IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Edward Symonds, of Adam Street, Adelphi,
Commander in Her Majesty's. Navy, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS."
Sealed the 29th August 1868, and dated the 3rd March 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Edward Symonds
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd March 1863.
I, THOMAS EDWARD SYMONDS, of Adam Street, Adelphi, Commander in Her
Majesty's Navy, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist, first, of a novel mode of constructing and working
rudders for steering ships and other vessels, by which additional surface and
increase of rudder power can be given when required.
And, second, to the mechanical means employed for transmitting the motion
of a steering wheel and the power applied thereto to the rudder of a ship, by
which jerking and undue straining are avoided, a simplification of the tackles
and intermediate connections is effected, and the risk of wringing or twisting
the rudder head prevented, and by which also fewer hands are enabled to steer
a ship in the heaviest weather.
I construct rudders somewhat of the usual shape and dimensions, or having
about the same area, and by preference I make them of wrought-iron frame-
work, and hollow or open, and by means of side plating screwed or rivetted
upon each side of the frame close the sides of the rudder frame; or the plates
may be made to slide vertically into V or other shaped grooves formed in the

page_text: frame; or the rudder may have a frame and middle plate or web of iron, and
the supplementary rudder be composed of two external plates joined together,
and sliding in grooves forming guides.
The rudder post or shank is likewise made hollow on the after side, or bored
out to receive the spindle or shank of an internal sliding or supplementary
rudder fitted within the hollow rudder, which conceals the supplementary
rudder when the latter is out of use. The upper end of the central spindle or
shank may either have a rack or ratchet on its face, or it may be screwed,
for the purpose of being acted upon by means of a pinion or nut, so that the
internal sliding or supplementary rudder, when additional rudder surface is
required for steering, is projected from the main rudder and held securely
whilst in use, and when the necessity for its use has ceased it may be with-
drawn. Instead of the screw or rack motion of the central spindle acting direct
upon the internal sliding or supplementary rudder, so that it is projected or
withdrawn at the same rate as the central spindle is moved up and down, a
lever or levers may be introduced between the central spindle and the internal
sliding or supplementary rudder, so that their ratios of motion or travel and
also the direction may be varied.
For the purpose of communicating the manual power applied through the
steering wheel to the rudder of a ship, instead of and as a substitute for any of
the existing system of screws and lever arms, pinions and racks, or other similar
gearing, and instead of the ordinary barrel and chain or chains, fair leading
tackles, and such like contrivances, I substitute the following apparatus :—
Within suitable side framing I mount two barrels or drums, each having
several grooves or scores therein, according to the number of turns of rope or
chain required; the axis of each barrel or drum being parallel to the other,
the ridges or flanges on the one barrel are opposite to the bottom of the several
grooves, scores, or furrows in the other barrel. Each barrel having a spindle
and a spur wheel keyed thereon, or secured to the barrel, motion is communi-
cated to them simultaneously by a pinion or pinions on the shaft of the steering
wheel, and the rope or chain which is to act upon the yoke or tiller of the
rudder, or of each of the rudders, is made to pass round both drums in the
several grooves, scores, or furrows formed therein, and is led off right and left,
or top and bottom, as the case may be, towards the rudder yoke or tiller.
The arrangement and disposition of the barrels towards each other may,
however, be horizontally on the same plane, or vertically in the same line.
For the purpose of holding, retaining, or securing in position the steering
wheel, and for the prevention of accidents, I employ a cone friction break
worked by a lever or treadle, and where two steering wheels are mounted

page_text: upon the same shaft, spindle, or axle, two friction breaks may be applied and
connected with the same lever or treadle, and the cone friction breaks may be
separated or withdrawn by a single lever.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Edward Symonds in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd September 1863..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
EDWARD SYMONDS, of Adam Street, Adelphi, Commander in Her Majesty's
Navy, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Edward Symonds, Her special license that I, the said Thomas
Edward Symonds, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Edward Symonds, my executors, administrators, or
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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Edward Symonds, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or
under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Edward Symonds, 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 and accompanying two Sheets of Drawings:-
My improvements consist, first, of a novel mode of constructing and working
rudders for steering ships and other vessels, by which additional surface and
increase of rudder power can be given when required.
And, second, to the mechanical means employed for transmitting the motion

