IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF SEA-GOING PASSENGER STEAM VESSELS."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bessemer, of Denmark Hill, in the
County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF SEA-GOING PASSENGER STEAM VESSELS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bessemer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st October 1872.
I, HENRY BESSEMER, of Denmark Hill, in the County of Surrey, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF SEA-GOING PASSENGER STEAM VESHELS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
sea-going passenger steam vessels. These improvements relate to the
class of sea-going steam vessels which is employed in conveying pas-
sengers, and has for its principal object the lessening of the motion in
such vessels when at sea, and in so combining the various parts of which
such structures are composed and their relative position to cach other

page_text: and that of the machinery employed as to form by means of such com-
bination a steam vessel better suited for the conveyance and comfort of
passengers.
I form at the fore part, or preferably at the fore and aft part, of the
vessel a flat or nearly flat plane or planes of iron or steel, which project i
from the vessel horizontally or at an angle more or less inclined to the
horizon. These planes may be fixed by preference below the load water
line of the vessel, and may extend as far as the stem and stern in each
direction; or, if desired, the planes may be carried on beyond these
points, and form the extreme projecting ends of the structure.
.
In some cases these planes instead of being placed horizontally for
their whole length may be inclined upwards at their ends in order to
prevent the vessel from ploughing too deeply into an approaching wave.
The planes may be of a more or less oval figure, the narrow rounded
ends being at or near the stem and stern posts, and the wider part of the
oval falling away in breadth as it joins the widening figure of the vessel.
The plane or planes may be made with an almost sharp edge externally,
thickening away at the, parts where they are united to the vessel, to
which they must be most securely fastened.
It will be understood that the plane, presenting its thin edge to the
water as the vessel moves forward, will cause very little extra resistance
to this onward movement, but as the bows or stern of the vessel cannot
rise and fall with a pitching motion without presenting the broad flat
surface of the plane at right angles to the line of such motion, it follows
that the vessel cannot pitch without lifting the water above the plane at
one end and depressing the water beneath the plane at the opposite end
of the vessel, and hence the tendency to check such pitching motion will
be in proportion to the amount of surface and the position of such
planes, which act somewhat like a fixed rudder, tending to steer the
vessel horizontally; and although planes for the purposes described may
be employed at one or both ends of vessels otherwise of the usual con-
struction, I nevertheless prefer to employ in combination with such plane
or planes a low freeboard of some 40 to 80 feet in length more or less at
the fore part of the vessel, and so sloped and pointed at the fore part
that the tendency of the vessel to rise on approaching a wave may be
lessened, this low pointed part ploughing its way through the crest of a
wave in preference to rising on it as usual.

page_text: And in order that steam vessels may be better adapted to move in and
out of port without turning round, I construct them in some cases with
the stem and stern of the same general form, each end being provided
with a rudder, and each end having the same low pointed freeboard and
planes to lessen the pitching motion. That portion of the vessel
which is lowered at one or both ends, as described, may have its
upper surface formed into a ridge raised in a line running vertically
over the keel of the vessel, the suface sloping upwards from each side
at an angle somewhat like a low roof; or it may be made of a
curved form in order (in either case) to throw off the water more
readily from its surface. The ends of the deck proper may rise at that
part where it joins the lower portion, its bulwark also rising in such a
manner as to prevent as far as possible shipping any of the water
washing over the low freeboard part of the vessel.
It is of great importance in passenger steam vessels to lessen the time
occupied in the voyage. I therefore prefer to employ (especially for
short passages) a greater proportion of engine power than is usually
employed in vessels of the same tonnage. And that this may be done
more readily I prefer to divide the propelling power by employing two
pairs of paddle wheels, or one pair of paddle wheels and a single or twin
screw propeller.
When employing two pairs of paddle wheels to propel the vessel I
prefer to place them as far apart as will leave between their respective
shafts ample space for the formation of suitable saloons, berths, or
cabins, either fixed or capable of independent axial motion.
I prefer to form that part of the vessel which lies between the paddlo
wheels with straight sides, forming a central parallel part between the
two pointed ends of the vessel.
The aft pair of paddle wheels may be made of greater diameter or
have larger floats than the fore paddles, or the engines driving the
former may be more powerful or be so arranged as to make a greater
number of revolutions per minute than the engines driving the fore
paddles, in order to compensate for the flowing of the water put in
motion by the fore pair of paddles.
The vessel having such double-pairs of paddle wheels I construct with
a low pointed freeboard, as herein-before described, and also with or

