US1266196A - Protective armor for ships. - Google Patents

Description

F. W. BENTLEY. PROTECTIVE ARMOR FOR SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, I917- Patented May14,1918.

FREDERIC W. BENTLEY,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

rno'rnc'rivn ARMOR FOR SHIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1918.

Application an m 7, 1917. Serial No. 167,110.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERIC W. BENT- mar, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Protective Armor for Ships, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to protective armor for ships.

, The appalling destruction of ships, their cargoes, and in many cases, human lives, in the great European. war now being waged, by means of torpedoes discharged from submarines. mines, etc., is a matter of common knowledge, and the problem of protecting ships from attack by means of torpedoes, mines and the like, is recognized as one of the most ,difiicult presented by modern marine warfare.

Broadly stated, the object of the present inventicn is to provide a protective armor for ships which will operate to distribute the force or" concussion of a gaseous explosion, as that produced by the explosion of a torpedo or of a mine, so that the shock of said explosion will not be concentrated at a particular part of the hull of the ship, which can thus withstand an explosion of great violence without sustaining damage.

In carrying out the present invention, I

contemplate the use of a protective armor made of cellular material, the cells or interstices of which are filled with air, and which is easily friabl, whereby the force, shock or concussion due to the explosion of a torpedo or mine in contact with said armor will be absorbed and distributed by compression of the air contained therein and will also be expended in pulverizing or reducing to fine granular form the material forming the body of said armor. Also, in order that said protective armor may not reduce the tonnage or load carrying capacity of the ship, it is preferably made of a material which floats in water.

In a broad sense, my invention contemplates the use of any material for the formation of myi-mproved protective armor, which possesses the necessary characteristics of buoyancy, cellular structure and friability. Specifically, I contemplate a protective armor made of slag such as is produced inthe smeltingof ores which, while in a molten state, has been discharged .into' or otherwise treated with water, which, as is well known, causes said slag to assume the general form and appearance of highly cellular pumice stone, being honey-combed with vitreous cells, and at the same time buoyant in water and very friable.

My invention also comprises a suitable structure or structures for containing said slag, which may either form part of the ship or may be formed separate therefrom and attached thereto by suitable means, as will hereinafter be fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, in which my invention is fully illustrated,

Figure 1 is a horizontal, longitudinal, sectional view of a ship equipped with my im proved protective armor, taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view thereof on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, A designates the hull of a ship, the water line of which, when light, is indicated by the line a and the load water line by the line a.

Any desired portion or area of the outer surface of the hull of the ship may be protected by means of my improved armor, said armor, as shown, being applied to the entire surface of the ship between the bilge and the load water line a.

In what I now consider the preferable form of my invention, a shell or casingB, consisting of an outer side wall 1 and top and bottom walls 2 and 3, is secured to the portion of the hull of the ship which it is desired to protect, said shell or casing being preferably made of metalplates riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the hull of the ship and forming a water-tight chamber C surrounding what may be appropriately designated as the danger zone of the ship. To provide access to the chamber C, the shell or casing is provided with suitable manholes 4; which are adapted to be closed by covers 5 removably secured in position by any well known means now in common use for this purpose. As shown said man-holes 4 are formed in the top wall 2 of said shell or casing B, but may be formed elsewhere if desired.

Also, said chamber C is divided transversely by water-tight partitions 6, preferably made of metal plates, into a large number of relatively small compartments, whereby if a wall of the chamber 0 is punctured, the extent. to which the chamber C is flooded will be limited to one or at most, a few only of said compartments.

The outer wall 1 of the shell or casing B is preferably made of relatively thin material so that it will bend or fracture under the force of a severe explosion such as that of whereby, in case the wall 1 of said shell or casing is ruptured and the gases produced by the explosion enter the chamber G, their natural tendency, in following the line of least resistance, would be to blow off the top of said shell or casing and thus reduce the inward force exerted thereby against the side of the hull A of the ship.

In practice, I contemplate making the side and top walls of said shell or casing B as thin as is consistent with requisite strength.

The compartments into which the chamber C is divided are filled with pieces of slag or other vitreous cellular material, buoyant in water, such as is contemplated by my in- Vention, in the form of pieces of considerable size. Also, the pieces of slag or other material immediately adjacent to the hull of the ship are preferably packed or embedded in oakum or other fibrous material suitable for calking purposes, as indicated at 7.

Thus, in case an explosion occurs and the hull of the ship proper is ruptured, the force of said explosion will operate to force said oakum or other material together with the slag contained in said chamber, which will probably be considerably rushed thereby,

into the hole in the hull of the ship, thus entirely stopping or materially reducing any leakage through said hole. Also, after the force of the explosion has spent itself, said I fibrous material will be held in place by the water pressure. Said protective armor may be made of any desired thickness. It is believed, however, that in most cases an effective armor will be provided by armor from eight (8) to ten (10) feet in thickness.

In place of a continuous shell or casing B, my invention contemplates equally the use of separate, relatively small sections, each consisting of a separate casing, which are entirely separate from the hull of the ship and all of the sides of which are closed so that said sections will float, and .which are adapted to be secured to the sides of the ship by any suitable means, preferably in such manner that they may be quickly andconveniently detached, if desired, whereby, in case of'an emergency, said protective armorterial contained 1. A protective armor for ships and the like, comprising a body of cellular, friable and buoyant material supported so as to be exposed to the direct force of explosions which may be sustained by said ship or the like within a prescribed area, substantially as described.

2. A protective armor for ships and the like, comprising a body of vitreous, cellular and buoyant material supported so as to be exposed to the direct force of explosions which may be sustained by said ship or the like within a prescribed area, substantially as described.

3.'A protective armor for ships and the like, comprising a body of cellular, friable and buoyant material, and fibrous material disposed adjacent to the hull of the ship, substantially as described.

4. A protective armor for ships'and the l1ke, comprising a shell or'casing and a body of cellular, friable and buoyant material contalned therein, substantially as described.

5. A protective armor for ships and the like, comprising a shell or casing and a body of cellular, friable and buoyant material in subdivided form contained therein, substantially as described.

6. A protective armor for ships and the like, comprising a shell or casing, a body of cellular, friable and buoyant material in subdivided form contained therein, and fibrous material disposed adjacent to the hull of the ship, substantially as described.

7. A protective armor for ships and the like, comprising a shell or casing comprising a plurality of separate compartments, and a body of cellular, friable and buoyant matherein, substantially as described.

8. A protective armor for ships and th like, comprising a water-tight shell or casing and a body of cellular, friable and buoyant material contained therein, substantially as described.

9. A protective armor for ships and the like, comprising a water-tight shell or casing and a body of cellular, friable and'buoyant material contained therein, the top wall of said shell or casing being relatively weak,

substantially as described.

10. A protective armor for ships and the like, comprising a water-tight shell or casing and a body of cellular, friable and buoyant material contained therein,-the outer and top walls of said casing being relatively thin,

substantially as described.

11. A protective armor for ships and the like, consisting of a pluralit of se arate sections ach comprising a ho y of ce ular,

spam 8 friable buoyant material and means for dee tachabl sec said sections to the sides of a ship, substantially as described.

- 12. A protective armor for ships and the 5 like, consisting of a plurality of se arate hollow shells or ca all of the si es of which are closed an which are air and water-tight, a body of cellular, friable, buoyant material contained therein and means for detachably securing said shells or casings 10 to the sides of a ship, substantially as described.

In testimony that 'I claim the foregoing as my invention, I aflix my signature this 5th day of May, 1917.

FREDERIC W. BENTLEY.

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