IMPROVE- MENTS IN SLIPS AND WAYS FOR RECEIVING SHIPS OR VESSELS REQUIRING REPAIR, AND FOR APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR HAULING UP SHIPS OR VESSELS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas White, junior, of Portsmouth, in the County
of Hants, Engineer and Ship Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SLIPS AND WAYS FOR RECEIVING SHIPS OR VESSELS REQUIRING
REPAIR, AND FOR APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR HAULING UP SHIPS OR
VESSELS."
Sealed the 30th September 1856, and dated the 3rd April 1856.
the
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas White at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
3rd April 1856.
I, THOMAS WHITE, junior, of Portsmouth, in the County of Hants, Engineer
and Shipbuilder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SLIPS AND WAYS FOR RECEIVING SHIPS OR VESSELS REQUIRING
REPAIR, AND FOR APPARATUS TO BE USED POR HAULING UP SHIPS OR VESSELS, to
be as follows:-
My Invention of "Improvements in Slips and Ways for Receiving Ships or
Vessels requiring Repair, and for Apparatus to be used for Hauling up Ships or
Vessels," may, for the convenience of explanation, be divided into three parts,
and relates, first, to an improved mode of constructing the longitudinal inclined
way, up which a ship or vessel requiring repair is drawn out of the water by
suitable machinery, so as to place it on dry ground, in order that the bottom
of the vessel may be examined with facility, and repaired where required.

page_text: In ordinary slips the way is provided from end to end with rails, which extend
down in one uniform incline to such a depth below water as will admit of the
cradle or carriage on which the vessel is to be supported (when out of the
water) being carried down under the said vessel. In carrying the way down in
one uniform incline, the excavation required to admit of this is so deep as very
greatly to increase the cost of constructing the slip, and, in some cases, the
difficulties that supervene in effecting this object are insurmountable, except at
such a cost as renders it disadvantageous, and the attempt is often abandoned.
Instead of carrying the ways down to the bottom of the slip at the same
incline, I propose to carry them down only to a point a little below the head
of the vessel to be operated upon. For instance, supposing the slip is in-
tended for a vessel not exceeding a given tonnage, and having a draught of,
say, not exceeding twelve feet, I carry the incline down to that point, and
then curve the way beyond or below that point, so as to bring the way to a
horizontal position; the carriage may then be lowered down the slip and
placed under the vessel, as it easily accommodates itself to the line of the
rails, and when the vessel is secured on the carriage or cradle it may be drawn
up out of the water. By thus curving or bringing the lower end of the slip
or way into an almost horizontal position, I very considerably reduce the
amount of excavation required to construct the slip, and consequently diminish
the cost.
The next improvement relates to the upper part of the slip or way, or
that part upon which the vessel is intended to be placed while under repair.
Hitherto, if two or more ships are required to be placed upon the same
slip, this has been done by extending the slip longitudinally or lengthwise,
so that one vessel after another may be placed thereon in a long line, end for
end. It is not, however, always possible to obtain sufficient room lengthwise
for several ships, and when the required accommodation is obtainable, it is
evident that the ship or vessel first placed on the slip cannot be removed there-
from until those subsequently placed are first removed. This, of course, gives
rise to great inconvenience, and in order to obviate this I construct at any con-
venient part of the upper way a lateral way on one or both sides of the
longitudinal way, and connect the two together in such a manner that when
the carriage with the vessel thereon is brought up to the point of junction
on the longitudinal way it may be moved laterally off the longitudinal way, so
as to admit of other vessels being carried past if required. The lateral ways
may be extended so as to receive any number of vessels, which may, when
out of use, be laid up out of the water, and a moveable way is to be provided,
on to which any vessel may be removed from the lateral way on to an addi-

