Improvements relating to the Construction, Stowing, and Launching of Ships' Boats.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Construction, Stowing, and Launching
of Ships' Boats.
I, DANIEL GEORGE MARTENS, of Christiania, Norway, at present residing at
7, Montague Street, Russell Square, in the County of London, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the construction, stowing and launching of ship's
boats whereby they can be rapidly and easily launched bows on at either side
of the vessel as desired or at the stern or bows of the vessel.
The boats are carried on a moveable beam arranged either athwartships or
fore and aft according to whether the boats are in the middle or at the stern
or at the bows of the vessel, so that the boats are launched from the moveable
beam bows on over the sides, stern or bows of the vessel, the boats used being
decked in for this purpose.
The moveable beam rests on rollers on a fixed central bearing and is provided
with grooved friction rollers to receive the keel of the boat, and is pivotted
at each end to slotted bearings in the upper ends of swinging stanchions whose
lower ends are pivotted to some fixed part of the framing of the vessel. The boat
is secured to the moveable beam by means of a screw operated by a hand wheel
inside the boat, said screw passing through the keel of the boat and engaging
a nut block pivotted to the fixed central bearing of the moveable beam. On
one or on both sides of the moveable beam is a spring or springs connected to
collars or projections fixed on the moveable beam equi-distant from the central
transverse line thereof so that the power of the spring or springs is equally
distributed between the two collars or projections and normally keeps the move-
able beam central on the fixed bearing. Each end of the spring or springs
is fitted with a trigger bolt, and when said trigger bolts at one end are released,
the tension of the springs is then thrown on the opposite collar and moves the
moveable beam over the rollers on the fixed central bearing towards the released
end. As the beam moves longitudinally to one end, the pivot at the other end
leaves its slotted bearing in the swinging stanchion and the forward end of the
beam slopes downward, providing an inclined way along which the bolt will be
launched head foremost into the water as soon as the screw therein is unscrewed
from the pivotted nut block aforementioned.
The boat is preferably provided with an external side ledge or beading which
is supported at about the centre on fixed guides having curved upper extremities
serving to keep the boat upright while launching. These curved ways have an
angle therein to prevent a partially released boat from travelling back to its
original position by the rolling of the ship.
The advance of the moving beam is stopped by spring pistons or the like carried
by the beam and bearing against the fixed central bearing, the beam end

page_text: resting on the taff rail or other part of the vessel, and partially extending over
the ships side, stern or bows.
The boats being decked in are provided with suitable means for propelling same
preferably by pedal mechanism operating a propeller. The boats are also pro-
vided with a hatchway having a collapsable water tight hood, through which
a look out can be kept and from which the steering is preferably effected.
Dated thi。 20th dow of
1000
WWALL 1121JM DI MILLION.
Improvements relating to the Construction, Stowing, and Launching
of Ships' Boats.
I, DANIEL GEORGE MARTENS, of Christiania, Norway, at present residing at
12, Montague Place, Russell Square, in the County of London, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement:-
This invention relates to the construction, stowing and launching of ships'
boats whereby they can be rapidly and easily launched bows-on" at either side
66
of the vessel as desired, or at the stern or bows of the vessel.
Each boat is carried on a moveable beam arranged either athwartships or
fore and aft, according to whether the boat is in the middle or at the stern or at
the bows of the vessel, so that each boat is launched from its moveable beam
bows-on over the sides, stern or bows of the vessel, the boats used being
decked in for this purpose.
"
In the accompanying drawings Fig. I is a transverse section of a ship on an
even keel from which one boat has been launched and another is partly launched;
Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a boat being launched while the ship is at a
list of about 20°; Fig. 3 is an enlarged side clevation of the boat fitted on the
moveable beam and secured to a central bearing: Fig. 4 is a vertical section
taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan diagram of the
mechanism for releasing the beam from the ship; Fig. 6 is a detail view showing
a cross section of the moveable beam and the rollers mounted therein on which
the keel of the boat is supported: Fig. 7 is a part transverse and part longitu-
dinal section, and Fig. 8 is a plan of the mechanism for releasing the boat from
the moveable beam. The same letters of reference where they occur are used to
denote the same or corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.