page_text: of a steering wheel and the power applied thereto to the rudder of a ship, by
which jerking and undue straining are avoided, a simplification of the tackles
and intermediate connections is effected, and the risk of wringing or twisting
the rudder head prevented, and by which also fewer hands are enabled to
steer a ship in the heaviest weather.
I construct rudders somewhat of the usual shape and dimensions, or having
about the same area, and by preference I make them of wrought-iron frame-
work, and hollow or open, and by means of side plating screwed or rivetted
upon each side of the frame close the sides of the rudder frame; or the plates
may be made to slide vertically into V or other shaped grooves formed in the
frame; or the rudder may have a frame and middle plate or web of iron, and
the supplementary rudder be composed of two external plates joined together,
and sliding in grooves and forming guides.
The rudder post or shank is likewise made hollow on the side, or bored
out to receive the spindle or shank of an internal sliding or supplementary
rudder fitted within the. hollow rudder,, which conceals the supplementary
rudder when the latter is out of use. The upper end of the central spindle or
shank may either have a rack or ratchet on its face, or it may be screwed, for
the purpose of being acted upon by means of a pinion or nut, so that the
internal sliding or supplementary rudder, when additional surface is required
for steering, is projected from the main rudder and held securely whilst in
use, and when the necessity for its use has ceased it may be withdrawn.
Instead of the screw or rack motion of the central spindle acting direct upon
the internal sliding or supplementary rudder, so that it is projected or with-
drawn at the same rate as the central spindle is moved up and down, a lever
or levers may be introduced between the central spindle and the internal sliding
or supplementary rudder, so that their ratios of motion or travel and also the
direction may be varied.
For the purpose of communicating the manual power applied through the
steering wheel to the rudder of a ship, instead of and as a substitute for any of
the existing systems of screws and lever arms, pinions and racks, or other
similar gearing, and instead of the ordinary barrel and chain or chains, fair lead-
ing tackles, and such like contrivances, I substitute the following apparatus:-
Within suitable side framing I mount two barrels or drums, each having several
grooves or scores therein, according to the number of turns of rope or chain
required; the axis of each barrel or drum being parallel to the other, the
ridges or flanges on the one barrel are opposite to the bottom of the several
grooves, scores, or furrows in the other barrel. Each barrel having a spindle
and a spur wheel keyed thereon, or secured to the barrel, motion is communi

page_text: cated to them simultaneously by a pinion or pinions on the shaft of the steering
wheel, and the rope or chain which is to act upon the yoke or tiller of the
rudder is made to pass round both drums in the several grooves or furrows
formed therein, and is led off right and left, or top or bottom, as the case may
be, towards the rudder yoke or tiller. The arrangement and disposition of the
barrels towards each other may, however, be horizontally on the same plane,
or vertically in the same line.
For the purpose of holding, retaining, or securing in position the steering
wheel, and for the prevention of accidents, I employ a cone friction break
worked by a lever or treadle, and where two steering wheels are mounted upon
the same shaft, spindle, or axle, two friction breaks may be applied and con-
nected with the same lever or treadle, and the cone friction breaks may be
separated or withdrawn by a single lever.
For the purpose of increasing the holding power when chains are employed,
the grooves in the barrels may have projecting teeth, or small cogs, or transverse
scores.
By means of the apparatus described, the power necessary for steering the
vessel by moving the rudder over is more steadily and better transmitted
either direct or through one set of tackles than by any other method at present
in use, and the great power and facility afforded by this apparatus renders
unnecessary the employment of steam or hydraulic apparatus for working
rudders.
Instead of employing iron, the presence of which affects the working of the
compass, the whole of the framing and gearing may be cast and made in hard
gun metal, and white metal bushes may be employed in the bearings.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 refer to the
steering apparatus or apparatus for actuating the rudder of a ship by manual
power, and Figures 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9, and 10 show various modifications of
rudders constructed according to this Invention for the purpose of enabling an
6 increase of rudder surface to be given when required.
:
Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 a plan, of the apparatus for steering
ships, there being a double steering wheel and a single cone break, with a
treadle and lever for actuating the same. In this apparatus a short link
chain is shown as being employed. By the employment of this apparatus the
5 necessity for the use or employment of two separate steering wheels is avoided,
as also the usual number of relieving tackles.
Figure 3 is: an end elevation of Figures 1 and 2, showing, the apparatus
without any chain or rope in the grooves or scores of the barrels.
Figure 4 is an elevation, and Figure 5 a plan, of a similar apparatus to that

