AN IMPROVED SUBMARINE AND TORPEDO BOAT
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Scovil Sturgis Merriam, of Springfield, in the State of
Massachusetts, in the United States of America, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED SUBMARINE AND TORPEDO BOAT."
Scaled the 29th May 1866, and dated the 14th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Scovil Sturgis Merriam at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th March 1866.
I, SCOVIL STURGIS MERRIAM, of Springfield, in the State of Massachusetts,
in the United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for AN IMPROVED SUBMARINE AND TORPEDO BOAT," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction of a vessel for submarine
purposes, and capable of being used as a torpedo boat, of which the bottom or
lower part consists of a heavy cast-iron bed plate of the necessary form and
shape, making part of the hull of the vessel, and containing the required water
tanks, and to the upper part of which the plates forming the hull of the boat
are rivetted. The hull of the vessel is made of elliptical form in its longitudinal
section both horizontally and vertically, while its transverse sectional form at
the middle of its length may be made either semicircular or oval with a flat

page_text: bottom extending equal distances in both directions, the bow and stern being
of elliptical concoidal form. The interior of the vessel is divided into several
compartments, one of which is the working compartment, and the remaining
ones forming reservoirs to be filled with air of any desired pressure for the
purpose of supplying fresh air while under water as well as to force the water out
of the water tanks when required, or to be used for the purpose of driving an
engine to propel the vessel. In the bottom of the boat doors are provided
to permit the descent of divers from the vessel or for any other purpose. Onc
or all of these doors may be enclosed in a perfectly air-tight compartment, to
obviate the necessity of filling the whole of the working compartment with
a pressure of air corresponding to the depth the vessel may be under water,
whenever it is desirable to open the bottom doors to permit the vessel to be
used in the same manner as a diving bell or for any other purpose. In the
foreward and after end of the boat heavy weights are arranged at the bottom
fitting into suitable recesses and suspended on chains or ropes wound upon
drums capable of being operated in the working compartment. These weights,
which I call "suspended ballast," are for the purpose of anchoring the vessel
in any position, or, when resting on the bottom of the water bed, the vessel
may be made to rise and ascend by simply unwinding the chain without the
necessity of forcing the water ballast out of the water tanks.
At the stern
of the vessel a screw propeller is fitted connected to the shaft through an
universial joint and supported in a swinging frame, by which arrangement
the propeller can be made to act at the same time similar to a rudder, suitable
chains being attached to the said swinging frame to move it and consequently
the propeller in the desired direction. On the forward end of the boat a bar
is attached to a bolt or pin capable of being turned and operated by gearing
from the inside of the working compartment, in such a manner as to turn the
said bar either in a direction that its end will project some distance forward of
the vessel, or to bring the same under the bottom of the boat for the purpose
of attaching a torpedo to its end without the necessity of going out of the
vessel. On the top of the vessel a look-out tower or turret will be arranged,
provided with suitable openings capable of being closed either by solid shutters
or by shutters with glass lights. A door is likewise provided at the top, which
can be closed perfectly tight for the purpose of entering the vessel when above
water. In the inside of the vessel dead lights are placed to admit light into
the interior or working compartment. The top of the hull may be strengthened
by several thicknesses of sheet iron plates for about two or three feet down-
wards so as to make it nearly shot proof. When this vessel is intended for

page_text: commercial purposes only it may be supplied by means of pumps and flexible
pipes, the said pumps being placed either on board the vessel or on a tender
on the surface of the water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Scovil Sturgis Merriam in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SCOVIL
STURGIS MERRIAM, of Springfield, in the State of Massachusetts, in the United
States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Scovil Sturgis Merriam, Her special licence that I, the said Scovil
Sturgis Merriam, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Scovil Sturgis Merriam, 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 "AN IMPROVED
SUBMARINE AND TORPEDO BOAT," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Scovil Sturgis Merriam, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing undermy, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Scovil Sturgis Merriam, 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:-
The nature of my Invention consists in the construction of a vessel for
submarine purposes of which the bottom or lower part consists of a heavy cast-
ron bed plate of the required shape forming part of the vessel, to which the
plating of the vessel or the other part of the hull is attached, said bed plate

