Improvements in and relating to Ships.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Feb., 1894-Accepted, 4th Aug., 1894
CUDIL DELE DI
Improvements in and relating to Ships.
We.
HIPPOLYTE HÉRIER of 29 Rue des Petits Champs, Merchant, and PAUL
REYNEAU, of 50 Rue de Moscou, Gentleman, both of Paris, in the Republic of
France, 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 :-
Our invention relates to an improved ship having several hulls, which, as
compared with the ships heretofore employed, possesses the following advantages:
(1) It offers greater safety for the passengers and the crew, and being constituted
by the union of several hulls it may continue on its way without danger to the life
of the passengers even if serious damage should be done to one of the hulls,
inasmuch as the damaged hull may easily be separated from the others.
(2) The stability is increased.
(3) The speed obtained is greater owing to the special form of the hulls, the
sides of which are rectilineal instead of being curved as in ordinary boats, and thus
present a smaller surface to the resistance of the water.
(4) The turning of the ship upon herself or in the arc of a circle of small radius
is very easily effected by means of rudders and movable keels.
(5) The ship may very rapidly be stopped, owing to the combined action of the
reversed propelling mechanism and of the rudders and keels moved in opposite
directions.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a plan of a ship having three hulls, constructed according to our
invention,
Fig. 1 is a portion of Fig. 1, to an enlarged scale,
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the plane 1-2 of Figure 1,
Fig. 2 is a portion of Fig. 2, to an enlarged scale.
Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the cap or false bow connecting the front
extremities of the three hulls.
Figure 4 is a section through the plane 3-4 of Figure 3,
Figure 5 is a transverse section of the ship through the plane 5-6 of Figure 2.
Figures 6, 7 and 8 are respectively a plan, a longitudinal section and a transverse
section of a ship having several hulls of modified construction.
Figures 9 to 12 are views of details hereinafter described.
The improved ship is constituted by the union of several cylindrical hulls a a a
which are provided with hollow keels bb attached to the walls of these hulls and
capable of holding a certain quantity of water-ballast. These keels may be made
solid and held against the hulls by vertical rods passing through the walls of these
bulls. They are provided with hinges having a horizontal axis and extending in
the direction of the length of the ship. The said keels may be lowered at will
and allowed to yield freely to the impulsion of the water when the weather is
calm. The side hulls terminate in half-cones a¹ a¹, while the intermediate hulls
terminate at each of their extremities in cones a² a³. The half-cones a¹ and
cone a² in front extend into a cap or false bow c provided with collars c¹ to hold
then together. Each of the rear half-cones al a¹ and the cone a³ carry a rudder
and a screw.
The outer rudders d d are placed in the prolongation of the side
of the cylinder which carries them, and the intermediate rudder d' is arranged
in the plane of the axis of the middle hull.
Each of the hulls a a a is provided near the front with a movable false keel

page_text: which, being placed in the desired direction, will add its action to that of the
rudder and increase the rapidity of the turning movement which it is desired to
impart to the ship. The middle hull is moreover provided at its centre with a
movable keel 62 fixed to a vertical rod e traversing the hull. This rod e carries at
its upper extremity a rack e¹ the teeth of which gear with those of a pinion e².
The said rod keeps the movable keel 62 at the level of the fixed part band, owing
to the rack and pinion, can be moved downwards or upwards.
The rod e carries moreover a toothed wheelf the teeth of which engage with
those of another toothed wheel f¹ actuated by a motor through the intervention of
any suitable transmitting device. The keel can thus receive a very rapid
turning movement by which the ship is caused to turn upon herself. The
hulls a a a are provided with water-tight bulk-heads and their sides are stiffened
by a series of iron beams g arranged crosswise. The several hulls are firmly
connected by means of rods / placed at certain distances from each other and
whose extremities, which are to be united, are screw-threaded and screwed into
a single nut h¹ provided with operating levers.
