IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS OR VESSELS FOR INLAND AND OCEAN NAVIGATION.”
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Dickie, of King William Street, in the City of
London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS OR VESSELS FOR
INLAND AND OCEAN NAVIGATION.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Dickie at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th November 1881.
JAMES DICKIE, of King William Street, in the City of London.
IN SHIPS OR VESSELS FOR INLAND AND OCEAN NAVIGATION."
"
IMPROVEMENTS
This Invention relates to improvements in and connected with the hulls of ships
or vessels for inland and ocean navigation, and has for its object the attaining a
higher speed, combined with greater safety and steadiness, than has hitherto been
practicable with the ordinary constructions of ships.
As constructed and arranged according to my Invention, the ship instead of
ploughing its way through the water is caused to skim over or upon the surface,
thereby avoiding the chief cause of resistance in ordinary ships, namely, wave-
making. The resistance offered by the water is reduced to a minimum, and the
power uselessly expended upon wave making by vessels of the ordinary type is
wholly utilized in the increase of speed.
I make the bottom of my improved ship of oblong form in plan with parallel
sides, the four corners or angles being rounded more or less if desired. This bottom,
which is more or less flat in general contour, is composed of two or more successive
longitudinally disposed planes or curved surfaces of any suitable gradient rising
towards the fore part of the ship. These planes towards the fore part of the ship
are preferably made slightly concave or hollow in transverse section on the under
side, and curve upwards at the front or bows. The rear or lowest part of one plane
coincides about with the fore or highest part of the next succeeding plane throughout
the several planes in the length of the ship. At the junctions of the several
planes or curved surfaces air tubes or ducts are provided, by which communication
is established between the bottom of the ship and the atmosphere. The keel divides
the bottom longitudinally into two sections, and each section is provided with the
Price Cal

page_text: aforesaid air tubes or ducts, which may be further provided with self acting valves
for regulating the passage of air under the bottom of the ship, so that in case the
ship were at any time inclined to roll, the action of the planes on the water,
together with the action of the valves, would at once counteract this tendency, as
the fact of the valves on the higher side being closed and excluding the air from
underneath the bottom at that side, tends to produce a vacuum, and to draw the
water upwards and along with that side of the ship, thus rendering the ship self
righting. When at rest the improved ship will have but a very slight draught,
and from the construction of the bows curving downwards gradually into the front
plane or planes wave making is obviated, and facility is afforded for the rising of
the ship or vessel to the surface as it progresses. Air tight compartments or
bulkheads may be provided all round the exterior of the ship or vessel and the
bottom be made double, thereby ensuring greater safety in cases of collisions or
injuries to the bull; and in order that the stern may offer as little resistance as
possible by eddy making, these bulkheads may be made to merge gradually into
the form of a flat platform at the rear of the ship, with sides curving downwards
towards the water, the body of the ship rising from the surface of such platform at
the stern, and being, if desired, of a more or less pointed or bow-shape for the
convenience of backing. The improved ship or vessel may be impelled by screws,
paddles, or other suitable or well known arrangements, but the mode of propulsion
forms no part of my present Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Dickie in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th May
1882.
JAMES DICKIE, of King William Street, in the City of London.
IN SHIPS OR VESSELS FOR INLAND AND OCEAN NAVIGATION."
"IMPROVEMENTS
My said Invention relates to improvements in the general form and construction
of hulls of ships or vessels for inland and ocean navigation, applicable also to
torpedo boats, and has for its object the attaining a higher speed combined with
greater safety and steadiness than has hitherto been practicable with hulls of the
ordinary construction.
As constructed and arranged according to my Invention, the ship instead of
ploughing its way through the water is caused to skim over or upon the surface,
thereby avoiding the chief cause of resistance in ordinary ships, namely, wave-
making. The resistance offered by the water to the onward motion of the ship of
my improved form is reduced to a minimum, and the power uselessly expended
upon wave making by vessels of the ordinary type is utilised in increasing the
speed.