page_text: tional lateral way,' and be conveyed therefrom to the longitudinal slip, and
launched into the water without disturbing any of the other vessels.
The third part of the Invention relates to apparatus for hauling up ships
or vessels, and consists in the employment of a second or runner chair, by
which the power of the hauling-up machine or motive power is doubled with-
out occasioning any additional stress upon such machine. This is a matter
of the greatest importance, now that slips are employed for receiving the
largest description of vessels, which, of course, require additional power to
move them, and it is undesirable to make a corresponding increase in the
power or capacity of the engine or motive power usually employed. This
second or additional runner is worked by a claw, which makes a continuous
chair of the traction rods instead of stopping to shift every now and then, as
would otherwise be the case.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas White, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WHITE, junior, of Portsmouth, in the County of Hants, Engineer and Ship-
builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her. reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said:
Thomas White, junior, Her special license that I, the said Thomas White,
junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas White, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SLIPS AND WAYS FOR RECEIVING SHIPS OR VESSELS REQUIRING REPAIR,
AND FOR APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR HAULING UP SHIPS OR VESSELS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas White, junior, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas White, junior, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates, firstly, to an improved mode of constructing the
longitudinal inclined way, up which a ship or vessel requiring repair is drawn
out of the water by suitable machinery, so as to place it on dry ground, in
order that the bottom of the vessel may be examined with facility and repaired
where required.
In ordinary slips the way is provided from end to end with rails which
extend down in one uniform incline to such a depth below water as will admit
of the cradle or carriage on which the vessel is to be supported (when out of
the water) being carried down under the said vessel. In carrying the way
down in one uniform incline the excavation required to admit of this is so
deep as very greatly to increase the cost of constructing the slip, and in some
cases the difficulties that supervene in effecting this object would involve an
expenditure to remove them that necessitates the abandonment of the under-
taking. Instead of carrying the rails down to the bottom of the slip at the same
incline, I propose to carry them down only to a point a little below the head
of the vessel to be operated upon; for instance, supposing the slip is intended
for a vessel not exceeding a given tonnage, and having a draught not exceeding
say, twelve feet, I carry the incline down to that point, and then curve the
way beyond or below that point, so as to bring the end of the rails to a hori
zontal or nearly horizontal position. The carriage, which from its construc-
tion readily accommodates itself to the level of the rails, may then be lowered
down the slip and placed under the floating vessel, and when the vessel is
secured on the carriage or cradle, hydraulic or other power is applied to draw
it up out of the water.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents the mode of constructing
slips according to this improved plan. From the point a to b it will be seen
the slip has an uniform inclination, the direction of which is further continued
by the dotted line c. This line indicates the line of cutting at present adopted
by slip builders, for the purpose of getting length of way sufficient to run the
carriage or cradle underthe floating vessel, but as it is only necessary for the
whole surface of the cradle when run down to the end of the slip to be barely
clear of the bottom of the vessel in order to insure the fixing of the vessel

page_text: upon the cradle, it follows, that to continue the excavation far below the
level at which the vessel will float on to the cradle, when that is run down to
the lowest position allowed by the slip, is altogether unnecessary; I therefore,
instead of following the direction of the dotted line c, carry the rails horizon-
tally, or nearly so, as shewn by the course of the rails from 6 to d; and I am
thus enabled in a slip of, say, one hundred and fifty feet in length, to save from
six to ten feet depth of excavation at the extremity of the slip, more or less,
according to the nature of the ground, without diminishing in the least the
efficiency or capacity of the slip, and am frequently enabled to build slips with-
out the use of coffer dams, by reason of the diminished depth of cutting
requisite for building slips on my improved plan.
.The second improvement relates to the arrangement of the upper part of
the slip or way, or that part upon which vessels are intended to be placed
while under repair, the object being to increase the capacity of the slip for
retaining vessels on their cradles. Hitherto, when several ships have been
required to be placed upon the same slip, it has been customary to extend the
slip longitudinally, so that one vessel after another might be arranged thereon
in a long line, end for end. It is not, however, always possible to obtain suffi-
cient room lengthwise for several ships, and when the required accommodation
is obtainable, it is evident that the ship or vessel first placed on the slip
cannot be removed therefrom until those subsequently placed are first displaced.
Great inconvenience and unnecessary labour is thus occasioned, to obviate
which I construct at any convenient part of the upper way a lateral way, on
one or both sides of the longitudinal way, and at right angles thereto, and I
connect the two ways together in such a manner that when the carriage with
the vessel thereon is brought up to the point of junction on the longitudinal
way it may be moved laterally off the longitudinal way, so as to admit of other
vessels being carried past if required. The lateral ways may be extended,
so as to receive any number of vessels which may when out of use be laid
up out of the water; or these ways may in their turn communicate with
ways parallel to the main way, and thus afford increased means for stowing
away vessels.
Fig. 2 represents, in plan view, a heaving-up slip, arranged according to
this part of the Invention. A is the trunk line, leading down to the water;
B, B, are rails, laid down at right angles thereto, and forming a lateral way for
conducting the laden cradles or carriages away from the main line to the branch
lines C, C. The rails B are laid at a lower level than the upper end of the
main line A and the branch lines C, to admit of a carriage traversing thereon,
and forming a moveable platform, raised to the proper level to receive the

