Improvements in Apparatus for Floating Stranded Vessels.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Oct., 1898-Accepted, 12th Nov., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Floating Stranded Vessels.
I, SIMON LAKE, of No. 1710, Parkwood Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, United
States of America, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention has for its object to provide an apparatus adapted for use in
hauling stranded vessels off the shores or out of shoal waters, into which they
may have been driven by storms or by other means, into deep water.
It has been common heretofore to effect this object, where practicable, by the
employment of towing vessels to which the stranded vessels have been attached
by suitable hawsers; but, owing to the excessive power required in such opera-
tion and the comparatively small force to be derived from the means of propulsion
of the towing vessel, the operation is exceedingly difficult and liable to failure,
under the effects of the elements during the time usually expended in waiting
for favorable tides and conditions of the weather.
The comparatively small amount of power available for such work will be
evident when it is realized that the forward impulse of a large trans-Atlantic
steamer such; for instance, as that formerly known as the "St. Paul" of the
American line; developing 20,000 horse power, is only about eighty-five tons;
.e., would exert a pull of eighty-five tons upon a tow line attached thereto;
while that of one of the larger steam tug boats is not more than three or four
tons. Although the power developed by the engines of these vessels is ample,
a means of applying such power effectively has heretofore been lacking;-the
mere resistance of the water against the propeller wheels being insufficient.
The employment of anchors of the ordinary type from which lines have been
led to winches on the stranded steamers has also proved ineffective, as they have
necessarily been made of such size as to be readily handled, in which case their
grasp upon the sea bed has failed to offer sufficient resistance to the strain upon
the line leading from the stranded vessel.
To obviate these objections and to furnish an abutment of sufficient rigidity
to resist the pull of the line made fast to the vessel for dislodging the same,
is the immediate object of the present invention; which consists, primarily, in
a normally buoyant anchor adapted to be towed to the vicinity of the stranded
vessel and provided with means for then destroying its buoyancy to enable it
to sink to the sea bed where its weight operates in imbedding its arms deeply
in the bottom to secure a firm hold. A line fixed to the anchor under such
condition may be subjected to the severest strain without starting the same from
its position.
The work of dislodging the stranded vessel having been effected, the restora-
tion of the buoyancy of the anchor enables the latter to again rise to the surface
for being towed to some other locality where its similar use is required.
By providing the anchor with a water-tight chamber capable of excluding
the water when normally floating upon the surface, the device may be made of
any suitable size for the use for which it is designed, its bulk and weight not
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page_text: appreciably affecting its adaptability for transportation. The body of the
anchor is preferably shaped somewhat like a boat, pointed at one or both ends,
in order that it may be readily drawn by a tow boat or a wrecking steamer pro-
vided with such supplemental apparatus as may be found useful for operation
in connection with the anchor in the process of moving the vessel.
While the largest anchors at present in use weigh from three to four tons
only, and cannot be made larger in practice because of the difficulty of handling
the same from the deck of the ordinary wrecking steamer, anchors made accord-
ing to my present invention may be of fifty or seventy-five tons weight, and thus
capable of resisting a pull of five hundred to six hundred tons from lines attached
to the stranded vessel, and still be capable of easy manipulation, as they require
on no account to be lifted from the water in connection with the performance of
their proper functions.
My present invention further includes a winch mounted in an external recess
in the body of the anchor and driven by a motor within a water-tight chamber
therein, and thus adapted to apply directly to the line the power for moving
the stranded vessel.
The invention includes also a floating pulley block with pulleys for use in
connection with the winch with which the anchor is provided and the line
leading therefrom, such pulley block being connected by other lines to a head
block attached to the vessel. The latter arrangement enables me to employ a
series of hempen ropes between the head block and the floating pulley block to
give the requisite elasticity to the tackle, while employing a steel cable, having
the advantage of small bulk for a given degree of strength, for connecting the
pulley block with the anchor. By this construction, the cable may be normally
wound up so as to draw the pulley block up against the end of the anchor to
serve as the stern of a boat which they together produce of convenient form
for being towed from place to place.
