IMPROVEMENTS IN CON- STRUCTING VESSELS OF WAR AND OTHER STRUCTURES REQUIRED TO BE BENDERED SHOT-PROOF
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Timothy Whitby, of 156, York Road, Lambeth, in
the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CON-
STRUCTING VESSELS OF WAR AND OTHER STRUCTURES REQUIRED TO BE
BENDERED SHOT-PROOF."
Sealed the 6th November 1866, and dated the 29th August 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Timothy Whitby at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th August 1868.
I, TIMOTHY WHITBY, of 156, York Road, Lambeth, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CONSTRUCTING VESSELS OF WAR AND OTHER STRUCTURES REQUIRED TO
BE RENDERED SHOT-PROOF," to be as follows:-
In constructing vessels of war according to this Invention I attach armour
plates to the exterior of those parts of the outer skin of the vessel that are
required to be rendered shot-proof, and outside the armour plating I attach
metal plates corrugated or formed into loops thus or otherwise
formed to present inclined or curved surfaces to projectiles, in order that tho

page_text: projectiles may be deflected by these surfaces, and so turned out of their course
before striking against the armour plating; the projectiles will thus be pre-
vented from striking fairly against the armour plating, and therefore the
armour plating will be better able to offer resistance to them. The corrugated
or other shaped plates are by preference of steel, in order that when struck by
a projectile they may act as springs and take away from the velocity of the
projectile; a thin skin or plating is placed outside the corrugated or angular
plates to enclose them and form the exterior of the vessel. If desired armour
plating may be dispensed with, and the corrugated or other plates be alone
employed to protect the outer skin of the vessel. The corrugated or angular
plates are by preference secured in such a manner that they can readily be
removed and replaced. If desired two sets of corrugated plates may be
employed, one exterior of the other, the corrugations in one set being
arranged to run crosswise of the corrugations of the other set.
Batteries, forts, and other structures desired to be rendered shot-proof may
be protected in a similar manner to that above described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Timothy Whitby in the Great Seal Patent Office on the.
28th February 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, TIMOTHY
WHITBY, of 156, York Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, 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 me, the said
Timothy Whitby, Her special licence that I, the said Timothy Whitby, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Timothy
Whitby, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSTRUCTING VESSELS OF WAR AND OTHER STRUCTURES REQUIRED TO BE RENDERED

page_text: SHOT-PROOP," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Timothy
Whitby, 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 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 Timothy Whitby, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
In constructing vessels of war according to this Invention I attach armour
plates to the exterior of those parts of the outer skin of the vessel that aro
required to be rendered shot-proof, and outside the armour plating I attach
metal plates formed into loops thus or otherwise formed to present
inclined or curved surfaces to projectiles, in order that the projectiles may be
deflected by these surfaces, and so turned out of their course before striking
against the armour plating; the projectiles will thus be prevented from striking
fairly against the armour plating, and therefore the armour plating will be
better able to offer resistance to them. The curved plates are by preference of
steel, in order that when struck by a projectile they may act as springs and
take away from the velocity of the projectile; a thin skin or plating is placed
outside the curved or angular plates to enclose them water-tight and form the
exterior of the vessel. If desired armour plating may be dispensed with, and
the curved or other plates be alone employed to protect the outer skin of the
vessel. The curved or angular plates are by preference secured in such a
manner that they can readily be removed and replaced.
If desired two sets
of curved plates may be employed, one exterior of the other.
Batteries, forts, and other structures desired to be rendered shot-proof may
be protected in a similar manner to that above described.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto an-'
exed.

page_text: according to my Invention, the deflecting surfaces being enclosed by a ski
or casing, as above described. The deflecting surfaces shown in these Figures
are those which I now prefer to employ, but other forms of deflecting surfaces
may be applied exterior of armour plating. The deflecting surfaces are com-
posed of a series of chill castings similar to chill cast shot; these castings are
connected one to another by short wrought-iron pieces b, similar to short lengths
of the ordinary double-headed railway rail; these pieces are placed in the
moulds in which the pieces a are to be cast, and the pieces a are cast upon
them in such manner as to form a kind of chain in the manner repre-
sented in the Drawing. A series of chains so formed are placed side by side
over the exterior of the armour plating c of the vessel, and the chains are
enclosed within a skin or plating e of iron, which forms an even surface and
water-tight casing for the outer surface of the vessel; the chains are also
held in position by the bolts d. In the Drawing I have shown the sides of
the vessel to which the armour plating is affixed to be composed of two
parallel skins f, f, of iron plating connected at intervals the one to the other,
but other forms or constructions of vessels may be similarly protected
with deflecting surfaces on the exterior of armour plating.
Figure 4 is a vertical section, and Figure 5 a side view, partly in section, of
a portion of the side of a vessel having no armour plating, but only having
deflecting surfaces applied to its exterior to protect it from shot, a skin or
plating being according to my Invention placed on the exterior of the
deflecting surfaces to enclose them and form the exterior of the vessel, as
above described. The deflecting surfaces are composed of curved plates a, a,
secured to the sides of the vessel by bolts b, and exterior of these deflecting
surfaces is the skin or plating c to form an even surface on the exterior of the
vessel. The spaces between the plates are (as described in the Provisional
Specification to a Patent granted to me on the 20th day of December 1866,
No. 8352,) filled in with cylindrical chill cast blocks of metal similar to chill
cast projectiles such as are now commonly manufactured for firing from
ordnance; these chill cast blocks by reason of their being cylindrical also
expose deflecting surfaces to any projectile impinging against them.
Figure 6 is a vertical section, and Figure 7 a side view, partly in section, of a
portion of the side of a vessel protected by other forms of deflecting surfaces;
the deflecting surfaces in this arrangement are composed of curved or looped
metal plating a, secured to the sides of the vessel by bolts b, as shown;
exterior of these deflecting surfaces is the skin or plating c to form an even
surface to the exterior of the vessel. The interstices between the bends or

page_text: loops of the deflecting plates may be filled in with chill cast blocks d, as in the
arrangement shown in Figures 4 and 5.
In witness whereof, Timothy Whitby have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
TIMOTHY WHITBY. (L.8.)