Patent Model, Life Boat
date: label: Date made
content: 1874
label: patent date
content: 1874-12-12
label: patent date
content: 1874-04-21
name: label: patentee
content: Sterling, Alpheus G.
label: patentee
content: Sterling, Abram T.
label: inventor
content: Sterling, Alpheus G.
label: inventor
content: Sterling, Abram T.
notes: label: Description
content: Although Joseph Francis is the best-known inventor of lifesaving boats in the 19th century, other people from diverse walks of life developed their own ideas for improving safety at sea. Among these were two fishermen from Peaks Island near Portland, Maine, Alpheus G. and Abram T. Sterling, who patented their design for lifeboat improvements in 1874.
label: Description
content: In the Sterlings’ design, the hold below the boat’s watertight deck was fitted with a rubber “air reservoir,” which conformed to the shape of the boat. A series of “apertures,” or openings, in the hull allowed water into the space around the air-filled chamber. This water-ballast helped the boat resist capsizing while air sealed inside rubber fenders and in a second interior chamber preserved the vessel’s buoyancy. The rubber air-filled reservoir was also meant to prevent the boat’s sinking if it hit an obstruction.
place: label: home of patentees
content: United States: Maine, Portland
topic: label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.325947
label: accession number
content: 249602
label: catalog number
content: 325947
label: patent number
content: 149,891
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lifeboat, model
label: Object Name
content: patent model, lifeboat
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (fitting material)
label: Physical Description
content: copper alloy (fitting material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 in x 20 in x 7 in; 10.16 cm x 50.8 cm x 17.78 cm