IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS.
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS. "A communication from
abroad. by Amand Grancher, Engineer, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin,
Paris.
Sealed the 25th February 1868, and dated the 6th September 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th September. 1867.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS," to be as follows:-
This improved system of constructing ships consists in joining together
two hulls or holds by placing them one above the other in such a manner
that the lower one, which is of smaller dimensions than the upper, shall be
entirely immersed in the water when the ship is freighted or ballasted. The
lower sides or bottom of the upper hold projecting outwards upon the sides
of the lower hold (in consequence of the greater dimensions of this hold) will
thus be at the level of the water line of the lower hull, the weight of which
in the water they will very much diminish, at the same time giving the ship

page_text: the draught desired. This ship will be at the same time lighter, stronger,
and of greater speed than any other of the same tonnage and freight; it
will be almost unsinkable on account of its large sides always above the water,
and it will carry more sail or more powerful engines than a ship in ordinary
conditions could support. The materials and means of construction are the
same as those employed in building ships at the present time. A great
advantage in these ships is that they can only be run into at the level of or
above the water, and the hulls being separated by the closing of the hatch-
ways they will not sink immediately at the moment of collision.
The line A, A, A, A, indicates the upper hull projecting outwards at B,
A, B, A2, B, A¹, from the submerged lower hull B, B, B¹, B'; B, G, is the
rudder. The sea guage of the ship when either freighted or ballasted will
be the line of the hull B, B, B.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her special licence that I, the said
Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alexander. Melville Clark, 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 SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS," a communi-
cation to me, from. abroad by Amand, Grancher, Engineer, of 29, Boulevart
St. Martin, Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alexander Melville. Clark, my executors, or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or, their, or one, of their hands, and seals,, should, par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in

page_text: 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 Alexander Melville Clark, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say:-
This improved system of constructing ships consists in joining together
two hulls by placing them one above the other in such a manner that the
lower one, of smaller dimensions than the upper, shall be entirely immersed
in the water when the ship is freighted or ballasted. The sides or bottom
of the upper hull project on each side of the lower hull in consequence of its
increased breadth, its bottom being at the level of the water line of the lower
hull, the weight of which in the water will be very much diminished, at the
same time giving the ship the draught desired. This ship will be at the
same time lighter, stronger, and will attain greater speed than any other of the
same tonnage and freight; it will also be almost unsinkable on account of its
large sides always projecting above the water, and it will carry more sail or
more powerful engines than a ship in ordinary conditions could support.
The materials and means of construction are the same as those employed in
building ships at the present time.
In order better to explain the Invention I have represented in the accom-
panying Drawing a ship constructed on this improved system, in which
Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the hull of a vessel, and Figure 2 a
transverse section of same on the line 1, 2, Figure 1.
A is the upper hull; B is the lower or immersed hull; these two hulls A
and B are so placed one upon the other that the hull A projects on either
side of B, its bottom a, a, a, a, resting on the surface of the water; C, rudder.
The water line of the ship when ballasted or freighted will be the upper line
of the lower hull B. A great advantage of these ships is that they can only
be run into at a level with or above the water line, and the hulls being
separated by the closing of the hatchways they will not sink immediately at
the moment of collision.
.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the construc-
tion of ships with two hulls of different dimensions and placed so that the
upper hull which is received in the lower one shall form. projecting sides

page_text: resting on the surface of the water when the ship is freighted or ballasted
substantially in the manner described and represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)