AN IMPROVEMENT IN PROJECTILES FOR CANNON
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN PROJECTILES FOR CANNON."
- A communication.
Sealed the 20th February 1857, and dated the 27th August 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th August 1856.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVELIENT IN PROJECTILES FOR CANNON,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the attachment to a cannon ball or other projectile
of any number of knives or cutting blades, in such manner as to be capable of
being closed or sheathed within its periphery, and on the discharge of the ball
from the piece of ordnance, and during its flight, starting out by the action of
springs to positions nearly at right angles to the axis of the projectile, in which
position they serve to cut away the rigging of ships, and generally to increase
the destructiveness of the projectile.
The knives or cutting blades may be applied to the projectile in different

page_text: ways. Thus, the projectile may be made in two parts, which when combined
constitute a ball very nearly like the well-known cylindro-conoidal ball, the one
part constituting the point and sides of the ball and the other the butt end.
The sides of the ball are recessed externally in such manner as to have three
or more tapering feathers or fins, which keep the axis of the ball in the line of
its flight, and prevent any rotary motion. The fore part of the ball is made
hollow to receive the knives or cutting blades, which are jointed to the loose
butt end. This butt end is a disc, and it is connected to the fore part of the
projectile by a chain. Each knife has a spiral or other spring applied
between its heel and the front of the butt piece in such a manner as to throw
the knives outward when clear of the chamber which encloses them. On the
discharge of the projectile the rim of the disc catches the wind, and its flight
is retarded to an extent sufficient to cause the separation of the two parts of
the projectile, and permit the springs to act upon the knives, as explained.
The Invention is also applicable to solid balls by recessing the sides to
receive the blades, which are hinged, and operated as described; they are
temporarily retained in a closed position by a string, which is removed at the
time of loading. The blades are proposed to be made of two pieces jointed
together, so as to open out and extend through a greater space than the single
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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

page_text: "AN IMPROVEMENT IN PROJECTILES FOR CANNON," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
relates to the attachment to a cannon ball or other projectile of knives or
cutting blades in such manner as to be capable of lying sheathed within its
periphery, and on the discharge of the ball from the piece of ordnance, and
during its flight, starting out to positions nearly at right angles to the axis of
the projectile, in which position they serve to cut away the rigging of ships,
and generally to increase the destructiveness of the projectile.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1
is a longitudinal central section of a projectile with the Invention applied,
the parts being in their normal position. Fig. 2 is a side view of the pro-
jectile in the condition it assumes during its flight. Fig. 3 is a back end
view of the same, with the movable base piece, to which the knives are
attached, removed. Figures 4 and 5 exhibit modifications of the Invention.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several
Figures.
ways.
The knives or cutting blades may be applied to the projectile in different
In the mode of applying them, shewn in Figures 1 and 2, the pro-
jectile is made in two parts A and B, which when combined constitute a ball
very nearly like the well-known cylindro-conoidal ball. The part A constitutes
the point and sides of the ball, and the part B the butt end. The sides of the
part A are recessed externally from near the shoulder a, a, of the ball to the
rear extremity, in such manner as to have three or more tapering feathers or
fins b, b, the object of which is to keep the axis of the ball in the line of its
flight, and to prevent any rotary motion. The part A contains a cylindrical
cavity A'. The butt piece B is furnished with a number of lugs c, c, on its
front face for the attachment of the knives or cutting blades C, C, which lugs
enter the cavity A¹, and serve to keep the butt piece concentric with the

page_text: piece B. The front of the butt piece is bevelled off at its edges to fit against
inwards bevils at the rear ends of the feathers b, b, which also help to keep
the butt piece concentric to the part A of the ball. The exterior of the butt
piece is of the same size as the shoulder a, a, of the ball and tops of the
feathers or fins b, b, and the shoulder, butt piece, and ribs fit to the bore of the
cannon or other piece of ordnance from which the projectile is to be fired.
When the two parts of the projectile are put together, the butt piece projects
in the form of a flanch at the back ends of the recesses between the feathers
or fins b, b, as shewn at d, d, Fig. 1. The knives or cutting blades C, C, may
be of straight or curved form, and are attached by joint pins e, e, to the lugs
c, c, of the butt piece. Each knife has a spiral or other spring applied at k,
between its heel and the front of the butt piece, in such a manner as to throw
the knives outward, as shewn in Figure 2, with their backs resting against the
butt piece. Chains f, f, connect the butt piece with a central ring on the end
of the cavity A' of the piece A.
piece is then
Previous to the use of this projectile the knives are all drawn up towards
each other close enough to enter the cavity A¹, and are placed in the cavity
together with the whole of the chains f, f, and the butt
pressed close up to the rear of the part A, as shewn in Fig. 1. As the backs
of the knives then rest against the sides of the cavity A', sufficient friction is
produced to hold the two parts of the projectile together, under any ordinary
circumstances, till it is required for use. The projectile is placed in the piece
of ordnance in the state shewn in Fig. 1, the same as any other ball, but after
its discharge, the resistance which the flanch-like portions, d, d, of the butt
piece meet with, from the pressure of the atmosphere produced in their front,
causes the butt piece with the knives to recede from the main portion A of the
ball, when the knives are thrown apart. The butt piece, owing to its form,
when separated from the part A, meets with greater resistance than the part
A, and consequently the chain is always kept tight during the flight of the
projectile. The backs of the knives resting against the butt piece cause the
knives to be perfectly rigid when they strike any object with their front edges.
The projectile shewn in Fig. 4 consists of a solid ball of the same form
externally as is produced by the combination of the parts A, B, of the hollow
ball just described, and the knives C, C, are placed within the feathers or fins
b, b; but in other respects they are applied in substantially the same manner as
in the other projectile, working on pins e, e, and having springs k, k, coiled
around their pins, and applied to their heels to throw them out with their
backs against the flanch of the projection d, d, of the butt. These knives are
intended to be confined within the feathers or fins, before the ball is put in the

page_text: piece of ordnance, by means of a string tied round the projectile. This string
remains on till the projectile is inserted far enough into the piece to prevent
the knives opening, and then it is cut to allow the projectile to be driven home
to the charge, thus leaving the knives free to be thrown out by the springs
after the discharge.
Fig. 5 shews a folding knife C, C', having a joint h at about the middle of
its length to fold up, as well as the joint e, where it is to be attached to the
projectile. This knife will require a spring to be placed at the point h, as
shewn at 1, or in some equivalent way, to open it, as well as one k to open the
joint e. Both these joints may be kept closed by either of the methods
described of keeping the single joint closed. When the joint h is open far
enough to bring the part C¹ of the knife straight with the part C, a stop piece
i on one side of the back of the part C catches on the back of the part C.
By making the knife with a joint h double the length of knife may be
obtained.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of the Invention
communicated to me from abroad, I wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters I claim,―
Firstly, the attachment to a cannon ball, or other projectile for ordnance,
of knives or cutting blades in such manner that they will lie within the ball or
projectile to enable the ball to be admitted in the bore of the piece and open
or spread after the discharge of the ball or projectile, substantially as herein
described.
And, secondly, the employment for the like purpose of jointed knives con-
structed to fold at about the middle of their length, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
0 Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.B.)