IMPROVEMENTS IN ATTACKING COPPER OR OTHER SHEATHING TO IRON VESSELS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic Pelham Warren, of East Court, Cosham,
in the County of Hants, Commander in the Royal Navy, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ATTACKING COPPER OR OTHER SHEATHING TO IRON
VESSELS."
Sealed the 13th November 1863, and dated the 21st May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic Pelham Warren
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st May 1863.
I, FREDERIC PELHAM WARREN, of East Court, Cosham, in the County of
Hants, Commander in the Royal Navy, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ATTACHING COPPER OR OTHER SHEATHING TO
IRON VESSELS," to be as follows:-
For the purpose referred to, I firstly cover the parts of the vessel to be
sheathed with a coating of fibrous material attached or caused to adhere to
the vessel by means of the glue known as "patent waterproof glue," forming
the subject of Letters Patent, Number 186, of 1858, and Number 513, of
1861, granted to William John Hay, or by other suitable adhesive composition.

page_text: The coating of fibrous material referred to will be farther secured to the vessel
by a band of wood or other suitable material passing around its upper edge,
and secured to the vessel by screws. One side of the Muntz's metal or other
sheathing employed is in like manner to be covered with a coating of fibrous
material attached or caused to adhere to it by means of the "patent water-
proof glue" or other composition, as aforesaid. The surface of fibrous materia!
attached to the sheathing is then to be united by the glue or composition
(either by the application of heat externally to the sheathing or otherwise, by
an additional application of the "patent waterproof glue" or other adhesive
composition) to the material previously attached to the vessel, and the copper
or other sheathing is to be farther secured by split pins or rivets of copper
passing through it, and formed with curved or angular points, so that on being
passed through the sheathing and material attached thereto, and driven home,
they shall on coming into contact with the inner layer of fibrous material be
opened out or clenched so as firmly to secure the sheathing and its coating
of fibrous material and the coating of fibrous material attached to the vessel
to each other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederic Pelham Warren in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th November 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERIC
PELHAM WARREN, of East Court, Cosham, in the County of Hants, Commander
in the Royal Navy, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Iler reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Frederic Pelham Warren, Her special licence, that I, the said
Frederic Pelham Warren, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Frederic Pelham Warren, 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, exerciso, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ATTACHING COPPER OR OTHER SHEATHING TO IRON
VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederic

page_text: Pelham Warren, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Frederic Pelham Warren, do bereby
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:-
For the purpose referred to, I firstly cover the parts of the vessel to be
sheathed with a coating of fibrous or other non-conducting material, in order
to insulate the iron of the vessel, or which may be attached thereto or con-
nected therewith, from the metal or composition of metals constituting the
sheathing, as long practised in Her Majesty's Dockyard at Portsmouth in
coppering iron-fastened vessels. In order to attach this coating of fibrous or
other non-conducting material, I prefer, firstly, to roughen the surface of the
iron either by milling or otherwise, so as to increase the holding effect of the
adhesive material or composition employed for holding or attaching the non-
conducting material to the vessel, and which may consist either of pitch or any
other suitable substance or composition; the one I at present consider inost
suitable and best adapted to the purpose being that known as Hay's patent
waterproof glue. A second coating of fibrous or other non-conducting material
may then, if required, be similarly attached by adhesive material to the
sheathing plates intended to be applied to the vessel, the inner surfaces of such
plates having been first roughened by milling or otherwise to increase the
adhesion of the non-conducting material to them. In proceeding to apply the
plates of sheathing, beginning at the upper row thereof, I drill the plates
intended to be joined together near to their edges with corresponding rows of
boles, and successively attach them to each other upon the coating of non-
conducting material attached to the vessel by means of the split or bent nail
or rivet herein-after described, they (the plates of sheathing) being succes-
sively attached to the coating referred to by means of any suitable adhesive
substance. The form of the nails or rivets I employ is such as to cause them
on being passed through the holes drilled or punched around the edges of the
plates and driven home, to become (on coming in contact with the non-
conducting material attached to the vessel) turned out or clenched so as to
hold the plates firmly together. According to this plan of attaching a coating
of non-conducting material to the sheathing plates previous to their application

page_text: to the vessel, as well as to the vessel itself, the clenching of the rivets will
take place between the two coatings, and the prong or prongs of the clench
I will be embedded between them. I find, however, that in practice it is
sufficient to attach a strong coating of non-conducting material to the vessel
itself, and then to attach the roughened sheathing plates successively by means
of a suitable adhesive material to its outer surface, uniting them to each other
by means of the bent nails or rivets passed through the corresponding rows of
holes drilled near to their edges and driven home, so as to clench against the
non-conducting material attached to the vessel. The upper edges of the non-
conducting material, together with the corresponding parts of the sheathing
plates are farther secured to the vessel by a band of wood or other suitable
material, as herein-after described.
The manner in which I carry my Invention into effect will be clearly under-
stood on reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, Fig. 1 of which
represents a section of part of a vessel's side having my Invention applied
thereto. In this case the upper edge of the non-conducting material a, in
addition to being attached to the vessel by an adhesive substance, as described,
is secured and pressed against it by means of a band of galvanized iron or
other suitable material b. This band, like the side of the vessel itself, is
covered with a coating of felt, fearnought, or other non-conducting material a³,
and is held to or pressed against the non-conducting material attached to the
vessel's side by screws b' tapped into the iron plating, coating, or side c of the
vessel, and having heads countersunk into the band. Before tightening the
band b up to the vessel one edge of the upper row of sheathing plates d is to
be interposed, as shewn, between the non-conducting material covering the
band and that which is attached to the side of the vessel. The band is then
to be screwed tightly up, thus pressing and holding the edges or borders of the
sheathing plates, as in a vice, between the two surfaces of non-conducting
material. The sheathing is then to be turned or bent over the top of the
band, and secured to the non-conducting material by which the band is covered
with any suitable adhesive material or composition. The part of the sheathing
where bent over is protected by a cleat or band e, of wood or other suitable
material, as shewn. For attaching or securing the various plates of which the
sheathing is composed to each other, I make use of a rivet or nail formed of
copper (or other suitable casily bending material or composition not liable to
act galvanically in connection with the sheathing), and having one or more
points so formed or curved as when driven against a resisting substance, such
as the non-conducting material before referred to, to become hooked or bent
out of or beyond the line of the body of such nail or rivet. The form of rivet

