Iм- PROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF STOWING AND LAYING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustus Collingridge, of Moorgate Street, in
the City of London, Master Mariner, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF STOWING AND LAYING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH
CABLES,"
Sealed the 12th November 1869, and dated the 17th September 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustus Collingridge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th September 1869.
I, AUGUSTUS COLLINGRIDGE, of Moorgate Street, in the City of
London, Master Mariner, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF STOWING AND LAYING SUBMARINE
TELEGRAPH CABLES," to be as follows:-
Hitherto in stowing a submarine telegraph cable on board ship for
the purpose of transporting and laying the same it has been usual to
arrange the cable in horizontal coils in a tank or tanks contained in the
hold of the vessel. This mode of coiling imparts a twist to the cable
during the paying out or laying operation, which occasions frequent

page_text: kinks and often necessitates cutting and splicing the cable, moreover the
comparatively high temperature of the vessel's hold acts prejudically on
the insulating material of which the cable is partly composed.
My Invention has for its object to obviate the above disadvantages,
for which purpose I wind the cable upon one or more drums or reels,
each of which is mounted to rotate on a horizontal axis working in
suitable bearings. The drum or drums I place in a "well" formed in
the vessel intended to lay the cable, similar to that of a "well ship," so
that the drum upon which the cable is wound shall be wholly or
partially immersed in the water which is free to enter the "well." The
cable being thus wound upon a drum capable of being rotated may be
paid out as required by the aid of the usual machinery now employed for
that purpose without any liability to kinks consequent on the twisting
of the cable when paid out from stationary coils contained in tanks in
the usual way. Brake power may be applied to the periphery of the
drum or drums if required to assist the paying out machinery in con-
trolling the running out of the cable. Steam power may also be applied
in any suitable manner to the drum to re-stow the cable during the
operation of picking up, which power would also be employed to coil or
wind the cable on the drum or drums in the first instance. The cable
being wholly or partially submerged in the well (in which the water is
continually changed by the motion of the ship) will always be maintained
at a sufficiently low temperature to prevent injury thereto. I am aware
that a supply of water has already been placed in the tanks with the
cable with a similar object, but being contained in the hold of the
ship it soon acquires a sufficiently high temperature to damage the
cable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Augustus Collingridge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTUS
COLLINGRIDGE, of Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Master
Mariner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Augustus Collingridge, Her special
licence that I, the said Augustus Collingridge, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Augustus Collingridge,
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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF STOWING AND LAYING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Augustus Colling-
ridge, 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 noxt and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Augustus Collingridge, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say :-
Hitherto in stowing a submarino telegraph cable on board ship for the
purpose of transporting and laying the same it has been usual to arrange
the cable in horizontal coils in a tank or tanks contained in the hold of
the vessel. This mode of coiling imparts a twist to the cable during the
paying out or laying operation which 'occasions frequent kinks and often
necessitates cutting and splicing the cable, moreover the comparatively
high temperature of the vessel's hold acts prejudicially on the insulating
material of which the cable is partly composed.
My Invention has for its object to obviate the above disadvantages, for
which purpose I wind the cable upon one or more drums or reels, each of
which is mounted to rotate on a horizontal axis working in suitable
bearings. The drum or drums I place in a "well" formed within the
vessel intended to lay the cable and open to the water at bottom, similar
to that of a "well ship," so that the drum or drums upon which the

page_text: cable is wound shall be wholly or partly immersed in the water, which is
free to enter the well. The cable being thus wound on a drum or drums
capable of being rotated may be payed out as required by means of the
usual machinery now employed for that purpose without any liability to
kinks consequent on the twisting of the cable when payed out from
stationary coils contained in tanks in the usual way. Brake power may
be applied to the periphery of the drum or drums if required to assist
the paying out machinery in controlling the delivery of the cable.
Steam power may also be applied in any suitable manner to the drum to
re-stow the cable during the operation of picking up, which power would
also be employed to coil or wind the cable on the drum or drums in the
first instance. The cable being wholly or partially submerged in the
well (in which the water is continually changed by the motion of the
ship) will always be maintained at a sufficiently low temperature to
prevent injury thereto. I am aware that a supply of water has already
been placed in the tanks with the cable with a similar object, but being
contained in the hold of the ship it soon acquires a sufficiently high
tempomature to domace the cable.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal outline section of a portion of a vessel
adapted to receive the drums on which the cable is disposed according to
my Invention as shewn, whilst Figure 2 is a transverse section of the
same.
A, A, are the drums or reels, of which there may be one or more as
required to receive the cable B. The reels A are mounted to rotate on
horizontal axes working in suitable bearings supported on the framework
of the vessel, and each reel carries a section of the cable, which is wound
thereon as shewn, the several sections being united by splicing as they
are required for use. Each drum is placed in a "well" C formed
centrally within the hull D of the vessel, and to which the water has free
access at bottom as shewn, so that the reel or reels A having their axes
placed below the water line shall be wholly or partially immersed in the
water, whereby the gravity of the cable and consequent strain on the
bearings and frames supporting the reel or reels is greatly diminished.
The reels A when more than one is employed may be all placed in one
continuous opening or well, but I prefer to divide the latter into separate
compartments, one for each drum, as shewn, so as to break the force of
the water therein during a heavy sea. The shafts of the reels A pass

page_text: through stuffing boxes provided in the walls of the well C to prevent the
ingress of water to the vessel and receive rotary motion from an auxiliary
engine with which said shaft or shafts are connected by suitable gearing
for winding the cable on the drums. The wells C are covered over
with suitable hatches, and in paying out the cable only one (viz.,
that enclosing the reel from which the cable is being unwound) would
be opened at a time. In paying out the cable is led from the reel,
which is unwound evenly and without any liability to kinking as before
stated over a suitable drum or roller E mounted in bearings on the
deck F of the vessel, and placed above the well C, from whence it is
conducted to the usual paying out machinery. Brake power may be
applied to the reels to check their rotation and assist the paying out
machinery in preventing the too rapid delivery of the cable by means of
a metal strap G partially encircling the circumference of the reel, and
one end of which strap is secured to the framing of the vessel, the other
being connected to a lever operated by hand for applying the strap to the
periphery of the reel, or other suitable means may be employed.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, mount-
ing a reel or reels on which a submarine telegraph cable is coiled to
rotate on a horizontal axis or axes in a well within the vessel to which
the outer water has free access, substantially as shewn and for the
purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustus Collingridge, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.