Improvements in Boats and Ships.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Jan., 1894-Accepted, 24th Feb., 1894
Improvements in Boats and Ships.
I SAMUEL HUBBARD JAMES of 3 Douglas Villas Streatham Common London
England Civil 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 following statement :-
The object of this invention is to render boats ships or vessels sufficiently
indistinct so as to be practically invisible at a short distance at sea & I accomplish
this by encircling the boat or ship or vessel with reflectors or reflecting mirrors
fixing such mirrors in such positions and at such convenient angles that the mirrors
reflect either the image of the water or an image of the sky or horizon or partly
one & partly the other. As boats & ships vary in their build the position of the
mirrors must be arranged accordingly as also the most suitable angles of deflection
from the perpendicular (if any) whether sloping inwards or outwards.
In the accompanying drawing
Fig. 1 shews an arrangement for hinged or reversible mirrors suitable for
covering the deck sides and ends of boat or ship.
Fig. 2 is a side view of a vessel with a low freeboard shewing how the funnel of
a boat or ship may be dispensed with.
Fig. 3 is a similar view shewing how when a funnel & deck houses turrets &c.
are used the said funnel and high projections above deck can be made to resemble
the horizon sky.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a frame for a built up mirror.
Figs. 5 & 6 are elevations shewing how a mirror can be either built up or the
separate pieces fastened direct to the skin of the ship.
Fig. 7 is a section of one form of joint for mirrors.
Figs. 8. 9. 10. 11 & 12 are transverse sections shewing how my mirrors can be
applied.
*
Figs. 13 & 14 are sectional views showing how my mirrors can be applied to
bulwarks.
In all the drawings the letter R is intended to shew that the exterior surface is
covered with reflecting mirrors.
I first of all thoroughly waterproof the back of the silvered glass mirrors by
coating the same together with the edges of the glass with paint, enamel varnish,
marine glue, indiarubber or other suitable & effective cements solutions or substances
or combinations thereof not limiting myself to any one kind, I then affix at the
back thereof a doubling pad of soft material such as indiarubber or cloth so that
whether set in cement or not the glass may have a fair & level bearing at its back
& thus resist the impact of waves.
When the build of the boat or ship permits I fasten the mirrors so prepared
direct to the skin of the ship or boat, but otherwise I sheath the boat or ship with
wood or other suitable material to form a backing with the requisite angular
deflection or deflections.
Between the joints of the glass reflectors I insert a wedge shape padded bar or
bars which by being screwed or rivetted to the backing effectually clamps the
mirrors in position, sometimes I use flat bars covering the joints and screwed to the
backing, sometimes only padded washers screwed to the backing but I do not limit
myself to any one particular method of making fast or fixing the mirrors in place
as sometimes I bed them bodily in cement.

page_text: A section of wedge shaped bar is shewn in Figure 7 the double pad is shewn
at C the reflecting mirror by R & the backing or skin of boat or ship by S.
Obviously in some cases instead of fastening these glass mirrors direct to the
skin of the boat or ship I keep them ready fastened on to a backing of wood iron
or other material which large backing & built up mirror can be bodily fastened to
the side of the boat or ship, thus large areas can be built up consisting of small
pieces & kept ready.
Experiments show that joints of inch wide are lost to vision at about 300 yards
more or less.
Sometimes I use frames with divisions into which the mirrors fit as shewn in
Figure 4 and generally I use mirrors of a rectangular or hexagonal shape as shewn
in Figures 5 & 6.
I sometimes use moveable hinged shifting or reversible bulwarks so that I can at
pleasure raise & lower them these bulwarks are covered with mirrors externally
& sometimes internally also as can be seen by reference to Figures 13 & 14. I also
use a similar arrangement sometimes for the whole side of the boat or ship, having
alternating fixed & shifting or reversible mirrors, the reversible mirrors falling over &
covering up the fixed mirrors thus obtaining visibility or invisibility at pleasure as
shewn in Figures 1. & 14.
I do not limit myself to one method only for shifting or reversing the mirrors
as to a great extent special means must be adapted for the build of the boat or
ship & its special requirements.
Sometimes I dispense with bulwarks & if necessary careen the boat by moving
weights (or water ballast) as shewn in Figure 12 and obviously I can do the same
to raise or depress the bow or stern.
For small boats I usually dispense with the ordinary funnel & turn it so that the
heated gases escape at the stern on a level with the deck providing near the outlet
a self acting non return valve V shewn in Figure 2 which allows the products of
combustion to escape & prevents the entrance of water in the event of shipping a
sea. I generally use a forced draught & coke or other smokeless fuel.
For large vessels funnels as well as the deck houses & other parts of the vessel
or ship would be above the line drawn from the observers eye (on another ship) to
the horizon & therefore all parts of the boat or ship above such line of sight I
usually cover with mirrors sloping inboard so that they reflect the sky as shewn in
the upper parts of Figures 3 & 10. I sometimes allow a margin for the roll &
pitch of boats & ships varying from about 5 to 20 degrees from the perpendicular
more or less according to the class of boat or ship for average weather.
I do not confine myself to flat mirrors but where required use bent, convex, fluted
or corrugated ones, nor do I limit myself to using mirrors of silvered glass only
but include all kinds and obviously I leave suitable openings for the commanding
officer to see through as well as other necessary openings & ports required for the
working of the boat or ship.
The whole essence of this invention consists in so covering over all visible parts
of the boat or ship with reflectors or mirrors which by reflecting the water or sky
or partly one & partly the other hide the real boat or ship from view substituting
to vision reflected images of the water & sky & their surroundings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion & in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. The combination of a boat or ship and reflecting mirrors said reflecting
mirrors placed externally surrounding or partly surrounding said boat or ship
above water line substantially as described & for the purposes set forth.
2. The combination of a boat or ship and reflecting mirrors placed externally
at such angle or angles that said reflecting mirrors reflect the water in which the
boat or ship floats, to an observer outside, substantially as described & for the
purposes set forth.

page_text: 3. The combination of a boat or ship and reflecting mirrors said mirrors placed
externally to the boat or ship so that some of the said mirrors shall reflect the
sky, to an observer outside substantially as described & for the purposes set forth.
4. The combination of a boat or ship and reflecting mirrors said mirrors so
placed externally to the boat or ship so that said mirrors or soine of them shall
reflect to an outside observer the water in which the boat or ship floats & some
of the mirrors shall reflect the sky or horizon or partly one & partly the other
substantially as described & for the purposes set forth.
5. The combination of a boat or ship and shifting or reversible mirrors fitted
externally to the boat or ship or portions thereof substantially as described &
for the purposes set forth.
6. The combination of a boat or ship and mirrors said mirrors being so placed
that they hide the real boat or ship from view, substituting reflected images of the
water and (or) sky to the vision of an external observer at a comparatively short
distance substantially as described & for the purposes set forth.
Dated this 16th day of January One thousand eight hundred and ninety-four.