US34539A - Improved s-hips armor-plates - Google Patents

Description

'tlnrrsn @Sierras Farrar @Fries II. WARDEN, ,0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

lWl PVRDVED Svi-HPS AiRMORPL/TES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. ng, dated February 25; 1.862.

To all whom t may concern.

B e it known that I, H. H. WAEDEN, of No. 5() Wall street, in the city, county, and Sta-te of New York, have invented a new and Im proved Armor for Vessels or Ships of War; and I do hereby declare that the following is a 4iull, clear, and exact description ot' the same, reference bein ghad to the accompanying draw ings, making a part of this specification7 in which- Figure lis a perspective view of one of the plates which constitute the armor, one corner of lhe plate being broken away to show more clearly the invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same. Fig. 3 represents a web or latticework ot' Wrought iron which is embedded in the plate when it is cast.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts inthe several figures.

.lt is a well-ascertained fact that ships ot war clad with plates made of either wrought or cast iron alone are incapable of withstanding the force ot' cannon-balls or projectiles thrown against them from riiled ordnance. When these plates are made of wrought-iron, balls or projectiles thrown against them with any conA siderable force have the eectto part the fibers of the iron and pass through them into the ship, and when made of castiron the balls or projectiles, instead ot' passing through the plates, simply fracture them, when they will fallin fragments from the sides ot' the ship into the vater and leave a naked or bare spot on the ship. y y

The object ot this invention is to obtain plates ot' cast iron or cast steel for covering vessels or ships ot' war, which, while they are as liable to fracture as ordinary eastmetal plates, when fractured will not leave their places on the sides of' the ships, thereby uti' fcrding protection to the ship tor a longer pe` rind,

Ihe invention consists in embedding a'web or lattice-work of wrought iron in a castiron or cast-steel plate. The superiority ot' the plate thus made over either a wrought, castiron, or steel plate as a covering for vessels or ships of war consists herein, that while it possesses the same hardness as either alone it combines the advantages of both wrought and cast metal, inasmuch as the plates, though fractured,ad here together and do not become separated and leave a bare spot on the side of the ship, even after repeated shots against them.

'llo enable others skilled in the art to l'ully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

In the accompanying drawings,A represents one ot the plates embodying my impro vement, and which constitute the armor for the ship. 'lhis plate is made in rectangular form ot' castiron or steel, with a web or lattice-work ot' wrought iron embedded in it when it is cast, and it may be made of any desired length, width, or thickness.

Bis the web or lattice-work of wroughtiron, which is embedded in the plate. This web or lattice work for plates of halt an inch in thickl ness may be made ot" common hoop iron, and

for pla-tes of three and four inches in thickness may be made of common barrircn. The bars ot iron to form the web are first placed across each other in the manner shown in Fig. 3, and riveted together at the points of intersection, after which the ends ot the bars are cut oi' even with the side and end pieces; or they may be cut to the proper length before they are riveted together. When the plates are to be made, this web or latticework et' wrought iron is placed in the mold so as to have the'cast metal about equally divided on both sides ot' it, forming through the middle et the plate horizontzltlly alternate layers ot' wrought and cast metal. The plates are put upon the sides ot' the ship so as to abut each other, and may be secured to theship by bolts passing through them from the outside and fastened by screwnuts on the inside ot' the hull ot' the ship, or they may be secured iu any other suitable manner.

I do not confine myselfto any particular size or shape of plate, as it is evident that my invention is equally applicable to plates ot' any and every size and shape.

I do not claim, broadly, the. casting of iron upon wrought-iron; nor do l claim, broadly, the employment ot' wrought iron lattice-work in shipbuilding.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new a'nd desire to secure by Letters Pat` ent- As an improved article of manufacture, an armorplate for ships, com posed of a wrought iron frame embedded within a cast-iron body, substantially as herein shown and described.

l1. H. WARDEN. 1lv'itncsses:

J. W. CooMns, JAMES Laino.

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