US478216A

US478216A - berdaxx

Info

Publication number: US478216A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1892-07-05
Anticipated expiration: 1909-07-05

Description

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HQBBRDAN. AMMUNITION FOR SUBMARINB GUNS. No. 478,216. Patented July 5, 1892.

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H. BERDAN. AMMUNITION PoR SUBMARINE GUNS. No. 478,216. Patented July 5, 1892,

Witnesses.-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HIRAM BERDAN, OF VVASIIINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

AMMuNrrloN FoR's'UBMARlNE guns.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,216, dated July 5, 1892. Application filed March 22, 1892. Serial No. 425,988. (Noinodel.)

To all whom t may concern: 1

Be it known that I, HIRAM BERDAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washingto'n, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ammunition for .Submarine Guns; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of the invention is to` provide better ammunition fora submarine gun than heretofore known for the purpose of iirin g a shell into the held of a ship. v

The nature of the invention consists in the improved shell, air-cylinders, time-fuse, and propelling-charge case employed, whereby a projectile or shell containing high explosive can be fired into the hold of a ship with greater certainty and with less injury to the gunthan with any ammunition heretofore employed in submarine guns for that purpose. I have illustrated the invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figurel represents a longitudinal section of the bow of the vessel I employ and the submarine gun therein loaded, with air-cylinders and tampion, with what I designate as my hydraulic buffer in position against an iron-clad ship. Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the. lower part of the vessel and the submarine gun, showing the gun drawn back preparatory to loading. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the gun loaded and in position to be moved forward. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the shell, also showing in de-l tail the 4improved detachable ring charge, the time-fuse, its spindle, and sleeve, and showing immediately underneath the large figure an enlarged sectional view of the timefuse spindle, displaying the sections of the leaden coil containing` the time-fuse compo-l sition. Fig. 5 shows a section of the shell at a: disclosing the corrugations. Fig. 5 ,is a similar view of the shell at y fy. Fig. 5b is a similar view of the shell at z .z. Fig. 6 is an as hereinbefore described. 5 represents the enlarged detail view of the formvof air-cylinder employed, and Fig. 7 is a similar view of the tampion employed.

The position of the gun when loaded and 55 ready for firing, with the air-cylinders in place, is shown in Fig. l. When drawn back ready for loading, the gun is in the position as shown in Fig. 2, and when loaded ready for Bring its position is as shown in Fig; 3.

For the purpose of clearly explaining the construction 'and operation of my improved ammunition I submit herewith the detail drawings, Figs. 4, 5a, 5, 5", 6, and 7. v

Fig. 4 shows in detail the time-fuse coiled around its spindle, (designated by the figure 7,) which spindle is constructed with square threads for the reception of said fuse. One end of the fuse (designated as 3) projects into the space at the end of the spindle 7, the covering to which space and the corresponding plate in the powder charge are of such material and of such strength as to allow the gas from the powder charge to readily penetrate t0 and ignite the time-fuse. The propelling charge of powder is in a water-tight metal case shoved onto the sleeve 8, which contains the time-fuse. 4 represents the forward end of the fuse, which passes through the plug 6, which is'screwed into the fuse'- spindle and supports the dry gun-cotton tube in the shell (designated as 12) and Athe small tube 13 forthe fulminate of mercury, which is ignited by the end of the fuse 4. 1 represents the fulminate of mercury in the propelling-charge case, which is ignited by the electric Wire 2 and sets tire to the gunpowder. l The gas from the ygun powder then penetrates the plate 9 and ignites the time-fuse,

dry gun-cotton iu'the tube, which ignites the wet gun-cotton 1 in the shell. 8- represents 'the sleeve containing` the time-fuse spindle, &c.' H represents the shell. 10 represents the oetagonal flange to the fuse-spindle for convenience in wrenching it into the sleeve 8, and 11 represents the octagonal iiange of the said sleeve 8 for convenience in screwing the same into th shell. The timefuse is, as shown in detai Fig. 4, (in which me the figure 3 is made to represent the fuse generally,) in'cased in a leadentube, and is here represented to be fifty 'feet long. The fuse composition burns at the rate of on ehalf inch per second, thus giving a burning time of twenty minutes, which is considered amply suliicient for the officers and crew, with their elects, to escape without injury. Any time desired can be obtained, however, by dfferentlengths of fuse, as shown by 'ex perience and practice to be most necessary and desirable.'