page_text: And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the several Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings is a side elevation of my improved form of hull;
Figure 2 is a plan of the same looking from above; Figure 3 is a plan of the
underside of the hull looking from below; Figure 4 is a longitudinal section taken
along the line 1-2 in Figures 2 and 3; Figure 5 is a transverse vertical section
taken along the line 3-4, in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4; Figure 6 is a similar section
taken along the line 5-6; and Figure 7 is a like section taken along the
line 7-8.
I make the bottom of my improved hull of oblong form in plan with parallel
sides A, A, the four corners or angles B, B, being rounded more or less if
desired, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. This bottom which is more or less flat in
general configuration is by preference divided longitudinally into two or more
parallel sections by the keel or keels C, each section being composed of a series of
two or more inclined planes D, D¹, D¹¹, the number of inclined planes in each
section or series depending upon the length of the ship, or upon the length
of the planes in the series (in my Drawings I have shown three inclined
planes). These inclined planes are disposed longitudinally one behind the
other, and may present to the water either a flat or a slightly convex curved
surface longitudinally of any suitable curve or gradient rising towards the
fore part of the ship. Towards the fore part of the ship they are preferably
made slightly concave or hollow in transverse section on the underside, as
shown more clearly at E, E, in Figures 3 and 5, and curve upwards
longitudinally, as shown at F in Figures 1 and 4, towards the front or bows.
The rear or lowest end of one inclined plane should coincide or nearly so with the
fore or highest end of the next succeeding inclined plane, and so on throughout
the several inclined planes in the length of the ship, and at the parts where the
highest and lowest ends of the several inclined planes D, or longitudinal curved
surfaces coincide or overlap one another more or less, air tubes or ducts G, G¹, are
provided, by which communication is established between the atmosphere and the
bottom of the ship, thus forming a vent at the front end of each plane for the
passage of air through the mouth or opening a, and thereby preventing any
tendency of the inclined surfaces to drag the water after them in their course.
Each series or section is provided with a separate set of the aforesaid air tubes or
ducts, as shown clearly in Figure 2, said ducts being expanded laterally at the
bottom (see Figure 2) so as to correspond to the size and shape of the apertures or
spaces a left between the coinciding or overlapping ends of the inclined planes.
The several air ducts may be provided if desired with self acting throttle, sliding,
or other regulating valves made to close on the higher side of the ship by the
action, for example, of a weighted pendulum lever for controlling the passage of
the air down through them under the ship's bottom, so that in case the ship whilst
under way were at any time inclined to roll, the greater pressure of the inclined
planes on the water at that side of the ship which is more deeply immersed,
together with the action of the valves on the higher side, would at once counteract
this tendency, as the fact of the valves on the higher side when rolling being
closed, and thereby excluding the air from underneath the bottom at that side
would tend to produce a vacuum, thereby dragging water along with the higher
side of the ship in the direction of its course until the ship has again become level
transversely, thus rendering it self-righting.
When at rest the improved ship will have but a very slight draught, and by
reason of the peculiar construction of the bows, which curve downwards at the
front, from or about the deck level, so as to merge gradually into the front plane
or planes D, wave making is obviated, and the ship or vessel is caused to rise to
the surface as it progresses a-head.
For the sake of greater safety the vessel is by preference constructed with an

page_text: inner or double bottom H (Figure 4), and is surrounded with water-tight com-
partments I, I; it has no bows in the ordinary sense, nor cut-water, but presents
a front equal in breadth to the beam (see Figure 2), such front being surrounded
at or about the deck-level by a protecting platform K, which may be again
"
"fenders round the
protected by the application of well known or other suitable
edge thereof.
In order that the stern may offer as little resistance as possible by eddy making,
the before mentioned water tight compartments or sides I of the vessel are made
to merge gradually into the form of a flat hollow watertight platform I' at the rear
end of the ship, with its upper surface curving downwards towards the water (see
Figures 4 and 7), the upper part of the ship rising from the surface of such platform
at the stern, and being if desired of a more or less pointed or bow shape (as shown
at L, in Figure 2) for the convenience of backing. The improved ship or vessel
may obviously be propelled by screws, paddles, or other suitable or well known
arrangements; but from the peculiar form of the hull it affords greater facility for
the employment of totally submerged screw propellers working in the dead water
underneath the bottom of the ship or vessel, as shown, by way of example only,
in dotted lines at M, M, in my Drawings. The mode of propulsion, however, forms
no part of my present Invention.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore
in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The general form and construction of hull for ships or vessels, torpedo
boats, and the like, provided with air ducts or passages communicating between the
atmosphere and the under surface of one or more series of longitudinally disposed
inclined planes constituting the bottom of the hull, substantially as and for the
purposes hereinbefore described and illustrated by my Drawings.
Secondly. The combination with the before mentioned air ducts or passages of
self acting valves or regulators, operating substantially in the manner and for the
purpose herein before described.'
In witness whereof, I, the said James Dickie, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
bundred and eighty two.