page_text: 4
shown at Figures 1 and 2, but having a rope substituted for the chain shown
in Figures 1 and 2. a, a, are the side frames connected together by means of
the studs or stays b, b; c, c, are the steering wheels, which are of the usual
kind or description, having eight spokes; d, the shaft or spindle upon which
the steering wheels c, c, are mounted; 6, a pinion keyed upon the shaft d; f, a
cone friction break worked by the treadle g; h, h, two drums, having grooves
or scores formed therein, as before described; i, i, are the spur wheels of the
drums or barrels h, h, and which are together geared into and actuated by the
pinion e. The chain and the rope are marked k respectively. The chain or
rope is shown as being crossed to give a better lead, and being in one length
is made to pass alternately round each barrel.
In Figures 6, 6ª, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9, and 10 various modes of mounting and
giving motion to or actuating the supplementary rudder are shown.
Figure 6 illustrates a mode of projecting vertically downwards the supple-
mentary rudder from within the case or frame of a rudder of ordinary form
and proportions. In this illustration the motion is effected by means of a rack
cut upon the face of the shank of the supplementary rudder, and motion is
communicated thereto by means of a pinion carried by the main rudder shank.
Figure 6 shows the same arrangement of rudder as Figure 6, but illus-
trates a different mode of actuating the auxiliary rudder piece. The rudders
in Figures 7 and 7 are similar in form to those shown in the two preceding
Figures, but in Figures 7 and 7* the sliding piece or auxiliary rudder is moved
at some angle between the horizontal and vertical. In Figure 7 this motion
is shown as being effected by means of a vertical screwed shaft acting upon a
connecting rod hinged internally to the sliding piece or auxiliary rudder,
which is guided in and out by means of angular slots either near the top and
bottom of the main rudder, or in any other convenient manner. Guide pins
or studs may be fitted upon the sliding piece or auxiliary rudder. In
Figure 7 a chain is shewn as being substituted for the connecting rod shown
in Figure 7.
Figure 8 has a horizontally sliding auxiliary rudder, which is moved in
and out by means of two horizontal shafts having screws thereon. These
screws take into long nuts fitted horizontally at the top and bottom of the
sliding or auxiliary rudder.
Figure 9 illustrates a mode of projecting downwards the supplementary
rudder by means of a screwed shaft and a chain, in the manner shown.
Figure 9* represents in side elevation a compound rudder, in which the
supplementary rudder consists of two external plates joined together and
sliding vertically in grooves formed in the main rudder.

page_text: Figure 10 is a form of rudder not commonly employed for steam ships of
large size or for sailing ships, but which is more specially suited for double or
twin screw steamers having two keels, and constructed in accordance with the
arrangement shown and described in Letters Patent granted to me on the
Twenty-eighth day of February, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three,
for which description of vessels it is specially applicable for the purpose of
increasing the steering power when the ship is under canvas. In this view
the motion is communicated to the sliding piece or auxiliary or supplementary
rudder, which is made to move vertically up and down by means of mitre
wheels mounted upon a horizontal shaft, and taking into mitre wheels on the
vertical screwed shafts fixed to or forming a part of the sliding piece or sup-
plementary rudder in the manner shewn, the horizontal shaft and its wheels
being actuated by a mitre or bevil wheel fitted to the lower end of a vertical
shaft working within the hollow shank of the main rudder. The shank of the
main rudder may in each case be square instead of round, and the yoke or
tiller fitted thereonto. The shank of the main rudder being bored out cylin-
drically or otherwise formed hollow for receiving the vertical screw or motion
shaft by which the supplementary rudder is worked, it is made to project
sufficiently above the shank of the main rudder to allow a wheel or other
means of rotating it being applied thereto.
Although I have shown in each Figure in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings a particular mode or method of actuating the sliding piece or
auxiliary rudder in each case differing from the other as to its precise cha-
racter and the nature of the mechanical movements employed, yet I do not
intend to confine myself to the exact proportions of the several parts or the
exact relation of their action upon one another as shown, inasmuch as they
may be varied without affecting the general character of this portion of my
present Invention.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Apparatus
for Steering Ships," and illustrated both the parts thereof in the accompanying
Drawing, what I claim is,-
First, the apparatus as herein described, and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 5,
for working or operating the rudders of ships and other vessels.
Second, the arrangement of mechanism or apparatus in combination with
chains or ropes, shewn in the several Figures 1 to 5 inclusive, when employed
for transmitting manual power through steering we to the yoke or tiller
of rudders (or other means) for steering ships or other vessels.
Third, the construction of compound rudders in the manner herein

page_text: described, and as illustrated in the several Figures 6 to 10 inclusive, in the
accompanying Drawing.
Fourth, the combination and mode of working auxiliary rudders or sliding
pieces by the mechanical means herein described.
Fifth, the modes or methods herein described for operating and giving
motion to the sliding pieces contained within or connected with (either inter-
nally or externally) the main rudders, in the manner and for the purpose
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Edward Symonds, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
THOMAS EDWARD SYMONDS. (L.S.)
Witness,
JAMES STEVENSON,
19, Salisbury Street,
Strand, W.C.