The tampion F,is employed Lokeep the water out of the gun, and the air-cylindersf are sometimes employed with the shell when so constructedI as to allow the gas to pass the shell; but they are invariably employed when the shell lits the bore of the gun, as sometimes constructed for the purpose of increasing the 'capacity of the shell, so as to prevent the air when compressed by the projectile from exi pending the muzzle of the gun. The construetion of the tampion -and air-cylinders is as shown in detail in Figs. 7 and 6, respectively. The shell H is here shown with passages extending forward of the cylindrical part of the shell with corresponding internal corruga-v tions -for the purpose of increasing the capac" ity of. the shell for gun-cotton and lessening the weight'of the same, this being one of the various forms which I may employ without departing from the scope of my inventioma'sshown by cross sections Figs. 5f?, 5, and 5", to give the required strength' to the shell at that point with as little metal as possible and allow a portion of the gas to pass'theproject-l ile for the purpose of forcing the tampion out of the gun; also, for the purpose of allowing the compressed air to pass back and around the shell when the pressure of the air and gas forward of the shell is greater per square inch l than the pressure of the gas behind the shell, thereby lessening the liability of expanding the muzzle ofthe gun when .the air-cylinders are not employed, lfor the' reason that the pressure of the air and gas is always 'free to equalize itself.. The point of the shell is made of hardened steel and is dished out, so as to .enter a `plate at a very fiat an'gle.

Thel advantage of the propelling charge of powder being detached is partly for the conveuience of handling the projectile to avoid damaging the powder charge while placing this heavy shell into the gun; but the more important object is that of being able' to readily changethe size of the propelling charge as required by the kind of ship to be attacked, as some of the ships are more deli cately constructed than others, and without having a charge regulated somewhat in proportion to the resistance the ship would lolfer a charge regulated to the stronger shipwould throw the-projectile or shell entirely through a weakly-constructed ship, such as an ordinary cruiser or merchant-ship. There would probably be required three sizes, designated as a minimum, maximum, and normal, andas the gun .employed is a breechloading guna f ew seconds would be sullicient r'to open the breech and change the propelling charge. Each propelling charge will have its electric wire` attached to it., so as to be tired strikes the ship. rlfhe normal charge of powder employed is two hundred pounds. The weight of the projectile when loaded is live thousand pounds, and the weight of the obstructions'including hydrostatic pressure, air-cylinders, and tampion, is .Seven thousand pounds. The muzzle Velocity of the shell, with the detailsasabove, is three hundred and forty feet per second, which is suiicient to penetrate aplate of three inches thickness, which is supposed to represent the two plates employed in iron-clads of three-fourths-in'ches thickness each, making one and one-half inches, and an allowance of one and one-.halt` inches for the frame-work, &c., making a total of three inches. The weight of the gun will be about twenty-two tons.-

The proportions of the shell 'as shown in the drawings will admit of about four hundred pounds of wet gun-cotton being employed; `but-it ,will be seen that any. amount may be employed that is thought necessary, and it is evident that with the time-fuse constructed on this system the shell cannot expldie until the vessel has had ample time to get out of the way of the ship; in fact, almost anylength ot time could be obtained witha fuse con-v structed on this system, and as far as any suggestion of the shell being removed from the attacked vessel during the timeconsumcd by the burning of the fuse is concerned the impossibility of such a procedure will be seen when it is borne in mind that the shell is'iive thousand pounds in weight, and being buried into the hold of the ship would be difficult to get at. Y 4

It is proper to state here that I regard the bursting of the shell inside the ship an indispensable feature for destroying ironclads or ships of war when made on the honeycomb -or compartment system, which is almost universal now, with all first-class iron-clads 'or ships of War. i

It will be seen that, according to my systeni, the projectile has a short and uniform distance to pass through the water; also, that the gas presses against the rear end of 4the shell in thegun until the point of the jeetile hasv reached the side of the ship in place of throwing the projectile through the water by its momentum, as heretofore.

By this description and the iiguresof the drawings my invention will be fully explained.-

' I have shown my shell in combination with a vessel of special construction, but hereby disclaim such construction, as it is the subject-matter of another pending application, Serial No. 425,987, filed March 22, 1892. In lthis ease I limit myself to the construction of the shell and certain parts identified and co- 5, 5b, 6, and 7.

by electricity automatically when the vessel' operative therewith, as shown in Figs. 4, 5,

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Having lthus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a shell, 'substantially as described, with air-cylinders infront thereof, all in operative relation, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. A shell, substantially as described, having a timefuse attached to its rear end, a spindle around which the time-fuse is coiled, and a sleeve for protecting the fuse, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

3. A shell, substantially as described, having a metal case attached toits rear part carryiug the propelling charge and a ti ine-fuse, all in operative relation, substantially as set forth.

4. A shell, substantially as described, having a fuse-- spindle and sleeve, the fuse encircling said spindle, and a metal case for carrying the propelling charge surrounding said sleeve, said parts being attached to the rear o f the shell, and all in operative relation therewith and with each other, asset forth.

- 5. A shell, substantially as described, 'hav- 25 ing a fuse-spindle, the fuse encircling said ternally thereof, whereby the gas freely passes 4o I the shell, as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HIRAM BERDAN.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH H. HANNEN,A T. C. BRECHT.