US1285261A - Torpedo-guard for ships. - Google Patents

Description

J. LOCK.

TORPEDO GUARD FOR SHIPS.v

APPLICATION HLED 05c. 31. Ian.

Patented Nov. 19,1918.

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mmno sumo FOR SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 31, I917- Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

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J. LOCK.

' TORPEDO GUARD FOR SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED DEc.3l, 1911.

1,285,261. Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

' J GHO'LM'HS J. LOCK. TORPEDO GUARD FOR SHIPS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 31. 19]].

1 ,285,261. Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

4 SHEETSSHE ET 4.

jn'ucnfon I I Shrunk-1 5 srarns PATENT orrion JOHN LOCK, OF'ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA.

TORPEDO-GUARD FOR SHIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 0V. 19, 1918.

Application filed December 3 1 r3 17. Serial No. 209,696.

tion. 4

This invention relates to torpedo guards for ships hulls and, has as its {object .to provide a guardso constructed thatthe same may be quickly adjusted to position to prevent the hull of the ship being struck by an approaching torpedo, and which guard, when not in use, may be so positioned beside the hull of the ship as to in no way interfere with steering f the ship.

It is one aim of the invention to provide in a device of this class including guards extending; substantially the entire length of the hull f the ship at each side thereof, means whereby the guards may be readily adjusted to a raised orlowered position or adjusted in a fore or aft direction so that n matter from whatdirection the torpedo is fired either or both of the guards may be quickly broughtinto position to protect that portion of the hull of the ship which is most likely to be damaged by the torpedo.

Another aim of the invention is to so construct the device that while the guard members or plates are sufficiently stout to cause explosion of the torpedo upon striking the same, the said guard members may nevertheless be adjusted and moved into and out of active posit-ion readily and with the expenditure of but. little power.

The invention also aims to so construct the device that even though the guard members be lowered into the water in g iarding position, the ship may still be maneuvered without difficulty if traveling at a relatively low rate of speed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the guard device embodying the present invention mounted upon the hull, of a ship, the device being illustrated with the parts in inactive position;

Fig, 2 is a-detail end e evation. of one of the guard 'inembers and the supporting booms, the guard member and its supportlng booms being shown in full lines in such position that, the lower edge of the guard member will be located above the surface of the water and in dotted lines the positions of these parts when the guard member is lowered into active position;

Fig.3 is a top plan view of the device applied to a ships hull;

Fig. 4 'is a view in elevation looking at the inner side of one of the units of one of the guard members;

Fig. 5 is a group perspective view illustrating the means provided for connecting the corners of the guard units with the outer ends of the supporting booms therefor;

Fig. 6 is a similar view illustrating the means provided for connecting the inner ends of the supporting booms to the slnps hull Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a boom rest constituting a part of the device.

In the drawings the numeral 1 indicates in general the hull of a ship and the numerals 2 and 3 indicate, respectively, fore and aftmasts which serve a purpose to be presently explained.

