IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
TAYLOR, of 15, Furnival's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Gracious, Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing, date at West-
minster, the Second day of December, in the twelfth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Taylor, Her especial license that I, the said James Taylor, my exors,
admors, and, assigns, or such others as I, the said James Taylor, my exors,
admors, and assigns,, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guern-
sey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations, abroad, an Invention of." IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING SHIPS AND
OTHER VESSELS; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso. obliging
me, the said James Taylor, by an, instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly.to. describe and. ascertain, the nature of the said Invention,
and in, what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to
be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar
months next and immediately after the, date of the, said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Taylor, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist,
first, in an improved form or mould given to ships or other vessels, in order to
render them more easy of propulsion than heretofore; secondly, in an improved
construction of propelling wheel to be used in vessels of my improved form or
mould; and, thirdly, in an improved mode of arranging the propelling apparatus
in vessels of such form or mould.
And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said James Taylor,
do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be performed
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
And, first, of the improved mould or model, which is as follows:-The mid-
ship cross sections are elipses with their longest axis horizontal, as shown at
Figures 1 and 2 in the Drawing. This axis shortens as the stem or stern is
approached from the midship (the perpendicular axis remaining the same),
until both perpendicular and horizontal axis are alike, or the mould becomes
circular, as shown at Figure 3 in the Drawing. After passing the circular
sections the horizontal axis continues to diminish, the perpendicular still
remaining the same, and thereby reversing the elipsis, as shown at Figure 4
in the Drawing, until the mould merges into a wedge form, where it joins the
stem and stern posts. The shortening of the horizontal axis, as the stem or
stern is approached from the midship section, must be of such gradation that
when a line is drawn from stem to stern along the acute bends of the eliptic
curves, and cutting their horizontal axis, such line shall describe an eliptic
curve, as shown at Figure 5 in the Drawing. This rule admits of the con-
struction of vessels with their entering lines varying from the sharpest or most
acute to the most obtuse, simply by varying the relative proportion existing
between the length of the horizontal axis of the elipse at the midship section,
and the length of the vessel; and whatever this relative proportion may be
the vessel will possess great buoyancy, and consequently light draft, which I
deem of great importance to the succesful application of my propelling wheels
in the manner herein-after stated. In this way also the upper works of sea-
going vessels intended for rough water and weather are carried clear over the
deck, as shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, giving thereby the same form to
the portion of the vessel above the curved line, which cuts the horizontal axis
as before described, as to the proportion below that line, with the exception
of the keel K, which will be treated of separately, and also of the wheel pits
A, A, and raceways B, B, herein-after described, which latter become neces-
sary in the vessel's bottom when my propelling wheels are there applied.

page_text: With reference to the keels K of sea-going vessels intended for deep water,
they extend the whole length of the vessel, and are built downwards from the
bottom of what may be termed the vessel's mould proper, in such form and
to such depth as to give it sufficient strength, and prevent the lateral slip or
lee way of the vessel; in fact, the whole of that part of the mould below the
line of the elipse or circle colored pink in Figures 3 and 4 may be considered
as belonging to the keel. When the vessels are intended for use upon shallow
water, as harbours, rivers, or canals, either as vessels of burthen or as tug
boats merely, the sides or upper works may or may not be carried clear over
the deck, as the particular use they are intended for may require, but must in
all cases preserve the eliptic form, and be constructed in conformity to the
mould and rule herein-after described, so far at least as to preserve the same
water and entering lines as my sea-going vessel; and the keels of these
vessels need to project but little below the vessel's bottom, thereby adapting it
for use upon very shallow water, and the keels may be extended the whole
length of the vessel passing under the wheel when it is in the vessel's centre,
or but part of its length, as the strength of the vessel or the application of
wheel may require. Such boats or vessels for shallow waters are shown
in the Drawing by Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.
my
Note. Vessels of my mould admit of being constructed of any material
usually employed in the construction of ordinary vessels; but I prefer to make
the frame and covering of iron.
And now, secondly, as regards my improved propelling wheel. It consists
of a central cylinder C, made water-tight, with projecting flanges D, D, on
each side, and with the paddles or floats secured in a permanent manner
across the periphery of the cylinder and to the sides of the flanges in a posi-
tion inclined fourteen degrees or thereabouts from the wheel's radii, as shown
by Figure 8 in the Drawing. The floats or paddles have their working faces
concave or curved. The extent of their curve should ordinarily be such that
the length of the longest perpendicular line of the cord of their arc shall equal
the vessel's draft. The paddles are so fitted to the cylinder that every part of
their outer line or edge is of equal distance from the wheel's axis. The wheel
may be constructed of any material ordinarily used for constructing similar
wheels.
And now, thirdly, as regards my improved mode of arranging the propelling
apparatus in vessels of my improved mould or form. I adapt my vessel to
my improved propelling wheel in the following manner, that is to say :-In
those vessels intended for use upon canals, where the wash of the banks is to be
avoided, I use but one wheel, which I place in a vertical position in the centre

