CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS AND ADDITIONS TO STEAM PACKETS AND OTHER VESSELS, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER NAVAL AND MARINE PURPOSES
Year: 1822

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
GORDON, of the City and County of Edinburgh, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of
January, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, in the second year
of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said David Gordon, my exors,
adiñiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said David Gordon, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS AND ADDITIONS TO STEAM
PACKETS AND OTHER VESSELS, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO
OTHER NAVAL AND MARINE PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso that if I, the said David Gordon, shall not particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
scal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages what-
soever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and
by the same (relation being thereunto had) will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
David Gordon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention (of

page_text: Certain Improvements and Additions to Steam Packets and other Vessels, part
of which Improvements are applicable to other Naval and Marine Purposes,)
is particularly described and ascertained in and by the annexed Sheet of
Drawings or Plans, and in the following description thereof, that is to say :-
Figure 1 represents an horizontal plan of the deck of a steam boat or steam
packet adapted to sea or river navigation, constructed according to my
improvements, and Figure 2 a longitudinal section of the same. A represents
the paddle wheel, which may be constructed in the usual' manner of ordinary
steam boats, but. the-paddle-wheel-is--applied-to-the-vessel- in a manner
essentially different from what has been done hitherto; that is to say, the
paddle wheels or, wheel is enclosed in a case in such manner that the sides or
edges of the paddles of the wheel have only just liberty to move freely between
the sides of the said case. The wheel is inclosed by the case in front (or
towards the bow of the vessel), leaving only an aperture at a for the water to
arrive at the paddles of the wheel; and I recommend that this aperture be
entirely below the level of the water line: The space directly under the
paddle wheel at b, b, is also closed by a boarding or otherwise, at such distance
as exactly to clear the circumference of the paddle wheel, at the same time
that the hindermost part of the paddle wheel (or towards the stern of the
vessel) is left as open and free from obstruction as possible, as will be clearly
seen by the section, Figure 2. By this arrangement and manner of enclosing
the paddle wheels the water cannot escape laterally from the action of the
paddles, neither can it escape downwards, but is obliged to enter at the
aperture a, and be fairly driven out behind the paddle wheel, where it will
meet with no material obstruction; by which means the greatest possible effect
is produced by the paddle wheels to propel the vessel forwards through the
water; at the same time the paddle wheels would always be protected from
being injured by the violence of the waves, and would be less impeded by back
water. The motion may be given or communicated to the paddle wheels in
any way that may be thought adviseable; and as it forms no part of my
Invention, and is well understood by persons conversant with such works, I
shall not enter into any description of it.
.
Figure represents an horizontal plan of a steam boat or steam packet
adapted more particularly to inland navigations or canals. Figure 4 shews a
longitudinal elevation of the same. In these two Figures the paddle wheels
are entended to be inclosed in cases, in the manner described for Figures'l and
2, leaving only the aperture at a for the water to enter and arrive at the
paddle wheels (beneath the surface of the water in which the vessel floats); at
the same time the hindermost part of the paddle wheels is made as free from

page_text: obstruction as possible to allow the water to quit the paddles without opposition.
In Figures 3 and 4 the paddle wheels A, A, are situated at the stern of the
vessel, which is formed to a projecting angle, as represented in the plan,
Figure 3, in order to carry the rudder for steering the vessel.
Figures 5 and 6 represent two views of a steam boat or packet, being also
particularly adapted to inland navigation. In these Figures only one paddle
wheel is supposed to be employed, that wheel being situated at the stern of the
vessel; in the middle of its breadth, and enclosed in a case, as before mentioned,
leaving an aperture in front for the water to enter to the paddles, as shewn by
the longitudinal section, Fig. 6, at a, and closed up under the wheel, as at
b, b, being entirely open behind for the water to escape freely. This vessel is
intended to have a channel or course made through its whole length along the
bottom, being open on the under side (like an inverted trough), until it comes
to the part where the paddle wheel case commences, and there the channel is
closed up under the paddle wheel so as nearly to touch the circumference of
the paddles in their revolution. This vessel is intended to be steered by two
rudders, placed one on each side of the paddle wheel, and connected together
by jointed rods, so as to be moved by one lever or tiller.
I do not make claim to the invention of placing paddle wheels at the
stern of the vessel, or to the employment of a longitudinal channel through
the vessel to conduct the water to the paddle wheels; but I confine my claim
to the enclosing of the paddle wheels in cases where the water is only
suffered to enter through an aperture in front, and with the case or boarding
extending underneath the paddle wheels as near as may be not to impede their
motion, at the same time that the hindermost part of the paddle wheel case is left
quite open to allow the back water to escape freely, as herein-before described
and set forth. The aperture below the level of the water line for admitting
the water to the paddle wheel I should recommend to be furnished with a
sluice or shutter to admit of regulating the aperture according to the velocity
of the wheel or to the roughness of the water in which the vessel is navigated.
I should also recommend the aperture where the water enters to be guarded
or protected by bars of metal placed edgeways so as to form an upright grating
against the said aperture to prevent any floating substances from driving
against the paddle wheels, but not so as to impede the free entrance of the
water to the paddle wheels, as herein-before mentioned. The paddle wheels,
enclosed according to my improvements, may be placed in any convenient
part of the vessel, and put in motion by any adequate power applied to them.
The second of my improvements is applicable to sailing vessels, as well as to
steam packets, being for the purpose of keeping a vessel. perpendicular in the

