AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE POSITION OF SUNKEN SHIPS OR OTHER OBJECTS Communicated him
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake of the firm of Haseltine Lako
& Co. Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention
of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE POSITION OF SUNKEN
SHIPS OR OTHER OBJECTS Communicated to him from abroad by M,
Fernberg, of Nässjö, Sweden.
"3
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st August 1882.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "AN. IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR INDICATING
THE POSITION OF SUNKEN SHIPS OR OTHER OBJECTS [A communication to him
from abroad by M. Fernberg, of Nässjö, Sweden.]
"
:
This Invention is designed to provide an apparatus for attachment to a ship or
other floating object in such a manner that should the said ship or object sink the
said apparatus will remain at the surface of the water and indicate its position.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a buoy having at the
upper part thereof a post or rod to which a bell and a flag may be secured. The
said buoy is also provided with an eye at the bottom to which a rope is fastened.
This rope under ordinary circumstances is rolled up under the buoy and is securely
fastened by one end to the ship. Therefore if the latter sinks, the buoy remains at
the surface of the water, the rope continuing to unwind until the ship has reached
the bottom, and as the buoy remains attached by the rope to the ship it will
indicate the position of the latter. The bell rings by the action of the water, and
thus, by the sound of this bell and by the flag it can be readily ascertained where ⚫
the vessel has foundered.
Although the bell and flag are of advantage it will be obvious that they are not
essential. The buoy may be of any suitable form and material.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th February 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR INDICATING
THE POSITION OF SUNKEN SHIPS OR OTHER OBJECTS," A communication to me
from abroad by M. Fernberg, of Nässjö, Sweden,
This invention is designed to provide an apparatus for attachment to a ship or
other floating object, in such a manner, that should the said ship or object sink, the
said apparatus will remain at the surface of the water and indicate its position.
According to the said invention I provide a buoy carrying a standard on which
are placed a bell and a flag. The said buoy is also provided with an eye having
fastened to it a rope which is usually coiled up beneath the buoy and is firmly
secured to the vessel
In the accompanying drawing which shows in sectional elevation the apparatus
attached to a vessel, the buoy a with the bell b and the flag c rests on a support d
fixed on the roofe of the cabin or on some other suitable part of the vessel where,
in case of the sinking of the said vessel, the buoy will not be caught by the
rigging
The buoy is connected by a chain f with the rope g which is wound upon a
drum & enclosed in a chamber i and situated in the lowest part of the vessel. The
chain is enclosed in a tube k, the object of which is to maintain the connection
between the rope and the buoy in case of fire in the inner part of the vessel. If
the vessel sinks, the buoy remains floating on the surface of the water, the rope
being uncoiled from the drum, which turns on its axle until the vessel has reached
the bottom. The bell is then caused to sound by the movement of the water and
thus, by the sound of the bell and by the flag, the position of the sunken vessel is
indicated.
Although the flag and bell are of advantage it will be obvious that they are not
essential; the buoy may be of any suitable form and material.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I Claim
The apparatus for indicating the position of sunken ships or other objects, which
apparatus consists of a buoy having a rope attached thereto and secured to the
vessel or other object substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
In Witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal this seventeenth day of February in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty three
T
TAR
"