page_text: or nail which I prefer to employ for this purpose is represented at Fig. 2 of
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings. In this case the body or shank of the
rivet or nail under the head is slit up or divided into two suitably curved
parts, the extreme distance between the points of which is such as to allow of
their passing freely through a hole drilled to receive the shank of the rivet.
The sheathing plates, either before or after being applied to the vessel, are
drilled near to their edges, as represented in the Drawing (Fig. 3), with
corresponding rows of holes suited to receive the shanks of the rivets. The
rivets are then inserted through the corresponding holes in the two plates to
be joined and driven home, their points coming into contact with the coating
of non-conducting material and cement or adhesive composition, and being
thus at once turned or spread out so as to take the form represented at n,
Figs. 7, 8, and 9, and thus to form a clench at the back of the sheathing
plates, so as to attach them securely to each other without breaking or
injuring the surface of the non-conducting material or in any way lessening the
perfection of the insulation between the sheathing and the iron of the vessel or
the iron plating or coating attached thereto.
Fig. 4 represents a modification of the form of rivet previously described.
In this case the rivet is formed with four points instead of two, as explained
with reference to Fig. 2, otherwise the rivet or nail may be formed as at
Fig. 5, so as to clench with only one point, but I prefer those forms of nail or
rivet in which more than one point is made to spread outward and clench
against the sheathing, as described. In some cases, also, it may be found
desirable to insert the rivets from the inner and to clench them on the outer
side of the sheathing. The mode of securing the sheets of sheathing to each
other by rivets, as described, may on emergency be used by a diver under
water.
Fig. 6 represents a section of part of a vessel's side as before, shewing a
modification of the method previously described for securing the upper part of
the non-conducting material and the sheathing to the vessel. In this case I
make use of a narrow band or belt d', of copper or other sheathing metal or
composition (which I prefer should be of greater thickness than the ordinary
sheathing plates), and which I secure to the vessel by means of copper or
other screws f(not liable to act galvanically with the sheathing), tapped into
screws g, formed of wood or other suitable non-conducting material, screwed,
as shewn, into the armour plating or side of the vessel. In joining the several
plates forming the belt or band above referred to, I prefer to reduce each
plate to a certain distance from its edge to a thickness of about one-half that
of the body of the plate, and to bring these reduced edges together, as shewn

page_text: at Fig. 7, so that the part at which they are joined may not be thicker than
the body of the plate.
In the arrangement shewn at Fig. 8 a strong rib h is formed upon or
attached to the upper edges of the top row of sheathing plates. These plates
are laid upon and caused to adhere to a coating of felt, fearnought, or other
non-conducting material attached to the vessel, as previously described, and
are secured by a belt or band of galvanized iron i, formed with a groove or
channel to receive the rib h, and lined with non-conducting material, so as to
prevent contact between the sheathing and the band. The band is secured to
the vessel or armour plate or coating, and caused to press the sheathing
between the two coatings of non-conducting material by screws tapped into
the vessel or armour plating, and passing through holes formed in the sheathing,
and which holes are of sufficient size to prevent chance of contact between
the sheathing and the screws.
Fig. 9 represents a method of forming the rib by rolling up the edges
of the upper row of plates of sheathing until the required thickness is
attained.
Fig. 10 represents an arrangement in which the upper edges of the non-
conducting material a and sheathing are secured by means of a band or belt k,
formed of wood, which by means of screws tapped into the side or armour
plating of the vessel, is made to press and hold them against a fillet or backing
piece, of wood or other non-conducting material m, as shewn.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same may be performed, I would remark that
I do not lay any claim to novelty in respect of the method herein-before
described of insulating the sheathing and the iron of the vessel, or the iron
which is attached to the vessel, from each other by means of a non-conducting
material placed between the iron and the sheathing, such method having been
long in use at Her Majesty's dockyard at Portsmouth, for the purpose of
insulating the sheathing from the iron in iron-fastened ships; but what 1
claim as my Invention is,―
Firstly, giving additional security to the attachment of the non-conducting
material to the iron or iron plating or coating of the vessel, by roughening the
surface of such iron coating or plating; as also in like manuer giving
additional security to the attachment between the non-conducting material and
the sheathing by roughening the surface of the sheathing, as described.
Secondly, the modes described of securing the upper parts or extreme edges
of the non-conducting material and the sheathing to the vessel, substantially
as described.

page_text: Thirdly, the use of the split or bent rivet or nail, as described, for joining
the various plates of which the sheathing is composed to each other, sub-
stantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederic Pelham Warren, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
F. PEINSON.
FREDERIC PELHAM (L.s.) WARREN.