THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOATING STATIONS OR DOCKS FOR FLOATING FIEL ENGINES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Maw, of No. 37, Bedford Street,
Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOATING STATIONS OR DOCKS FOR FLOATING
FIEL ENGINES."
Sealed the 23rd August 1872, and dated the 12th April 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Maw at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 12th April 1872.
I, WILLIAM HENRY MAW, of No. 37, Bedford Street, Strand, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "THE CONSTRUCTION OF FLOATING STATIONS OR Docks
FOR FLOATING FIRE ENGINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention is designed to afford shelter and protection to floating
fire engines, and to enable floating firo engine vessels of comparatively
small dimensions to he employed to greater advantage than has hitherto
been the case.

page_text: For this purpose according to this Invention the floating fire engine
when not at work is kept in readiness under cover within a suitable
floating station or dock, which is permanently moored in the required
situation, and may be placed in telegraphic communication with the
shore and other fire stations of the district in which the floating station!
is situated.
The floating station or dock is composed of one or more floating hulls
or bodies constructed with fircmen's quarters, coal and other stores, and
apparatus for containing supplies of water, heated or otherwise, in
readiness for feeding the boiler or boilers of the floating fire engine.
The hull of the floating station or dock may be built of somewhat
similar form in plan to the hulls of some kinds of dredging machines, the
hull being split or made with two parallel lateral parts for a portion of
its length, so as to leave a space or gap between these parts suitable
for the reception of the floating fire engine. This space or gap is 1
covered over by means of a roof supported by pillars or other suitable
structures carried by the hull or body of the floating station, this roof
being in some cases constructed so as to form an upper or look-out deck.
Or the hull or body instead of being split or divided at one end only
as above described may be formed with two or more spaces or gaps
suitably roofed or covered for the reception of floating fire engines as
described.
In constructing the floating station with two or more hulls or bodies
built with firemen's quarters, coal and other stores, and apparatus for
containing supplies of water as described, I connect such hulls or bodies
together below the water level by cross girders as well as by a roof
overhead, the hulls being placed sufficiently far apart to accomodate
the floating fire engine or engines between them. The cross girders
must be sufficiently immersed to clear the keel or keels of the float or
floats under all circumstances, unless it be desired that the floating fire:
engine or engines should be capable of leaving the dock at one end
only, in which case some of the girders may be placed at a higher
level.
In the cases of some harbours where vessels lying at moorings are
liable to have their bottoms rapidly coated or fouled by marine vegeta-
tion or otherwise injured by constant immersion, the floating fire engine
station or dock may be constructed to keep the floating fire engine
out of the water, for which purpose the hull or body or hulls or bodies

page_text: of the floating station or dock may be built in compartments divided
from each other by suitable water-tight partitions, some of these com-
partments being capable of having water admitted into them. These
compartments must be of such size that when filled with water they
will cause the draught of the floating station or dock to be increased
by an amount exceeding the draught of the floating fire engine, and the
cross girders connecting the two sides of the floating station or dock
at the bottom must be formed with cradles capable of supporting the
float without injury, and must be so placed that when the hull of the
station or dock is thus deeply immersed there shall be just sufficient
water over them to allow of the floating firo engine entering the station
or dock. When the floating fire engine is in position the water is to be
removed from within the hull or body or hulls or bodies of the station
or dock, which may be done by connecting a suitable suction hose to
the pumps of the fire engine, or special pumps or ejectors may be
employed for this purpose, and the station or dock will then rise in the
water carrying up the float with it, the latter being supported on the cross
girders. On the fire engine being required it can of course be at once
floated by admitting water to the compartments already mentioned, and
thus sinking the station to the extent necessary to give the requisite
depth of water over the cradles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Henry Maw in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 12th October 1872.
•
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY MAW, of No. 37, Bedford Street, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send grecting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Henry Maw, Her special license