page_text: cradle from either, the lines C or A. The cross section, Fig. 3, shews at D
this carriage or travelling platform with a cradle E upon it, heaving up a ship
in vertical position. The carriage D is provided with flanged rollers, for tra-
versing over the parallel lines of rails B, and on its upper face it is fitted with
lines of rails (corresponding in their arrangement with the rails of the trunk
and branch lines) upon which the flanged wheels of the cradle run as on the
fixed lines. In order to stow away by this improved slip, the ships are hauled
up as usual; and the moveable platform or carriage D is brought into a line
with the trunk A. The cradle with its load is then hauled on to the carriage
D; and that carriage is then moved along the line B until it arrives opposite
the line of rails C, which is to receive the ship. The hauling is then recom-
menced in the direction of these rails, and the cradle with its ship is drawn
off the carriage and deposited in its place on the line of rails C. Thus, it
will be understood, any given number of ships may be accommodated, accord-
ing to the breadth of ground at the head of the slip disposable for the purpose,
and any one vessel out of any given number may be launched without disturbing
any other vessel on the slip.
:
The third part of my Invention relates to the apparatus for hauling up ships
or vessels, and consists in the employment of a second or runner chain, by
which the power of the hauling up machine or motive power is doubled with-
out occasioning any additional stress upon such machine. This is a matter of
the greatest importance, now that slips are employed for receiving the largest
description of vessels, which, of course, require additional power to move
them, and it is undesirable to make a corresponding increase in the power or
capacity of the engine or motive power usually employed. This second or
additional runner is worked by a claw, which makes the traction rods that
connect it with the runner a continuous chain, and renders it unnecessary to
stop the engine when the rods leading from the cradle to the chain are to be
shifted.
Fig. 4 shews in sectional elevation my improved arrangement of hauling
apparatus, wherein F is an endless chain, working upon fixed pulleys, and
driven by steam or other power. In the rear of this chain is my second or
supplementary runner chain G, for increasing the hauling power at the expense
of speed, the principle of which is well understood. This chain G is secured
at one end to a balk of timber fixed in the ground, and it passes over a pulley
in a moveable frame or carriage H, and is connected to rods I, which are
jointed together, and carry a book for catching into the links of the endless
chain F. When the catch of the rods I is secured to the chain F, and rotary
motion is given to the chain, the rods I will be drawn forward until the catch

page_text: reaches the pulley K. It is then unhooked, and the carriage H, which has in
the meanwhile been drawn forward over the rails on which it runs, and thus
permitted of this advance of the rods, is then returned to its starting position.
The slack of the traction rods L which connect the cradle carrying the ship
with the carriage H is now removed, and the attachment with the carriage II
made good. The catch of the draw rods I is again hooked into the endless
chain F, and the hauling proceeds as before.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention of "Improve-
ments in Slips and Ways for Receiving Ships, and Apparatus for Hauling up
Ships or Vessels," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that I claim,―
First, constructing slips in the manner described with reference to Fig. 1,
whereby I am enabled to save the amount of cutting or excavation included
between the diverging lines c and d.
Secondly, arranging the ways of slips in the manner explained with refer-
ence to Fig. 2, whereby the capacity for stowing away vessels may be inde-
finitely increased.
And lastly, the supplementary runner chain, for increasing the power of
hauling apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas White, junior, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the First day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFatt,
66, Chancery Lane.
THOMAS WHITE, JR. (L.S.)