page_text: containing the necessary tanks for the water ballast. Further, in the arrange-
ment of suspended weights or ballast attached to ropes or chains, and capable
of being brought above the lowest part of the bottom of the vessel or of being
let down to any desirable depth. Further, in the arrangement of a bar at
the bow of the vessel capable of having a torpedo or exploding shell attached
to its end, and operated from the inside of the vessel in such a manner as to
move said bar either under the bottom of the vessel or to cause the end of
said bar to project some distance foreward of the vessel. The interior of the
vessel is divided into several compartments forming air chambers for the
purpose of containing compressed air to supply theworking compartment with
fresh air when required, as well as to drive an engine to propel the vessel.
And further, in the manner of inclosing one or all the doors in the bottom of
the vessel by a chamber or box capable of being entered from the working floor,
and of being closed perfectly air-tight to enable said door or doors to be
opened without the necessity of filling the whole of the working compartment
with the pressure of air necessary to resist the pressure of the water when
opening said door.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure I. represents a longitudinal vertical section of a vessel constructed
according to my Invention; Figure II. represents a horizontal section and
plan of the same; Figure III. is a transverse section of the vessel at midship
at point of Figure I.; Figure IV. is a diagram shewing the transverse
sectional form of the vessel in planes drawn through the points a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6, in Fig. I.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The hull of the vessel is made of elliptical form in its longitudinal section
both horizontally and vertically, meeting at each end in a point (see Figures I.
and II.); its transverse sectional form at the middle of its length may be made
either semicircular or oval with the bottom flat (see Figure III.). The
flat bottom is continued equal distances in both directions from the centre to
the extent of about one-third or one-half of its length, the bow and stern
being of elliptical conoidal form. The bottom A, or lower part of the vessel,
together with the bow B and steru C of the vessel, are made of cast iron,
which serves in part as ballast and to keep the vessel steady and upright.

page_text: The bottom A is made in the form of a series of hollow boxes or chambers
T, T, T, &c., of any desired number, and cast either in one or more
parts, screwed together by bolts, and to which the bow B and stern C
are fastened. This heavy cast-iron bed plate is made of the desired form and
shape, and forms the lower part of the hull; the other portions of the hull of
the vessel consist of a skin D of boiler plates or copper screwed or rivetted
to the top of the bed plate A and to the bow and stern B and C. In the
bed plate A there are hinged trap doors or scuttles E and F, arranged capable
of boing securely fastened down tight by screw bolts a, or in any other desired
manner. In the upper part or top of the vessel a manhole door G is fitted within
an air-tight lid or framed for the purpose of entering the vessel; this door G is
arranged to be lifted up from the inside, when required, by means of the leverc,
and is securely fastened down tight by means of screws m and cross bars n.
The tanks or chambers T, T', T, &c. in the bed plate A serve as water
chambers, into which water can be admitted by valves or cocks g to act as
ballast and cause the descent of the vessel. The interior of the vessel abovo
the bed plate is divided into several compartments through the bulkheads H,
J, K, and L, and between the bulkheads J and K a partition M is arranged
some distance from the hull D, forming together with the bulkheads Jaud K
an interior chamber, which I call the working chamber or compartment, and
likewise, together with the hull D, an exterior chamber around this working
compartment, and which together with the chambers before the bulkhead K
and behind the bulkhead J form the air chambers to contain compressed air
to be supplied into the working compartment as may be desired, and likewise
connected with the water tanks T, T', &c. in the bed plate A for the purpose
of forcing the water out of the same when required. h, h, are glass lights
fitted in different parts of the hull to admit light to the inner part of the
vessel. The frames of these lights are fitted on the inner side with metal
shutters constructed in the usual manner, to be closed in case of the lights
being broken. On the top of the vessel a small tower or turret N is arranged
provided with openings p, p, in different directions, closed with glass lights,
and secured by metal shutters on the inside, capable of being closed in case
of the glass lights being broken. This turret is made, when the vessel is
intended for war purposes, very heavy, so as to make the same nearly shot-
proof, and is supported by columns ff, resting on the top of the bed plate A.
The hull D of the vessel, as well as the partition plate M, are strengthened
by T-iron or angle iron ribs x, which at the same time serve to fasten the
braces to; these braces should be made with turn buckles to ensure an even