A is a moveable beam which is made in two longitudinal parts and a (see
Figures 4 to 8) and rests on rollers B on a central bearing C rigidly secured to
some fixed part of the ship preferably to the uppermost or top deck (see Figures 1
to 5). In between the two parts a and a' of the moveable beam A are mounted
grooved friction rollers 1 to receive the keel E of the boat F (as shown in Fig. 6).
The beam A is held from tilting downwards by means of two pivots a², a³,
one at each end of the beam A (see Fig. 3), which pivots rest in slots g in the
upper ends of two levers or swinging staunchions G whose lower ends are pivoted
to some fixed part of the framing of the vessel H preferably the top deck (see
Figs. 1 and 2). The boat F is secured to the moveable beam A by means of a
screw J (see Figs. 3 and 4) operated by a hand wheel K inside the boat F,

page_text: said screw J passing through the keel E of the boat to be launched and engaging
a nut block L on the ship (Figs 3, 4 and 8). This nut block L is pivotted at
to the fixed central bearing Con which the moveable beam is supported.
Every moveable beam is fitted with a spring M on each side as shown in Fig. 5.
As all these springs M are alike in construction and in mode of operation, a
description of one and its connections will suffice for all. To each end of the
spring M is connected a short bar m in which is mounted an anti-friction roller m².
The bar m is also provided with a slot or keeper for the reception of a
trigger bolt O which passes through two side bearings (10 fast to the deck or other
fixed part of the ship. A chain or other flexible connection O¹. which passes
over suitable guide pulleys 02 from the bridge 03 or other convenient part of
the vessel, is bifurcated at 07; one end of the bifurcated chain 01 is connected to
the trigger bolt O at one end of the spring, and the other end of chain O¹ is con-
nected to another trigger bolt 05 which latter keeps the end of the beam chain 06
in position which beam chain passes over the roller m¹ in the bar m at the other
end of the same spring M. The end of the beam chain 06 terminates in an eye 08
through which the trigger bolt 05 passes and from which it is withdrawn by a
pull on the chain 01. The trigger bolt 0 is held in proper position by two
side bearings 09 secured to the deck or other fixed part. The chain 06 passes
round a fixed pulley O on the deck and is connected to a collar N fast on the
beam A. A similar chain and device is employed for operating the other collar N
on the opposite side of the central transverse line of the beam A. By this arrange-
ment the spring M is kept in tension by the trigger bolts O being in their respective
slots or keepers at each end, which is the position shown in Figure 5, so that the
tension of the spring M is equally distributed between the two collars or projec-
tions N and normally keeps the moveable beam central on the bearings C. It
will therefore be seen that by a pull on one of the chains 01, for example, that
on the starboard side of the ship, the starboard trigger bolt will be released
or drawn from its slot or keeper in the bar m, thus freeing the starboard end of
the spring M and at the same time the trigger bolt 0 at the port side, keeping the
end of the port beam chain 06, will be also released or withdrawn. The starboard
beam chain 06 will then be free to act permitting the moveable beam A to
move to the port side over the rollers B on the fixed central bearing C.
The beam A is prevented from moving by reason of the keel E being locked
by the screw J to the block L, pivotted on the fixed central bearing C; when the
trigger bolts 0 and 05 and screw J are released or withdrawn from their keepers
the beam A will move longitudinally to one end, the pivot a² or a³ at the other
end leaves its slotted bearing g in the swinging staunchion G and the forward end
of the beam A will slope downward providing an inclined way along which the
boat will be launched head foremost into the water. When the beam strikes
the taffrail the spring chains 06 are automatically released in any well known
manner from the beam which then drops into the water.
