IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF SHIPS AND VESSELS TO FACILITATE THE STEERING AND PROPELLING THE SAME
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Seymour, of No. 54, Lime Street, in the
City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF SHIPS AND VESSELS TO FACILITATE THE STEERING AND PROPELLING
THE SAME."
"
Sealed the 1st February 1870, and dated the 15th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Seymour at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th December 1869.
I, GEORGE SEYMOUR, of No. 54, Lime Street, in the City of London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND VESSELS TO FACILITATE THE STEERING AND
PROPELLING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
In constructing ships or vessels according to my Invention I extend
the stern post somewhat further aft than now usual, and on each side of
the stern post at its fore part I hang a rudder, which can lie back against.
the stern post and can also be moved out to an angle to steer the ship.

page_text: Through the stern post and between the two rudders I carry a propellor
shaft which at its end has a screw propeller upon it; by this arrange-
ment I am enabled to place the screw propeller further aft than was
heretofore practicable. When the screw propeller is used as an auxiliary
propeller I prefer that it should be formed with two narrow blades, and
I then form the stern post of somewhat greater width than usual, so
that when the propeller is out of use it may be set with its blades in a
vertical position, so that the propeller blades may be behind the stern
post and not project beyond or to any great extent beyond it. The two
rudders may act independently one of the other and be worked by
separate steering wheels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Seymour in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
SEYMOUR, of No. 54, Lime Street, in City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Seymour, Her special licence,
that I, the said George Seymour, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Seymour, my executors, adminis-
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
SHIPS AND VESSELS TO FACILITATE THE STEERING AND PROPELLING THE SAME,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Seymour, 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 Scal
"

page_text: stern post is here made thick as well as deep, so that the propeller when
out of use may be placed upright and sheltered behind it. The flaps of
the double rudder in this case can be made flat.
Figure 5 shows in plan the arrangement I prefer for working the
double rudder.
e, e, are tillers upon the rudder heads, and f, f, are two steering
wheels with barrels g, g, on their axes, on which the steering ropes h
are wound and unwound alternately. There are four of the ropes h,
one on either side of each tiller; each rope is made fast to the tiller at
one end, then it passes around a fixed pulley to a sheave on the head of
the tiller, from whence it returns around another fixed pulley to one of
the barrels g, on which it is wound and to which its end is fixed. The
Drawing represents the tillers as they stand when both the rudder flaps
are lying close against the stern post; by turning one of the steering
wheels the corresponding rudder flap will be acted on, its tillor being
drawn over by the winding up of one of the ropes on its barrel g,
whilst the other is unwound; or the two tillers may be worked by
screw gear of any ordinary construction, each tiller having its own
gear.
The arrangement of screw gear which I prefer is that shown in side
view at Figure 6, and in plan at Figure 7. Figure 8 represents the stern
of the ship end on, it has a broad stern post so that the propeller when
the ship is sailing may stand behind the stern post with the blades of
the screw projecting but slightly beyond the shelter of the stern post.
The steering wheels a, a, are cach mounted on an axis h, with a rapid
three threaded screw upon it. There is a nut c on the screw which
traverses when the wheel is turned. The nut has studs upon it which
are received into eyes in the forked lever d, and the stem of this lever
enters a socket e carried by the rudder post or main piece of the rudder.
The rudder posts are forked at their upper ends to receive the pivots of
the sockets e; thus the sockets are able to rock through a small arc as
is requisite, unless the rudder post be lengthened to bring the sockets on
a level with the axes of the steering wheels. The parts are shown in
the Drawing in the positions they occupy when the rudders are both
folded in close against the stern post.
Another arrangement is shown in plan in Figure 9, by means of which
the two rudder flaps may be worked by one steering wheel. k, k, are
the heads of the main pieces of the rudders, each provided with two

page_text: arms l, m. The rudder heads are received into slots in the sliding
frame n, which is carried in fixed guides, and is capable of being
traversed by the screw o and steering wheel p. The arms are above
the level of the frame n, but as the frame travels they are acted upon by
projections n', n', rising from the upper surface of the frame. Similarly
the arms m are below the level of the frame n, and are acted on by
projections beneath it.
Vessels propelled by twin screws, paddle wheels, hydraulic mechanism
or sails may be similarly constructed.
I claim the combination of the double rudder and stern post, substan-
tially as described.
I also claim the combination of the double rudder, stern post, and
screw propeller, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Seymour, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.