From the foregoing description it will be observed that one of the important
advantages of the present improvement is that the apparatus may be attached
to the stranded vessel immediately upon arriving in its vicinity and without
waiting for favorable tides and weather in which to effect the dislodgement of
the vessel; so that, in case of stormy weather during such time, the vessel may
not be liable to be driven farther ashore. It is equally evident that, by connect-
ing the hauling line to a winch directly upon the stranded vessel, the work of
floating the vessel may be effected even in stormy weather under conditions in
which a wrecking boat would be unadapted to operate: thus preventing the
vessel's being dashed to pieces while awaiting assistance.
Having thus stated the essential features of the improvement, and believing
that I am the first to provide an anchor adapted to be floated to the location in
which it is designed to operate, then lowered to the water bed to perform its
normal function and its buoyancy afterward restored to enable it to rise to the
surface for removal from such location, I wish it to be understood that I do
not, limit myself to the particular form or construction of the device or its
various parts shown and described herein, as the same may obviously be greatly
varied without departure from the spirit of the present invention.
In the annexed drawing, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the
apparatus in the operation of dislodging a stranded vessel from its position
upon the water bed in shoal water; Fig. 2 is a plan of the anchor with the top
portion removed to expose the construction and arrangement of the parts below,
and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same; Fig. 4 is an end elevation, partly
in section on line in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a sectional plan, similar to Fig. 2, of
the floating pulley block.
The buoyant anchor embodying the essential part of the apparatus is con-
structed with a primary water-tight chamber 1 and a smaller super-
posed independent water-tight chamber 2, together constituting the body
portion of the anchor from the bottom of which are projected near the forward

page_text: end the downwardly and rearwardly extending grappling arms 3 having the
flukes 4 of the usual form and arrangement. The forward portion of the lower
chamber is shown extended forward of the upper chamber and wedge-shaped like
the bow of a boat, its forward extremity having an eye 5 or other suitable
means of fastening a line for use in towing the apparatus to the place of
operation.
An external recess 6 is shown formed at one side of the lower or primary
chamber 1, the wall of which is pierced by the water inlet pipe 7 having the
valve 8 with stem 9 provided with the actuating lever 10 carrying a weight 11
upon its outer end. The valve being normally closed with its actuating lever
in a substantially horizontal position for excluding water from the chamber 1,
as indicated in full lines in Fig. 1, the weighted end of the lever may be raised
into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 by means of a cord 12,
when the inflow of water through the inlet pipe 7 will destroy the buoyancy of
the anchor and permit it to sink to the water bed in which the anchoring arms 3
will firmly embed themselves under the then effective weight of the anchor.
When it is desired to raise the anchor to the surface after performing its
function while resting upon the water bed, its buoyancy may be restored by
the displacement of the water in the chamber 1-through a check valve 13 at the
bottom by means of compressed air forced into the chamber through the air-
supply pipe 14 leading into the top of the same from a tug boat or wrecking
vessel 15 upon the surface.
In case the inlet valve is disposed near the bottom of the chamber 1, it is
obvious that it may serve additionally as an exit passage when opened by means
of the cord 12 during the admission of compressed air from the pipe 14 which
is, of course, suitably valved for effecting the control of the air-supply; and
that the additional check valve 13 is not therefore essential to the effective
working of the apparatus.
It is obviously immaterial whether such a combined inlet and outlet valve
for the water-ballast chamber 1 be connected directly therewith as shown in
the drawings, or indirectly by arrangement in a pipe leading thereto; or whether
such valve be employed directly for the passage of water to and from such
chamber, as with the use of a force pump for expelling and excluding the
water, or for compressed air employed in varying the volume of water therein
by displacement; so long as the chamber is valved, whereby it is adapted for
the manipulation of water admitted to and expelled from the chamber. It is
obvious that, by providing an open aperture or passage in the lower portion of
the chamber for the free entrance and exit of water to and from the same, the
quantity of water therein may be readily governed by compressed air supplied
through a suitably valved pipe connected with the upper portion of the
chamber.
While the external pressure of the water will be found in most cases sufficient
to compress the contained air to the required extent for the admission of the
necessary volume of water in overcoming the buoyancy of the anchor, it is
evident that the top of the chamber may be provided with an air valve to permit
the escape of the air so compressed, or such confined air may be led away through
the pipe 14 by the provision of an air escape valve therein.
