AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RIGHTING BOATS WHEN THEY ARE UPSET AT SEA
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Kenneth Campbell Watson, of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF RIGHTING BOATS WHEN THEY ARE UPSET AT SEA."
Sealed the 29th June 1869, and dated the 30th January 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Kenneth Campbell
Watson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 30th January 1869.
I, KENNETH CAMPBELL WATSON, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RIGHTING BOATS WHEN THEY ARE UPSET
AT SEA," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its essential object an easy method of righting
boats when they are upset at sea by a storm or by any other cause.
To effect this one or more lines of chains, ropes, straps, or bands are
attached to and stretch from the bow to the stern on each side of the
boat. The first line is situated a distance below the gunwale of the

page_text: boat equal to the depth which it would sink beneath the surface of
the water when the boat is upset, so that persons who have been thrown
out of the boat and are floating in the water may easily grasp a chain
or band. The other lines are situated a short distance apart from each
other nearer to the keel of the boat, so that by means of these, persons
in the water may lift themselves on to the bottom of the boat, and in
so doing the boat will be upturned or "righted" by the unequally
distributed weight on each side of its longitudinal axis. If it should
happen that an equal number of people are clinging to the chains or
straps on each side of the boat these afford a ready means of changing
position so as to throw a greater weight on one side of the axis and
thereby overbalance the boat; the side of the boat to which fewest people
are clinging will then rise out of the water, and the people on that side
will be thrown into the boat as it turns over. Instead of arranging the
chains or bands longitudinally they may be attached to each gunwale
and carried over the keel or attached thereto.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Kenneth Campbell Watson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, KENNETH
CAMPBELL WATSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Kenneth Campbell Watson, Her
special license that I, the said Kenneth Campbell Watson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Kenneth
Campbell Watson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF RIGHTING BOATS WHEN THEY ARE UPSET AT

page_text: SEA," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Kenneth
Campbell Watson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 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 Kenneth Campbell Watson, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :-
My said Invention has for its essential object an easy method of
righting boats when they are upset at sea by a storm or by any other
cause. To effect this one or more lines of chains, ropes, straps, or bands
are attached to and stretch from the bow to the stern on each side of the
boat. The first line is situated a distance below the gunwale of the
boat equal to the depth which it would sink beneath the surface of
the water when the boat is upset, so that persons who have been thrown
out of the boat and are floating in the water may easily grasp a chain
or band. The other lines are situated a short distance apart from each
other nearer to the keel of the boat, so that by means of these, persons
in the water may lift themselves on to the bottom of the boat, and in
so doing the boat will be upturned or "righted" by the unequally
distributed weight on each side of its longitudinal axis. If it should
happen that an equal number of people are clinging to the chains or
straps on each side of the boat these afford a ready means of changing
position so as to throw a greater weight on one side of the axis and
thereby overbalance the boat; the side of the boat to which fewest
people are clinging will then rise out of the water, and the people on
that side will be thrown into the boat as it turns over. Instead of
arranging the chains or bands longitudinally they may be attached to
each gunwale and carried over the keel or attached thereto.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I
now proceed more particularly to specify the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, reference being had for the sake of more complete elucidation

page_text: to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boat arranged in accordance with my
said Invention; Figure 2 is an end elevation at the stern of the same;
and Figure 3 is an elevation at the bow showing my improved righting
apparatus applied thereto, whilst Figure 4 is an elevation of the boat
inverted and with the gear in position for righting.
In these Figures it will be observed that near, about, or at a short
distance below the level of the gunwale the boat is provided with a
longitudinal line, rope, bar, or strap A, which is firmly secured to the
boat at the ends and centre by the retaining brackets B, but it obviously
may be secured in any other convenient manner. The line is provided
with the hand pieces C, these by preference being formed of vulcanised
india-rubber, although they may be made of wood or other non-con-
ducting material, and they may also be dispensed with. When the
boat is in its place on board ship the righting apparatus or gear is in
the position shown at Figures 1 and 3, but when the boat is put in the
water the lines, cords, straps, or chains a are loosened from the fastenings
on the inside of the boat, which thus permit the hinged levers b and c
to fall into the position shown at Figure 2. At a distance from the
first line A, herein-before referred to, a second line G is situated; it is
attached at its ends to the boat by hooks or retaining brackets as shown,
or it may be otherwise attached thereto. From each of the lines G on
either side of the boat a connecting line e passes to each of the hinged
levers b and c on the opposite sides of the keel, the joints of the levers
b and c being so constructed that when in a perpendicular position, as
shown at Figure 2, they cannot be pulled further back. From what
is herein-before set forth it is obvious that if the boat is upset in the
water, as shown at Figure 4, the persons who are thrown into the water
can grasp the line A with their hands, having hold of which they are
enabled to grasp the other line G, the weight of their bodies acting on
one side of the boat by the increased leverage obtained by the levers b
or c (as the case may be, according to which side of the boat the entire
or greater part of the weight is suspended) turns the boat over, that is
to say, rights it, so that if there are persons clinging to both sides of the
boat the boat is turned over in the direction of the side having the
greatest number of persons clinging thereto, and the persons on the
other side or where the least weight is are by clinging on to the lines A

page_text: or G thrown into the boat. In place of obtaining additional leverage
by means of the levers b and c they may be dispensed with, and the
additional leverage if desired may be obtained by placing the lines A
and G on supports of sufficient length to keep them further away from
the longitudinal axis of the boat's centre of gravity.
It is a well-known fact that if a boat unprovided with any such means
as I have herein-before described is upset in water that the efforts of
persons thrown into the water are of no avail in righting the boat, but
from experiments which I have conducted with boats arranged in the
manner herein-before set forth and illustrated on the appended Drawings
I have found that the righting of boats when upset is easily effected.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used
or practically carried into effect, I wish to observe in conclusion that
what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The application to boats of lines of rope, chains, or straps,
either running longitudinally with or transversely to the boat's axis, as
herein-before set forth, or any mere modification thereof.
Second. The application of hinged levers, to which one or more of
the lines are attached, as herein-before described and shown at b and c
in the several Figures in the annexed Sheet of Drawings, or any mere
modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Kenneth Campbell Watson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.