IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FITTINGS OF SHIPS' BOATS WHEREBY THEY ARE RENDERED SELF-DETACHING WHEN-LOWERED INTO THE WATER
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Samuel Long at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th August
1878.
I, SAMUEL LONG, of Bramfield House, Hertford, a Commander in the
Royal Navy, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
**IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FITTINGS OF SHIPS' BOATS WHEREBY THEY ARE RENDERED
SELF-DETACHING WHEN-LOWERED INTO THE WATER," to be as follows:—
The object of this Invention is to enable boāts to be lowered at sea
with safety-at-ordinary speeds-and-in-all-weathers that any seaman
would lower-a-boat-in. To-accomplish-this-I-construct a boat in such a
manner that when lowered she automatically detaches herself from the
tackles when about half or three parts waterborne, the buoyancy of the
water being utilized to detach her..
The principal feature of my Invention is the utilization of the
buoyancy of the water to detach a boat simultaneously from both her
tackles. To attain this object I proceed as follows:-I construct a boat
with an extra keel called by my a "suspension keel," and capable of
bearing the total weight of the boat and contents. This keel bears both
laterally and longitudinally against chocks fixed in the boat for the pur-

page_text: "
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pose, but is capable of freely moving in a vertical direction. To this
'suspension keel" the rowing thwarts are rigidly attached and the shell
of the boat is also suspended to it by two, three, or more bolts, such
bolts being clenched under the bottom of the main keel and working
freely in a vertical direction through metal collars fitted in the " suspen-.
sion keel," their vertical motion is limited by nuts screwed on to their
ends (so as to allow a vertical ply of 4 inches), and the descent of the
shell will be arrested by these nuts bearing on the "suspension keel.”
In the centre of the boat I provide a spindle furnished with arms, this is
also clenched under the main keel and secured from being driven out 1
downwards, and also works freely through a metal collar in the "suspen-
sion keel." To the spindle I attach two horizontal arms, and to these
arms are fixed two levers one towards the head and the other towards
the stern of the boat, and each-working-frcely upon a central pin. The
furthest end of each lever is formed in a loop in order to catch the 1
tongue of an ordinary slip.
The boat is hoisted up by hooking the tackles to short chains passing
through metal pipes to which are attached the steadying chains, and
which chains have their lower links passed over tumblers or chain links
fastened on the "suspension keel," if chain links be used instead of :
tumblers it will be necessary to put them directly over the slip. Such
tumblers or chain links are held in a horizontal position by short curved
pieces of metal furnished with a link which passes over the tongues of
the slips, such slips being held closed by the loop ends of the two levers,
and the other ends of the levers being made fast to the arms of the
spindle as before-mentioned.
The mode of action is as follows:-On the boat being manned for
lowering the men take their places as in any ordinary boat (and from
which indeed there is no apparent difference) and the boat is lowered.
For this purpose I propose to use a drum with a break fitted to it, but
this is not an essential feature of my
Invention.
As soon as the shell of the boat is waterborne either from a héavy sea
or by reaching the water level it rises, and by so doing forces up the
spindle and arms of the levers thus causing their loop ends to become dis-
engaged from the tongues of the slips, and so releasing the slips whereby
the chains at once pass through the metal pipes which then fall on the
bottom. Upon the chain so slipping out the thwarts, "suspension keel,"

page_text: and men on them will fall about an inch, but any shock arising from
this may be avoided by means of using vulcanite washers.
When it is desired to hoist the boat in it is hauled up by tackles from
davits in the usual manner, and then hooked on by making the ends of
the levers nearest the centre to unship and ship, and providing a keep
pin for them, I also provide a spare set of slings in the boat. When it is
desired to hook on the boat the man proceeds to do so by first reeving
slings and putting the end hook over the tumbler, he then puts the
tongue of the slip over the hook and pushes down the centre end of the
lever, thus causing its loop end to pass over the tongue of the slip and
thereby keep it fast, and he secures it in this position by putting in the
keep pin. The boat is then ready for hoisting by hooking on the
ordinary tackles and when high enough, by taking out the keep pin and
shipping the centre ends of the levers, it is again ready for lowering and
disengaging.