IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS AND PROAL OTHER SUMBERGED OR PARTIALLY SUBMERGED BODI
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Sowerbutts, of No. 6, Waite Street,
Trafalgar Road, Old Kent Road, in the County of Surrey, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Sowerbutts at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th January 1873.
I, ALFRED SOWERBUTTS, of No. 6, Waite Street, Trafalgar Road, Old
Kent Road, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN
VESSELS AND OTHER SUMBERGED OR PARTIALLY SUBMERGED BODIES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in employing air-tight vessels, by preference,
casks, in each of which an aperture is made sufficiently large to permit
a smaller air-tight vessel or bag to be introduced into its interior, the
said aperture being closed and maintained air-tight by any convenient
means. A smaller aperture is also made in the said cask, in which
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page_text: aperture is inserted and fastened a flexible tube projecting into the cask
and sufficiently long to permit it to touch the remotest part of the
interior of the cask, the said flexible tube being furnished with a valve
opening outwards, and its inner extremity being weighted with some
material of sufficient gravity to cause it to remain in the lowest part of
the cask in whatever position the said cask may be. The smaller
vessel or bag previously mentioned is provided with a valve, the said
valve being acted upon by mechanism similar to a watch movement, and
which mechanism can be regulated in such a manner that after a certain
period, which shall be at the option of the operator, the said mechanism
will open the valve. The cask being filled with water, and a sufficient
quantity of a carbonate or bi-carbonate of an alkali or alkaline earth,
has inserted through its larger aperture into its interior the smaller air-
tight vessel or bag of any suitable material with valve and mechanism
attached and regulated, the said smaller air-tight vessel or bag being
previously filled with sulphuric acid; the larger aperture in the cask is
then closed and rendered air-tight.
In raising a sunken ship a sufficient number of casks with contents as
described, and of sufficient gravity to cause them to sink readily in the
water, are lowered and placed by divers in the interior of the ship, and
secured in their positions by closing the hatches or other means of exit.
The mechanism will after a certain period open the valves and allow the
sulphuric acid contained in the smaller air-tight vessels or bags to mix
with the contents of the casks. The chemical reaction which ensues
will generate carbonic acid gas, which, rising to the uppermost parts of
the casks, will expel the water through the flexible tubes, the valves of
the tubes allowing the water to escape, but preventing its return; the
buoyancy of the casks will then raise the ship to the surface of the
water.
In some cases the casks, as described, may be attached by ropes or
chains to the exterior of the body to be raised.
י
I would sometimes employ casks as described with the inner
extremities of the flexible tubes bouyed, the said tubes being connected
to collapsed air-tight flexible bags, which would be inflated by the
generated gas.
In order to partially raise a floating ship from the water for pur-
poses of repair, or for passing over shoals, I would employ a number

page_text: of small empty air-tight casks, which would act as bouys on the surface
of the water, each of the said bouys having a metal tube passing through
its centre or widest part. One extremity of a chain is passed through
the said tube and fastened to a small winch which is attached to the
buoy immediately over the orifice of the said tube; the other extremity
of the chain is attached to a pontoon containing water, chemicals,
and valve mechanism, as previously described. The pontoon is then
immersed in the water with a number of the said buoys with winches
attached to it and floating on the surface of the water immediately
above it. The winches being acted upon will shorten or lengthen the
connecting chains, and thus regulate the depth at which it is desired to
maintain the pontoons.
Two of the pontoons, as described, with buoys and winches attached,
are connected together and maintained parallel to each other at a short
distance apart by means of ropes; they are then by using the winches
lowered sufficiently far in the water to allow the said ropes to pass under
the keel of the floating ship, so that each pontoon will occupy a position
on either side of the ship, and parallel to the keel of the said ship.
The gas being generated in the interior of the pontoons, their resulting
buoyancy will raise the ship sufficiently for the purpose required.
I do not confine myself to the use of carbonates or bi-carbonates, but
would use any chemicals capable or generating gas.
I would also apply the valve and mechanism as described to a strong
case or metallic cylinder containing compressed air or gas, the release of
which will expel the water from the cask or pontoon.
In some cases I would arrange the valves with their mechanism so
that they could be acted upon from the exterior of the casks or pontoons,
and so be under the direct control of the diver or operator.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Sowerbutts, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Sowerbutts, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Sowerbutts, 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 "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS AND OTHER SUBMERGED OR PARTIALLY
SUBMERGED BODIES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Sowerbutts, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Alfred Sowerbutts, 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 accompanying
Sheets of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say:-
My Invention consists in employing air-tight vessels, which on being
sunk and attached to the submerged or partially submerged body to be
raised, are rendered buoyant by the generation within them of gas from
suitable chemicals, which gas expels and takes the place of the water
before contained in the said air-tight vessels. These chemicals are kept
separate until the proper moment for the generation of the gas, when
they are allowed to mix by means of liberating mechanism preferably
governed by clockwork so regulated as to run a certain predettermined
time before effecting the liberation.
It also consists in employing in connection with the aforesaid air-
tight vessels strong cases or metallic chambers containing compressed

