IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Harris Lake of the firm of Haseltine Lake
and Co Patent Agents Southampton Buildings London for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS." A communication from
abroad by Alonzo Perry Bliven of the City and State of New York United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Harris Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd March 1882.
HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
SHIPS." [A communication from abroad by Alonzo Perry Bliven of the City
and State of New York United States of America.]
This invention relates to improvements in the construction of ships,
According to the said invention I improve the external form or model of ships
to facilitate their passage through and over the water, also their construction with
regard to strength and the arrangement of internal parts and accessories with
reference to the convenience and safety of the passengers and freight, I also provide
improvements for their propulsion by one or more auxiliary screws by which
dependence upon sails in the event of accident to the ordinary propeller and
machinery may be avoided, and spars and other parts are dispensed with.
In a ship or vessel made according to my said Invention the angular bottom and
the main deck form a triangle of nearly straight lines, the immersed angular
portion is combined with rounded bilges above the water line; the longitudinal
bulk-beads and decks are arranged to form together horizontal and vertical braces
to the external surface; the straight sides and bottom and deck are combined with
arches and diagonal braces, and it is fitted with one or more propellers on the dead-
wood forward of the stern post, the openings for which are provided with enclosing
shutters that may be worked from the inside.
The said invention comprises the following features viz; making the immersed
part of the ship of a V-shape and continuing it with a main deck at about the

page_text: water line to form a triangle, the three sides of which brace each other and con-
stitute the strongest figure known. The triangular bottom and sides are continued
above the water line with rounded bilges so that the entire form of midship section
is one that is preeminently stable, and stability is as essential as strength. The
flat immersed sides admit of braces and arches being built which are comparatively
useless when applied to a curved surface from which they are torn byany strain
that tends to straighten them. The longitudinal bulk-heads and decks are arranged
to intersect at the skin of the vessel to brace it at those points both vertically and
horizontally. Forward of the stern post are small propellers that are ordinarily
enclosed with shutters but which may be used in the event of accident to propel
the vessel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Harris Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd September 1882.
HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
SHIPS. A communication from abroad by Alonzo Perry Bliven, of the City and
State of New York, United States of America
"
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of ships.
According to the said Invention I improve the external form or model of ships
to facilitate their passage through, and over, the water; also their construction
with regard to strength, and the arrangement of internal parts and accessories, with
reference to the convenience, and safety of the passengers and freight. I also
provide improvements for their propulsion by one or more auxiliary screws, by
which dependence upon sails in the event of accident to the ordinary propellor and
machinery may be avoided, and spars and other parts are dispensed with.
In the accompanying Drawing,
Figure 1 is an elevation of a ship or vessel built according to the said
Invention.
Figure 2 is a plan of the underside of the same.
Figure 3 is a central longitudinal section showing the arrangement of the
longitudinal arches and braces.
Figure 4 is a mid-ship section drawn to an enlarged scale.
In a ship or vessel made according to this invention the two sides and the main
deck form the three sides of a triangle having straight, or nearly straight, lines;
the immersed angular portion is combined with rounded bilges above the water
line; the longitudinal bulkheads and lower decks are arranged to form together
horizontal and vertical braces to the external flat surfaces; the straight sides and
bottom and deck are combined with arches and diagonal braces, that cannot be