page_text: that I, the said William Henry Maw, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Henry Maw, 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 "THE
CONSTRUCTION OF FLOATING STATIONS OR DOCKS FOR FLOATING FIRE ENGINES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Henry
Maw, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Maw, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, and the Drawings therein
referred to:-
This Invention is designed to afford shelter & protection to floating
fire engines, and to enable floating fire engine vessels of comparatively
small dimensions to be employed to greater advantage than has hitherto
been the case.
For this purpose according to this Invention the floating fire engine
when not at work is kept in readiness under cover within a suitable
floating station or dock which is permanently moored in the required
situation, and may be placed in telegraphic communication with the
shore and other fire stations of the district in which the floating station
is situated.
The floating station or dock is composed of one or more floating hulls
or bodies constructed with firemen's quarters, coal and other stores, and
apparatus for containing supplies of water, heated or otherwise, in
readiness for feeding the boiler or boilers of the floating fire engine.
The hull of the floating station or dock may be built of somewhat
similar form in plan to the hulls of some kinds of dredging machines,
the hull being split or made with two parallel lateral parts for a portion

page_text: of its length so as to leave a space or gap between these parts suitable
for the reception of the floating fire engine. This space or gap is covered
over by means of a roof supported by pillars or other suitable structures
carried by the hull or body of the floating station, this roof being in
some cases constructed so as to form an upper or look out deck. Or
the hull or body instead of being split or divided at one end only, as
above described, may be formed with two or more spaces or gaps suitably
roofed or covered for the reception of floating fire engines, as described.
'
In constructing the floating station with two or more hulls or bodies
built with firemen's quarters, coal, and other stores, and apparatus for
containing supplics of water, as described, I connect such, hulls or bodies
together below the water level by cross girders as well as by a roof.
overhead, the hulls, being placed sufficiently far apart to accommodate
the floating fire engine or engines between them.
The cross girders must be sufficiently immersed to. qlear the keel or
keels of the float or 'floats under all circumstances unless it be desired
that the floating fire engine or engines should be capable of leaving the
dock at one end only, in which case some of the girders may be placed
at a higher level.
"
In the cases of sonio harbours where vessels lying at moorings are
liable to have their, bottoms rapidly coated or fouled by marine vegeta-
tion or otherwise injured by constant immersion, the floating fire cugine
station or dock may be constructed to keep the floating fire engine out
of the water, for which purpose the hull or body or hulls or bodies of
the floating station or dock may be built in compartments divided from
each other by suitable water-tight partitions, some of these compartments
boing capable of having water admitted into them. Theso compart-
ments must be of such size that when filled with water they will cause
the draught of the floating station or dock, to be increased by an amount
exceeding the draught of the floating fire engine, and the cross girders
connecting the two sides of the floating station or dock at the bottom
may be formed with cradles capable of supporting the float without
injury, and must be so placed that when the hull of the station or dock
is thus deeply immersed there shall be sufficient water over them to
allow of the floating fire engine entering the station or dock.
In some cases parts of the floating fire engine station may be advan.
|tageously occupied by river police.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1. is a cross section in the line A, B, of Figs. 2 and 3 of a floating
fire engine station or dock; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the
same in the line C, D, of Figs. 1 and 3, showing the position occupied
by the floating fire engine when in dock; Fig. 3 is a plan section in
the line E, F, of Figs. 1 and 2,
a',
The hull is constructed of wrought iron and is of split shape, being
made for a portion of its length with two parallel lateral parts a,
which are connected together below the water level by a cross girder b,
a space or gape being left between them for the reception of the floating
fire engine d. This space or gap is covered over by means of a roof e
supported by the structures forming the living apartments, stores, and
offices carried by the hull or body a, a', of the station, as shown.
The heating apparatus consists of a tank g enclosing a fire-place or
furnace ', from which fire-tubes pass upwards to the chimney g³.
This heating apparatus is supplied with water by means of a hand
pump g, which draws its supply from the river or from a fresh water
tank contained below it in the hull of the station. The hot water tank
of the heating apparatus is placed at such a level that the hot water
may be run direct from it through suitable hose attached to the nozzle g
into the boiler of the steam float.
Fig. 4 is a cross section in the lino G, H, of Figs. 7 and 8 of a double
floating fire engine station; Fig. 5 is an end clevation thereof; Fig. 6
is a cross section in the line J, K, of Figs. 7 and 8; Fig. 7 is a central
longitudinal vertical section of the station; and Fig. 8 is a plan section
on the line L, M, of Fig. 7.
The hull or body a is formed with two spaces or gaps c for the
reception of floating fire engines d, the said gaps being covered by the
roof e supported by the structures forming the living apartments, stores,
and offices, as explained with reference to the single station herein-before
described.
In this case the roof is constructed with a covered upper deck or look
outh, accessible from the lower deck i by means of the spiral staircase j,
as shewn.
The heating apparatus consists of a tank 7 placed upon a cooking
galley g', whose fluc on its way to the chimney passes up through the
tank so as to heat the water contained in the latter, which water may be