The anchoring arms 3 are provided each with a passage 31 leading from its
upper end downwardly to a point in its surface near the lower or outer extremity,
through which passages jets of water may be forced from a pipe 17 having
branches 17 connected therewith and with the flexible hose 16 from a hydraulic
pump upon the vessel 15; whereby the water bed surrounding such arms may
be softened preparatory to disengaging the same when the water is expelled
from the chamber 1 to restore the buoyancy of the anchor. In most cases, how-
ever, the employment of this device will be found unnecessary, as the restored
buoyancy of the anchor will exert a sufficient upward impulse to effect the
withdrawal of the arms 3.
i

page_text: A floating pulley block 18 is preferably provided for connecting the lines 19
leading from the head block 191 attached to the stranded vessel 20 to a hoisting
line 21 connected with the anchor. This pulley block I preferably form with
a water-tight chamber 18¹, which may be sub-divided by one or more parti-
tions 18, and provided at one end with an external recess 22 in which are
sustained the sheaves 23 mounted in suitable bearings. The pulley block is
provided upon the opposite end with a series of eyes 24 for the attachment of
the lines 19 and is constructed of similar cross-section to the rear end of the
anchor to which it is attached by means of the steel cable 21 passing over
sheaves 25 sustained in bearings in the external recess 26 adjacent to the
chamber and connected to a winch 27 in a similar recess 28 adjacent to the
secondary water-tight chamber 2. This winch is shown connected by means of
suitable spur and worm gearing with an electric motor 29 within the chamber 2, the
shaft 291 of the train of gearing being surrounded by a stuffing box where it
pierces the wall of the chamber.
While the winch 27 is for obvious reasons preferably housed in the recess 28
exterior to both the chambers 1 and 2 forming the body of the anchor, as illus-
trated herein, it is to be understood that such arrangement is not essential to the
present improvement, as the winch may obviously be mounted in bearings
secured directly to the external wall of either of such chambers; nor is the
chamber 2 an essential part of the structure, as the selection of some other type
of motor from that shown in the accompanying drawings for actuating the winch
may render such enclosing chamber unnecessary.
The metallic conductors for supplying electrical energy to the motor are also
led upward from the interior of the motor chamber 2 through a flexible hose 30
to the wrecking boat 15 which is provided with means for supplying electric
current to the motor and means for regulating or governing its movement.
While the means for driving the winch is shown herein as an electric motor,
it is to be understood that any other suitable form of motor may be employed
for the purpose; the adoption of a hydraulic motor exhausting directly into the
surrounding water rendering the provision of a motor chamber 2 superfluous.
In order to provide access to the motor chamber in case the motor requires
attention while the anchor is sunk to its operative position upon the water bed,
I provide a third air-lock chamber 31 at one side of the anchor adjacent to the
motor chamber 2 and provide it with an outer trap door 32 opening outward or
downward from the bottom, and an inner door 33 opening outward with reference
to the motor chamber, each of such doors being provided with suitable fasten-
ings, 34, as indicated in the drawings. By means of this air-lock chamber, a
diver upon the water bed may ascend the ladder 35, open the trap door 32 into
the chamber 31, the latter having been previously supplied with compressed air
at the pressure of the surrounding water by suitable means, (as by a branch
from the air-supply pipe 14), and enter the chamber 31. Upon closing the trap
door, communication may be established with the interior of the motor chamber
in the customary manner of operation with the use of air locks. The mode of
communication between the interior and exterior of chambers or compartments
under different pressures by means of air-locks being at present well known, I
have not shown herein all the specific apparatus required in practice for such
purpose, the same forming no part of my present invention.
In order to provide a buoy for locating the position of the anchor when the
wrecking boat is compelled to leave the vicinity of the anchor on account of
rough weather or for other reasons, a floating block 36 is provided; which
latter carries preferably a guide block 36 with holes in which are secured the
ends of the several flexible pipes for manipulating the submerged anchor.
This block 36 not only determines the position of the anchor, but affords a means
of support for the ends of the hose for their detachable connection with pipes
leading from the apparatus upon the attending wrecking boat employed in the
operation of the anchor.

