Improvements in Marine Vessels.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Mar., 1894-Accepted, 25th Aug., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Marine Vessels.
I, SEBASTIEN LACAVALERIE, of Avenue S 2 Traposos à Colon, No. 49
Caracas, Venezuela, South America, Dentist, do hereby declare the nature of my
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to construct a marine vessel thoroughly sea-worthy
and practically unsinkable, and also, and chiefly, one capable of maintaining an
extraordinarily high rate of speed. A further object of the invention is to enable
the vessel, if desired, to be propelled beneath the surface of the water and to
adapt it to be used advantageously as a torpedo boat.
To these ends my invention consists of a vessel the construction of which will
be hereinafter described and claimed.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the views.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vessel embodying my invention;
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the vessel;
Figure 3 is a cross-section on line 3-3 Figure 2, looking in the direction of the
arrows;
Figure 4 is a cross-section on line 4-4 Figure 2, looking in the direction of the
arrows;
'
Figure 5 is an enlarged detail longitudinal section of the connections between
the forward portion of the revoluble body and the stationary portion of the
body; and
Figure 6 is a similar detail section of the connections between the after
portions of the stationary body and the revoluble shell or hull.
The vessel is generally cigar shaped, and is of the greatest diameter near
the bow. It has a cone-shaped bow 10, and a similarly shaped stern 11, but the
bow cone is larger than the stern cone, and is intended to provide a convenient
storage space for a storage battery 12, which furnishes power to propel the vessel
as hereinafter described, but the vessel may be propelled by steam or other power
without departing from the principle of my invention. The conical bow and
stern portion of the vessel are connected by a depressed keel 13, at the rear end
of which is the usual rudder 14.
On the bow cone 10, at the top, is an upwardly-extending portion 15, having
openings or ports 16 and 17 therein, which are adapted to admit air to the interior
of the vessel, and which may be closed by suitable closures, any convenient
closures being provided. The stern cone 11 has also an upwardly-projecting
portion 18, which has ports or openings 19 and 20 in front and on the sides, and
the upper portion of this upwardly-extending projection is provided with a floor 21,
on which the steering gear 22 is located, and this part of the vessel serves as a
pilot house. The steering gear may be of any usual kind.
The bow cone 10 is closed at its rear end by a transverse partition 23, which is
water-tight, and a hollow tube or shaft 24 extends from this partition to a
partition 25 in the inner stationary body 26 of the vessel, and the rear end of
this body is connected in a similar way with the cone 11, a hollow shaft or tube 27
connecting the body with the forward partition 28 of the rear cone. These hollow
shafts 24 and 27 provide for a free circulation of air, which enters through the
ports 16 and 17, passes downward and inward through the interior of the cone 10
and shaft 24, and then passes outward and upward through the shaft 27 to the

page_text: pilot house and the ports 19 and 20, or the air may pass in the reverse direction
according to circumstances.
The stationary body 26 is encased by a revoluble shell or hull 29, which is
provided with long spiral screw-blades 30, arranged parallel with each other and
extending the entire length of the hull, and the vessel is propelled by rotating this
outer shell, and the screw blades acting on the water, move the vessel forward or
backward according to the direction in which the shell is turned.
It will be seen that this screw shell has an enormous grip on the water, and
when sufficient power is provided to turn it, it causes the vessel to be moved with
great rapidity and this result is also facilitated by the peculiar shape of the boat.
The shell 29 has inwardly-extending end walls 31, which are parallel with the
partitions 23 and 28 of the bow and stern cones, and these end walls are journalled
on the shafts 24 and 27. The forward wall 31 is rigidly secured to a sleeve 32
(see Figure 5) which turns on the shaft 24, and which is geared to an electric
motor 34 which is arranged preferably forward of the partition 25, and the space
forward of this partition constitutes an engine room. The motor 34 may be
of any suitable construction and it is connected in the usual way with the
storage battery 12, but if desired, other motive power may be used instead of the
electric motor..
It will be observed that the revolution of the sleeve 32 turns the screw shell 29
and propels the vessel. Access is had to the interior of the vessel through
manholes 35 in the outer shell 29 and in the top of the body 26, and it will be of
course understood that the outer manhole must be made to register with the inner
one to provide means for ingress and egress. The manholes may be closed by any
usual closure plates.
&
The conical shape of the bow and stern of the vessel enables it to be propelled
through the water with great speed as it offers little resistance to the water, and
the screw shell, extending as it does nearly the entire length of the vessel, has a
great bearing surface on the water, and the only thing necessary then to produce
tremendous high rate of speed, is to provide sufficient power to turn the shell.
It will be understood that by closing the air ports and providing a suitable supply
of compressed air, the vessel may be sunk beneath the water and .successfully
operated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,―
1. A marine vessel, comprising conical bow and stern portions connected by a
depressed keel, a stationary body arranged between these portions, and a revolving
screw shell encasing the body, substantially as specified.
2. A marine vessel, comprising conical bow and stern portions connected by a
depressed keel, and provided with upwardly-extending parts or housings having
air inlets and outlets therein, a stationary body suspended between the bow and
stern and in connection therewith, and a revoluble screw shell encasing the body.
and turning between the bow and stern, substantially as specified.
3. A marine vessel, comprising conical bow and stern portions having upwardly-
extending parts or housings with suitable ports therein, a depressed keel connecting
the bow and stern portions of the vessel, a stationary body suspended between
these bow and stern portions, hollow shafts connecting the conical parts of the
vessel with the body and forming the supports of the body, and a revoluble screw
shell encasing the body and journalled on the shafts, substantially as specified.
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S. LACAVALERIE,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.