page_text: any
of the vessel, that is to say, in or near the midship frame, as shown in section
at E, Figure 6, in the Drawing. I leave an opening in the vessel's bottom of
the width of the wheel, and which may commence at any-point between the
point directly under the wheel's axis, and a point one half of the wheel's
diameter in advance of that point F, and extending aft the wheel a
distance equal to the wheel's diameter or thereabouts, giving sufficient rooin
for what I denominate the wheel pit and raceway. I prefer, however, to com-
mence the aperture within a foot and a half in advance of the wheel's axis, in
-order more effectually to avoid any burying of water and disturbance of the
bottoms of canals where the water is shallow. Around this aperture I build
up water tight the wheel pit and raceway. The wheel pit is built up into the
vessel to a height equal to one half the wheel's diameter or thereabouts, and
within the tops of the sides thereof are placed the journals for the wheel's
shaft. When the aperture aforesaid extends half the diameter of the wheel
in advance of its axis, I build up the forward part of the wheel pit in a line
perpendicular to the vessel's bottom; but when the aperture commences at :
point between that last named and a point in the line of the wheel's axis, I
curve the forward part of the wheel pit in'a manner to conform to the wheel;
and when the aperture commences at a point on a line with the wheel's axis,
the forward part of the wheel pit will form the quadrant of a circle closely
conforming to the wheel. The sides of the wheel pit continue aft' the wheel,
and form the sides of what I denominate the raceway. The raceway com
mences immediately aft the wheel, at a point on a level with the wheel's
axis, and the top thereof gradually recedes as it descends, giving room for the
water to discharge until it merges in the vessel's bottom proper at the after
end of the said aperture. In order to prevent any spray coming into the
vessel from the wheel, I enclose the portion of the wheel above its axis with
a tight cap conforming to the wheel, with a valve at the top acting upwards
when closing. The water rises into the wheel pit as high as the vessel's draft,
and forms the volume of water on which the wheel acts. In my sea-going
vessels intended for deep water, and having deep keels, I use two wheels of
like size, and placed in or near the midship section, one on either side of the
keel, and as near thereto as is practicable without imparing its strength. For
cach I build up a wheel pit of the same form, substantially and subject to the
like variations as the one before described, when but one wheel is used, and
a raceway for each wheel similar to the raceway before described, except,
instead of its descending in a gentle slope, and merging in the vessel's bottom,
it may extend aft in a horizontal line parallel to the vessel's keel until it merges
in the vessel's mould proper near its stern, thereby giving the greatest facility

page_text: for the water to discharge from the wheel. In the latter case the tops 'of
these raceways will be above the water's level at the vessel's greatest draft,
and their outer lower lines will always be below the water's surface at the
vessel's lightest draft. In case any injury should arise in this latter case from
the sudden dashing of the seas into these raceways when the vessel's stern is
thrown up (which is not apprehended), I propose to avoid it by the use of
guards e, e, e, e, e, c, Figure 7, placed across the bottoms of the raceways, so as
to prevent any injury without offering any sensible obstruction to the easy
passage of the vessel. I enclose the upper portions of the wheels in caps of
the same form and structure as the cap herein-before described, and which in
sea-going vessels are to be both water and air tight, excepting the valves,
which are to act upwards or outwards when closing. In vessels intended for
use upon smooth or shallow water, where deep keels are not required, and
where the surge or wash shall be harmless; either of the before-described plans
'may be adopted.
The advantage of my Invention, so far as the mould or model of my vessel
is concerned, are as follows:-
.
.
In the first place, it establishes a fixed, certain, and exact rule upon which
to construct vessels of superior excellence admitting of every degree of varia-
tion; from the acutest to the obtusest mould, simply by varying the relative
proportion between the length of the horizontal axis of the midship section
and the vessel's length, and possessing, under all these variations, great buoy-
ancy and consequently light draft, and by which rule the vessel's tonage, draft,
speed, and requisite propelling power can all be determined with mathematical
certainty beforehand, and thus obviating entirely the great losses and disappoint-
ments hitherto experienced from the want of such fixed and certain rule.
In the second place, this peculiar mould er model of the vessel gives the
easiest passage of the midship section through the water. The reversing of
the longest axis of the elipsis, as the stem or stern is approached from the
midship; gives rounding or receding entering lines instead of the usual wedge
form. The water is opened with a vertical spread at that section of the vessel
where the horizontal and vertical axis are the same, and then passes to the
midship sections acting against horizontal curves of such insensible curvatures
as to oppose a much less resistance than any model whose entering lines con-
tinue to oppose the lateral action of the water, and consequently less power
will be required to propel a vessel of my mould through the water than one of
the usual or any other known form.
In the third place, the flat curves of all. the sections whose longest axes are
horizontal gives great buoyancy to the vessel,. and consequently light draft,