page_text: strain on all parts of the hull when the air compartments are filled with
compressed air. The several bulkheads and other partitions will be strength-
ened in a similar manner. 0, 01, are heavy weights, which are suspended
from ropes or cables q. These weights, which I call "suspended ballast," are
arranged near the ends of the vessel and amidships, and are capable of being
raised into recesses made in the vessel's bottom, or lowered to any depth below
by means of windlasses P, P. The ropes or cables 7 on which these weights
are suspended pass over suitable pulleys through air-tight tubes or channel
ways to the windlasses, said pulleys and windlasses, as well as part of the
gearing to work the windlasses, being situated in air-tight boxes with only the
shafts to operate, said windlasses passing through suitable stuffing boxes into
the working compartment; by this arrangement the ropes or cables can freely
pass through suitable large holes in the bottom of the vessel without requiring
any stuffing boxes for the ropes or cables to run through. Q, Qis the gearing
situated in the working compartment to work the windlasses, and con-
sequently the suspended weights 0,01, when required. When these weights
are suspended some distance below the vessel they keep the same steady and
upright in the water, and prevent her from rolling or pitching; when lowered
so as to rest on the bottom of the water bed, the vessel will be relieved of so
much weight or ballast, and will be caused to rise and ascend by simply
unwinding the ropes or cables without the necessity of forcing the water,
which acts as part of the ballast, out of the water tanks, and by winding up
the cables again the vessel will be made to descend again to the bottom.
the stern of the vessel a screw propeller S is fitted connected to the propeller
shaft w by means of a universal joint . and supported in a swinging frame R.
The propeller shaft w is driven by hand by means of suitable gearing U
situated in the working compartment, or by an engine V operated by com-
pressed air from the air compartments. To the propeller frame R arms b
are attached, to which the rudder chains t are fastened. These rudder chains
pass over suitable guiding pulleys 8 into the vessel through tubes through
the air compartments into the working compartments, and are conducted
then by means of guide pulleys S to the steering wheel W, situated some
little distance forward of the turret N, in easy reach of the pilot sitting upon
a seat attached to the collumns f, and of proper elevation for the pilot's head
entering the turret, to enable him to see his course (see Figure I.). The
propeller wheel S being supported in this swinging frame R, which latter is
operated similar to a rudder, and being connected to the propeller shaft w by
means of a universal joint r, can be turned either to the right or to the left,
At

