Improvements in or relating to Ships or Vessels for Increasing the Speed thereof.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Jan., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 26th Oct., 1692-Accepted, 3rd Dec., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Ships or Vessels for Increasing the
Speed thereof.
I, HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM, of Crayford Works, Crayford, in the County of
Kent, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:
My invention relates to ships or vessels and has for its chief object to so construct
a ship or vessel that it will not plough its way through the water as does an ordinary
vessel but will skim over the surface of the water, and will thereby offer much less
resistance to the propelling force. Consequently a ship constructed according to
my invention can he driven at a much higher speed than an ordinary ship or vessel.
With vessels constructed as heretofore, the speed only increases approximately as
the cube root of the propelling power expended, and therefore it is a very
difficult matter under these conditions to increase their speed to any considerable
degree.
In carrying my invention into effect I construct the ship or vessel preferably
with a flat bottom, and with a bow shaped like a punt. Near the stern at each
side thereof I place one or more projecting fins or blades the forward edges of
which are higher than the rear edges, or in other words the said blades are inclined
to the horizontal in such a manner that as the vessel moves forward they will cause
the stern to be raised well out of the water. The bow of the vessel is raised by
the action of its inclined surface on the water, which action is similar to that
of the inclined blades at the stern.
Instead of constructing a special shaped vessel in the manner above indicated I
may provide an ordinary vessel with one or more inclined blades at the stem and
stern at each side thereof for the purpose of raising the said vessel on the top of
the water and enabling it to travel at a much higher speed than is possible when it
ploughs through the water.
The power for propelling the vessel may be derived from an engine constructed
somewhat as described in the Specification of a prior Patent granted to me
No. 10359 of 1889. I may if desired modify the engine to adapt it to a vessel;
for example, I may make the stroke much shorter so as to enable the engine to
run at a higher number of revolutions per minute.
I prefer to employ a simple forged steel screw propeller but to ensure its being
completely submerged when the vessel is on the top of the water I mount the
propeller in a forging or casting designed to maintain it at a considerable distance
below the flat bottom of the vessel.
arrange
suitable
In some cases I make the aforementioned blades movable and I
apparatus for automatically governing the inclination thereof, such apparatus being
similar to that for preventing the rolling of ships described in the Specification of
a prior Patent No. 19886 of 1890.
A vessel constructed or equipped in the manner above indicated and having
steam or naphtha engines and using coal or petroleum for a fuel, would be able to
pass over the water without greatly disturbing it, and in this manner a very great
speed could be attained.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Ships or Vessels for Increasing-the
Speed thereof.
1, HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM, of Baldwyn's Park, Bexley, in the County of
Kent, formerly of Crayford Works, Crayford, in the County of Kent, 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 :-
My invention has for its object to so construct a ship or vessel that it will not
plough its way through the water as does an ordinary vessel but will skim more or
less on the surface of the water and will thereby offer much less resistance to its
propulsion. Consequently a vessel constructed according to my invention can be
propelled with a much less expenditure of force at the same speed as, or with the
same expenditure of force at a much greater speed than, an ordinary vessel as
heretofore constructed. It is well known that the speed of an ordinary vessel
only increases approximately as the cube root of the propelling force, other
things being equal, and therefore it is a very difficult matter to put sufficient power
into a vessel to increase the speed thereof very much over what is at present
attained.
In carrying my invention into effect. I sometimes construct the vessel with a bow
shaped like a punt, and with a flat bottom, and I provide at or near the stern a
device for raising the vessel to the top of the water as hereinafter described.
I can however apply my invention to vessels having a sharp keel and an ordinary
shaped bow.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a side view of a boat provided with my improvements, as it would
appear when moving slowly through the water.
Figure 2 is a view of the same boat when moving rapidly through the water but
without the lifting device having been brought into action.
Figure 3 is a view of the same boat, skimming on the water, the lifting device
having been brought into play.
Figure 4 is a plan of the boat, and
Figure 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion of the stern.
Figure 6 is a side elevation of a flat bottomed boat with a bow shaped like a
punt and provided with my improvements.