page_text: which, besides its easier passage through the water, peculiarly fits a vessel of
my mould for successful and profitable use, either for burthen or as tug boats
merely, on shallow waters, as rivers, canals, &c.
In the fourth place, this peculiar mould gives to the vessel the greatest
possible strength and stiffness, especially when its sides or upper works are
_ carried clear over the deck, and giving the same form to the portion above.
the curved line which cuts the horizontal axis herein-before described, as to
the portion below that line, except the keel, wheel pit, and raceway, before.
described, as it presents at all points the most compact and arched form to all
opposing objects, whether wind, sea, or shot.
In the fifth place, this mould gives the greatest possible security and safety
to a sea-going steamer, from the fact of its superior strength and ability to
resist and stand external violence, and also from the fact that it can never be.
swamped or thrown down on its beam ends, but will live in any storm.
In the sixth place, this peculiar mould, with its light draft, easily admits of
the successful application of my new propelling wheel, with the arrangements
and positions herein-before described, and the furnishing thereby of sea-going
steamers whose sides will be relieved of the cumbrous and often dangerous
appendages of what are called paddle boxes with wheels placed in such posi-
tions so near the centre as to have at all times the densest and firmest foothold
upon the water without the possibility of being thrown out of water or becom-
ing to any great degree submerged by the rolling of the vessel or the swells
of the sea. The peculiar action of the wheels herein-after described, and the
resistance of the atmospheric air with which the wheel pits and caps are filled,
and which becomes compressed by the action of the seas upwards, and closes
the valves at the tops, will always prevent the seas entering the wheel pits to
any great degree, or so as to impede the wheel's action. By this arrangement
also the wheels are protected from all external violence, and will leave in war
steamers their whole exterior lines for working the guns, while the entire
motive power, wheels, engines, and boilers, the latter being placed in these
vessels below the water's line, will be entirely out of the reach of shot.
In the seventh place, this peculiar mould, with its light draft and short
keel, and one of my propelling wheels placed in the vessel's centre in or near
the midship section, with the arrangements for one wheel herein-before
described, admits of the successful and profitable application and use of steam
power upon canals, without producing any injury to them by washing their
banks or disturbing the bottoms thereof; and they may be used either as boats.
of burthen or as tug boats merely. The wheel will have at all times the
densest and firmest foothold on the water, and at the same time acts upon the.

page_text: volume of water in the wheel pit without creating any wash or surge. This
mould of boat also will admit of greater speed than any other without affecting
the banks.
It will be only necessary, in further explanation of my Invention, to state,
that I place the wheels in the wheel pits herein-before described in a vertical
position, and enclose their upper sections in caps conforming to the wheels,
which caps or casings are air-tight, excepting the valves at the tops, as before
described, which admit the atmospheric air except when the seas rush against
the wheel pits, and compress the air which closes the valves and prevents its
escape; but as soon as the seas subside, these valves, from their own weight,
drop, and again admit the atmospheric air. This compressed atmospheric air,
the tight cylinder of the wheel, and the peculiar action of the paddles, as herein-
after described, with the forward part of the wheel pit so made as to drop
under the wheel nearly to its centre, and closely conforming thereto, will pre-
vent the roughest seas from submerging the wheel, or to any appreciable extent
retarding its action. These caps are strongly fastened to the tops of the wheel
pits, but so as to be removable at pleasure for repairing the wheels, or for any
other purpose. In vessels designated for use upon canals or other shallow
water, the paddles of the wheels should not in general drop lower than the
vessel's bottom, in order to secure them from injury by coming in contact with
objects either afloat or at the bottom of the water; but in ocean vessels with
deep keels they may be dropped below the vessel's bottom proper, if the con-
struction which may be adopted for the forward parts of the wheel pits, and the
extension of the wheel pits in advance of the wheel's axis, shall admit of it.
And I will only further add, that the advantages arising from the peculiar
structure and arrangement of my wheels in combination with my peculiar
mould, in addition to those already mentioned, are the following:-From the
peculiar form of the wheels, and their arrangement with the vessel, they
operate without any appreciable loss of power either in burying or lifting the
water.
When the forward part of the wheel pit is carried under the wheel
near to its centre, and closely conforming to it, the paddles will not come in
contact with the volume of water in the wheel pit until they emerge from the
breast thereby formed, and act upon the water in nearly a right line with
the vessel's keel. The curved form of the paddles prevents any sudden stop
or jar which their receding position would otherwise occasion when coming in.
contact with the water; their corners first meeting the water, they gradually
and easily receive the volume, throwing it towards their centre, without per-
mitting its lateral escape until their propulsive action is over, when they.

