IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR FOR SHIPS OF WAR, FLOATING BATTERIES, AND FORTIFICATIONS."
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Chalmers, of No. 2, Bickerton Terrace,
Haverstock Hill, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR FOR
SHIPS OF WAR, FLOATING BATTERIES, AND FORTIFICATIONS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Chalmers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th July 1864.
I, JAMES CHALMERS, of No. 2, Bickerton Terrace, Haverstock Hill, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR
FOR SHIPS OF WAR, FLOATING BATTERIES, AND FORTIFICATIONS," to be as
follows:
This Invention consists in combining iron or steel plates with timber planks,
in the manner and for the purposes herein-after described. The plates and
planks are to be used in alternate layers, as in the compound backing for
armour plates described in the Specification of my Invention for "Improve-
ments in the Use, Combination, and Application of Iron and Timber as
Armour for Vessels of War and Fortifications," for which I obtained Her
Majesty's Letters Patent, No. 3105, dated the 19th November 1862, but
instead of using such combination of iron and timber for backing only, as

page_text: proposed in the said Specification, I propose now to use it for frames, decks,
and other purposes, and instead of building it up (when used for backing),
as described in the aforesaid Specification, this Invention proposes to construct
and use the combination of timber planks and plates of iron or steel as
follows: Several plates of iron or steel 12 in. wide, and from 1 to 1 inch in
thickness, shall be combined in alternate layers with planks of timber of the
same width, about 5 inches thick, till a depth of about 18 inches is obtained,
having iron or steel plates for the outside layers. In order to secure strength
and water-tightness the layers should be put together under pressure with an
adhesive substance between them, and the layers should be rivetted or bolted
together, so that the combined body of, say, four plates and three planks will
form a block or compound plank of 17 or 18 inches in width and 12 inches
thick, more or less. These blocks or compound planks of timber and iron
may be used for the frames or timbers of ships of war or floating batteries.
Each frame can, if required, alternate with one or more frames wholly of
timber. A plate of iron-inch thick, more or less, may be placed upon the
outside of the frames, so as to bear upon the edges of the several layers of iron
plates or planks which combine to make a frame. Outside of this intermediate
plate a layer of similar compound planks can be placed at right angles to the
frames, to serve both for an outer planking and a backing to the principal
armour plate. In being used as a backing, the edges of the several plates of
iron and planks of timber composing the compound plank or block should be
presented as a support to the armour plate. In attaching the compound
plank to the ship's side for a backing, it can be so placed as to accommodate
itself to the holes for the through bolts or other fastenings, and the space
between any two compound planks may be filled with a joining plank of
timber. The seams between the joining planks and the blocks can be calked
in the ordinary manner. The compound plank may in like manner be used
for the decks of vessels or the roofs of bomb-proof works, the edges of the
Jayers of iron in the several blocks being placed so as to receive the blow of
any falling projectile; and in order to prevent such projectile from penetrating
the timber, a covering plate of iron of suitable thickness may be placed upon
the upper side of the deck or roof. In fortifications generally, the compound
planks may be used as a backing to the armour plates in a manner similar
to that described above for ships of war. In shields for the embrasures of
batteries, they can be used first in horizontal layers, the ends of which can
be secured in the masonry; then an outer layer can be placed vertically
with a plate of iron between the horizontal and vertical layers, so that the
outer or vertical layer will form the backing for the principal armour plate.

page_text: The compound planking may be used for backing armour plates generally,
either in wooden or iron ships, and in stone or iron forts, with other
ments than those herein-before described.
arrange-
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Chalmers in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
CHALMERS, of No. 2, Bickerton Terrace, Haverstock Hill, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Chalmers, Her special licence that I, the said James
Chalmers, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Chalmers, 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
ARMOUR FOR SHIPS OF WAR, FLOATING BATTERIES, AND FORTIFICATIONS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Chalmers, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument 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 James Chalmers, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of ships
of war, floating batteries, and fortifications, and is described as follows:-
The chief feature of this Invention consists in combining iron and timber
together in alternate layers of, say, four plates of ½-inch iron, and three
planks of timber of 6 inches, more or less, in thickness, both plates and planks

page_text: together will form a compound block, beam, or plank, which can be used for
frames, deck beams, &c., for ships of war and floating batteries, for the
construction of land fortifications as shown in the Drawings; for roofing
casemates, &c., and as a backing to armour plates generally.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is an elevation and cross section of a compound plank or block,
consisting of four layers of iron plates a, and three layers of timber planks b,
which should be put together with an adhesive substance between them, such
as marine glue, india-rubber glue, or such other substance as may tend to
make the layers adhere, and prevent the deterioration likely to arise from the
contact of timber and iron in salt water; the layers can be further bound
together by the rivets c, or by bolts and nuts. Figure 2, elevation of part of a
ship's side. The upper part A, B, shows the disposition of the compound
planks a, b, c, as used for frames, which can have two or more frames of wood
between them, as at d, or one only as at e; B, C, shows the compound
backing for the armour plates crossing the frames at right angles; C, D,
shows a part of the ship's side with the armour plate attached; D, E, in
connection with the vertical section Fig. 8, represents the compound backing
below the water-line strengthened and covered with timber planking; Figure 3,
vertical section of Fig. 2, shows the compound backing above the water-line
covered by an armour plate. Below the water line, iron equal to the weight
of the armour plate may be added to the ribs a, so that the compound backing
a, b, being capable of resisting shot without an armour plate, can be covered
with the planking 9, which can be calked and coppered, and thus obviate the
fouling which is connected with an iron surface. The frame F may be of
timber only, as in this section, or a compound frame, such as a, b, c, in the
elevation Fig. 2, or it may be entirely of iron; in the latter case (if necessary
to neutralize any galvanic action or corrosion likely to injure the skin of the
ship under the water line) the compound backing can be attached to the
frames direct, without the intermediate plate d, Fig. 3. In order to bring
the compound backing blocks, such as h, i, so as not to interfere with the
through bolts k, the thickness of the joining plank 1 between the said
compound blocks may be increased or diminished as required. Figure 4 is a
sectional plan of Fig. 2. Figure 5 shows the compound planking applied to
land fortifications; this figure is a sectional plan, through port hole, of part
of a shield for the protection of the embrasures of casemated batteries. The
compound block A, A, placed horizontally, is shown secured to the stonework

page_text: B, B, at the recess C. When the blocks A, A, have been built up to the
required height, then the vertical blocks or compound backing D, D, are
placed at right angles, and when the two layers have been securely bolted
together the armour plate E, E, can be attached and secured by bolts passing
through both layers of compound beams or blocks. The inner layer of com-
pound planks may also be vertical, and the outer horizontal. Figure 6 is a
sectional plan showing the compound planking A, A, applied to the protection
of the stoneworks B, B, without reference to any particular method of fastening
the armour plate C, C. Both in Figures 5 and 6 the compound planking is
understood to be put together and secured with rivets, as shown in Fig. 1, or
with bolts and nuts.
I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the exact details
and dimensions of the foregoing description of my Invention, and the accom-
panying Drawings, nor do I limit the use of my compound planking to the
precise methods of construction and application herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Chalmers, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JAMES CHALMERS. (L.B.)