IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND PROPULSION OF FLOATING VESSELS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Joseph Mackie, of Kensington, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND PROPULSION OF FLOATING VESSELS."**
Sealed the 13th May 1870, and dated the 17th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Joseph Mackie
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th November 1869.
I, SAMUEL JOSEPH MACKIE, of Kensington, in the County of Middle-
5 sex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND PROPULSION OF FLOATING VESSELS,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing floating vessels with a frame or
skeleton consisting of a series of longitudinal main girders placed
parallel to each other, or nearly so, and forming two or more waterways
or channels or only one waterway or channel through the vessel and open

page_text: at the ends, and in applying by paddle wheels or otherwise within the
waterways or channels the driving or propelling power to be employed,
whether at two or more positions or at only one position with regard to
the length of the vessel.
Although the details admit of considerable variation one illustration
of the Invention will sufficiently explain the manner in which it is to be
performed.
The main frame of the vessel may consist of four longitudinal main
girders and two other side or external main girders, all extending from
end to end, excepting as limited by the form of stem and stern. These
girders being parallel will divide the beam or breadth into five longi-
tudinal compartments, the central and outside ones being intended for
cargo and other uses, and the two intermediate spaces or portions of them
forming the waterways. A covering of plates at the bottom and at the
ends (excepting over the ends of the waterways) forms the skin of the
vessel, and a deck or decks are intended to be placed at any convenient
heights, the whole constituting a composite box girder, within or upon
which any necessary transverse bracing or framing may be introduced,
provided the waterways are not obstructed, and cross girders may be also
applied above and below the waterways to give additional transverse
strength. Also double deck plates and double bottom plates with
intermediate spaces may be applied to give additional strength. The
height of the two external main girders may conveniently reach to the
main deck only or a little higher to form bulwarks, and the four central
main girders may conveniently protrude above the level of the main
deck and carry an upper deck or decks, and provide for "deck saloon"
or other chambers or cargo space.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Joseph Mackie in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
JOSEPH MACKIE, of Kensington, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
3
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the a

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie, Her
special licence that I, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel
Joseph Mackie, 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 CONSTRUCTION AND PROPULSION
OP FLOATING VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Samuel Joseph Mackie, 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 Samuel Joseph Mackie, 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 statement, that is to say :--
My Invention consists in constructing floating vessels with a frame
or skeleton formed of a series of longitudinal main girders placed
parallel with each other and constituting a composite box girder,
and forming also two or more waterways or channels through the
vessel and open at the ends, and within which channels may be applied
the driving wheels (or other propelling power) at two or more positions
with regard to the length of the vessel. The waterways may be of other
forms of section than square, namely, round, polygonal, triangular, oval,
and so forth, and their walls may be otherwise than perfectly parallel,
and only one waterway may be used in special cases, although its effect
will not be so good as far as speed is concerned as two or more; similarly
the driving power may be other than paddles, and may be also restricted
to one position and may be of uniform dimensions or of different dimen-
sions and structure. Slots or openings may be introduced into the
waterways or tubes, or two or more waterways or tubes may be entirely
open at the bottom, if desired, and the bottom of the vessel may bo

page_text: single or double and of ordinary or any other form, but double and flat
is preferred by me on account of the great strength, buoyancy, and
stability thus given to vessels of great length and beam. The
additional safety and strength of the vessel may also be assured by
transverse bulkheads across all the hulls or across the central hull only.
The hull may also advantageously be constructed entirely of plane
surfaces.
The details of my Invention admit for special purposes of considerable
variation, but the following description and annexed Drawings will serve
to illustrate the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carrying it
into effect.
These Drawings and description refer to a vessel designed for pas-
senger service across the English Channel, being in length four hundred
feet, ninety feet in beam, and six feet six inches draught of water, and
to be propelled by three pairs of paddles of the uniform diameter of
twenty-four feet, and working synchronously or separately at the will of
the engineer. The synchronous action of the paddles may be secured by
one or more coupling rods, or by the regulation of the admission of
steam to the cylinders, and the driving power may be central for all the
paddles, or distinct for each pair or for each paddle. The main frame of
the vessel consists of four or five longitudinal main girders A, and two
other side or external girders B forming the skin of the vessel; these
girders extend the full length of the vessel so far as the form of the bow
and stern will permit. These girders being parallel will divide the vessel
across the beam or breadth into five or six longitudinal compartments;
the one or two central compartments are here designed for the engines,
furnaces; boilers, and so forth, and cargo C, and the outside hulls D for
carrying cargo and for other uses, or they may be in some cases used
only for buoyancy. The two intermediate spaces E form the water-
ways. A covering of plates at the bottom and at the ends except over
the ends of the waterways completes the skin of the vessel, and a deck
or decks are intended to be placed at convenient heights so as to brace
the structure together, the whole forming a composite box girder
within and upon or under which any necessary transverse bracing
or framing may be introduced. Cross girders M may also be applied
above and below the waterways to give additional strength. The ends.
of the waterways may be protected by gratings, which may also be
made to act as moveable louvre boards to serve as steering gear, or the