page_text: air or gas, the release of which by mechanism similar to that employed
for allowing the admixture of the chemicals, expels the water from the
air-tight vessels and renders them buoyant. If preferred the gas
generated from the chemicals, or the compressed air, may be con-
veyed into air-tight flexible bags, which being thereby inflated become
buoyant and afford lifting power.
It also consists in the employment of buoys fitted with con-
necting chains and winches for the purpose of regulating the im-
mersion of pontoons employed to partially raise a ship or other floating
body.
In Sheet 1 of the Drawings, Figure 1 represents a section of a cask
which is one form of air-tight vessel which I find convenient and
suitable for the application of my Invention. A is a flexible tube pre-
ferably of the kind known as suction tube, that kind being least
liable to collapse from external pressure. This flexible tube is introduced
into the cask through the aperture B, and is connected to the metallic
valve seat D, which is inserted into and closes the aperture B by a
water-tight joint; the valve E is arranged to open outwards against a
spring as shown. Near the end of the flexible pipe A is attached a
smaller vessel or bag F, intended to contain sulphuric acid or other
suitable chemical. G is a casing attached to the cask and containing a
small clock train H fitted with any suitable escapement. The spring
arbour of this clock train is seen at I, and can be readily wound up from
the exterior of the cask by removing the cap J. The clock train may
bo made powerful enough to work in water, or it may be isolated there-
from by making the casing G water-tight, and providing a suitable
stuffing box or other water-tight joint for the spring arbour I. The
vessel or bag F and the end of the tube A are supported by the
trigger K, which when the clock train is enclosed in a water-tight casing
may be operated by a finger or other instrument attached to the clock
train by means of an axis L, see Figure 1º, which passes through the
pipe M, being connected thereto by the india-rubber tube N, which
permits it to make a partial revolution whilst maintaining a perfectly
water-tight joint in a manner now well known. The tube A is weighted
so, and is of such a length that it will when liberated by the trigger K.
fall with the vessel F into the lowest part of the cask in whatever
position the said cask may be. The mouth of the vessel F is closed by
the leaden washer O attached to it being held against an clastic.

page_text: surface P by the staple Q and trigger K, so as to prevent leakage of the
acid from the vessel F until the trigger K is withdrawn; when this
is effected the vessel F is forced out of the staple O by a spring, and
with the tube A falls as above explained, the acid or other chemical
being then free to flow out, and act upon a quantity of carbonate or
bicarbonate of an alkali, alkaline earth, or other material appropriate to
the chemical contained in the vessel F placed loosely in the cask as
shown at R. I prefer to employ sulphuric acid as the chemical in the
vessel F and bicarbonate of soda as the chemical upon which it is to act,
as I find that those ingredients form gas even when the acid is largely
diluted by the water contained in the cask.
The gas produced by the chemicals rises to the upper part of the cask,
and the water is expelled through the tube A and valve E by the pressure
of such gas, the cask being thus rendered buoyant in proportion to the
difference of the specific gravitics of the water ejected and of the gas
which has taken its place.
It is convenient to have an aperture at S, by which the vessel or
bag I can be adjusted in place, the said aporture being of course after-
wards closed by a suitable water-tight plug T.
It will be readily understood that the vessel F need not necessarily
be attached to the tube A, as it may be arranged in a variety of ways,
but it must be so arranged that it shall when liberated fall into such a
position that the acid shall mix with the other chemical. It may also
be convenient in some cases to confine both chemical ingredients in
closed vessels until they are required to act upon each other, when a
communication may be established between such vessels, and the
chemicals allowed to act by means of valves operated by mechanism
similar to that before described or of any other suitable kind. This
arrangement is especially applicable when the case or pontoon employed
open at the bottom, in which case the gas generated must be of such
a character that it is not absorbed by water.
is
Figure 2 is an enlarged section of the valve E, showing the arrange-
ment I adopt for preventing collapse of the cask or other vessel by the
hydrostatic pressure thereon when submerged with (as is generally the
case) a portion of air contained therein, a small hole U is made in the
metal of the valve E, and a similar hole W in the india-rubber or leather
face X of the valve. When the external pressure oxceeds the internal