One of the guards is located at. each side of the hull of the ship and each guard coniprises a series of units each in the nature of a guard plate 4 01 a suitable metal and sufficiently thick and heavy tocause explo sion of a torpedo striking the same. Each of the plates 4 is preferably rectangular in marginal outline, and the outer surface of each plate is preferably smooth. However, each plate is reinforced by means of longi tudinally extending substantially semi-circular channel bars which are disposed at their concave sides against the inner face of the plate and are secured at suitable intervals by means of rivets or the like, indi cated by the numeral 6. As stated these bars 5 are of channel formation and they are left open at their ends so that water may drain therefrom and thus prevent cornumber of units couipi. "ing the plutes l are disposed end to end and are supported in this relation at the outer ends oi booms which connect d at their ini L to ship's hull. hiach of the booivs cove l t 1.- i a tubular of a the said booins are on one another and suited and parallel throughout their V into the outer ind of euchbooinji is fitted the shanl: S of a hinge inculhaving an aperturcd ear 10, the ears there her 9 of the members 9 which are fitted into the outer ends of the upper booms being turned in a downward direction, as clearly shown booms also in 5, and those upon the lower turned in an upWur-d direction, as shown in c said figure. in prov a connection between the members 1 lLLQ corners of the un ts there are employed su'ii'ei members ll each comprising to the inner face of each unit at euch upper and lower corner thereof is u stun l; terminating at its outer lug 18 end in connecting or A end in a pii the swivel in nu'ith the id iur'rfs the plates 12 members *e disposed with their registering with the openings nd pivot bolts 19 are fitted v to pivotall connect the some. fhus not only is pivotal connection provider between the outer ends of the upper end lower booms and the upper end lower corners, respectively, of adjacent units of the guard members, but also the inectii'ig ends of the adjacent units are connected with each other so that in efifect each guard arlords guard surface extending substantially continuousl; the entire length of the hull of the siip. It will also be apparent at this point that the booms 7 may be swung dl v or downwardly, or forwardly or .ardy due to the substantially unipirotul connection between their outer ends and the corners of the plates i, and at similar universal connection provided be tween the inner ends of the booms 7 and the ships hull as will now be described. inasmuch as the connections between the inner ends oi all or the booms i" and the ship hull are of like constructioin it will bers suffice to specifically describe one of seid connections. The connection comprises a plate 20 which is riveted or otherwise secured to the side of the hull and upon the outer face of which plate there is formed a pintle lug having an opening formed vertically therein, the upper -face of the lug 21 being flat and smooth. The numeral 23 indicates a. head provided at its base with a circular beuring portion 2- the under side of which is fiat and smoothly finished to rest and turn upon the upper face of the respective pintle lug 21 and formed centrally upon the under side 0i the basefle is it do pending shank 725 which rotatably fits with in the opening At its lower end the shank is formed With a transverse slot 326 which, in the assembled relation of the parts, is located immediately below the under side of the lug 21. and a key 27 is provided and is fitted into the slot 26 so as to prevent accidental upward displacement oi the shun: in the opening 22. The head is formed or provided with an car 28 i121? ing an opening 29 and the inner end of the respective boom 7 is flattened or otherwise formed. to provide a pintle ear 30 Which is disposed to 1% against the ear a pivot bolt 31 being fitted through the. openings and an opening formed in the car 30. it will now be understood that due to the connection provided between the inner ends of the booms i and the ships hull, these booms may have unii'ers-al movement with relation to the hull. in other WOIClS they may be swung upwardly or downwardly. or may be swung forwardly or rearwardl and also in the various intermediate directions, and this fact together with the fact that :1 similar universal joint is provided between the outer ends of the 13001115 and the units comprising the guard members, pro rides for adjustment of the said guard mem her in any desired. direction so that the members may be swung upwardly to inactive position beside the hull of the ship, may be lowered into the Water in active position to guard the hull of the ship from torpedoes, may be swung bodily forwardly to particulurljv ufiord protection for the bow of the hull, and may be swung rearwurdly so as to particularly afiord protection for the stern of the hull.

By reference to Fig. 3 oi the drawings i t will be obser ed that the foremost ones of the booms are curved along such. lines as will adopt these particular booins to lie against the hull at the bow of the ship.

As before stated the guard members may be adjusted to position lying against the hull of the ship when not in use and in order that the booms may be supported While the guard members are in this position, there homeowneris provided, for each boom, asupporting bracket of the form shown in Fig. 7, and indicated in general by the numeral 33. This bracket- 33 comprises an attaching plate portion 3a riveted or otherwise secured tot-he hull of the ship, each bracket being located in a horizontal line with the inner end of the boom which it is to support and being spaceda suitable distance rearwardly from the pivoted inner end of the said boom, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The supporting member of each bracket is indicated by the numeral 35 and is upwardly and outwardly curved so as to provide a rest designed to receive the boom which the bracket is to support, this supporting portion being preferably reinforced by means of a bracing web 36.

