AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RAISING NAVIGABLE VESSELS OR OTHER HEAVY BODIES ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE WATER
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bernard Benvenuto de Morell, of Berne, in the
Confederation of Switzerland, and of 62, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF RAISING NAVIGABLE VESSELS OR OTHER HEAVY BODIES ABOVE
THE SURFACE OF THE WATER."
Sealed the 3rd May 1870, and dated the 14th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bernard Benvenuto de
Morell at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 14th December 1869.
I, BERNARD BENVENUTO DE MORELL, of Berne, in the Confederation
of Switzerland, and of 62, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,.
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN:
IMPROVED METHOD OF RAISING NAVIGABLE VESSELS OR OTHER HEAVY BODIES
ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE WATER," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in arranging steamboats so that when con-
nected by girders they will form an apparatus for raising navigable
vessels or other heavy bodies. For this purpose two steamboats of

page_text: peculiar construction (which peculiar construction consists in having
water-tight compartments to receive the girders) are placed parallel,
and sufficiently apart from each other to admit of the vessel to be
lifted being floated in between them. Transverse beams or girders
which are cased in water-tight compartments of the said steamers
may be rolled out of those compartments by means of a rack and pinion,
and united together by bolts and wedges or otherwise. The two steamers
thus connected will form an apparatus which may be sunk so deep in
the water as to receive the vessel to be lifted. The vessel is rested on
a cradle upon the said girders. The ship being raised will be well
secured on the cradle and between the sides of the steamers. This
operation being done the water which has been let into the bilge of the
steamers partially to sink them will be blown out by means of com-
pressed air stored up beforehand in air-tight compartments or removed
by other suitable means. In consequence the whole apparatus will rise
and lift the vessel sitting in between out of the water or to any desirable
height. The vessel lifted can if required be pulled on shore by means of
capstans or otherwise, and upon the above said cradle. When a ship or
other vessel has been repaired or otherwise attended to it may be
returned to the apparatus to be again lowered into the water without
the necessity of the ordinary launching process. The two steamboats
when disconnected are independent steamers and can be used for any
mercantile purpose; they may be fitted with workshops and store rooms,
and be removed from one part to another.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Bernard Benvenuto de Morell in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 14th June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BERNARD
BENVENUTO DE MORELL, of Berne, in the Confederation of Switzerland,
and of 62, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,

page_text: give and grant unto me, the said Bernard Benvenuto de Morell, Her
special licence that I, the said Bernard Benvenuto de Morell, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Bernard Benvenuto de Morell, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RAISING NAVIGABLE VESSELS OR
OTHER HEAVY BODIES ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE WATER," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Bernard Benvenuto de Morell, 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that the said Bernard Benvenuto de Morell, do
hereby declare the nature of the 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, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in arranging steamboats so that when
connected by girders they will form an apparatus for raising navigable
vessels or other heavy bodies. For this purpose two steamboats of
peculiar construction (which peculiar construction consists in having
water-tight compartments to receive the girders) are placed parallel and
sufficiently apart from each other to admit of the vessel to be lifted
being floated in between them. Transverse beams or girders, which are
cased in water-tight compartments of the said steamers,. may be rolled
out of those compartments by means of racks and pinions, and united
together by bolts and wedges or otherwise. The two steamers thus
connected or locked together will form an apparatus which may be sunk
so deep in the water as to receive the vessel to be lifted. The vessel is
rested on a cradle upon the said girders. The ship being raised will be
well secured on the cradle and between the sides of the steamers. This
operation being done the water which has been let into the bilge of the
steamers partially to sink them will be displaced by means of compressed
air stored up beforehand in air-tight compartments, or removed by other

page_text: the respective vessels A and B, so that they may be either entirely
enclosed within the chambers A, B, of the respective vessels, or may be
caused to pass out therefrom. By the girders a, b, of one vessel being
connected to those of the other they will form a stage or cradle, as
represented by Figure 3, for the support of another vessel C or other
body. As shewn the ends of the girders of one vessel are connected to
those of another by their overlapping and the application of wedges a³, b³,
and bolts as passed through them. But these details may be varied.
The girders a, b, may be formed each with a rack c (Figure 4) to be
acted on by a pinion d and suitable gear in order to move them as
required in their respective chambers, or they may be otherwise actuated,
and I find it convenient to apply screw stops e to retain them in position
after movement. f,f, in Figure 6 represent cross girders or stays, which
may be employed to connect pairs or more of the girders a and b if
desired; g, Figures 7, represents a useful form of valve which may be
applied to the compartments A', B', for facility of admitting or allowing
the escape of water from those compartments; h, h, (one of which is
more clearly shown by Figure 8) represent false keels to be used when
required. These keels are connected each to an axis h', to which is
applied a tooth segment h³, the teeth of which are taken into by a
screw wheel h³. When not in use these false keels may by the means
shown be caused to fold up out of the way against the under side
of the respective vessels. In one of the vessels boilers and engines
are represented for giving motion to a screw shaft for propelling the
vessels.
Having thus generally described an arrangement of means adapted to
the purpose, I would state that the wide and increasing extension of
steam navigation, the almost universal employment of iron in the con-
struction of vessels, and the general adoption of the screw as a means
of propulsion, have rendered it necessary to devise means whereby the
repairing and cleaning of ships may be effected with facility and
economy. The ordinary dry docks only partially fulfil these conditions;
although very useful they possess several serious drawbacks. In the
first place the cost of their construction is very great, and in the next
place their dimensions are fixed and unalterable; they are for the most
part too small for the larger class of ships, and when constructed of
sufficient size for such vessels they are disproportionate to the require-
ments of smaller craft; they are unhandy for this purpose, and when so