page_text: operating therefore at the same time as a rudder for steering the vessel. Near
the propeller at the after part of the vessel, and on each side near the
centre line of the same, horizontal rudders Y are arranged, attached to a
horizontal shaft e passing through the vessel; this shaft is supported in the
sides of the vessel as well as in a suitable bearing in the box v(see Figure II.)
and is connected through gearing with a shaft running into the working
compartment, and provided with a hand wheel o or with a lever at its inner
end for the purpose of operating said shaft and consequently the side
rudders Y. These rudders are for the purpose of regulating the descent or
ascent of the vessel while in motion. When the vessel is some distance
below the surface of the water, and it should be necessary or desirable to open
either of the lower doors, the whole compartment wherein the door is
situated would be required to be filled with air of a pressure corresponding
with the depth the vessel is below the water surface to prevent the water
entering through the doors when opened. To obviate the necessity of filling
each time the whole space of the working compartment, the forward door F
is enclosed in a chamber or room X having a communication with the
working compartment, and capable of being closed perfectly tight, whereby
only this small chamber requires to be filled with air of the required pressure
corresponding to the column of water above. At the forward end or bow of
the vessel a long bar Z is arranged attached to a shaft or spindles, con-
nected by means of gearing with a shaft u running into the chamber X or
into the working compartment, and arranged with suitable gearing at its end
for the purpose of turning said shaft u and consequently the bar Z. To the
end of this bar Z the torpedo or exploding shell is attached; this bar is made
of such a length and shape as to bring its end where the torpedo is attached
nearly on a line with the centre line of the vessel when said bar is turned in
a position to project forward of the vessel, and when turned around or under
the bottom of the vessel, so that its end or the torpedo will come below or
near the door F, for the purpose of attaching in that position the torpedo or
exploding shell to said bar without the necessity of going out of the vessel to
perform this operation. On each side in the working compartment strong
copper cylinders may be placed filled with air of from four to five hundred
pounds pressure to increase thereby the quantity of air and consequently the
length of time the vessel can remain under water. When the vessel is under
water, and it is desired to ascend without letting the suspended weights or
ballast go down to the bottom of the water bed, as above described, air is
made to enter the water tanks from the air compartiments or from the copper

page_text: pumps
cylinders, and the water valves g being opened the pressure of the air will
force the water out of the tanks, thereby lightening the vessel, when the same
will readily ascend to the surface. When the vessel is intended for com-
mercial purposes only it may be supplied with fresh air by means of
placed on a tender above the water, or by pumps on board the vessel and a
flexible pipe of suitable length leading to the surface of the water, the mouth
of said pipe being kept above the surface of the water by means of a float.
When the vessel is intended for war purposes I propose to strengthen the
top of the hull by two or three thicknesses of heavy iron plates D' for about
two or three feet downwards, so as to make that part of it nearly shot-proof.
This vessel may be used for making submarine explosions in removing ob-
structions, or in the preparation of such removal, in building foundations
without the necessity of a coffer dam, and in many other submarine civil,
military, and uaval engineering operations.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of my Invention,
and the manner in which the same is or may be used and carried into effect.
I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as my Invention is,-
Firstly, the construction of the lower portion or bottom of a submarine
vessel of heavy cast-iron bed plates containing the water tanks, in combination
with the ends of the vessel, and arranged substantially as and for the p
herein set forth.
purpose
Secondly, I claim the suspended ballast so applied as to be capable of being
brought above the level of the lowest part of the bottom of the vessel or let
down to any desirable distance below, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
Thirdly, the arrangement of the ropes or cables, guide pulleys, and windlass
with gearing for the purpose of operating the suspended ballast in a perfectly
air-tight box, operating and being operated substantially in the manner and
for the purpose described.
Fourthly, I claim the application of an engine worked by compressed air
to the propeller shaft in combination with a submarine vessel, as set forth.
Fifthly, I claim in combination with a submarine vessel the arrangement of
a torpedo bar on the bow of the vessel, and the manner of operating said
bar from the inside of the vessel in the manner substantially as described.
Sixthily, I claim enclosing one or more of the doors in the bottom of a
submarine vessel in a chamber capable of being closed perfectly air-tight for
the purpose substantially as set forth and specified.

page_text: Seventhly, I claim the construction of a submarine vessel consisting of a
heavy cast-iron bed plate or bottom with an iron or copper hull, in combination
with the water tanks arranged in the bed plate, the air chambers around the
sides, top, and ends of the working compartment, the suspended ballast
weights, the screw propeller worked either by hand or by a compressed air
engine, and the torpedo bar with exploding shell at its end, when the whole
is arranged and combined in the manner and for the purpose substantially as
set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Scovi! Sturgis Merriam, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six.
SCOVIL STURGIS MERRIAM. (L.S.)