page_text: without a projecting plane or planes; and in those cases where the
passage of the vessel is a short one, or where the harbours into which it
runs are not very large, I prefer to make this low freeboard at both ends
of the double paddled vessel, using also a rudder and projecting planes
at both ends of the vessel.
But in those cases where it is preferred to employ a screw or twin
screw in addition to a pair of paddle wheels in passenger steam vessels,
I place the paddle wheels so far forward that a space is left between the
paddle wheel shaft and the screw engines for the accommodation of pas-
sengers in saloons, berths, or cabins, either fixed or capable of axial
motion, the space so left between the paddle wheel shaft and the screw
engines including within it the centre, about which the vessel pitches
and rolls; and I form the fore part of such steam vessels with a low
pointed freeboard, so constructed as to plough its way through the crest
of a wave, as before described, and by preference also provided with a
projecting plane or planes at the fore part, or at the fore and aft part, or
extending all round the vessel if desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Bessemer in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 1st April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY.
BESSEMER, of Denmark Hill, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Bessemer, Her special license that I, the
said Henry Bessemer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Bessemer, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
SEA-GOING PASSENGER STEAM VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others)

page_text: that I, the said Henry Bessemer, 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 next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Bessemer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction
of sea-going passenger steam vessels. These improvements relate to
that class of sea-going steam vessels which is employed in conveying
passengers, and has for its principal objects the lessening of the motion
in such versels when at sea, and so combining the various parts of
which such structures are composed and their relative position to each
other and that of the machinery employed, as to form by means of such
combination a steam vessel better suited for the conveyance and comfort
of passengers.
I form at the fore part or preferably at the fore and aft part of the
vessel a flat or nearly flat plane or planes of iron or steel, which project
from the vessel horizontally or at an angle more or less inclined to the
horizon. These planes may be fixed by preference below the load water
line of the vessel, and may extend as far as the stem and stern in cach
direction; or, if desired, the planes may be carried on beyond these
points and form the extreme projecting ends of the structure.
In some cases these planes, instead of being placed horizontally for
their whole length, may be inclined upwards at their ends, in order
to prevent the vessel from ploughing too deeply into an approaching
wave.
The planes may be of a more or less oval figure, the narrow rounded
ends being at or near the stem and stern posts, and the wider part of the
oval falling away in breadth as it joins the widening figure of the vessel.
The plane or planes may be made with an almost sharp edge externally,
thickening away at the parts where they are united to the vessel, to
which they must be most securely fastened.