To prevent the boat F from leaving the moveable beam A before the latter
has moved sufficiently in the longitudinal direction, trigger bolts W (see Figs. 7
and 8) are provided on each side. Each trigger bolt W is pivoted on the
beam A so as to engage in a hole in the keel of the boat, as shown in Fig. 7. This
trigger bolt W is normally held in the locked position shown in Fig. 7 by
means of a spring arm Y pivoted on the beam A and by its spring Z normally
held on the upper face of the horizontal part of the trigger bolt W. This spring
arm Y is pivoted on or to the inner side of one of the parts a or a¹ of the beam
and bridges the space between said parts, the free end of said arm partly over-
lapping the other of the two parts a and a¹ of the beam. The arm Y is turned
back to the dotted position shown in Fig. 8 against the power of the spring Z,
when the beam has moved forward sufficiently to bring the arm Y thereon
against the fixed central bearing C. Being too large to pass through said bear-
ing C, the arm Y is turned back whereupon the arm of the trigger bolt W is
free and the said trigger bolt W turns in the direction of travel of the beam A

page_text: and the boat F passes over said trigger bolt W and thus disengages itself from the
beam. This spring arm and trigger bolt mechanism is duplicated on each side
of the central transverse line of the boat, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, to allow the
boat to be launched either side, the inoperative or forward (relatively to the direc-
tion of travel in launching) trigger W offering no opposition to the boat being
disengaged therefrom. The moveable beam A has in each end of the lower
part a slot P permitting it if pressed at the other end by the weight of the
boat F to slip off over the central rollers B over which it rolls out and thereby
is entirely disengaged from the ship H and falls into the water.
The boat is preferably provided with an external side ledge or fender Q which
is supported at about the centre on fixed guides R secured to the ship H and
having curved upper extremities serving to keep the boat upright while
launching (see Figs. 1 and 2). These curved ways r r¹ have an angle therein
to prevent a partially released boat from travelling back to its original position
by the rolling of the ship. The ledge or fender Q is fitted with a horizontal
friction roller S in each side, which engages in grooves 3 in the curved ways r r¹.
When these friction rollers S are unpinned and the screw J released, the boat will
launch itself by the heeling of the ship.
The moveable beam A rolls on the central rollers B and passes over the taffrail
or other part of the vessel, and over the ships' side, stern or bows.
The boats being decked in are provided with suitable means for propelling
same preferably by pedal mechanism operating a propeller. The boats are also
provided with a hatchway T having a water tight hatch U, through which a
Took-out can be kept and from which the steering is preferably effected.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
(1) For stowing and launching ships' boats, a moveable beam having grooved
friction rollers to support the keel of the boat and mounted centrally between
curved ways, fixed to the ship, for supporting the boat by a ledge or fender on
its sides, and means for displacing said beam longitudinally between said curved
ways, substantially as described.
(2) For stowing and launching ships' boats a moveable beam having grooved
anti-friction rollers to support the keel of the boat and mounted centrally
between curved ways, fixed to the ship, for supporting the boat by a ledge or
fender on its sides, a bearing secured to the ship carrying anti-friction rollers
on which the said moveable beam is supported, and means for displacing said
beam longitudinally between said curved ways, substantially as described. •
(3) For stowing and launching ships' boats, a moveable beam having grooved
anti-friction rollers to support the keel of the boat and mounted centrally between
curved ways fixed to the ship, for supporting the boat by a ledge or fender on its
sides, a bearing secured to the ship, carrying anti-friction rollers on which
the said moveable beam is supported, and collars on said beam connected to
spring mechanism for moving the beam longitudinally between said curved
ways, substantially as described.
(4) For stowing and launching ships' boats, a moveable beam having grooved
anti-friction rollers to support the keel of the boat and mounted centrally
between curved ways, fixed to the ship, for supporting the boat by a ledge or
fender on its sides, a bearing secured to the ship carrying anti-friction rollers on
which the said moveable beam is supported, collars on said beam connected to
spring mechanism for moving the beam longitudinally between said curved
ways, and trigger mechanism for releasing said springs substantially as described.
(5) In a boat stowed on a launching moveable beam, a screw passing through
the keel and engaging a nut block on the moveable beam, and means located inside
the boat for disengaging the screw from the nut block, substantially as described.
(6) In a boat stowed on a launching moveable beam, a screw passing through

page_text: the keel and engaging a nut block on the moveable beam, means located inside
the boat for disengaging the screw from the nut block, and spring trigger bolts
pivoted on the moveable beam and engaging in the keel of the boat, and dis-
engaged by the passage of the beam through the fixed bearings on which it is
supported, substantially as described.
101
1000
F. W. GOLBY,
Patent Agent, 36, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agent for the Applicant.