page_text: employed a loss of time and money is the invariable result. It is true
that in slips or haulage docks these difficulties and inconveniences are to
some extent overcome, but even in them the requirements of the case
are not fully and satisfactorily met. Two objections to the system
present themselves at the outset; these are the difficulty of obtaining a
convenient site, and the circumstance that very few ports are capable of
receiving vessels of deep draft. All these disadvantages have led to the
construction of floating docks, which have of late years been introduced
with marked success. There is, however, one defect in this class of
structure which has not hitherto been overcome even in best examples
of floating docks; this is their fixed and unalterable dimensions, which
do not admit of the structure being modified in form or size to suit the
different builds of vessels requiring the use of them. This difficulty
may, however, be now overcome by the use of these floating dry docks,
which possess the additional advantage of being removable under sail
or steam from one port to another. The girders of these vessels form a
strong connection between two of them, and constitute the platform or
flooring of the dry dock. The girders are further stayed and the plat-
form stiffened by iron distance pieces which form a lateral connection
between them, and which are folded back against the webs of the
girders when stowed away for transit. If a large vessel is to be docked
the girders may be drawn out to their full extent, whilst for smaller
ships they need only be partially drawn out. In the latter case a
smaller number of them will be required, which can be regulated to suit
the length of the vessel to be repaired. We thus have variations both
in breadth and length provided for in a simple and effectual manner.
When the two steamships have been connected the dock thus formed
is gradually submerged by the admission of water into compartments
provided in each of the two vessels. The ship to be examined, cleaned.
or repaired is then floated over the dock. The water is expelled by the
aid of compressed air contained in chambers which communicate with
the water compartments, the structure is raised, and the docking is

page_text: 2. The power of adjustment or of varying the dimensions to suit
various sized vessels.
3. Capability of being transported from place to place by self-contained
means instead of requiring to be towed.
4. Superior speed over other systems in the operation of lifting owing
to the use of compressed air in forcing the water out.
It is to be observed generally with regard to this system of dock that
the important and difficult question of site does not once arise, inasmuch
as the dock can steam or sail under the flag of the country to which it
belongs, and can enter any port.
There are yet other features which give additional value to this
Invention, and to which it is necessary to draw attention. Tho dock
will prove of great utility in all ports where the roadstead do not admit
of the entrance of vessels drawing much water, and be usefully employed
in carrying other vessels over banks or shoals. It can be made to serve
the purposes of a coaling station for steamships, and a portion can also
be fitted up as a repairing shop, which in fact forms part of the general
arrangement. It will be observed that the construction of the dock
is such as to enable it to put out to sea; it can therefore be used for
the purpose of bringing ships from any distance, carrying them into
port, and there lifting them in order to facilitate the loading or unloading
of their cargo as circumstances may require.
Another important purpose to which this dock can be applied is the
raising of sunken vessels. In the time of war too it can be sent out
with the fleet, and may be used to effect the salvage of disabled ships,
and to render other valuable assistance. The dock may be fitted with a
powerful lifting and hauling arrangement, by means of which vessels
requiring extensive repairs which would detain the dock for a lengthened
period can be placed on shore in a cradle, and be removed when the
repairs are completed, the dock going away to other work in the
meantime.
It will thus be seen that the advantages offered by the moveable
floating dock are numerous and substantial. It is economical in con-
struction, capable of efficient speed, possesses great mobility when at
work, and by its means the processes of examining, cleaning, or repairing
can be effected with the greatest facility irrespective of the size of the
vessel. Economy of time is undoubtedly of very great importance in

page_text: repairing merchant vessels, and they will, it is hoped, be detained a far
shorter time in this dock than in others.
Having thus described my Invention, and means which I adopt in
carrying the same into effect, I would have. it understood that what I
claim is, the arranging or combining parts forming apparatus whereby
the raising of navigable vessels or other heavy bodies above the surface
of the water may be effected, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bernard Benvenuto de Morell, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Ninth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
BERNARD BENVENUTO DE MORELL. (L.S.)