A TwoNG IN SonnW PROPELLED SHIPS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Nelson Hutchinson, of Plymouth, in the
County of Devon, Major-General in Her Majesty's Army, for the
Invention of 66. Ax Tyme Conn RED SHIDS"
County of Devon, Major-General in Her Majesty's Army, for the
Invention of ". A TwoNG IN SonnW PROPELLED SHIPS."
Sealed the 7th November 1862, and dated the 12th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Nelson Hutchinson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th May 1862.
I, WILLIAM NELSON HUTCHINSON; of-Plymouth, in the County of Devon,
Major-General in Her Majesty's Army, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SCREW-PROPELLED SHIPS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in filling up-the well or space left between the frame
or body post and stern post in ships propelled by a screw, when the screw is
raised; by causing beams of wood or other suitable material to slide: down
horizontally in succession from the deck until the aperture is filled. The
beams are guided in their descent and are formed to join or fit on or into each
other; and are retained in their position by tongue and groove or other suit-
able joints..

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Nelson Hutchinson, Her special licence, that I, the said William
Nelson Hutchinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Nelson Hutchinson, 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
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN SCREW-PROPELLED SHIPS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Nelson Hutchinson, my executors or ad-
ministrators, 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 William Nelson Hutchinson, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in filling up the well or space left between the frame
or body post and stern post in ships propelled by a screw, when the screw is
raised, by causing beams of wood, plates of metal, or other suitable material,
to slide down horizontally in succession from the deck until the aperture is
filled..
Screw steamers lose a great portion of their efficiency as sailing vessels from
the free passage of water through that open space, especially is that loss appa-
rent when "on a wind," but at all times it increases the difficulty of steering
screw ships under sail, particularly ships of great length. I fill up that space
in a manner which is nearly as applicable to vessels already built as to those
designed for the employment of my Invention, which is applicable to vessels
of all sizes, from the smallest screw yacht to a three-decker. No alteration is
made in the structure of the ship, and when the screw trunk is angularly
shaped the accommodation in the cabin is only altered by the loss of the four
angular spaces usually turned into cupboards. In ships with circular trunks,

page_text: as in the Warrior, the parts corresponding to such angles might be made
angular. Thus the horizontal section of the screw trunk would nearly become
a parallelogram. The beams or plates are guided in their descent, and are
formed to join or fit on or into each other, and are retained in their position
by the guide bars and tongue and groove or other suitable joints.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of the stern of
a ship with my improvement for closing the well applied to it; Figure 2 is a
vertical section of nearly one half of the same ship taken through the line a, a,
of Figure 1. a, a, are the beams or plates, a detached view of the inside
of one of which is given in plan at Figure 3; and-in end view (without the
hinges) at Figure 4; b, b, are guide bars extending from the upper deck to the
keel and following the curve caused by the screw bracket, as seen in Figure 2.
There are similar guide bars attached to the body post, and care must be
taken that the curves of the bars correspond and that the bars are all at an
equal distance apart. The beams or plates a, a, have angle picces c, c, united
to them at each end forming recesses d, d, which slide over the guide bars b, b,
and thus guide the plates down the screw well, one above the other, until the
well is enclosed on both the starboard and port sides. Instead, however, of
having the plates detached from one another, I prefer to joint them together,
and for that purpose unite them by hinges e, e, in such manner that they form
a continuous frame capable of being bent, and of following with facility the
curve of the guide bars b, b.. The hinges tend to support and strengthen the
plates, but they may, if desired, be further secured from the action of the sea
by cross bars, or: bars may extend from end to end of the plates, passing
through brackets in their course. Were a further support for the plates
considered advisable it could casily be given to the upper plates (which are
these most exposed to be struck by a sea) by a bar run horizontally through a
hule pierced close to the side of the body post, which bar, passing through
brackets fixed to the beam, would enter a corresponding hole made close to
the stern post.. If the end of this bar were in the form of a ferrule, which
could be left in the hole by unscrewing the bar before it is withdrawn,..there
would be no leakage,. especially if an india-rubber washer was used. I
prefer to make the lower plates narrower than the upper, as shewn in Figure ;.
for the lower have to slide over sharper curves than the upper. In raising the
plates, to avoid straining the hinges, chains are used. (as indicated by dotted.
lines) hooked on to the lowest plate, in which case they are all simultaneously
raised and successively reach the deck, where they are stowed away in any:
convenient position; or sometimes the lowest plate is only. raised to a little
above the load, line, when they are allowed to hang at the sides of the screws