page_text: In the operation of the apparatus, the winch is first actuated to wind the line 21
upon its drum so as to bring the pulley block 18 into abutment against the
rear end of the anchor to form the stern portion of a boat of which the normally
buoyant anchor constitutes the middle and forward portions. As thus arranged
the device is readily towed to the vicinity of the stranded vessel to be operated
upon. Water is next admitted to the chamber 1 through the valved inlet pipe 7
and the buoyancy of the anchor destroyed to fix the latter firmly in the water
bed; after which the head block 19 at the free end of the ropes 19 is attached
to the ropes 1911 made fast to suitable parts of the vessel 20, when the apparatus
is ready for operation in hauling the stranded vessel into deep water in which
the anchor has been previously sunk.
The several pipes leading from the anchor having been properly connected
with their respective apparatus upon the attending wrecking boat, the motor may
now be started to slowly wind in the line 21, the latter having been previously
run out to free the pulley block from the anchor a suitable distance.
When the vessel is hauled off the bottom by this device, the tackle is discon-
nected therefrom and the anchor caused to rise to the surface as before explained,
after which the pulley block 18 is drawn up to its initial position astern of the
anchor; and the Hoat 36, head block 19¹ and ropes 19, and the flexible pipes 14, 16
and 30 having been piled thereupon, the apparatus may be towed away in
readiness for the repetition of the operation in another locality.
While the character of the connection between the pulley block and the
stranded vessel is not an essential of the present improvement, I prefer to employ
hempen ropes for the lines marked 19 in the drawings, in order to secure clas-
ticity in the connection with the anchor, for reasons which will be readily
understood by those conversant with the class of work for which the present
improvement is designed.
It will be obvious that, instead of providing the anchor with the motor, the
line 21 may be led from the pulley block IS to a winch directly upon the wrecking
boat 15, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1; and it is also evident that the
means of manipulating the anchor and of drawing upon the line 21 may be
supplied by the stranded vessel itself: but the plan specifically described and
illustrated herein is considered preferable, as such supplemental apparatus is
thereby more conveniently accessible and renders the apparatus better adapted
for operating upon all classes of vessels alike, regardless of the apparatus with
which they may be provided suitable for co-operation with the anchor.
In cases wherein a compressed air reservoir is employed in connection with
the anchor to provide means for expelling the water from the chamber 1, the
anchor may obviously be sunk and raised from the water bed merely by the
manipulation of suitable valves, without the necessity of connecting it with an
attending vessel as described above.
It sometimes happens that a vessel is stranded upon a gradually sloping beach
or sand bar, and the anchor is thus required to be submerged at a considerable
distance therefrom, in which case the floating pulley block is drawn down to the
bottom in the operation of dislodging the vessel. In order to adapt the pulley
block to ride over the water bed readily in such case, I provide the same pre-
ferably with a pair of rollers 37 which are adapted to roll upon the bottom
and sustain the body of the block out of contact therewith so as to prevent its
dragging thereon.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
-
1. An anchor adapted for submergence wholly beneath the surface of the
water and provided with a valved chamber and means for the admission and
expulsion of water to and from said chamber, whereby said anchor may be

page_text: caused to descend below the surface and rest upon the water bed and to there-
after rise to the surface for the purposes described.
2. The combination, with an anchor adapted for submergence wholly beneath
the surface of the water and provided with a valved chamber and with rigid
downwardly projecting grappling arms, of means for the admission and expul-
sion of water to and from said chamber, whereby said anchor may be caused
to descend below the surface and by its own weight force its grappling arms into
engagement with the water bed and to thereafter rise to the surface and thus
withdraw said arms from the water bed.
3. The combination, with an anchor adapted for submergence wholly beneath
the surface of the water and constructed with a chamber for the reception inter-
changeably of water and air, of means whereby the contents of said chamber may
be changed for either increasing or reducing the weight of said anchor in
relation to that of the displaced bulk of surrounding water.
4. An anchor adapted to be submerged wholly beneath the surface of the
water and provided with a water-tight chamber, an inlet valve for admitting
water thereto, and a pipe connection for the introduction of compressed air to
the interior of said chamber for expelling the water therefrom.
