IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR PLATES FOR SHIPS, AND IN SECURING THE SAME TO THE SIDES OF A VESSEL
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Toward, of the Glasshouse Bridge Iron Works,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ARMOUR PLATES FOR SHIPS, AND IN SECURING THE SAME TO THE SIDES OF A
VESSEL."
Sealed the 11th April 1862, and dated the 21st October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Toward at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
October 1861.
I, JOHN TOWARD, of the Glasshouse Bridge Iron Works, Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR PLATES FOR SHIPS, AND IN SECURING THE SAME TO THE
SIDES OF A VESSEL," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction of the back or inner sides
of armour plates for ships, whereby they may be secured to the sides thereof,
without weakening the plates, by having any holes drilled in them or exposing o
heads of the bolts or fastenings on the outer surface of the plates.
According to this Invention, it is proposed to form, either by rolling or
forging, a series of ribs or feathers on the backs of the plates, and to plane
such ribs or feathers to a dovetail section. In attaching or fixing these plates,
bolts are used, having their outer ends made to fit accurately or grip the dove-
tailed ribs or feathers, and so hold the plates firmly against the ship's sides,

page_text: without passing through the armour plates; or dovetail spaces, grooves, or
recesses may be cut out of a plate of the ordinary description, and the bolt
secured therein with a key, or by being made in two halves and riveted
together, or put together with screw bolts after each'half is put into the dove-
tail space, groove, or recess.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Toward in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
TOWARD, of the Glasshouse Bridge Iron Works, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Toward, Her special license that I, the said John Toward,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Toward, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ARMOUR PLATES FOR SHIPS, AND IN SECURING THE SAME TO THE SIDES OF A VESSEL,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Toward, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, or under the band and seal of one of them, 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 John Toward, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction of the back or inner

page_text: sides of armour plates for ships, whereby they may be secured to the sides
thereof, without weakening the plates by having any holes drilled in them or
exposing the heads of the bolts or fastenings on the outer surface of the
plates.
1
According to this Invention, it is proposed to form, either by rolling or
forging, a series of ribs or feathers on the backs of the plates, and to plane
such ribs or feathers to a dovetail section. In attaching or fixing these plates,
bolts are used, having their outer ends made to fit accurately or grip the dove-
tailed ribs or feathers, and so hold the plates firmly against the ship's sides,
without passing through the armour plates. Or dovetail spaces, grooves, or
recesses may be cut out of a plate of the ordinary description, and the bolt secured
therein with a key, or by being made in two halves, and riveted together or
put together with screw bolts, after each half is put into the dovetail space,
groove, or recess. It is obvious that the same system of securing or attaching
armour plates, is equally applicable to forts or other defensive works of a
similar nature.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a sectional view of a ships' armour
plate A, having raised ribs or projections B, B, forged or rolled thereon, the
ribs being of such a shape as to leave a dovetailed groove or channel between
them, into which the correspondingly dovetailed ends a, a, of the bolts which
secure the armour plates to the ship, are inserted, in lieu of having the plates
drilled, and of exposing the bolt heads, as has heretofore been the case; b, b,
are the nuts for tightening up the plates from the inner side of the ship.
In Figure 2, the outer ends a, a, of the bolts are forked, such forks being
made to fit into dovetailed ribs B rolled or forged upon the inner side of
the plate.
Figure 3, a face view of the inner side of an armour plate, showing the
dovetailed recesses when cut out by means of a chisel, the bolts being inserted
therein in two halves. I prefer, however, to have the bolt heads solid, each
inserted into its groove from the end thereof, and then moved opposite to the
bolt holes made in the ship's side, whereupon the plate and bolts may be placed
in their position altogether, and firmly secured by nuts or keys from the inside
of the ship.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,—
1st, the general construction of armour plates for ships, and the modes of
securing the same in their proper places, as herein-before described.
2, the application and use of dovetailed ribs, projections, grooves, or recesses
on the inner sides of the armour plates of ships, in combination with corre-
sponding dovetailed bolts, for the purpose of securing such plates to the ship's
side, without the necessity for weakening the same by drilling bolt holes therein,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Toward, have to this my Specifica-
tion, hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.