Figure 7 is a plan of the same.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
Referring to Figures 1 to 5 the boat A is constructed with an extension of the
deadwood of the keel, or with a metal frame B known as a skagg secured to
the keel and adapted to receive and form a bearing for the propeller shaft C¹. The
propeller C is thereby so far depressed below the keel that it will remain well
under the water even when the boat is skimming on the surface. The propeller is
preferably made of forged steel. D is a blade or fin which is pivoted at D' near
the stern end of the vessel and which projects laterally and rearwardly somewhat
.as shown in Figure 4. The rear end of the said fin or blade is suitably supported
so as to be movable or adjustable in a vertical direction to set its surface at any
desired inclination, as for example it is coupled by a swivel joint E' to the lower
end of a screw threaded spindle E which works through a nut E' mounted in the
stern of the vessel. E³ is a handle for turning said spindle for the purpose of
adjusting the position of the blade. D2 is an opening formed in the blade to enable
it to clear the propeller. The rudder F may be situated beneath the blade or fin D
as indicated in the drawings.
The mode of action of my improvement may be understood by considering what

page_text: happens when a steam boat of small dimensions is driven rapidly through the
water. The bow of the vessel cuts the water and throws the same to the right and
left leaving as it were a groove in the water which would take a perceptible time to
refil by the closing in again of the water. The stern of the boat therefore falls.
into a hollow in the water with the result that the vessel sinks considerably at the
stern somewhat as indicated in Figure 2. It has heretofore been attempted to
cause both the bow and stern to rise in the water by propelling the vessel at a high
speed, but without success. According to my invention I prevent the stern from
falling by providing the same with a lifting blade D which projects laterally ou
each side the stern sufficiently far to be acted upon by water which has not been
appreciably disturbed by the bow of the vessel. This blade or fin is adjusted to.
the proper angle of inclination so that the water acts thereupon and raises the
stern. By this construction any speed of the vessel which is sufficient to lift the
bow is also sufficient to lift the stern, the vessel therefore glides more or less on
the surface of the water and much greater speed is thus attainable than when the
vessel cuts through the water as heretofore. I may provide the vessel with similar
blades at or near the stem as well as at the stern.
In Figures 6 and 7 I have shown a flat bottomed boat having a bow shaped like
a punt. I have also shown two lifting blades or fins D one at each side near the
stern. When the vessel is being propelled at a high speed, and the blades D are
adjusted to raise the stern, substantially the only part of the vessel that is submerged
is the part B. The said part B may be made hollow and used as a condenser.
In some cases I provide that the inclination of the blades Dshall be automatically
adjusted by controlling mechanism similar to that for preventing the rolling of ships
described in the Specification of a prior Patent No. 19886 A.D. 1890 granted to me
The generator and engine which I preferably use for propelling my improved
vessel are modifications of those described in the Specifications of prior Patents.
No. 10359 A.D. 1889 and No. 19228 A.D. 1891. The generator is constructed
with a large number of very small evaporating tubes preferably made of copper
which are connected with the distributing and separating pipes or drums by means
of a coupling of the kind shown in Figure 19 of the aforementioned Specification
No. 19228. The fuel employed is petroleum, paraffin, naphtha, or kerosene oil
which is vapourized outside the generator in a suitable vapourizer provided for the
purpose and is then conducted to the main burner or furnace of the generator.
The whole apparatus is made self-regulating so that the supply of gas and water
and the pressure of steam in the generator are maintained approximately constant.
The naphtha or other oil tanks may be concealed beneath the seats of the boat
where they will be quite out of the way. The engines are made very light and, for
the purpose of being able to put on a spurt as when starting or first lifting the
vessel on the top of the water, they are constructed with a bye-pass between the
main steam pipe and the exhaust pipe of the small cylinder to admit steam direct to
the large cylinder, said bye-pass being fitted with a species of injector as and for
the purpose described in the aforementioned Specification No. 19228. I find it
advantageous to construct the engine with a short stroke so that it may run at a
very high number of revolutions per minute. Such an engine and generator are
very powerful in proportion to their weight and in combination with a boat con-
structed as hereinabove described would serve to propel the boat at a very high
speed and without greatly disturbing the water.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A boat provided with a fin or fins at or near the stern thereof to prevent the
stern falling in the water when the boat is moving at a high speed, for the purpose
specified.
2. Providing a boat with an adjustable laterally projecting fin or fins at the stern
thereof, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

page_text: 3. A boat made full at the bow in combination with adjustable laterally project-
ing fins at the stern thereof, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.
4. The combination, with a boat, of laterally projecting automatically adjustable
fins at the stem and stern, or at the stern only, substantially as described, for
the purpose specified.
5. The combination, with the adjustable fins, of the part B projecting beneath
the keel or bottom of the boat and supporting the propeller shaft, substantially as
described, for the purpose specified.
6. A boat constructed substantially as described with reference to Figures 1 to 5
or to Figures 6 and 7 of the drawings.
Dated this 26th dor of October 1802
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.