IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR PLATING OR PROTECTING VESSELS OF WAR, FORTS, AND OTHER LIKE STRUCTURES, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE PLATES AND MATERIAL EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Chidiock Nangle, of Woolwich, in the
County of Kent, Captain in the Royal Artillery and Deputy Assistant
Quartermaster General, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR
PLATING OR PROTECTING VESSELS OF WAR, FORTS, AND OTHER LIKE
STRUCTURES, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE PLATES AND MATERIAL
EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 7th June 1867, and dated the 10th December 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Chidiock Nangle
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th December 1866.
I, WALTER CHIDIOCK NANGLE, of Woolwich, in the County of Kent,
Captain in the Royal Artillery, and Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ARMOUR PLATING OR PROTECTING VESSELS OF WAB, FORTS, AND OTHER LIKE STRUC-
TURES, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE PLATES AND MATERIAL EMPLOYED
THEREIN," to be as follows:-
.My Invention mainly consists in placing the armour or protective plating
in vessels of war, forts, and other like structures inside an outer protection so
that the armour plating does not receive the first impact of shot or shell, also
in the manufacture of the armour plates with knobs or excrescences as

page_text: hereafter described, on the outer face, in the manufacture of other outer plates
of the peculiar form hereafter described, and in the manufacture of a com-
position as hereafter described.
My Invention is carried into effect as follows:-Against the timber or
skin of the ship or other structure I place a cushion or pad of horsehair or
other suitable yielding material; against this cushion I place the armour
plating. The armour plates are constructed, say, three inches thick, more
or less, having on their outer face knobs or excrescences of, say, four inches
thick, more or less, these knobs being at such distances apart that a shot or
shell must strike one or more of them, and not directly upon the flat portion
of the plate; this method of construction gives the strength of a seven-inch
plate with a three-inch plate having four inch knobs, and the force of the shot
or shell is also spread over a larger surface of the plate. Against this armour
plating I place a composition of, say, eight inches, more or less, in thickness,
reckoning from the top of the knobs; this composition is formed of hides
teazed and formed into a pulp before being tanned, mixed after tanning with
marine glue or other material, and pressed into blocks by powerful hydraulic
pressure. I do not however confine myself to this particular composition, as
any other suitable composition may be employed, or the composition may be
dispensed with. Outside the composition (or when it is dispensed with outside
the armour plating) I place a second cushion or pad of horsehair or other
yielding material, and outside this cushion I place two layers of rings or flat
plates formed with circular apertures. These rings and plates are set vertically,
and the two layers are separated by wire netting or other material to which
they can be readily secured; they are arranged so that the rings of the back
set are behind the space between those in the front set. The upper parts of
the rings or plates are attached to the wire netting string or other material
which will readily break, while the lower parts are attached by strong wire, so
that when a shot strikes against and enters a ring, the upper attachment may
break, and the shot is thereby deflected downwards. The rings are about
four and a half inches in diameter, and tapered to correspond with the
form of an elongated shot. Outside these two sets of rings or plates I place
steel or other metal plates formed on their outer face, with projections tapered
or beviled at the extremity, and curved in an upward direction for the purpose
of causing a shot on striking them to deviate downwards from its proper
direction. These projections are formed on their upper side like a rasp,
so as to hold or bite the lower portion of the shot, they are, say, about six
inches in length, and the plates to which they are connected are, say, two
and a half inches thick immediately below each projection, while they

