IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS FOR WAR PURPOSES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Lungley, of Deptford Green Dockyard, in
the County of Kent, Shipbuilder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS FOR WAR PURPOSES."
Sealed the 23rd July 1861, and dated the 25th January 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Lungley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th January 1861.
I, CHARLES LUNGLEY, of Deptford Green. Dockyard, in the County of Kent,
Shipbuilder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS,. FOR WAR PURPOSES," to
be as follows:-
The objects of this Invention are, first, to construct ships and other vessels
in such manner that they cannot (under the. present conditions of naval
warfare) be sunk by shot or shell; secondly, to furnish ships or vessels so
constructed with a shot-proof battery or batteries for their crews to fight
behind, and with means for communicating between the battery or batteries
and the lower parts of the vessel, and for securely supplying such batteries
with ammunition from magazines placed (as usual) below the water line;
and, thirdly, to attach thick iron plates which are employed as armour

page_text: for ships and vessels of war to the hull more efficiently than heretofore, and so
as to impart additional strength to the fabric.
The Invention consists, firstly, in covering either the whole or a portion
only of the length of a ship or other vessel (which may be built either of wood
or of iron) with thick iron plates or other shot-proof materials from a few feet
below the water's surface up to the level of or a foot or two above the water
line, and in placing at about the same height a shot-proof deck. By these
means the entrance of shot or shell into the protected portion of the vessel
beneath the water will be prevented; and if this portion is made (as I intend
it to be) of sufficient volume to support the whole vessel when fully equipped,
it will be impossible for shot or shell to sink her. I prefer to place shot-proof
bulkheads across the vessel where the iron covering terminates (in the case of
a portion only of the vessel being protected), but to the employment of such
bulkheads I lay no claim, as they have been employed before.
Secondly, the Invention consists in coating any required portion or portions
of the upper part of a ship or other vessel constructed as just described
with thick iron plates or shot-proof materials, in order to form a shot-proof
battery or batteries, and in connecting this battery with the lower parts of the
vessel by means of plated or other shot-proof trunks, through which communi-
cation may be had with the interior of the vessel below the water for general
purposes, and through which also supplies of ammunition may be securely
passed up to the battery or batteries from the magazine. The framing of the
ship by which the protected upper portions of the vessel (that is, the batteries)
are supported is by preference to be stout enough to resist shot.
A vessel constructed according to the two preceding parts of this Inventions
may go into action without running the risk of being sunk, and with the
gunners well protected.
Thirdly, the Invention consists in forming. the thick iron plates with portions
rolled comparatively thin, so that part of the fastenings thereof may be passed
through such thin parts only, thus incorporating the plates more efficiently
than heretofore with the hull, and at the same time keeping the heads of the
principal bolts unexposed; other bolts may be passed through the thicker
portions of the plates where desired.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Lungley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
LUNGLEY, of Deptford Green Dockyard, in the County of Kent, Shipbuilder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Lungley, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Lungley, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Lungley, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF SHIP'S AND OTHER VESSELS FOR WAR PURPOSES," úpon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Lungley, 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 Charles Lungley, 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-
The objects of this Invention are, first, to construct ships' and other vessels
in such manner that they cannot (under the present conditions of naval warfare)
be sunk by shot or shell; secondly, to furnish ships or vessels so constructed
with a shot-proof battery or batteries for their crews to fight behind, and with
means for communicating between the battery or batteries and the lower parts
of the vessel, and for securely supplying such batteries with ammunition from
magazines placed (as usual) below the water line; and thirdly, to attach the
thick iron plates which are employed as armour for ships and vessels of war to