page_text: well. When the plates are binged together the upper half of the plates
may be detached from the other half and be stowed away, as shown at
Figures 2, 5, and 6, 'in wbicli case they lie in nearly two vertical planes. The
plates, when stowed, should. not be brought up close. under the upper deck,
sufficient spaces must be left, as shewn at Figure 2; for the yoke of the rudder
to work in when carried hard to port or starboard. When the plates are
made sufficiently strong to resist the blow of a heavy:sea they may be stowed
away with advantage by being made to slide along guide bars so adjusted that
the plates would cover transversely the bottom of the screw trunk above the
screw when the screw was lowered. In ships with circular trunks, should
there be an objection to altering the trunk, a narrow rectangular opening
(running fore and aft) could be cut in.the.deck. close.to the circular trunk,
through which the beams could be slid down outside of the trunk. The part,
however, of the trunk which is below the lowest deck must be made somewhat
rectangular, for the plates would have to glide down within that part of the
trunk. Over the aperture a slight casing would be made running: upwards
(in many ships) to the poop. Within it would lie the stanchions, to which
the guiding bars would be attached. A water-tight lid immediately below the
open space left for the joke of the rudder would prevent air or spray from
rushing up.. In small vessels 1-would only employ one set of plates, in which
case they would be lowered midships into grooves cut into the screw brackets
and into the posts below them. All the plates are formed with notches f,f.
as shown in Figure 1, in order that any number, or a single plate, may be
removed when desired, and in the following manner: The two or three
uppermost plates are made so that they may be removed from the others and
have a clutch fitted to the lowest of the three, as shewn at Figure 7. These
plates thus fitted are guided down to the other plates until the clutch is forced
by its spring g in the notches f.f. in the plate required to be raised, and it
is drawn up with the others above by the chain or chains by which they were
lowered. Chains for this purpose are shown in dotted lines attached to the
top plate. It is to prevent canting that two or more of the top plates are
used as a messenger instead of one plate. Instead, of a clutch a cleaning 'hand
would occasionally be fitted to the side of the messenger plates. Weeds,
shells, and other matters which will become attached to the guide bars ought
to be removed from time to time when the beams are raised. The cleaning
hand of steel. (of the same form as the guidé bar) being pressed' up and down,
would cut away all such obstructions. When, however, the beams or plates
are in use they. should be raised and lowered daily, say, even to the extent of
a few inches, when no weeds would grow on any part of the apparatus to an

page_text: injurious extent. The dotted lines show the screw raised out of the water,
and the full lines show the plates lowered, the screw never being down at the
same time as the plates, & vice versa. In large ships the weight of the plates
may be one and a half ton for each side. They in part act as a counterpoise to
that of the screw as both are never out of the water at the same time. Some-
times, in small vessels, I connect the plates together from top to bottom, and
fix the screen so formed to a roller on each side of the well; I raise and
lower the screens by winding them off and on the rollers, much after the
manner of iron shutters. If required, the plates may be strengthened by
metal cross bars placed edgewise. In some cases I employ flattened hollow
non-water-tight tubes instead of plates; the tubes present some advantages,
when the additional thickness is of no consequence. They are hung together
by rings, and are raised or lowered by a flexible wire or other rope threaded
through them at both extremities.
I do not confine myself to the form of the guide bars shewn in the Drawings.
Sometimes I add a beading or projection to the inside faces of the grooves of
the beams or plates so as to fit a corresponding aperture in the guide bar, and
then the weight of the plates (if made of metal) may be diminished. The
column of water lying between the two sets of beams or plates greatly adds to
the stability of both sets, as the column of water cannot instantly be dis-
placed no beams can be pressed inwards by the force of the sea without, in a
measure, the corresponding beams or plates on the other side being pressed
outwards.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim, closing or filling
up the aperture, well, or space left open by the raising of the screw in screw-
propelled ships by means of beams or plates held together and free to slide in
guiding bars, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness, whereof, I, the said William Nelson Hutchinson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of November One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two.
W. N. HUTCHINSON, (L.S.)
Major-General.