Each of the pivot bolts 16 serves also as the connection for a shackle 37 and connected to each two adjacent shackles 3'7 throughout the length of the guard member are the ends of a cable 38 which cables constitute bridles serving as a connection between the units of the guard members and an arrangement of raising and lowering cables. Each of the bridle cables 38 is passed slidably through a link 39 and connected to these links are cables a0 which lead to the shackle 41 of a pulley block l2. Passed about the pulley of said block is a hoisting cable 43 connected to a similar block 44 upon the mast 2 or the mast 3, as the case may be, it being observed by reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings that the forward units of each guard have their respective cables l0 connected to the block a2 at the forward mast 2 and that the rear units of each guard have their said cables connected to the block 4i at the mast The hoisting cables 43 are led to and about steam winches 45 whereby the cables may be quickly taken up or paid out in respectively raising and lowering the guard members. It will be observed by reference to Fig. l of the drawings that the guard member illustrated therein is in inactive position. or, in other words, in position beside the hull of the ship, the booms 7 being supported within the brackets 33. With the parts in this position, when it is desired to lower the guard members into active position, or in other words. to posi tion extending a suitable distance below the surface of the water, the winches as are operated to take up a short length of the cables 43 so as to elevate the outer ends of the booms clear of the supporting brackets 33, whereupon the cables 43 may be paid out so as to permit the guard members to lower to the active position stated. In order that the guard members may be adjusted fore and aft as they are raised and lowered, fore and aft haul cables 46 and 4", respectively,

are connected to the foremost and rearmost shackles 37 and are led respectively for- \vardly and rearwardly and connected to cleats 4S and l9 located respectively at the bow and stern of the ship. Thus by paying out the cables 47 and hauling in on the cables so. the booms may be swung forwardly so as to correspondingly move the guard members and thus more especially I protect the bow of the ship, or the cables 46 may be paid out and the cables l7 hauled in so as to swing the booms rearwardly and correspondingly adjust the guard members to especially rotect the stern of the hull.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A protective device of the class described comprising members for attachment to a ships hull, booms having universal connections with said members, a guard member supported by the said booms, means for adjusting the parts to vary the position of the guard member, and brackets on the hull having seats extending longitudinally of the hull to be engaged by and retain the booms in inactive position close to the hull.

2. A protective device of the class described comprising a guard member consisting of a plurality of units arranged end to end, swivel plates disposed between the ends of adjacent units and having their opposite ends pivotally attached to the ends of the respectively adjacent units, booms connected pivotally at their outer ends with the swivel plates, and means for pivotally connecting the inner ends of the booms with a ships hull.

3. A protective device of the class described comprising supporting plates to be secured to a ships hull and provided with pintle lugs, heads having depending shanks pivotally engaging said pintlc lugs and provided with outwardly and upwardly extending portions, booms having their inner ends pivotally attached to said outwardly and upwardly extending portions, swivel plates pivoted to the outer ends of the booms, and guard units having their ends pivoted to the opposite ends of the swivel plates.

4. A protective device or" the class described comprising a plurality of units disposed end to end, means for supporting the said units from the hull of a ship for movement in vertical and horizontal planes, bridle cables having their ends connected to the ends of the several units, raising and lowering cables supporting and having movable engagement with the bridle cables, and means upon the ship for operating the said raising and lowering cables.

A protective device of the class described comprising brackets to be secured to the hull of a ship, heads mounted in said brackets for pivotal movementin horizontal planes booms pivoted at their inner ends to the upper ends of said heads for movement in vertical planes, swivel plates provided intermediate their ends with lugs pivotally attached to the outer ends of the booms, guard units (lispoeed end to end and provided at their ends with pintle lugs arranged to overlap the ends of the swivel plates, and means for pivotally attaching 10 the said pintle lugs to the ends of the swivel plates.

In testimony whereof I alhx my signature.

JGHN DOCK. 11.5.

*5 each, by addressing the Commissioner of lateBt-e',

tor it.

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