page_text: run directly through suitable hose into the boilers of the steam floats.
The general construction and arrangement of this double floating station
or dock will be readily understood from the Drawings.
Fig. 9 is a transverse section of a floating fire engine station having
two hulls or bodies a built with firemen's quarters, coal and other
stores, and apparatus for containing supplies of water, as described,
such hulls or bodies being connected together below the water level by
cross girders as well as by a roof e overhead. The hulls are placed
sufficiently far apart to accommodate the floating fire engine or engines
between them, and are connected together at one end by means of a
drawbridge, as shown,
. Fig. 10 is a cross section in the line N, O, of Figs. 11 and 12 of a
floating fire engine station constructed to keep the floating fire engino
out of the water when not in uso; Fig. 11 is a contral longitudinal
vertical section of the same; and Fig. 12 is a plan section in the line
P, Q, of Fig. 11,
The hulls or bôdios are built in compartments a³, a*, divided from
cach other by watertight partitions a³, the compartments a being capablo
of having water admitted into them, as shewn in Fig. 10, through an
ordinary Kingston or other suitable valve, so that when filled or nearly
so with water they will cause the draught of the floating station or dock
to be increased by an amount exceeding the draught of the floating firo
enginė.
The hulls or bodies are connected together below the water level by
means of cross girders b, some of which are formed with cradles
capable of supporting the float & without injury, and so placod that
when the hull of the station or dock is thus deeply immersed there
will be sufficient water over them to allow of the floating fire engino
entering the station or dock, as shewn in Fig. 10.
.
When the floating fire ongine is in position the water is to be removed
from within the hulls or bodios of the station or dock, which may be
done by leading suitable suction hose from the pumps of the floating
fire engine to the suction pipes m, m³, which lead to the water compart-
ments a', or special pumps or ejectors may be employed for the purposo
of emptying the said compartments, and the station or dock will then
rise in the water carrying up the float with it, the latter being supported
on the cradles of the cross girders. On the fire engine being required

page_text: it can be at once floated by admitting water to the compartments aª,
and thus sinking the station to the extent necessary to give the requisite
depth of water over the cradles. The two hulls are connected together at
one end by a drawbridge k, as shewn. Although in the several arrange-
ments illustrated by the Drawings I have shewn the hulls constructed
of iron they may obviously be built of wood or of iron and wood in
combination,
If desirable the above described floating fire engine stations may at
their open ends be provided with revolving shutters for the purpose of
affording more complete shelter from the weather.
The use of large floating fire engines such as havo hitherto been
employed on the river Thames is attended with many well-known
practical disadvantages. In the first place these vessels are unhandy
on a river more or less crowded with shipping, and from their size it is
frequently and indeed generally impossible to bring them close to a
river side fire, and hence the hose has to be conveyed from them in a
boat. Moreover, the vessels being sufficiently large to afford living
accommodation for their crews, together with stowage for stores, &c.,
large engine power is required to propel them, and their speed is very
moderate.
Now by means of the floating fire engine stations or docks according
to my Invention the following advantages are obtained :-
--
1. They enable a small and handy class of floating fire engines to he
used in the most effectual manner by placing them at all times under
the immediate attendance of their crews.
2. They afford complete protection for the floating fire engines, both
from the effects of the weather and from chance of damage from passing
vessels.
3. By being placed in telegraphic communication with the land
stations they enable the floats to be brought into action without the
delay attendant upon the present system of transmitting a "call" to
the floats now in use.
And 4. They afford botter accommodation for tho men than can be
given in the present large floats, while they also afford ample stowage
for coals and stores.
Having described the nature of my said Invention for "The Con-
struction of Floating Stations or Docks for Floating Fire Engines,"