AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR COATING SHIPS' BOTTOMS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Charles Page, of Millwall, Poplar, in the
County of Middlesex, Engine Driver, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
COMPOSITION FOR COATING SHIPS' BOTTOMS."
Sealed the 28th June 1864, and dated the 19th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Charles Page
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th February 1864.
I, WILLIAM CHARLES PAGE, of Millwall, Poplar, in the County of Middlesex,
Engine Driver, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR COATING SHIPS' BOTTOMS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to prepare a composition that will protect the
submerged surfaces of iron ships from fouling by the adherence thereto of
barnacles and other marine deposits. To this end I take naphthaline salts or
the solid residuum of coal tar, known also as fat of tar, and by the aid of heat
mix therewith rosin, oil, and animal fat, the proportions being, say, two parts
by weight of the naphthaline salts, one of the oil and one of the fat. At a
temperature of about 200° Fahr. these substances will run together, and
having been well mixed I add thereto white lead and flour of sulphur to give
it body.
This composition I propose to colour by adding thereto oxide of iron,
arsenical green, or other suitable colouring matter.

page_text: In applying the composition I bring it to a fluid state by heat, and by the
aid of a common tar brush I pay it over the surface exposed to the sea
water, repeating the application until a good covering of the composition is
secured.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Charles Page in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CHARLES PAGE, of Millwall, Poplar, in the County of Middlesex, Engine
Driver, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Charles Page, Her special license that I, the said William Charles
Page, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Charles Page, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "AN
IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR COATING SHIPS' BOTTOMS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Charles Page, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 William Charles Page, 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 (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to prepare a composition which when applied
to the submerged surfaces of iron ships, will prevent the adherence thereto of
barnacles and other marine deposits, which by their rapid accumulation on the
sides and bottom of such ships greatly deteriorate their sailing qualities, and
thereby necessitate the frequent docking and cleaning of iron ships.

page_text: To provide a composition which will adhere well to the metal and prevent
its fouling, I take naphthaline or the solid product of the distillation of coal
tar, known as the fat of tar, and by the aid of heat I effect an admixture
therewith of rosin oil and animal fat, the proportions being, say, two parts by
weight of the naphthaline or fat of tar, one part of the oil, and one of the
animal fat. At a temperature of about two hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and
with gentle stirring, these substances will run together, and having been well
mixed I add thereto white lead and flour of sulphur to give body to the
mixture in the proportion, say, of fifty-six pounds of white lead and twenty-
eight pounds of sulphur to one hundredweight of the fluid compound.
This composition I propose to colour by adding thereto oxide of iron,
arsenical green, or other suitable colouring matter.
In applying the composition to the sides and bottoms of iron ships, I bring
it to a fluid state by subjecting it to heat in an iron kettle, and by means of a
common tar brush I pay the composition over the surface which is intended
to be submerged or exposed to the sea water, repeating the application until a
good covering of the composition is secured.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An Improved
Composition for Covering Ships' Bottoms," and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent I claim, combining naphthaline or the solid
product of the distillation of coal tar with rosin oil and animal fat, or oil and
white lead and sulphur, and suitable coloring matter in the manner and for the
purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Charles Page, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.