IMPROVE- ORA AND SAILING VESSELS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thomas Young Dicey, of Park House
Walmer, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
ORA AND SAILING VESSELS"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thomas
Young Diccy at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 18th January 1872.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS YOUNG DICEY, of Park House, Walmer, in
the County of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM VESSELS AND SAILING.
VESSELS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of
steam and sailing vessels by means of which their tendency to pitch or
roll is very much lessened and to a considerable degree prevented, and
thereby the causes of sea sickness, so far as they are occasioned by
violent motion of the vessel, are wholly or partially removed.

page_text: The deck of the vessel will be so formed as to cover the two hulls and
the two hulls and the space between them, and it will be supported by
the iron girders or beams before mentioned.
In the case of steam vessels intended to carry passengers, the decks
will be of dimensions sufficient to provide for cabins and saloons, being
constructed for the reception of the passengers.
By means of this Invention the action of the water in a rolling sea
will be so neutralized by means of the two hulls acting as a lever on
cach other to keep each steady and prevent rolling, that on the deck the
motion would be but slightly felt, if felt at all.
By means of this Invention all fear of the vessels being crank or top
heavy will be removed; the hulls can therefore be raised so far out of the
water as to give the girders or beams, between the two vessels a great
depth and thereby strength.
Very conveniently arranged cabins can also be provided for the
accommodation of passengers, as without being liable to great rolling
motion they will be raised to a considerable height above the water
level so as to be out of the reach of any action of the sea.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Thomas Young Dicey in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 18th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
THOMAS YOUNG DICEY, of Park House, Walmer, in the County of
Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Thomas Young
Dicey, Her special licence that I, the said William Thomas Young
Dicey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Thomas Young Dicey, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, 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 STEAM VESSELS AND SAILING VESSELS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Thomas Young Dicey, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: By means of this Invention the action of the water in a rolling sea
will be so neutralized by means of the two hulls or parts acting as a
lever on each other to keep each steady and prevent rolling, that on the
deck the motion will be but slightly felt, if felt at all.
By means of this Invention all fear of the vessel being crank or top
heavy will be removed; the hulls or parts can therefore be raised so far
out of the water as to give the girders or beams between the two hulls
or parts a great depth and thereby strength.
Very conveniently arranged cabins can also be provided for the
accommodation of passengers, as without being liable to great rolling
motion they will be raised to a considerable height above the water level
so as to be out of reach of any action of the sea and perfect ventilation
may thus be secured.
In the construction of vessels for channel service I prefer to use a
compound vessel of about 400 feet long; cach hull or port having about
20 feet beam and about 18 feet depth of hold, with an arched space
between the two hulls or parts of about 35 feet, thus limiting the
intermediate space between the hulls or parts in consequence of the
narrow entrances of the channel harbours. But in case of any vessels
being built for harbours with more commodious entrance, I would
prefer to increase the distance between the two hulls or parts, as the
greater the distance apart the steadier the vessel would be.
In order that my Invention may be more fully understood, I have
hereunto annexed Drawings illustrating the same.
Figure 1 represents a vertical cross section of the vessel. A is the
outside or skin [plating forming the two hulls or parts connected
together by the same plating being continued in an arched form, the
foot of the arch rising from just above the floating line of each hull or
part, and the crown being under the centre of the deck. This outside
or skin plating is strengthened by ribs of frame angle iron D at a
distance of about two feet, securely fastened to the outside or skin
plating and continued inside from the outer end of the deck beam of
one hull or part to which it is secured, over the arch to the outer end of
the deck beam of the other hull or part to which it is also secured.
These deck beams C are of angle iron and about four feet apart; thus a
continuous frame of angle iron is formed on the inner side of the outer

page_text: plating to which it is securely fastened. I further give additional
strength by carrying a girder or web frame E composed of frame plate
and reverse frame at about every eight feet apart and at a distance of about
18 inches from the frame angle iron D and from the under side of the
angle iron beam C of each hull or part entirely round the compound
vessel and to the under side of the angle iron beam C, as shewn in the
Drawings. I also secure together the frame angle iron D and the web
frame E by means of intercostals F, which I attach to the outside or
skin plating with angle iron and rivet between two angle irons inside
the web frames. I also at the distance of each 40 feet or thereabouts,
carry an iron girder or girder bulkhead I from the under side of the
deck over the saloon to the bottom plating of each hull or part, and
over the arch connecting the two bulls or parts, securely fastening this
iron girder or girder bulkhead in every part to the outside or skin
plating of the compound vessel. And I further strengthen this bulk-
head with angle iron on each side of it, so that the angle iron on the
foremost side shall cross at right angles or nearly so to the angle iron on
the after side of the bulkhead. And I then strengthen this still further
by longitudinal box girders H running from end to end of the vessel,
three on each side over the arched portion of the vessel; and I securely
fasten these longitudinal box to the skin plating A, to the iron
girders or girder bulkheads I, to the frame angle iron D, to the web
frame E, and to the angle iron beams C, at each point of intersection
this forming a set of box girders from end to end of the vessel. I also
place hold beams G of double angle or T iron four feet apart about
midway between the angle iron beams C and the floor of the vessel, and
secure them to the outside or skin plating A and to the web frame E.
B is the deck which may be made of wood, iron, or other material or
combination of materials.
6
Figure 2 is a deck plan of the vessel, the dotted line K fore and
aft shewing the inner skin of each hull or part as straight, and I, I,
shew the places where the iron girders or girder bulkheads are.
Figure 3 represents a side view of the vessel shewing the cabin
accommodation L.
When I use the transverse girders proceeding from the bow of one hull
or part to the stern of the other, it is not necessary for the continuous
outside plating A to be carried over in the form of an arch connecting

page_text: the two hulls or parts so as to form one continuous frame. In that
case I carry up (as in Fig. 4) the outside or skin plating of each
hull or part on the inner side to the same height or on the outer side,
and I strengthen each hull or part by frame angle iron D, web frame E,
intercostals F, and hold beams G, as before described. And I tie the
two hulls or parts together by means of lattice girders at proper
distances apart, carried from the outer skin of one hull or part to the
outer skin of the other hull or part, and in an arched form in the space
between the said two hulls or parts, and securely fastened to both inner
and outer skin plating of cach hull or part and to the deck, which is
continued from side to side over both hulls or parts and the intermediate
space.
And I further strengthen these (with transverse or diagonal girders
from the bow of one hull or part to the stern of the other hull or part,
the upper part of these girders which are arched being several feet
above the deck, and the lower part on the deck and fastened to it.
And I also employ transverse or diagonal girders below the deck
passing from one hull or part to the other at an angle, and uniting with
the girder bulkheads at the points of intersection, and with the
transverse girders on the upper side of the deck, by which means
the two hulls or parts are connected in such a manner that the
whole will form one rigid mass, which can neither strain nor twist
in a sea way.
Hitherto the employment of two hulls to form one vessel has not
been effective, owing to no system having been hitherto devised by
which the two hulls could be sufficiently rigidly connected, but by the
method above shewn of forming the two hulls or parts into one vessel and
strengthening both the hulls or parts and their juncture by the tying
and knitting together both of the frames and of the various parts and
supports in the manner shewn, I have been enabled to produce a
compound vessel having two hulls or parts perfectly rigid and effective
for the object in view.
Having thus described the nature of this my Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that
what I claim is, not simply the employment of two hulls or parts to
form one vessel, nor the simple employment of angle iron and girders

page_text: in strengthening or framing hulls or parts, but the method of construct-
ing a vessel of two hulls or parts knit, framed, and girded together in the
manner above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thomas Young Dicey,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of
July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and