IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MAKE AND CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS AND BALLS TO BE USED WITH CANNON OR OTHER ARTILLERY OR FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Barnard Feather, of Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MAKE AND CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS AND BALLS TO BE USED WITH CANNON OR
OTHER ARTILLERY OR FIRE-ARMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Barnard Feather
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th September 1855.
I, ROBERT BARNARD FEATHER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MAKE AND CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS AND BALLS TO BE USED WITH CANNON OR OTHER
ARTILLERY OR FIRE-ARMS" to be as follows:-
The improvements effected in balls and shells constructed according to my
Invention comprise, economy in the mode and expense of manufacture by
means of the use of cast iron; their capability of being used to equal advantage
with cannon as well as with mortars; increased destructive power (especially
when fitted for the purpose upon my plans) against batteries and earthworks;
increased range and swifter and more unerring flight with a smaller charge of
powder than is practicable with projectiles of the ordinary description. My
mode of construction is as follows:-

page_text: The shells may be of any given shape, (that is to say), elongated or oval,
semicircular, diamond or lozenge, circular, triangular, quadrilateral, or pyra-
midal shaped; also of any given size, capacity, and substance, of either cast
or wrought iron, with an equal diameter throughout their whole length, or
tapering more or less towards the base, having a smooth or grooved outer sur-
face, and with or without a circular plate at the base to equalize the extreme
circumference.-
The apex or top of each shape may be pointed or armed with one or more
solid iron or steel points or spikes, or with a single shot only, or with double
shot or more, or with a single shot and points, or with double shot or more
and point between them, or with a cavity or magazine with cover, filled with
a round shot or with canister or grape shot, or made with a solid metal surface
to any given depth or extent; or any or all of these fittings could be made
separately to screw on and off, or be cast on the apex or top of the shell, or the
round shot and the grape and canister placed loose in the interior. The base
may be either flat or concave, and fitted with a suitable cast or wrought irou
lid or cover to screw into and or close over the opening or cavity, and to
correspond with the extreme circumference. Or the shell may be made in two
distinct portions, halves or otherwise, in any of the foregoing shapes or forms,
with or without any of the aforesaid fittings at the top or in the interior, and to
screw together at their centres, or any other point of junction. And or the outer
circumference may be set round with iron or metal bars, with pointed tops of
any size, shape, or description, of the length of the shell, more or less, and
passing through a rack at their centres, more or less, and their ends fixed into
a plate at the base of the shell. The balls are to be of the same shape as the
shells, flat or hollow at the base, plain or fluted in their circumference, uniform
in diameter in its entirety, or to about two-thirds its whole length, and thence
to go off to a point or round at its apex or top. The same principles apply
to muskett, &c. balls, to be made of similar shape to the cannon ball, but of
either lead or iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Barnard Feather in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BARNARD FEATHER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman, send
greeting

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Barnard Feather, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Barnard Feather, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Robert Barnard Feather, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MAKE AND CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS AND BALLS TO BE USED
WITH CANNON OR OTHER ARTILLERY OR FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Robert Barnard Feather, 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 Robert Barnard Feather, 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
following statement :-
be
My improvements in the make and construction of shells and balls consist
in the capability of using the casting process to all or any of the shells or balls
constructed upon my plans; also in the variety of the shapes which may
used, and the manner of arming or fitting the same; also in making them and
their armament, or either of them, in separate parts or pieces, and in the mode
of securing the same respectively; and such improvements have reference to
the facility and economy in expense of such making and construction, and of
their subsequent use; also to the manner of their use, and also to their range,
speed, flight, and effect, or power when projected.
The mode of construction according to my Invention is as follows:-
The shells may be made of either wrought or cast iron, or other metal, or
any combination thereof or commixture therewith, and of any given or required
size, capacity, or substance, to be either elongated or oval, conical or conoidal,
semicircular, diamond or lozenge, circular or round, triangular or quadrilateral,
or pyramidal shaped, and either a smooth or fluted or straight or spiral
grooved outer surface; to be of an equalized diameter and circumference

