IMPROVE- MENTS IN PROTECTING THE BOTTOMS AND SIDES OF SHIPS AND OTHER STRUCTURES EXPOSED TO THE ACTION OF SEA WATER
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cowper Phipps Coles, of Ventnor, in the Isle of
Wight, Captain in the Royal Navy, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PROTECTING THE BOTTOMS AND SIDES OF SHIPS AND OTHER
STRUCTURES EXPOSED TO THE ACTION OF SEA WATER."
Sealed the 18th May 1866, and dated the 22nd November 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cowper Phipps Coles
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd November 1865.
I, COWPER PHIPPS COLES, of Ventnor, in the Isle of Wight, Captain in the
Royal Navy, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING THE BOTTOMS AND SIDES OF SHIPS AND OTHER
STRUCTURES EXPOSED TO THE ACTION OF SEA WATER," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in means of affixing cements; mortars, stuccos,
concretes, and other like substances to the bottoms and sides of ships and
other structures exposed' to the action of sea water. I fix on the bottoms and
sides of the ships, or on other structures exposed to the action of sea water, a

page_text: wire netting of any desired pattern or a thin perforated metal plate by screws
or otherwise; the cement or other protecting substance when applied to the
netting or perforated plate adheres thereto. Or cocoa-nut matting, canvas,
fearnaught, or any other suitable matting or cloth may be first attached to
the ship's side or other surface, and then the cement plastered thereon.
Thin wooden battens or laths may also be screwed or fastened to the ship or
other structure before the cement is applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Cowper Phipps Coles in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, COWPER
PHIPPS COLES, of Ventnor, in the Isle of Wight, Captain in the Royal Navy,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
'me, the said Cowper Phipps Coles, Her special licence that I, the said
Cowper Phipps Coles, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Cowper Phipps Coles, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING THE BOTTOMS AND SIDES OF SHIPS AND
OTHER STRUCTURES EXPOSED TO THE ACTION OF SEA WATER," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Cowper Phipps Coles, my executors or
administrators, 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 Cowper Phipps Coles, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: 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 means of affixing cements, mortars, stuccos,
concretes, and other like. substances to the bottoms and sides of ships and
other structures exposed to the action of sea water. I fix on the bottoms and
sides of the ships, or on other structures exposed to the action of sea water, a
wire netting of any desired pattern by screws or otherwise; the cement or
other protecting substance when applied to the netting adheres thereto.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is an elevation of a portion of a
ship's side or other structure with wire netting applied thereto, according to
my Invention.
A is the side of the ship or other structure, to the surface of which the wire
netting B is attached so as to form a reticulated and holding surface to
receive the protecting coating of cement; C, C, are slotted plates of metal,
which secure the netting B to the surface of the ship or other structure, and
they are made so as to overlap a sufficient portion of the netting to retain it;
D, D, are screws which pass through the slots of the plates C and enter the
ship's side to fasten the plates and netting firmly thereto. The surface thus
prepared is ready to receive the coating of cement, mortar, concrete, or other
like protecting substance, which is spread over the netting B in any con-
venient manner, so as to form a smooth surface externally, as seen at E. In
place of the netting B thin perforated metal plates may be employed, as in
Fig. 2. The perforations in these plates form a series of shallow cells
which hold the coating material. Or cocoa-nut matting, canvas, fearnought,
or any other suitable matting or cloth may be used as a foundation and
holding medium for the protective coating or substance. The matting or
other material is nailed, screwed, or otherwise fastened to the ship's side or
surface to be covered, and upon the surface so prepared the coating of plastic
material is laid.
Another mode of accomplishing the desired object consists in fastening to
the ship's side thin battens or laths, so as to form a ribbed foundation for the
coating substance, and cause it to adhere firmly, and thereby protect the
surface.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, fixing on the
bottoms and sides of ships and other structures exposed to the action of sea
water, wire netting, thin perforated metal plates, matting, canvas, fearnought,

page_text: or cloth, or thin wooden battens or laths as means of affixing or holding
cement, mortar, stucco, concrete, or other like protecting substance to such
structures, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cowper Phipps Coles, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.
COWPER P. COLES. (L.s.)