page_text: emerge from the water in nearly a. vertical position, their corners first and
their centres last, giving thereby to the water a whirl downwards, and entirely
discharging themselves even before they have reached the line of the water's
level. The atmospheric also, which, is constantly supplied from the-valves at
the tops of the case, is scooped down by every successive paddle, and helps to
prevent any injury to the paddles from any sudden slap or jar when coming in
contact with the water. This slight downward action of the paddles upon the
water gives a denser and, firmer. foothold, and consequently less slip, which
more than compensates for any loss of power this slight burying. action may
occasion: Besides, in vessels intended for use upon canals, with their race-
ways inclining downwards by a gentle slope, as herein-before described, this
slight downward action of the wheels is of great importance in another point
of view, as it. scoops and delivers; the volume. of water as its propulsive action
ceases down the raceway to the bottom of the boat without any impinging
against the raceway which shall in any sensible degree impede the vessel's
progress. This water, so delivered by the peculiar action of, the wheel at the
bottom of the vessel, gradually and quietly rises, the propulsive force given to
it by the wheel having ceased near the vessel's stem without creating any wash
or surge affecting the banks, and gives to the vessel a propulsive force at that
point where ordinarily in other vessels there is a suction retarding their pro-
gress. The air-tight cylinder of the wheel prevents any escape of the volume
of water over the paddles, and the sides of the wheel pit prevent, any lateral
escape, they might, notwithstanding their curved form, admit of, 'as also any
lateral surge or wash from the wheel's action, thereby giving to the wheel the
densest and firmest foothold upon the water, with little or no slip, and without
creating any wash or surge that can injure the cauals.
And now, having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I hereby claim as new,
First, the form; mould, or model of vessels herein-before described, by the
adoption of which I am enabled to construct vessels upon a fixed; certain, and
established rule, herein-before fully described; that is to say, vessels whose
middle cross sections are elipsis, with their longest axis horizontal, and which
horizontal axis shortens as the stem or stern is approached from the midship
section (the perpendicular axis remaining the same) until both perpendicular
and horizontal axis are alike, or the mould become circular, and after passing
these circular sections, whose horizontal axis continues to shorten (the perpen-
dicular remaining the same, thereby reversing the clipsis,) until the mould
merges into a wedge form, where it joins the stem and sterá posts; provided

page_text: always, that this shortening of the horizontal axis, as the stem or stern
is approached from the midship section, must be of such gradation that,"
when a line is drawn from stem to stern along the acute bends of the eliptic
curves and cutting their horizontal axis, such line shall describe an eliptic curve.
I also claim as part of the said form or mould the carrying of the vessel's
upper work's clear over the deck, so as to give the same form to that portion
of the vessel above the curved line along the acute bends, of the eliptic curve,
cutting their horizontal axis as herein-before described, as is given to that
portion below the said curved line, except so far as regards the keel, wheel pit,
and raceways, herein-before described, when my propelling wheels are to
be used for propelling such vessels. And I further claim as part of the said.
form or mould vessels whose mould below their water lines shall conform to:
the mould or model aforesaid, whatever form they may be made to assume
above that line, that is to say, whose entering lines shall conform to my
mould or model herein-before described, whereby they offer less resistance
than other formed vessels to the propelling power.
Secondly, I claim as new the propelling wheel herein-before described.
And, thirdly, I claim the use and application of air-tight caps. or encase-
ments for enclosing the upper parts of propelling wheels to vessels, in
combination with collapse valves so arranged at the tops or other parts of such
caps or encasements as to act upwards from within by the compression of
atmospheric air within the caps or encasements caused by the force of sea
acting upwards from beneath, and which valves shall immediately open of their
own accord, and again admit the atmospheric air from above as soon as such
upward pressure of the sea from within shall be removed, as herein-before
described; and also the wheel pits, raceways, and guards, arranged as
herein-before described, for the application of my said improved propelling
wheel.
And such my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used in that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, nor in the Is-
lands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, nor in any of Her
Majesty's Colonies or Plantations abroad, I do hereby declare this to be my
Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this my Specification
doth comply in all respects fully and without reserve or disguise with the
proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained;

page_text: wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my
said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Taylor, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
JAS. (L.S.) TAYLOR.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid James Taylor came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.