IMPROVED MEANS OF PROTECTING THE HULLS OF VESSELS FROM TORPEDOES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR INCREASING THE BUOYANCY AND CARRYING CAPACITY OF VESSELS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS
OF PROTECTING THE HULLS OF VESSELS FROM TORPEDOES, APPLICABLE ALSO
FOR INCREASING THE BUOYANCY AND CARRYING CAPACITY OF VESSELS."
A communication from abroad by John Harmanns Fisher, of the City and
County of Baltimore, State of Maryland, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th December 1877.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVED MEANS OF PROTECTING THE HULLS OF VESSELS FROM
TORPEDOES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR INCREASING THE BUOYANCY AND CARRYING
CAPACITY OF VESSELS." [A communication from abroad by John Harmanns
Fisher, of the City and County of Baltimore, State of Maryland, United States of
America.]
The object of the Invention is to provide an efficient device for protecting the
hulls of vessels against torpedoes.
The Invention is more especially designed for application to gunboats or men-of-
war, as a protection against submarine attacks, but it may be applied to other
vessels to increase their buoyancy and carrying capacity.
The Invention consists in a series of pipes, curved to conform to the shape of the
hull, and placed on each side of the vessel a slight distance apart, at a suitable
distance therefrom. The ends of the pipes are connected together by pipes, to one
of which on each side of the vessel a pipe is connected, which is also connected
with a pump, by which air or water may be forced into or removed from the
pipes.

page_text: The pipes may be made of rigid or flexible material, and may be placed at a
greater or less distance from the hull of the vessel. The pipes, by coming into
contact with submerged torpedoes, cause them to explode at such a distance from
the vessel as to be harmless to the hull.
By filling the pipes with air the carrying capacity of the vessel is increased; by
filling them with water the vessel may be made to sit farther down in the water, so
that less of its surface is exposed above the water.
It is obvious that the arrangement of the pipes may be varied without impairing
the device as to protection, but the horizontal arrangement offers the least impedi-
ment to the propulsion of the vessel.
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
11th June 1878.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVED MEANS OF PROTECTING THE HULLS OF VESSELS FROM
TORPEDOES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR INCREASING THE BUOYANCY AND CARRYING
CAPACITY OF VESSELS." A communication from abroad by John Harmanns
Fisher, of the City and County of Baltimore, State of Maryland, United States of
America.
The object of the Invention is to provide an efficient device for protecting the
hulls of vessels against torpedoes.
The Invention is more especially designed for application to gunboats or men-of-
war, as a protection against submarine attacks, but it may be applied to other
vessels to increase their buoyancy and carrying capacity.
The Invention consists in a series of pipes, placed on each side of the hull of the
vessel, a suitable distance therefrom and connected together, and with a forcing
apparatus for filling them with air or water, or both.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a side elevation of a vessel provided
ith the improved protector.
Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on line x, x, in Figure 1.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A is the hull of a vessel, and b, b, are horizontal pipes curved to conform to the
shape of the hull, and placed a small distance apart and a short distance from the
hull. The ends of the pipes are connected together by pipes c, to one of which on
each side of the vessel a pipe d is connected, which is also connected with a pump B
by which air or water may be forced into or removed from the pipes b.
b
The pipes may be made of rigid or flexible material, and may be placed at a
greater or less distance from the hull of the vessel. The pipes, by coming into
contact with submerged torpedoes, cause them to explode at such a distance from
the vessel as to be harmless to the hull.
By filling the pipes with air the carrying capacity of the vessel is increased; by

page_text: filling them with water the vessel may be made to sit farther down in the water, so
that less of its surface is exposed.
It is obvious that the arrangement of the pipes may be varied without impairing
the device as to protection, but the horizontal arrangement offers the least impedi-
ment to the propulsion of the vessel.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the hercin-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, a series of pipes arranged along the sides of
the hull of a vessel and connected with each other, as and for the purpose herein
shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.