page_text: gradually diminish in thickness to the next following projection. The
spaces between the projections are filled up with wood or other suitable
material.
The whole of the parts before described, that is to say, the inner cushion,
the armour plates with knobs, the composition, the outer cushion, the rings or
plates with circular holes, the plates with the curved tapered projections, and
the filling pieces, between these projections are by preference placed in metal,
boxes of, say, five feet square, which boxes are dropped in between the timber
or skin of the ship or other structure and an outer skin of timber which forms
the outside of the structure. When any portion is injured the box or boxes
containing that portion may be lifted out and replaced by others. Or the
parts before described may be secured with or without the boxes to the ship.
or other structure by bolts or other fastenings in any ordinary manner, the
whole being covered with an outer skin of timber, whereby corrosion is
entirely avoided.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Walter Chidiock Nangle in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th June 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
CHIDIOCK NANGLE, of Woolwich, in the County of Kent, Captain in the Royal
Artillery, and Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her Heirs and successors, give and grant unto I,
the said Walter Chidiock Nangle, Her special licence that I, the said
Walter Chidiock Nangle, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Walter Chidiock Nangle, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR PLATING OR PROTECTING VESSELS OF WAR,
FORTS, AND OTHER LIKE STRUCTURES, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE PLATES AND
MATERIAL EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Walter Chidiock Nangle, my executors or administrators, by an instrument

page_text: in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Walter Chidiock Nangle, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:
The chief objects I have sought to attain by the present Invention are, first,
that the shot should be forced to strike the armour in a slanting direction;
secondly, that the armour itself should be so constructed as to assist in causing
the shot to strike it in a slanting direction; and, thirdly, that the force of
the shot should be in some degree reduced before it is permitted to touch the
armour proper.
My Invention mainly consists in placing the armour or protective plating
in vessels of war, forts, and other like structures inside an outer protection
so that the armour plating does not receive the first impact of shot or shell,
also in the manufacture of the armour plates with knobs or excrescences as
hereafter described on the outer face, in the manufacture of other outer
plates of the peculiar form hereafter described, and in the manufacture of a
composition as hereafter described.
My Invention is carried into effect as follows:-Against the timber or
skin of the ship or other structure I place a cushion or pad of horsehair,
soft malleable iron, or other suitable yielding material; against this cushion I
place the armour plating. The armour plates are constructed, say, three
inches thick, more or less, having on their outer face knobs or excrescences
of, say, four inches thick, more or less, these knobs being at such distances
apart that a shot or shell must strike one or more of them, and not directly,
upon the flat portion of the plate; this method of construction gives the
strength of a seven-inch plate with a three-inch plate having four-inch
knobs or excrescences, and the force of a shot or shell is also spread over
a larger surface of the plate. Against this armour plating I place a composition
of, say, 8 inches, more or less, in thickness, reckoning from the top of the
knobs or excrescences; this composition is formed of hides cut into small
pieces before being tanned, mixed after tanning with marine glue or other
binding material, and pressed into blocks by powerful hydraulic pressure. I do
not however confine myself to this particular composition as any other

page_text: suitable composition may be employed, or the composition may be dispensed
with. Outside the composition (or when it is dispensed with outside the armour'
plating) I place a second cushion or pad of horsehair or other yielding.
material, and outside this cushion I place two layers of rings or flat plates
formed with circular apertures; these rings or plates are set vertically, and the
two layers are separated by wire netting or other material to which they can'
be readily secured; they are arranged so that the rings of the back set are.
behind the space between those in the front set. The upper parts of the
rings or plates are attached to the wire netting by string or other material'
which will readily break, while the lower parts are attached by strong wire,
so that when a shot strikes against and enters a ring, the upper attachment
may break, and the shot is thereby deflected downwards. The rings are
about 4 inches in diameter, and tapered to correspond with the form of an
elongated shot. (Sometimes I dispense with these two sets of rings or flat
plates and wire netting, and sometimes also with the second cushion.) Outside
these two sets of rings or plates I place steel or other metal plates formed
on their outer face with projections tapered or bevilled at the extremity, and'
curved in an upward direction at an angle of about 28° or 30° for the purpose
of causing a shot on striking them to deviate downwards from its proper
direction. These projections are formed on their upper side like a rasp, so as
to hold or bite the lower portion of the shot; they are, say, about 6 inches
in length, and the plates to which they are connected are, say, 2 inches
thick immediately below each projection, while they gradually diminish in
thickness to the next following projection. The spaces between the projections
are filled up with wood, or the composition before described, or other suitable
material, and should not be far enough apart to allow a shot to enter between
them.
The whole of the parts before described, that is to say, the inner cushion,
the armour plates with knobs or excrescences, the composition, the outer cushion,
the rings or plates with circular holes, the plates. with the curved tapered
projections, and the filling pieces between these projections are by preference
placed in metal boxes of, say, five feet square, which boxes are dropped in
between the timber or skin of the ship or other structure, and an outer skin
of timber or other material which forms the outside of the structure. When
any portion is injured the box or boxes containing that portion may be
lifted out and replaced by others; or the parts before described may be
secured with or without the boxes to the ship or other structure by bolts or
other fastenings in any ordinary manner, the whole being covered with an
outer skin of timber, whereby corrosion is entirely avoided.