5. An anchor adapted to be submerged wholly beneath the surface of the
water and provided with a water-tight chamber, a check valve at the bottom of
said chamber, and a pipe connection for the introduction of compressed air to
the interior of said chamber for expelling the water through said check valve.
6. An anchor provided with a water-tight chamber, an inlet valve for admit-
ting water thereto, a weighted actuating lever fixed to the stem of said valve,
means for retaining said lever in its upright position to maintain the valve in
its open position and for releasing said lever to effect the closing of said valve,
and a pipe connection for the introduction of compressed air to the interior of
said chamber for expelling the water therefrom.
7. An anchor provided with a water-tight chamber, an inlet valve for admit-
ting water thereto, a pipe connection for the introduction of compressed air to
the interior of said chamber for expelling the water therefrom, anchoring arms
projected downwardly from the body of said anchor and formed with passages
feading to the extremities of said arms, and pipe connections with said passages
for supplying water thereto, as and for the purpose set forth.
8. A normally buoyant submergeable anchor provided with a water chamber
and means for the admission and expulsion of water to and from the same for
the purpose described, a winch mounted in bearings external to said chamber,
and means for actuating said winch.
9. A normally buoyant submergeable anchor provided with a water chamber
and means for the admission and expulsion of water to and from the same for
the purpose described, a secondary air-tight chamber, a winch mounted in bear-
ings external to said chambers, and means within said secondary chamber for
actuating said winch.
10. An anchor provided with a primary water-tight chamber and means for
the admission and expulsion of water to and from the same, a secondary water-
tight chamber, a winch mounted in bearings external to said chambers, a motor
within said secondary chamber and means for supplying the same with power,
and a connection from said motor to said winch for actuating the latter.
11. An anchor provided with a primary water-tight chamber, a secondary
water-tight chamber, an air-lock chamber provided with an external door and
a door for communication with the interior of said secondary chamber, a winch
mounted in bearings external to said chambers, a motor within said secondary
chamber and means for supplying the same with power, and a connection from
said motor to said winch for actuating the latter.
12. An anchor provided with a primary water-tight chamber and means for
the admission and expulsion of water to and from the same, a secondary water-
tight chamber, exterior recesses at the adjacent ends of each of said chambers,

page_text: a motor within the secondary chamber, a winch mounted in bearings within the
adjacent external recess and connected with said motor for deriving motion there-
from, sheave pulleys mounted in the recess exterior to said primary chamber, and
means for supplying power to said motor.
13. The combination with a normally buoyant submergeable anchor con-
structed with a water chamber, and means for the admission and expulsion of
water to and from the same for the purpose described, of an independent float,
and a flexible conductor suitable for the transmission of power for manipulating
said anchor and having one end connected with the interior of the same and the
other end attached to and supported by said float.
14.The combination, with a normally buoyant anchor provided with means
whereby its buoyancy may be destroyed and restored at will and carrying suit-
able sheave pulleys, of a floating pulley block, and lines connecting the
pulleys of said anchor and floating block, as and for the purpose set forth.
15. The combination, with a normally buoyant anchor provided with means
whereby its buoyancy may be destroyed and restored at will and carrying suit-
able sheave pulleys, of a floating pulley block having anti-friction wheels
projected below its bottom, and lines connecting the pulleys, of said anchor and
floating block, as and for the purpose set forth.
16. The combination, with a normally buoyant anchor provided with means
whereby its buoyancy may be destroyed and restored at will, of a floating pulley
block fitted to and abutting against one end of the same, and means for detach-
ably securing said anchor and pulley block together, as and for the purpose
set forth.
17. The combination, with a normally buoyant anchor pointed at one end
and blunt at the opposite end and formed with a recess therein containing suit-
able sheave pulleys, and provided with means whereby its buoyancy may
destroyed and restored at will, of a floating pulley block having one end fitted
to the blunt end of said anchor and provided with pulleys adjacent thereto and
a line running over said pulleys operating to secure said pulley block to the
anchor, as and for the purpose set forth.
Date this 3rd day of October 1898
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
Agents for Applicant, 17, St. Ann's Square, Manchester.