page_text: advantageously built into curved surfaces; and the said ship is fitted with a
propellor in the deadwood forward of the stern post, the opening for which is
provided with hinged shutters that may be opened or closed from the inside.
The mid-ship section from the keel to the main deck and above the load water
line, is angular in form as shown in Figure 4, so that the deck b and the two
sides a, a, constitute a triangular figure, of which the three sides mutually brace
and sustain each other. A circular section offers but little resistance to an external
force on either one side or the other, and tends to collapse by its own weight. A
rectangular figure resists disturbing forces that are perpendicular to its sides, but
yields readily to diagonal forces that open one set of opposite angles and close the
other, the amount of the resistance being measured simply by the strength of the
joints. In a triangular figure, however, all the parts mutually tie and brace each
other, in resistance to any force less than that of actual destruction.
In the ship illustrated in the drawing, each of the three sides, of the self-
sustaining figure of the immersed portion of the hull, derives additional strength
from the slight curvature of the deck b and the two sides a, an Above the main
deck, the sides of the vessel are extended in a form approximating a quarter of a
circle as at c, c, and are merged together in the centre in a slightly convex crown,
that forms a spar-deck of about half the width of the vessel. In a hull, therefore,
which is made with a triangular immersed body, built with an arched crown that
extends the whole length of the vessel, there is inherent strength due to the form
alone without regard to the special bracing that is ordinarily required, to correct
the defects of weakness inherent in all other forms.
In addition to the strength arising from this form of transverse section, it
affords a vessel great stability. In a circular section, with the centre of gravity in
the middle of the section, the centre of displacement is also in the middle at any
inclination, and there is no tendency due to the shape of the section itself, by
which a vessel so formed will retain or return to an upright position. It has no
stability and may be rolled readily to either side, and will have no tendency to
recover. With the form of section shown in the drawing, however, a force that
heels the vessel over, lifts the emerging side with an increased leverage of weight,
and depresses the immersed side against an increased leverage of buoyancy, so that
it meets with an increasing resistance from both sources, which, on the removal of the
disturbing force causes the vessel to right itself immediately without regard (within
reasonable limits) to ballast or anything else but its form alone. Another feature
of this form of transverse section is that the larger part of the displacement is at
the surface of the water where the pressure and resistance to motion is least,
whereby the variations of the water lines at the load lines are less than with any
ordinary form of equal section, and the stability due to the form of the section is
further increased by the rising sheer and flaring ends shown in Figures 1, 2, 3.
For the purposes of longitudinal strength, diagonal braces have hitherto been
placed on the sides; but when they have been laid in the concave bilges of the
ordinary form, the curvature has drawn upon the bolts, and loosened the fastenings
before the braces themselves were of much use. Attempts have also been made to
apply them outside the timbers, but this interferes with the placing of the outer
planking or plates, and moreover does not conform the strain to the direction of
the length of the braces. The vertical trusses and arched frames which are of
service in river boats that are always upright, are of little use in a sea-way, and
are likely to become self-destructive when in an inclined position. In the form of
section shown in Figure 3 the internal diagonal braces g and arches f, f, are built
directly upon the straight immersed sides and bottom, from the keel to the main
deck, and all their parts then offer a direct resistance to the strains put upon
them. A similar arrangement of bracing is also applicable with advantage to the
main deck
The vessel is fitted internally with longitudinal and transverse bulkheads around
the engines, and elsewhere, throughout the hull for strength and security in case of
accidents; and for storage of freight and boats and for other purposes. Access is

page_text: had to the compartments through internal doors and external ports as may be
required. The main deck is represented in the drawing as having a lofty saloon,
fitted with a double row of rooms on each side, and with an upper single tier
opening on a gallery above. The longitudinal bulkheads or their extensions are
framed to intersect with the lower decks at the flat immersed sides of the vessel, as
at e, e, so that any external pressure at those points will be diffused as much as
possible.
In addition to the large screw for ordinary propulsion, the vessel is fitted with a
small supplementary screw-propellor which is enclosed by hinged shutters worked
from the inside. This small screw is placed in the deadwood forward of the stern
post and above the shaft, where the closed shutters will conform to the lines of the
ship, without obstructing the passage of the water to the main screw. The said
shutters are hung upon hinges on their after edges, and are worked by appropriate
levers or tillers at i inside the vessel, so that they may be used as drags or as
rudders for steering the ship in case of need. With this provision for accidents the
spars and sails and other top gear may be dispensed with, the anchors may be
catted, the boats stored within the compartments or recesses in the bilges of the
crown deck, and the entire vessel above and below the water thereby fitted to offer
the least resistance to a high rate of speed.
I have described this Invention as applied to a steam vessel but it is equally
applicable either wholly or in part to sailing vessels and to small boats.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,
First A vessel constructed with the sides a, a, and the main deck b, forming the
three sides of a triangle, substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Second. The construction of a vessel with its immersed portion a, a, of an
angular form, and with bilges or parts c rounded above the water line in the
manner described.
Third. The arrangement of the longitudinal bulkheads and the lower decks of a
vessel, to form together horizontal and vertical braces to the flat immersed surfaces
at the points e, e, substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The combination of the straight sides a, a, and the deck 6 of a vessel,
with the arches f, f, and diagonal braces g, substantially as described.
Fifth. The combination of the supplementary propellor h in the dead-wood, with a
hinged shutters worked by means of a tiller and arranged in the manner described,
so as not to interfere with the lines of the run of the ship.
In witness whereof I the said Henry Harris Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal this First day of September in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.