page_text: steering may be effected by balanced rudders placed in the ends of the
waterways, or by shutters, which by closing should contract the area
of the exit of water, and which could if need be entirely close the
waterways, so that in case of need those waterways could be pumped
dry, so as to admit of the repairs of the paddles or of the ship, or help to
preserve the vessel in case of serious damage or leakage in any other
portion. Also double deck plates with intermediate spaces and double
bottom plates with intermediate spaces may be applied to strengthen the
connection of the waterways and outside hulls with the body of the
vessel, and in connection with the double bottom passages may be
arranged by which coals may be raked through into the compartment
containing the furnaces or the engines, or in connection with a double
skin to form a most effective system of ventilation for the main hold.
The height of the two external main girders may conveniently reach to
the main deck, or be brought above it as bulwarks. The four central
main girders are in the plan submitted brought up above the level of the
main deck, and braced together at top by an upper deck suitable as
a promenade, and covering in the interspace so as to form a saloon with
side cabins for passengers, a shed for cattle or light goods, or a covered
space for railway trains and other carriages. The proportions of the
vessel represented are designed for the utmost stability and lightness of
draught of water, and consequently there might be a need in applying
such a vessel to general ocean going and sea going purposes to have
slots or openings in the bottom of the waterways communicating with
the water beneath the vessel, and the use of these might be regulated
when necessary by covers, louvres, or sluices. The steering of the vessel
may be also effected by the reversal of the working of the paddles, or by
an ordinary rudder. If shutters are used for this purpose they may bo
made to descend vertically or diagonally and in water-tight grooves, or
otherwise, free, or to turn out from one or both sides, either laterally or
horizontally.
If it be desired to construct a vessel with only one waterway, its
position should be central with one or more main girders on each side,
and the engines could then be placed in the outside hull, as indeed
they may be in vessels designed on the typical plan, or in vessels of
ordinary ship shape, to which my system of tubular waterways is
applicable. The propelling power would then work in the central water-
way, either separately or in conjunction with outside paddles or other

page_text: propellers, either projective as in ordinary ships, or protected as in my
system.
:
What I claim then is, the novelty of the construction of a very strong,
very stable, and very fast vessel upon my composite box girder system,
the formation of a vessel in which the saloon forms an integral part of
the ship, and contributes largely to the general strength; the diminish-
ment of head resistance to the progress of the vessel by the introduction
of waterways on each side of the longitudinal axis of the vessel, whereby
the water divided by the bow has not to be driven outward on each sido
to the full distance of the midship section of the vessel, but one portion
passes at a proportionately short distance up the waterways, a second
portion directly through the waterways, and a third portion a similar
short distance along the outside hulls, the first and third portions being
done in the same interval of time, so that the direct head resistance of a
large body of water is avoided; the cutting the bow at an angle of
22 degrees, so as to get the effect of passing the water at all speeds
instead of driving against it, and thereby diminishing the wave driven
up by the speed of the vessel; the turning the water through the vessel
and out at the stern, into the best position for filling up the vacuum
caused at the stern by the advance of the vessel; the doing away with
outside paddle boxes, and the perfect protection of the propelling power;
a largely increased safety from accidents by being run into, by leakage,
by stranding, or by running into other vessels, and the capacity of using
more than one set of paddles or other propellers synchronously or sepa-
rately with maximum effect; the power of confining the water so as
to receive the full effect of the driving power, and the construction of
cheap, fast, and strong vessels entirely with plane surfaces, as well as of
ordinary ship or other forms.
And I also claim the improvement of ordinary vessels by my system
of composite box girder construction, and the introduction of waterways
for the propelling power, especially for canal navigation, for which my
system of propulsion is particularly valuable on account of the absence
of wash on the banks.
I also claim the construction of vessels of enormous beam by the sub-
division of the hull by more than two waterways, in the manner that the
head resistance to the progress of the vessel is diminished in like manner
by the subdivision of the water and its free passage through those

page_text: channels instead of being turned out to the full extent of the midship
section.
And I further claim for my system, the power of steering at very low
speeds, much lower than would suffice for ordinary vessels of the classes
now in general service. In sailing vessels constructed on my system
with waterways the floats of the paddles could by a simple mechanical
arrangement be set level or parallel with the bottom of the waterway or
with the deck, so that no resistance should be offered to the free pas-
sage of the water through the waterways when the motion of the vessel
was due to the sailing power only.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
SAMUEL J. MACKIE. (L.S.).