IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR LOWERING BOATS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Woodcroft Hammond, of 27, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil.
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR
LOWERING BOATS."-A communication from abroad by Thomas Shaw,
of the City and County of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Woodcroft.
Hammond at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th May 1878.
I, HENRY WOODCROFT HAMMOND, of 27, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPA-
RATUS FOR LOWERING BOATS," a communication from abroad from Thomas
Shaw, of the City and County of Philadelphia, in the State of Penn-
sylvania, United States of America, to be as follows:-
:
This Invention consists in suspending boats from the ordinary davits
by means of the usual tackle, the lower blocks of which are hooked in
looped outer ends of two strands, each of which strands is long enough
to reach through one half the boat's length, and are passed through eye.

page_text: bolts in the bow and stem of the boat, having looped or spliced ends
which meet over the centre of the boat where the strands are united by
common lashing. The boat when loaded with passengers is meant to be
lowered by the block tackle to within a foot or two of the top of the
wave or until the boat touches the water, according to the roughness of
the sea, when the lashing in the centre of the strands are cut, thus
releasing both bow and stern strands at the same moment, and freeing
the boat from all danger of being swamped by one of the tackles holding
fast to the boat while the other is detached.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Woodcroft Hammond in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 4th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WOODCROFT HAMMOND, of 27, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the City of London, and County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give:
and grant unto me, the said Henry Woodcroft Hammond, Her special
licence, that I, the said Henry Woodcroft Hammond, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Wood-
croft Hammond, 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR LOWERING BOATS," a
communication to me from abroad by Thomas Shaw, of the City and
County of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry
Woodcroft Hammond, 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

page_text: 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 Henry Woodcroft Hommond, 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, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say) :-
This Invention consists in suspending boats from the ordinary davits
B by means of the usual block tackle C.
In Fig. 1 D, D, represent two strands, each of which is long enough to
reach through one half the length of the boat E, having the inner looped
ends united by common lashing over the centre of the boat at “A,”
while the outer looped ends are passed through the eye bolts gand
hooked on to the lower block i of the hoisting tackle "C." Fig. 2 is a
plan of said strands shewing more distinctly the mode of lashing the
inner looped ends at A.
The mode of operation is as follows:-When the boat E is loaded with
passengers it is lowered by the tackle C to within a foot or two of the
top of the wave or until the boat touches the water, according to the
roughness of the sea, then the lashing at "A" is cut, when both bow
and stern strands "D" are released at the same moment, thus freeing
the boat E from all danger of being swamped by one of the tackle “C”
holding fast to it, while the other is detached, a very common occur-
rence, and which has cost thousands of lives.
What I therefore claim under the above recited Letters Patent is the
simple and effective method of adjustment and detachment as described
and shewn on the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Woodcroft Hammond, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Third day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
HENRY WOODCROFT HAMMOND. (L.S.)