page_text: the bull more efficiently than heretofore, and so as to impart additional strength
to the fabric.
The Invention consists, firstly, in covering either the whole or a portion only
of the length of a ship or other vessel (which may be built either of wood or
of iron) with thick iron plates or other shot-proof materials from a few feet
below the water's surface up to the level of or a foot or two above the water
line, and in placing at about the same height a shot-proof deck. By these
means the entrance of shot or shell into the protected portion of the vessel
beneath the water will be prevented; and if this portion is made (as I intend
it to be) of sufficient volume to support the whole vessel when fully equipped,
it will be impossible for shot or shell to sink her. I prefer to place shot-
proof bulkheads across the vessel where the iron covering terminates (in the
case of a portion only of the vessel being protected); but to the employment
of such bulkheads I lay no claim, as they have been employed before.
Secondly, the Invention consists in coating any required portion or portions
of the upper part of a ship or other vessel constructed as just described with
thick iron plates or other shot-proof materials, in order to form a shot-proof
battery or batteries, and in connecting this battery with the lower parts of the.
vessel by means of plated or other shot-proof trunks, through which communi-
cation may be had with the interior of the vessel below the water for general
purposes, and through which also supplies of ammunition may be securely
passed up to the battery or batteries from the magazine. The framing of the
ship by which the protected upper portions of the vessel (that is, the batteries)
are supported is by preference to be stout enough to resist shot.
A vessel constructed according to the two preceding parts of this Invention
may go into action without running the risk of being sunk, and with her
gunners well protected.
Thirdly, the Invention consists in forming the thick iron plates with portions
rolled comparatively thin, so that part of the fastenings thereof may be passed
through such thin parts only, thus incorporating the plates more efficiently
than heretofore with the hull, and at the same time keeping the heads of
the principal bolts unexposed; other bolts may be passed through the thicker
portions of the plates where desired.
The first and second parts of my Invention, herein-before set forth, require
no explanatory Drawings to illustrate them, as they will be fully understood
from the verbal description already given. The third part, however, as it
relates to details of construction, will be better understood on reference to
Figures 1 to 16 inclusive. In Figure 1 I have shewn the simplest manner in
which a thick plate A can be rolled with a comparatively thin portion a, in

page_text: order that part of the fastenings f, f, may be passed through the said portion a,
thus giving strength to the structure, and at the same time concealing the
heads of the bolts or rivets from the direct action of shot, as seen at f¹. In
Figure 2 I have shown an arrangement resembling that illustrated in Figure 1,
but with plates of a somewhat different form of section. Figure 3 is an
arrangement somewhat differently modified; the plates in this case being
tongued and grooved into each other at B. Figure 4 shows the tongueing.
and grooving applied to plates resembling in section those shown in Figure 2.
Figure 5 resembles Figure 4, but has a triangular instead of a rectangular
tongue and groove. Figure 6 shows a similar arrangement, but with a semi-
circular tongue and groove. In Figure 7 I have shewn a method of com-
bining plates formed with a thick part A and a thin part a to receive the
fastenings f, with a series of filling up plates C, C, which conceal the fasten-
ings f, and are themselves fastened with concealed bolts or rivets g, g. Figure 8
resembles Figure 7, but having the joints of the plates A and C inclined, and
the fastenings g inclined likewise. Figure 9 resembles Figure 7, but the
plates A and C are in this case tongued and grooved together. Figures 10
and 11 are slight modifications of Figure 9. Figures 12 and 13 are further
modifications of Figure 7, the sectional forms of the plates being of the respec-
tive shapes shown. Figure 14 is a further modification of Figure 9. In
Figure 15 I have shown a method of combining thick plates A, A, formed
with thin portions a, a, to receive the fastenings either with or without filling
pieces D, D, that is to say, these filling pieces may be fitted or not, as may be
deemed desirable. In Figure 16 I have shown another form of plate, in which
iny principle of construction is still preserved, A being the thick portion, and
a the thin portion to receive the fastenings. Where the thick portions of
any of the plates before described are to be fastened by means of bolts, I
prefer to employ for the purpose bolts that are cut with a thread passing
through the frames or plates to which the thick plates are to be attached, and
partly into the thick plates which are to be fastened. In some cases I prefer
to employ hollow bolts for this purpose.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the method of plating vessels with thick iron plates or other shot-
proof materials from a few feet below the water's surface to or above the
water line, and placing at about the height of the water line a shot-proof
deck; the combined plating and deck together protecting the submerged parts
of the vessels from shot and shell, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the method of constructing batteries at any suitable positions in

page_text: such vessels, and connecting the same with the lower parts of the vessels by
means of shot-proof trunks in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
Thirdly, the method of forming the thick iron plates employed for coating
shot-proof vessels with portions rolled comparatively thin to receive part of the 5
fastenings for the purpose of incorporating the plates more efficiently than
heretofore with the hull, and at the same time keeping the heads of the prin-
cipal bolts unexposed, as herein-before described and illustrated in the several
Figures of the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Lungley, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.
I
CHARLES LUNGLEY. (L.B.)
CHARLES LUNGLEY. (L.B.)