page_text: pressure water will force its way through the hole U between the valve
E and the flexible face X and by the hole W in the latter to the inside of
the cask so as to establish an equilibrium. Instead of this arrangement
an ordinary separate relief valve opening inwards against a spring may
be employed.
Figure 3 shews a cask or other air-tight vessel whereto instead of
chemical means for generating gas a metallic chamber Y or coil of
piping Y¹ is fitted, into which chamber air or gas is compressed before
the immersion of the air-tight vessel to a degree proportionate to the
dimensions of the air-tight vessel and to the depth to which it is to be
immersed. This air or gas is liberated from the chamber Y at the proper
time by the opening of a valve Z by mechanism similar to that described
in reference to Figure 1 for liberating the chemicals, and the water is
expelled through the tube A by the pressure of such air in a similar
manner.
Figure 4 illustrates how flexible bags may be employed to receive the
gas generated from the chemicals as in Figure 1, or the compressed air
liberated from the chamber Y or Y¹, as in Figure 3 the flexible bag a is
shown inside a perforated case b, the said case being intended to support
the flexible bag and prevent its bursting. Y' is the compressed air
chamber connected to the flexible bag a, the liberation of the compressed
air being effected by the clockwork c, as described in reference to Figure
1. dis a relief valve to provent the production of too great a pressuro
in the bag, the liberated air inflates the flexible bag a, which in expand-
ing ejects the water through the perforations of the case b. It will be
obvious that instead of compressed air gas generated from chemicals, as
before described, may be employed to inflate the bag.
In Sheet 2 Figure 7 illustrates how the above described air-tight
vessels, with their contained apparatus, may be attached to a sunken
ship in order to raise her. A chain having been swept round or other-
wise passed under the ship and made fast, the casks or other air-tight
vessels are attached by divers to the said chain by ropes or chains
furnished by preference with spring hooks, similar to those shown in
Figure 8. These air-tight vessels may also in some cases be arranged in
the interior of the hull; in either case the buoyancy resulting from the
generation of the gas or liberation of the compressed air will raise the
ship.

page_text: It will be understood that the liberating mechanism of each cask may
be set or wound up, so that the buoyancy of all the casks shall act at
once or successively, as may be most convenient or suitable, and also
that instead of casks metal cases or pontoons may be employed. If
preferred, the mechanism for liberating the chemicals or the compressed
air may be acted upon from the exterior of the casks or pontoons
without the intervention of clockwork, so as to be under the direct
control of the diver or other operator.
In Sheet 1 Figures 5 & 6 illustrate my method of regulating the
immersion of pontoons employed to partially raise a ship or other floating
body. A, A, represent the pontoons which may be adapted with the
gas generating or compressed air apparatus before described, and are
connected together by ropes or chains B, B³, as shown. C, C, C, are
empty air-tight casks or buoys floating on the surface of the water,
cach of these buoys has a metal tube D passing through its centre, a
chain E fastened at one end to a winch F passes through the tube D,
and is fastened at its other end to the pontoon preferably through the
medium of a spring. This spring G is intended to prevent breakage of
the chain E should extra strain be thrown upon it from any accidental
These pontoons being filled with sufficient water to just sink
them are lowered sufficiently far in the water by means of the winches
and chains connected to the buoys C, C, C, to allow the ropes or chains
B to pass under the keel of the floating ship, so that cach pontoon
shall occupy a position on cither side of the ship and parallel to
the keel. The gas being then generated, or compressed air or gas
liberated in the pontoons as above described, the resulting buoyancy will
raise the ship as required.
cause.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to or may be performed, I would have it
understood that what I claim as my Invention is,―
First. The application and use of gas generated from chemicals or of
compressed air or gas to render buoyant air-tight cases or pontoons
employed in raising sunken vessels or other submerged or partially
submerged bodics substantially as described.
Second. The means and apparatus for generating and employing gas,
or compressed air, and for the expulsion of the water constructed and
applied substantially as described and illustrated.

page_text: Ind. The means of and apparatus for regulating the immersion of
pontoons or other air-tight vessels employed for partially raising floating
bodies, as described and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Sowerbutts, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of July, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three.
ALFRED SOWERBUTTS. (L.S.)