page_text: It will be understood that the plano presenting its thin edge to the
water as the vessel moves forward will cause very little extra resistance
to this onward movement, but as the bows or stern of the vessel cannot
rise and fall with a pitching motion without presenting tho broad flat
surface of the plane at right angles to the line of such motion, it follows
that the vessel cannot pitch without lifting the water above the plane at
ono end and depressing the water beneath tho plane at the opposite end
of the vessel, and hence the tendency to check such pitching motion will
be in proportion to the amount of surface and the position of such
planes, which act somewhat like a fixed rudder tending to steer the 1
vessel horizontally.
In order that the general figuro and shape of plane which I prefer
may be understood, I have hereunto annexed a Sheet of Drawings, on
which they are shown attached to the hull of a screw steamer, of which
Figure 1 shews a side elevation. The fore and aft planes a and bare
shewn below the water line at a vertical depth about midway between
the water line and the bottom of the keel.
The planes a and b are of an oval form when seen in plan, as at
Figure 2. In this case the planes are somewhat small in proportion to
the size of the vessel, which is shewn at c in horizontal block section, 1
taken on the same horizontal line as the planes are fixed.
In Figure 3 I have shewn a similar horizontal section of the same
vessel, with the planes d and e made larger than those represented in
Figure 2, and at both ends projecting beyond those parts of the vessel -
where they are fixed, and thus affording a greater hold on the water, and
consequently offering increased resistance to the rise and fall of the ends
of the vessel.
In some cases it may be found preferable to continue the projecting
planc entirely round the vessel, as shewn at f, Figure 4, forming a pro-
jecting zone, and serving to diminish not only the pitching of the vessel,
but to some extent lessening the rolling motion also.
Here I would observe that although in each of the examples given in
the annexed Sheet of Drawings I have shewn the planes in a position.
about midway between the load water line and the under side of the keel,
I desire it to be understood that I do not confine myself to their use in a
that particular position, as they may be fixed much higher up or much

page_text: lower down without departing from the principle of my Invention; and
I would also remark that although I prefer to make these planes flat and
place them in a position parallel to the line of flotation of the vessel, that
they may nevertheless be placed at a small inclination to that line with a
view to prevent the vessel from plunging too deeply into an approaching
wave; or, instead of making the whole surface of the plane flat the
surfaces at the bow end may be curved slightly upward with the same
object.
In very small vessels a stout steel plate attached to the plating of the
vessel by a line of angle iron rivetted above and below it to the sides
of the vessel will be sufficient, but in vessels of a larger class I prefer
to construct the planes of two thicknesses of stout iron or steel plates,
rivetted together at the outer edge of the oval figure, but set farther
apart on the side where they join the ship, thus forming a tapering
space between them widening from the outer edge towards the ship.
Into this space tapering bars may be rivetted, and may extend in some
cases across the narrow part of the hull and enter the hollow space of
the opposite plane, thus giving great strength to the planes and securing
them firmly to the ship.
It is of great importance in passenger steam vessels to lessen the time
occupied in the voyage. I therefore prefer to employ (especially for
short passages) a greater proportion of engine power than is usually
employed in vessels of the same tonnage. And that this may be done
more readily I prefer to divide the propelling power by employing one
pair of paddle wheels and a single or twin screw propeller.
:
And in those cases where a single screw or twin screws are employed
in addition to a pair of paddles wheels in passenger steam vessels, I place
the paddle wheels and the engines which drive them so far forward that
a large space may be left between the paddle wheel shaft and the screw
engines. In this space I provide for the accommodation of passengers
saloons, berths, or cabins capable of axial motion, and governed or con-
trolled by hydraulic apparatus, the whole being constructed and arranged
as is now well understood. The space so left between the paddle wheel
shaft and the screw engines includes within it by preference the centre,
about which the vessel pitches and rolls. I prefer that such vessels
should be provided with planes, constructed after the manner herein-
before described, for the purpose of lessening their pitching and rolling

page_text: motion in addition to the provisions made for lessening the motions
of the saloons or other portions of such vessels; and where planes of
large area are employed at the bows of steam vessels, as described, I'
prefer to raise the bow end of the vessel so as to prevent as far as may
be the breaking of waves on deck.
Having now described my Invention and the manner in which the
same is to be carried into effect, I desire that it should be understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein given; but
what I do claim as my Invention and desire to secure by these in part
recited Letters Patent is as follows:-
Firstly. I claim the construction and employment in sea-going pas-
senger steam vessels of a projecting horizontal or more or less inclined
plane or planes, situated at the fore or at the fore and aft part and below
the load water line of such vessels, substantially as described.
1
Secondly. I claim the construction and arrangement of sea-going pas- 1
senger steam vessels with a suspended saloon, situate between the paddle
wheel engines and shaft and the engines employed to propel a screw or
screws, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bessemer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of April, in the year of our a
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.