A floor resting upon beams and terminating at the rear in a poop permits of the
easy passage from one hull to the other. The screw propellers iii are placed at
the rear of each hull, and shafts are provided which carry screw blades 12...
at certain distances apart. The said shafts are immerged in the channels
which separate the several hulls. They are supported at one of their extremities
by brackets carried by the cap or false bow e, and at the other extremity by means
of vertical beams held by booms having their point of support upon the hulls a a a.
These shafts are attached at one or more points of their length by means of
transmitting gear. We may replace these shafts either by a certain number of
paddle wheels k k operated with the aid of chains, or by a series of paddles k¹ k¹
dipping simultaneously into the water as represented in Figure 9.
The turning movement of the ship is facilitated by the position of the lateral
rudders, upon the surface of which the water driven from the said channels by
the propelling parts will act with great force. For diminishing the time required
for this turning movement, one of the screws ii at the rear may be turned in a
certain direction while the others turn in the opposite direction.
In the ship before described the three hulls a a a are of the same length, which
presents the inconvenience of causing the water to flow directly into the channels
provided between these hulls when the ship is in motion and consequently increasing
the resistance to be overcome. In order to obviate this inconvenience we make the
middle hull longer than the side hulls. The front part of this middle hull is
conical and the profiles of the front extremities of the side hulls are prolongations
of that of the middle hull, as shown in Figure 6, whether these profiles be
rectilineal or curvilineal. The middle hull forces the water obliquely before it
and enables only such a current of water to pass into the channels between the
hull as can circulate freely therein.
In order to facilitate the passage of this water in the channels we diminish
progressively the diameter of the hulls from the front to the rear in such a
manner that the width of these channels gradually increases in the same direction.
The hulls of the ship before described have their front extremities or their stems
inserted into a cap or false bow; with our new arrangement of hulls, this cap
or false bow is less useful and we may dispense with it or at least render it
removable.
We may also dispense with the keel of each hull without reducing the stability
of the whole.
For connecting the hulls rigidly with each other we employ strong metal beams
of rolled iron, for instance double T iron, which fit in guides or brackets m to
which they are bolted or fixed by any suitable means enabling these beams / to be
easily and rapidly dismounted in case one of the hulls a a a is to be separated from
the others.
The guides or brackets m preferably constructed of strong sheet metal are

page_text: fastened to the hulls and do not require to be water-tight, for care is taken to place
them above the water line.
They may completely traverse the hull or have only a sufficient length for
enabling the beam 1 to be fitted in.
We may also connect two neighbouring hulls by iron bars r joined together after
the manner of a St. Andrew's cross (Figure 12) and which can easily be dis-
mounted; they have their crossing point so high above the water line that no part
of these iron bars outside the hulls will dip into the water and increase the
resistance to be overcome.
If in consequence of serious damage one of the side hulls is separated from the
others the ship represented in Figures 6 and 7 comprises only two hulls of unequal
lengths and it would in this case become impossible to steer straight without
constantly putting the rudder over, which would have the effect of diminishing
the speed. For obviating this inconvenience the front part a' of the middle hull,
which is shown section-lined in Figure 6, is made removable and the part a³ is
turned upon the axis a so that it will be symmetrical with the front part of the
remaining side hull.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
First. An improved ship having a number of hulls arranged side by side and
firmly connected with each other but adapted to be easily separated, each of these
hulls being provided with means of propulsion and also with rudders in front and at
the rear, a portion of the keel of the central hull being movable to facilitate the
turning movement of the ship, and having in the channels, which separate the hulls,
rods or shafts carrying screw blades, paddle wheels or paddles, substantially as
hereinbefore described.
Second. A ship having three hulls, the middle one of which is longer than the
side hulls, the front profiles of the latter being prolongations of that of the
middle hull.
Third. A ship having several bulls which diminish progressively in width from
the front to the rear so as to leave between them channels which gradually
increase in width from the front to the rear, for the purpose hereinbefore
specified.
Fourth. In a ship having several hulls the connection of the hulls by means of
iron bars fastened together crosswise or of metal beams adapted for attachment to
guides or brackets secured in the interior of the hulls, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 21st day of February 1894.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.