IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF PROTECTING AND PRESERVING THE HULLS AND BOTTOMS OF SHIPS AND VESSELS FROM FOULING AND CORROSION
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isham Baggs, of Cambridge Terrace, in the County
of Middlesex, Electrician, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MEANS OF PROTECTING AND PRESERVING THE HULLS AND BOTTOMS OF SHIPS
AND VESSELS FROM FOULING AND CORROSION."
Sealed the 15th March 1864, and dated the 18th September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isham Baggs at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th Sep-
.tember 1863. .
I, ISHAM BAGGS, of Cambridge Terrace, in the County of Middlesex,.
Electrician, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MEANS OF PROTECTING AND PRESERVING THE HULLS AND BOTTOMS
OF SHIPS AND VESSELS FROM FOULING AND CORROSION," to be as follows:
This Invention consists in preserving or protecting the hulls or bottoms
of ships from fouling or corrosion by means of electricity however applied.
I propose to employ a powerful battery in the vessel, and to connect one
pole of a powerful secondary coil in permanent communication with the hull
of the vessel, whether it be iron or copper sheathing. The other pole being
connected to a chain or other conductor or conductors passing around the
sides of the vessel or otherwise conveniently attached. By means of clock-
work actuating a commutator I cause contact to be made between the
chain and the hull and bottom of the vessel conveying periodical shocks
or discharges, causing the destruction and detachment of barnacles and other
shell fish or adhering matters.

page_text: In order to intensify the shock at various parts of the chain, I propose
to connect the same by insulating joints at different parts. These joints
may be gutta percha, india-rubber, or other insulating materials, whereby
the shocks will only be given successively at the metallic portions of the
chain by means of separate conductors acted upon by the commutator.
Under another arrangement I cause the chain to traverse or to be shifted
from place to place along the ship, so as to act upon the entire surface of
the bulls, distributing its shocks as it passes. The battery may be placed
in connection with an apparatus producing intermittent shocks as well under-
stood, but it is preferred to use a powerful coil. I preserve the hull from
decay or decomposition by means of another battery, the negative pole of
which is placed in permanent contact with the hull of the ship, the chain
or other conductors being attached to the positive pole.
I also employ when copper sheating is used, -zinc in. the form of bolts
or nails attached thereto or otherwise in conjunction with the coil above
described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Isham Baggs in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
March 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISITAM
BAGGS, of Cambridge Terrace, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing. date the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Isham Baggs, Her special licence that I, the said Isham Baggs, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Isham
Baggs, 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 MEANS OF PRO-
TECTING AND PRESERVING THE HULLS AND BOTTOMS OF SHIPS AND VESSELS FROM FOULING
AND CORROSION," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Isham
Baggs, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-

page_text: tain 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 Isham Baggs, 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 state-.
ment:-
My Invention consists in preserving or protecting the hulls or bottoms
of ships from fouling and corrosion by means of electricity however obtained.
and applied.
For the purpose of preventing the hull or bottom of a ship or vessel
from fouling by the adhesion of barnacles, shell fish, seaweed, and other
substances, I employ by preference, the secondary current arising from an.
intensity coil.
b
I place in any convenient part of the ship a. powerful battery Lung in
gymbals, the two poles of which battery are connected at such times as
are needed with the two extremities of the primary coil. One end of the
secondary coil is placed in permanent connection with the hull or bottom
of the vessel to be protected. The other end of the secondary coil is
placed in permanent or periodical contact with a conductor or conductors.
properly disposed with regard to the hull of the ship so as to distribute
continuously, or from time to time as may be desired, the shocks from the
coil or battery over the surface of such hull, and any other parts adjacent
thereto, which may require protection (such as the feed pipes of the boilers,
of steam ships, &c.)
I prefer to employ the system of periodical shocks as being sufficient för.
the purpose, and saving a vast amount of battery power, which would. other-
wise be wasted. It is also preferable to concentrate the electric discharges.
upon different portions of the bull in succession, so that the effect may be.
more powerful upon every part of the hull by being. in every case less
diffused.
This may be effected in manner following:-Suppose a vessel to draw.
eighteen feet of water, then if five horizontal chains or better still small wires.
be fixed at distances of three feet apart from end to end of the ship, and.
opposed throughout their entire length to the surface of the hull on both
sides of such ship, it is clear that if they are insulated the one from the
other the area of the hull to be acted upon will be practically divided into
five or ten segments, according as the wires are severally continuous round

page_text: the ship, or are divided into two lengths, each corresponding to the sides.;
It is also clear that if each such entire circle be further subdivided into
six equal lengths, every one of which is insulated from the others, we
shall have a total of thirty distinct and different insulated conductors, the
power of any one of which, when separately acted upon, will be concen-
trated upon the opposed portion of the ship's hull, which portion is equal
in area to one-third the length of the ship (whatever that may be) mul-.
tiplied by 3 feet of vertical surface.
It is not here intended to say that the electric discharges will be confined
to the area above named, but only that they will be more concentrated over
such area than over the portions of the hull which are more distant from the:
conducting or discharging wire. It is better in the use of such wires, &c.,
not to have them bare throughout, but covered with india-rubber, gutta
percha, or other insulating medium, and bared to the surface of the. sea
water only at certain short intervals.
In order to bring these several wires successively in contact with the battery
or secondary coil, I employ a commutator moved either by hand or clockwork
or other convenient mover. This can be set in motion as often as.
required.
The principle and construction of the commutator is known to every
practical electrician, and need not therefore be described here.
Under another arrangement I cause the chains or a conducting rod or
wire to traverse or to be shifted from place to place along the ship so as
to act upon the entire surface of the hull of a vessel, distributing its shocks
as it passes. The battery may be placed in connection with an apparatus
producing intermittent shocks, as is well understood, but it is preferred to use
a powerful coil.
By means of the continuous or periodical shocks distributed over the hull of:
the vessel by the means above described and referred to, I cause the destruction
and detachment of barnacles and other shell fish together with seaweed and
other adhering.matters.
I preserve the hull of any vessel from decay or corrosion by means of
another battery also hung in gymbals in some convenient part of the ship.
The negative pole of this battery is placed in permanent contact with the
hull of the ship, the chain or other conductor or conductors hanging out-
side the hull in the sea water, and being attached to the positive pole of
such battery.
I also employ when copper sheathing or Muntz's metal is used, zinc in the
form of bolts, nails, or otherwise, attached to or in any way connected with.
:

page_text: such sheathing in conjunction with the coil or other electrical apparatus
above described or referred to.
I annex a Drawing of an elevation of the hull of a vessel in order to shew
the arrangement of the wires.
a, a, represent the five lines of horizontal wire, and b, b, the breaks therein,
whereby the shocks are distributed and intensified upon the several parts of the
hull in succession.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I would remark that I do not limit
myself to the exact detail I have expressed, as the modus operandi may obviously
be modified without departing from its principles, but what I claim and desire to
be secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters Patent, are, the improved
means of protecting and preserving the hulls and bottoms of ships and vessels
from fouling and corrosion by the application of electricity, substantially as
herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ishman Baggs, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
L. J. WETHERELL,
Clerk to Messrs. Prince & Co.,
Agents for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
ISHAM BAGGS. (LS.)