page_text: throughout their entire length, or tapering more or less downwards in a
straight or curved line towards and to the base, and those so tapering to be
fitted with a circular plate of adequate substance at the base, equal to the
extreme diameter and circumference of the shell or shells.
The apex or top of each and every shaped shell respectively may be made
either plane, round, or conical or conoidal, or oval or pointed; and if armed,
then my plan is to use one or more solid metal points or spikes of any given
or required length, shape, size, and substance, or a single shot or double shot
only, or a single shot or double shot and point or points attached, or to
convert the interior either wholly or partially into a cavity or magazine with
cover, to contain one or more round shot, or charge of grape or cannister
shot, or other missile or missiles therein. Any or all of the fittings or missiles
aforesaid may be made separately, to screw on and off the shell or shells at
pleasure, or (except the grape and cannister shot) may be cast on the apex or
top of the shell or shells respectively; or the round shot, or grape and
cannister shot, or other missile or missiles, all, any, or either of them, may be
placed loose in the interior of all or any of the aforesaid shells.
The base of all or either of the foregoing shells, except those tapering to and
at the base, may be made either flat or concave; but all descriptions of them,
if intended to be loaded or charged as aforesaid, to have a suflicient opening or
aperture at the base for the purpose, with a sufficient and corresponding metal
lid, cover, or stopper to fit into, close over, and or screw or bolt into the afore-
said opening or aperture of the shell at the base thereof, and with or without
two or more upright flanges or side plates from the covering or circumference
plate at the base to the extreme diameter of the shell or shells.
Or the shell may be constructed in balves or other pieces or divisions, either
of wrought or cast metal or metals as aforesaid, and in any or all of the fore-
going shapes or forms, and with or without all or any of the aforesaid fittings
at the apex or top or in the interior, and made to screw together, or close and
shut with springs, screws, and bolts, any or either of them, at their point of
junction. The outer surface and circumference of all or any of the foregoing
description of shell or shells may be fitted or set round with any number or
quantity of suitable metal bars of any given or required length, shape, and
substance passing through a metal rack or plate attached to the shell at or
near the centre thereof, with the lower ends of such bars fixed and secured into
a similar and corresponding rack or plate at the base or lower end of the shell
so fitted or armed.
The cannon ball to be made either solid, or partially or wholly hollow, of a
similar shape or form as the aforesaid shells, or any of them, and of any given

page_text: size and weight required, the apex or top to be either rounded or conical, or
pointed with or without a point or points attached; the base to be either flat,
hollow, or concave, with or without a cap or cover, to screw on or into the
opening.
The musket and or rifle balls to be made of either lead or iron, and to
be similar in shape and make to the cannon balls and shells as aforesaid,
either solid, or wholly or partially hollow, the apex or top to be either conical
or pointed, with or without a point or points on the conical top, and with or
without a cap or cover at the flat, hollow, or concave base, as for the cannon
ball of those descriptions.
The advantages to be derived from these projectiles are, a much longer, more
certain, and undeviating range, with a more true and rapid flight; the shells
being considerably more efficient and destructive in character and effect, in
carrying an increased number and quantity of projectiles, inasmuch as those
charged or loaded with round shot and or points or spikes at the apex or top,
or with round shot and or cannister or grape shot or other missiles in the
interior of the shells (and which may be called "magazine shells "), will thereby
convey and scatter them to a much greater distance and wide-spread range
than in any other way or by any other means. And those armed as aforesaid
at the apex or top, from their greatly increased force and power, will be most
effective against batteries and fortifications, as also against ships and vessels, in
acting as ponderous and tripping hammers, while those fitted with bars (which
I call bar shells) will be equally effective against earthworks and defences
raised upon them, as by being driven into the foundations below the line of
defence they will bury themselves therein, and being held fast by the earth
closing upon and around them through the bars, will on exploding under-
mine and scatter the earth in all directions, and, as a necessary consequence,
overthrow everything that may be above and upon it or within their reach,
the fuse being protected by a sufficient metal tube or socket to prevent
its being extinguished or knocked away.
A much smaller sized cannon and or other artillery necessary than for the
spherical shell and shot of equal or corresponding weight, and which being pro-
portionately lighter, would be more easily and readily worked and transported
when and where required.
A much smaller charge of powder requisite than for the spherical shell and
shot of corresponding weight, the whole explosive force (except the trifle for
windage) acting directly and entirely upon the whole surface and bulk of
the missile, and the risk of the bursting of cannon and or other artillery
diminished in proportion.

page_text: A great and important saving in the cost of cast shells over those of wrought
metal, as also in the cannon and or other artillery necessary for their use, not
only in the metal itself, but also in the time and labour in, by being so much
more rapidly made and prepared for service, and they could also be used in
carcass, only or as hollow, missiles with equal benefit when and where so
required.
The same advantages also apply to the cannon and musket and or rifle
balls as to their efficiency, and of saving and economy in the cost of the two
latter if made of iron instead of lead.
I have now described my various improvements, and the nature and advan-
tages thereof, and claim, as my Invention, the improved modes or methods of
making and constructing shells and balls herein-before described, or all or: any
of them, (that is to say,) in the use of the casting process to all or any of such
shells and balls, in the variety of shapes which may be used, and their peculiar
adaptation or fitness to my mode or modes of arming and fitting the same, as
herein-before explained, in the mode or modes of such armament and fitting, in
the making or constructing all or any of such shells and balls and such arma-
ments and fittings respectively in parts or pieces, and the mode of securing the
same, as applied to my said improvements, or any or either of them, or all or
any of such aforesaid improvements as applied to or in conjunction with each
other, or with the others or other of them.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Barnard Feather, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
R. B. FEATHER. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the above-named
Robert Barnard Feather, in the presence of
FREDERICK PARTRIDGE, Ship Broker,
4, Molyneux Place, Water Street,
Liverpool.