page_text: Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings in a vertical section of a portion
of a vessel of war armour plated or protected according to my Invection, as
herein-before described:
is the inner skin of the ship; 6, 6, are several of the boxes containing the
plates and material for protecting the vessel; these boxes rest upon supports c.
d is the inner cushion; e, the inner armour plating with knobs or excrescences f;
9, the blocks of composition; h, i, the two layers of rings or flat plates separated
by wire netting k, to which they are connected as before explained; ? is the
outer armour plating with the tapered projections m, m, curved or inclined
upwards; n, n, are the filling pieces of wood or other material between the
projections m, m; o is the outer skin forming the outside of the structure.
The supports c for the boxes 6 may be formed by the hull of the vessel con-
sisting of the inner skin a and outer skin o, being divided into partitions.
to receive the boxes, so that any box or boxes may be removed and replaced.
if necessary; p, p, are bolts to secure the boxes to the inner skin a.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the inner armour plates e with the
excrescences f; but I do not limit myself to any particular form of excrescence,
that shewn in Figures 1 and 2 being with the object of deflecting the shot.
Figure 3 is a similar view of one of the outer armour plates with the inclined
tapered projections m, m. Sometimes I form vertical divisions between the
projections m, m, as seen at q, q, so as to make what may be called pigeon
holes; these vertical divisions will assist in breaking up shells, particularly
if the inner end of each pigeon hole is made smaller than the outer end.
Figure 4 shows a modified arrangement in which the inner armour plating e
is plain, and is backed by some of the composition g and by round convex
plates of soft malleable iron c, which are placed against the inner side of the
box b.
Figure 5 shews another modification in which the inner plating e is in a
zig-zag form with the view of deflecting the shot. In this Figure the plating e
is shown backed by the composition g. The blocks of composition are by
preference formed of a wedge shape, and are forcibly driven into their places
in the box b, whether used between the two sets of plating, or as filling pieces
between the projections m, m, or as backing to the inner plating e, whereby
great additional strength is obtained.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, constructing the armour plating or protection of vessels of war, forts,.
and other like structures, substantially as herein-before described, the armour
plating proper being inside an outer protective plating, so that the inner

page_text: plating does not receive the first impact of shot or shell, and so that the
outer plating has a tendency to cause the shot to deviate from a direct
line.
Second, the manufacture and employment as armour plating of plates having
knobs or excrescences, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Third, the manufacture and employment as an outer protection to armour
plating of plates having projections tapered or bevilled at the extremity,
and curved in an upward direction, substantially as and for the purpose
herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth, the manufacture and employment, in combination with armour
plating, of blocks formed of pieces of hides cut before tanning, and mixed after
tanning with marine glue or other like binding material, and then submitted
to powerful pressure, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described.
Fifth, the employment of boxes to contain the inner and outer platings, and
other parts, substantially as herein-before described and represented in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Chidiock Nangle, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven.
WALTER CHIIDIOCK NANGLE. (L.S.)
CAP. ROY. ARTIL.,
D. A. Q. G., Woolwich.