page_text: water (or upon an even keel, as it is termed by seamen). It consists in
employing a vessel or tank, or a number of vessels or tanks, to be suspended
over the weather side of the ship, at a considerable distance from the side.
The said vessels or tanks I propose should be suspended in such manner as to
be capable of being lowered down into the sea, and thereby filled with water,
and then drawn up so as to operate by their weight to counteract the effect of
the wind upon the vessel, and keep her always upon an even reel (or nearly
so), which is of very great importance, particularly in vessels or packets to be
propelled by steam, in order that the paddle wheels may act equally in the
water on both sides of the vessel. The vessels or tanks above mentioned may
be made of wrought iron plate, or of tarred canvas distended by a hoop or
hoops, or any other suitable material, and be furnished with a guy rope at
bottom, for the purpose of turning out the water to empty the vessels or tanks:
When the use of the weights become no longer necessary, they may be sus-
pended from the ends of booms or davits over the ship's side, or from turning
jibs similar to a crane, so as to be capable of being turned in close against the
side of the ship when not in use. One set of the above-mentioned vessels
or tanks would serve for both sides of the ship, as they seldom could be
required on both sides at one time. By means of these vessels or tanks the
ship might not only be kept nearly on an even keel, but also be easily
trimmed, and carry additional ballast at the very time it might be wanted,
without being incumbered with it constantly.
The third of my improvements, which is applicable to steam packets and
other vessels, is as follows:-I propose to surround the ship or vessel, at about
the height of the gunwale, with a chevaux de frise or line of railing, which is
to be very thickly set with pikes (like a hedgehog's back); and to prevent any
accident from objects falling upon the sharp points, iron rods and an iron
netting might be placed round the chevaux de frise. This chevaux de frise
or assemblage of pikes might be made in a number of separate pieces, so as to
be bolted or otherwise fixed on the outside of the ship when it went to sea.
By this means no serious injury would be done by large waves coming on
board a vessel, or the ship would not be in danger of being pooped, although
no dead lights were employed, at the same time it would be a sufficient pro-
tection to cabin windows, for it is only when water is kept in a compact body
that it is so very powerful; the instant that its particles are separated and
intermixed with air, which is a compressible substance, its great power is
destroyed.
The principle here mentioned may be applied to an immense variety of
ñaval improvements. I do not confine myself to any particular mode of

page_text: affixing or enclosing the chevaux de frise or assemblage of pikes, but intend
to claim generally the use of a chevaux de frise, or other similarly constituted
fence, applied to vessels for the purpose of separating the particles of water, and
thereby protecting the whole or any part of a ship from the violence of the waves.
It is this third part of my improvements which I consider applicable to other
naval and marine purposes, and with that intention I propose that a triangular
or other shaped frame of wood, and which in some cases may be constructed
with the spars of a ship, shall be fitted with a chevaux de frise, or system of
pikes very thickly set upon the frame, presenting a surface (like a hedgehog's
back), as above mentioned, and that the frame thus prepared shall be made
use of to float upon the surface of the water, in order to protect a ship when
at anchor, when lying to, or even when scudding through a very heavy sea.
In the two first instances I recommend that the floating fence should be
anchored at a sufficient distance from the bow of a ship, and in the third
instance by being towed by a cable at a sufficient distance from the stern to
prevent any accident from the waves throwing it against the ship. I also
propose to adapt and affix a similar chevaux de frise to a floating breakwater;
and in this way I am convinced that a safe harbour might be made in any
place where the sea was not too deep, and where the breakwater could be
anchored securely.
I do not hereby claim the Invention of floating breakwaters, but only the
application of the chevaux de frise or system of pikes (arranged as aforesaid)
to floating breakwaters.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Gordon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two