IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON SHIPS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Rae, of Blackwall, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Engineer and Shipbuilder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON SHIPS."
Sealed the 30th September 1858, and dated the 10th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Rae at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th April
1858.
I, JAMES RAE, of Blackwall, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer &
Shipbuilder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON SHIPS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of the keels,
stems, and stern posts of iron steam and sailing ships or vessels, and consists
in cutting a groove in a solid bar sufficiently deep to receive a keelson plate
the proper thickness, according to the dimensions of the ship to be built.
The said keelson plate to extend from stem to stern, and to run up the stem
and stern post to any height that may be found necessary, the keelson plate.to
be fitted tight into the groove in the keel, stem, or stern post, and then to be
firmly rivetted and caulked; thus uniting the solid keel with the keelson in the

page_text: most efficient manner without running any risk of leakage, to which a keel
composed of two or more plates is more or less subject, and as they have been
constructed heretofore. My plan also affords the means of connecting the ribs
or frames in a most efficient manner to the stem and stern posts.
A modification of the above consists in rolling or planing a rabbet or rabbets
to form a rib on the upper edge of the solid keel, stem and stern post, and
rivetting the keelson plate or plates to the same, which may be extended to any
height up the stem and stern post, this not only increases the strength of the
post, but affords the means of properly securing the frames, ribs, or timbers of
the ship.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Rae in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
RAE, of Blackwall, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer & Shipbuilder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Rae, Her special licence that I, the said James Rae,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Rae, 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 CONSTRUC
TION OF IRON SHIPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Rae, 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..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Rae, 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 state-
ment, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, & to
the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say): —
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of the keels, stems,
and stern posts of iron steam and sailing ships or vessels, and in the junction
of the keelson therewith. It consists in cutting a groove in the solid bar suf-
ficiently deep to receive a keelson plate the proper thickness, according to the'
dimensions of the ship to be built.
The said keelson plate to extend from stem to stern & to any height up the'
posts that may be found necessary; the keelson plate to be fitted tight into the
groove cut in the keel, stem, and stern posts, and then to be firmly rivetted and
caulked; thus uniting the solid keel, stem, and stern post with the keelson.
in a most efficient manner without running any risk of leakage, to which a
keel composed of two or more plates is more or less subject as constructed
heretofore. My plan also affords the means of connecting the ribs or frames
in a most efficient manner to the stem and stern post.
A modification of the above consists in rolling, planing, or otherwise forming
a rabbet or rabbets to produce a rib on the upper edge of the solid keel, stem,
and stern post, and rivetting the keelson plate or plates to the same; this may
be extended to any height up the stem and stern post, which not only increases
the strength of the post, but affords the means of properly securing the
frames, ribs, or timbers of the ship.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the stem and part of the keel and keelson of a
vessel constructed according to my Invention, which exhibits the method of
uniting the keelson c to the keel a and stem b, by inserting it in a groove cut
of such a size as to insure a tight fit; it enters to the depth shown by the
dotted line, and is securely rivetted therein; Fig. 2 represents a similar view
of keel a and stern post d, showing the keelson let into the groove, and united
as above stated. This Figure represents the stern of a screw steamer, but the
improvement may be applied to all iron ships. Fig. 3 is a midship section,
showing the keelson c let into the solid bar keel a; Figs. 4 & 5 represent a
plan and elevation of part of keel a, showing a method of scarfing and joining
the parts of the keel, stem, and stern post together; Fig. 6. is a cross section
of the keel a, showing the groove for receiving the keelson c.

page_text: In carrying out my Invention I plane out by a suitable planing machine
the groove in the solid bar keel, stem, and stern post, cutting it in the stem
and stern post before they are bent to their proper form.
The parts so
prepared are then formed and fitted together, either as represented in the
Drawing, or in any other suitable manner. The deep plate or keelson is then
adjusted in position, the rivet holes drilled through, and the whole securely
rivetted together, as will be readily understood by the Drawings.
The method of fitting the frames and other parts together will be readily
understood without further description. If it is preferred to form the keel of
a number of plates rivetted together, the keelson may be fitted thereto as
usual, & my Invention applied only to the stem and stern post in which the
grooves are cut or otherwise formed, and the keelson inserted and secured, as
before described, but which, when properly united to the keel, forms a perfect
junction of the keelson with the stem and stern post and keel.
The red lines in Fig. 3 show a form of rabbet instead of a groove to unite
the keelson, and the method of rivetting it thereto, which may also be extended
up the stem and stern post, instead of the groove mentioned for that purpose.
Fig. 7 is a section of a solid bar for a flush keel made of a T form, the
internal or vertical bar a of which is grooved so as to receive the deep keelson,
the flange e, e, on each side is sufficiently wide to allow of its being connected
to the garboard plates f.f. This presents the advantage of the solid bar keel
combined with the deep keelson, besides effecting a saving of twelve inches in
the draught of water, which is of much importance in large ships. This form
of keel may extend as far as the form of ship will admit, from which it runs
into the form of solid bar keel before described and represented, which extends
fore and aft, uniting it to the stem and stern post as before described, and
represented if Figs. 1, 2, & 3.
Fig. 8 is another form of flush solid bar keel, the only difference being that
the flanges are placed internally instead of externally, and rabbetted to receive
the garboard plates.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that I claim as my Invention, to be secured by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent,-
1st, the cutting or forming a groove in a solid bar keel, and inserting and
securing therein a deep plate or keelson, in the construction of iron ships, as
herein-before described.
I also claim forming the groove in the stem and stern post for the reception.
of and securing the keelson therein, as herein-before described.

page_text: 2ndly, I claim uniting the keelson to the keel, stem, and stern post by means
of a rabbet formed on the solid bar, and rivetting or otherwise securing the
keelson thereto.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Rae, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
WILLIAM CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane, London.
JAS. RAE. (L.S.)