proper shape to receive the ends
of several plates to form the divisions between the port holes. These
plates are rolled to the desired shape to form the curved recess, and I let
three or four of them, according to the distance between the port holes,
into the mortice with their thick edges outwards; as these plates are formed
like the keystone of an arch they present the strongest form against
heavy shot. Over the port holes I place a top plate corresponding exactly
with the bottom plate, and fitting on to the top end of the plates which
divide the port holes. These dividing plates have longitudinal grooves
rolled so as to come opposite each other to admit of bolts to draw the top
and bottom plates solidly on to the ends of the, dividing plates; these
dividing plates for ships may be rolled thin in the middle, leaving the
bearings at each edge of the desired thickness. For forts and batteries I
construct all above the surface with longitudinal timbers laid on the solid

page_text: foundation, on these timbers I lay timbers across; and fasten them all
together with holding-down bolts, making a solid mass,. I then fasten
thereon the sole plates of the port holes; these plates are cut out in the
same way as before described for ships, but are much heavier. I carry
back or form recesses in the hull of the ship or outside of the fort between
the sets of port holes and portions of circles to allow the covers of the port
holes to fall back and be out of the line of fire.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation, and Figure 2
a plan, with the upper deck removed, of a portion of a vessel of war con-
structed according to this part of my Invention; Figure 2 shows one gun
ready for firing and one gun in position for loading.
Opposite each gun I form a curved recess a, as shewn,,and in this recess
I construct three port holes b, b, b, as follows:-Upon the bottom I lay
an iron plate of the necessary thickness, and I cut in this plate holes or.
mortices of the proper shape to receive the lower ends of plates c, c,
for forming the divisions between the port holes b, b. These plates c, c,
are rolled of the shape shown, and I let, say, three or four of them into
each hole or mortice in the bottom plate with their thick edges outwards as
represented, and as they are formed like the keystone of an arch they
present the strongest form against shot. Over the port holes b, b, I place a
top plate corresponding with the bottom plate and formed with similar
holes or mortices to fit over the top ends of the dividing plates c, c. These
plates c, c, are formed with longitudinal grooves, not represented in
Figures 1 and 2, but shown at d in the horizontal section of a portion of a
fort, Figure 3, which grooves, when the plates are in place, come opposite
each other, and I pass. bolts through these grooves and through cor-
responding holes in the top and bottom plates, so as to draw the top and
bottom plates and the ends of the dividing plates c, c, solidly together. I
form recesses e, e, Figure 2, in the hull of the ship to allow the covers f, f,
of the port holes to fall back and be out of the line of fire.
Figure 3 is a horizontal section of a portion of a fort showing plates c, c,
placed on end between the embrasures, each plate being shaped to form
an arch as before described.
Figures 4 to 7 show my method of construction applied to a turret;
Figure 4 being an elevation, partly in section, Figure 5 a horizontal section,
Figure 6 part of a vertical section, and Figure 7 part of a horizontal section
on a larger scale. c, c, are the plates as before, each shaped so as to present
the form of a portion of an arch, and having longitudinal grooves d, as
before explained, to receive bolts for binding the parts solidly.together; g.is

