IMPROVE- MENTS IN PROJECTILES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Whitworth, of the City of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PROJECTILES."
Sealed the 23rd August 1864, in pursuance of an Order of the Lord Chan-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Whitworth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
January 1864.
I, JOSEPH WHITWORTH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROJECTILES," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate, first, to improved projectiles for penetrating
substances such as the armour plates used for iron-clad ships. These I make
hollow by boring a long hole whose diameter is rather less than one half the
diameter of the projectile, leaving the thickness of metal at the bottom about
the same as that of the sides. About one half of the cavity I fill with powder,
and then in its forward part I insert in it a hardened steel tempered cylinder
closing the front of the projectile. I place a long tube in the middle of the
powder charge, in which is a striker of the ordinary construction having a
copper cap to effect the ignition of the bursting charge. When the projectile
is fired through a resisting substance, such as an armour plate fixed in the
usual way upon the ship's side, the striker is made to ignite the powder charge
at the proper time, and so fire the steel cylinder to assist and complete the
penetration of the side of the ship. The projectile may be made of sufficient
length to allow of suitably shaped segmental pieces of metal being placed

page_text: between the powder and the cylinder projectile, which being propelled with the
latter would enter and be dispersed inside the ship. For guns of large
calibre firing large projectiles I make the steel cylinder act as a shell igniting
it after it has assisted in the work of penetration by means of a fuse in its
rear ignited by the action of the bursting charge.
My improvements relate, secondly, to projectiles for rifled muskets especially
those usually termed large bores, as used for the Enfield rifle of the pattern of
1853. In making these projectiles I dispense with the wooden plug ordinarily
used in the rear of the service bullet, and I obtain the necessary expansion by
making a cavity in the rear, on which the powder acts, a parallel hole being
made in the forward part of the bullet about 25-inch in diameter, and as long
as may be found practicable consistent with strength. In this hole I insert a
wooden plug and thereby replace a very light material for a heavy one; by
these means I obtain for a light projectile an increased length, the form and
specific gravity of which give better shooting with a bullet of the service
weight. I prefer, however, for a rifle about 9 lbs. weight, such as the Enfield,
a bullet of 600 or weight made in the manner I have described
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Joseph Whitworth
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
WHITWORTH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of. Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph- Whitworth, Her special license that I, the said Joseph
Whitworth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Whitworth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time. agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PROJECTILES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Whitworth, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe

page_text: 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 on or before the Thirtieth day of August next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Whitworth, 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 (that is to say):-
These improvements relate, first, to improved projectiles for penetrating
substances such as armour plates used for iron-clad ships. These I make
hollow by boring a long hole whose diameter is rather less than one half the
diameter of the projectile, leaving the thickness of metal at the bottom about
the same as that of the sides, or the hole may be made through and
a screw plug inserted. About one half of the cavity. I fill with powder, and
then in its forward part I insert in it a hardened steel tempered cylinder
closing the front of the projectile. I place a long tube in the middle of the
powder charge, in which is a striker having a copper cap to effect the ignition
of the bursting charge. When the projectile is fired through a resisting
substance; such as an armour plate fixed in the usual way upon the ship's side,
the striker is made to ignite the powder charge at the proper time, and drive
forward the steel cylinder so as to assist and complete the penetration of the
side of the ship. The projectile may be made of sufficient length to allow of
suitably shaped segmental pieces of metal being placed between the powder
and the cylinder projectile, which being propelled with the latter would enter
and be dispersed inside the ship. For guns of large calibre firing large
projectiles I. make the steel cylinder act as a shell. The ignition of this shell
is provided for by means of a fuze connected with its rear, which is ignited
by the action of the charge within the large shell.
My improvements relate, secondly, to projectiles for rifled muskets of the
class usually termed large bores, such as the Enfield rifle of the. pattern of
1858. In making these projectiles I dispense with the wooden plug which
is ordinarily used in the rear of the service bullet, represented in Figs. 5 and
6 of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and I obtain the necessary expan-
sion by having a properly shaped cavity such as is represented in Fig. 1 in
the rear, on which the powder acts. A cylindrical hole is made in the
forward part of the bullet 25 inch in diameter, and as long as may be found
practicable, a sufficient thickness of metal being left between the fore and
rear cavities to prevent the powder blowing through the bullet. In the front
cavity I insert a plug of wood or other similar material and thereby replace

page_text: a heavy with a comparatively very light material. By these means I obtain
for a projectile of the weight of the service bullet an encreased length, and
the form and specific gravity of this longer bullet give better shooting than
the shorter solid bullet of the service weight. It should be observed that to
enable a bullet of a length greater than that of the ordinary Enfield bullet to
be fired a rifling turn quicker than that of the Enfield rifle should be used.
For a rifle having a 557 bore I prefer one turn in twenty-five inches.
Figs. 1 and 2 shew a cylindrical bullet having the proportions which I
consider the best; Figs. 3 and 4 shew a hexagonal bullet (with the resilient
material in the rear) having the proportions which I prefer; Figs. 5 and 6
shew the ordinary Enfield bullet of the service drawn on the same scale.
For a rifle weighing about nine and a quarter pounds, like the Enfield, I
prefer a charge of seventy-five grains of powder and a bullet of six hundred
grains weight made in the manner I have described; and having the pro-
portions shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. Within certain limits it is advisable
to have the bullet as long as possible, but the severity of the recoil and the
vibration of the barrel limit the weight of projectile and charge of powder
that can be used with advantage.
I am aware that projectiles having a cavity in the front and rear have been
previously used for shell bullets, and to such projectiles so used I make no
claim; but what I claim is,-
First, projectiles intended for penetration made as above described.
And, secondly, the projectiles which for a given weight have encreased'
length given by substituting a light material for a heavier one in the fore
part in the manner above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Whitworth, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Joseph Whitworth,
in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
JOSEPH WHITWORTH. (L.S.)
Patent Agent,
Manchester.