page_text: the bed of the turret; h is an inner bottom ring rivetted to the bed plate,
and is an outer bottom ring for holding the plates c, c; j is an upper
hoop or ring, and ka ring or circular plate covering the top ends of the
plates c, c; 1,,, are bridge girders for the roof; m, a covering plate bent
down at the edge; n, n, are the port holes. For turrets the plates c, c,
are. made about one-eighth, more or less, thinner at the top or upper end in
order to give a tapered form to the outside, whereby the bottom hoop i
may be driven down tight; the upper. ends of the plates c, c, are cut out
as shown to receive the hoop or ring j. I prefer to form the bolts for
binding the plates c, c, to the top, and bottom plates as represented in
Figure 7*, in which it will be seen that the screw-threaded part for receiving
the nut is parallel, but the thread is cut deeper at the end and gradually
becomes shallower as it approaches the middle of the bolt, so that the thread
is as it were tapered, and the nut can be more securely screwed thereon.
The second part of my Invention relates to mounting and working guns
in vessels of war, forts, and batteries. I first mount the gun slide upon
which the gun carriage is supported upon a shaft free to revolve in a
socket or tube carried through the deck or floor and free to move in an
elongated slot, the inner face of which is circular at both ends. This
arrangement will be understood on. reference to Figure 8, in which A is
the gun
slide of each gun mounted upon a shaft B free to revolve in a
socket or tube C carried through the deck or floor; this socket is, as just
stated, free to move in an elongated slot, the inner face of which is circular
at both ends. For greater strength the shaft B may be furnished at the
top with a collar, and for the ready training of the gun friction rollers
may be fitted near the shaft and under the slide. In order to retain the
gun when trained I either use blocks or I apply a worm to work into a
worm wheel on the head of the shaft. The worm may be used not only
to retain the gun in the required position, but the gun may also be trained
by it. After firing the gun may be turned round for loading. In order
to work guns in pairs and to communicate an up-and-down motion to them,
to allow of one gun being raised for firing while the other is lowered and
protected to be loaded, I support the bottom of the pipe or socket C of
one gun slide on a bed plate D; as shewn in Figure 9, attached by chains
to a drum E on or forming part of a horizontal shaft F, and on one side
of that shaft, and I connect a platform G.to the top of the socket. I cut
away or leave a space in the deck or floor to receive the platform. I nake
similar arrangements and connect the pipe or socket of another gun slide
on the opposite side of the same horizontal shaft as shown. Round the

page_text: apertures in the deck or floor I erect a short screen, as seen at H, Figure 8,
which when the guns are in position for firing comes below the level of
the mouth thereof. One gun and apparatus balances the other, and
supposing them to be fitted amidship in, for instance, a gunboat, the guns
may be made to sweep the horizon. Now suppose the slides A with their
vertical shafts B fitted in the sockets C, and the guns and carriages on the
slides, one gun will be up above the deck as shown ready for firing, and the
other will be below the deck being loaded, in which act the gunners will
be fully protected. The deck gun having been fired rotation is imparted to
the horizontal-shaft by means of wheels I, when that gun descends and the
loaded gun is raised for firing, and so on. Should two guns not be required,
then a weight or weights to balance one gun and apparatus must be con-
nected to the horizontal shaft, as represented in Figure 10. Instead of running
guns out for firing I simply bring the muzzles up to or near the port holes
or embrazures, and to protect them and to carry off the smoke consequent
on the discharge I place a tube on the outside of the gun, as represented
at J, Figure 8, and run it out when the gun is ready for being fired by
sliding it along the gun. In constructing new guns I flute the outside of
the barrel, but for guns already constructed I place longitudinal ribs in the
inside of the tube, thus recesses are formed through which the air is drawn
and the place of discharge ventilated on the firing of the gun.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, constructing vessels of war, forts, and batteries with plates so shaped
and fixed as to present or possess the form and structure of an arch or
portion of an arch, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, constructing vessels of war with a recess opposite each gun
having the form of a portion of a circle, and constructing in such recessed
part three or more port holes, substantially as herein-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Third, mounting the slide of guns in vessels of war, forts, and batteries
upon a shaft free to revolve in a socket or tube, substantially as and for
the purpose herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
Fourth, mounting and working guns in vessels of war, forts, and batteries
in pairs to allow of an up-and-down motion being communicated to them,
and so that one gun and the apparatus connected therewith balance the

page_text: other gun and its apparatus, substantially as herein-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Fifth, the employment in vessels of war, forts, and batteries of a weight
or weights to balance a gun and its apparatus, such weight or weights
being connected to the horizontal shaft to which the socket of the gun
slide is connected, substantially as herein-before described and represented
in the accompanying Drawings.
Sixth, the employment over the outside of guns in vessels of war,
forts, and batteries of a tube made to slide along the gun, substantially as
and for the purpose herein-before described and represented in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Walker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six.
JOHN WALKER. (L.S.)