The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

QO> Capt. Alex. McDougall's Patents. WRECKING BOAT--SPECIFICATION FORMING PART OF LETTERS PATENT NO. 498,678--DATED MAY 30, 1893--APPLI- CATION FILED MARCH 23, 1892-SERIAL NO. 426,123--NO MODEL. This invention, according to the specification, relates to 1m- provements in war vessels, which are adapted for use in times of war for coast and harbor defense, and more particularly to im- provements in the means and methods of mounting the guns within said vessels, whereby certain advantageous results are ob- tained. "Among the advantages,' says the inventor, "1s to facilitate the handling and operating of the guns; to so mount them, as to normally secure a low center of gravity of the boat, and at the same time bring the guns when loaded within ready access to the powder and shot magazines, and to expose as small a portion as possible of the guns to the action of shot and shell from the enemy. 'Theimproved means and methods of operating and handling guns on ships of war, may be used on almost any vessel, and it is to be understood that my present invention 1s to be construed in the broad sense as being applicable to any and all vessels. 'The preferable type of war vessel with which I pre- . fer to use my present invention, is that which has been invented by me, and which is described and claimed in application serial No. 403,263, for letters patent of the United States, filed by me. 'Rig. 1 is a side elevation of one of my improved steam war vessels, showing the present invention applied thereto; Fig. 2, a sectional view of the same; Fig. 3, a side elevation of one of my improved war vessels, adapted to be towed, with the inven- tion applied thereto; Fig. 4, horizontal sectional view of Fig. 1, looking down upon the tracks. In all of the views correspond- ing parts are designated with the same letters of reference. 'I'he present invention is well adapted for use in connection with my improved war vessel, as described in said letters patent, and it will be described herein as being applied thereto, but it. should be understood that the invention is capable of application with all vessels, such as men of war, torpedo boats, armored and un- armored cruisers, and boats of the destroyer type. A is the hull, B the bow, and C the stern thereof. D is the water tank within the bow of the boat. E is another water tank within the stern of the boat. 'These two tanks connect with the water bottom,so that the water therefrom may flow into the water bottom, from which it may be pumped when it is desired to relieve the vessel of water ballast. F is a partition which divides the main portion of the hull from the boiler and engine rooms within the stern. G are the boilers. H is the engine, which is to be of any suit- able construction. I is the propeller, which is connected with and is operated by the engine H. 'Two or three propellers may be used for great speed, if desired. Jis the stack from the boiler which passes up through the top of the vessel, and which is protected by a heavy turret K. IL, is a heavy metallic turret, mounted on the top of the hull about midway between the bow and stern, and this turret serves as a ventilator for the main por- tion of the vessel, and it may carry oneor more suitable machine "Under this heading we will publish specifications accompanying letters patent granted to Alexander McDougall since his first application fora patent on the whale- back type of vessel, May 1,1880. MARINE REVIEW. guns, for keeping off torpedo boats, and to prevent boarding and attacks from small crafts. A ladder M extends down through. this turret L, by which the interior of the hull may be reached, and # isa conning tower, which is made of very heavy metal, and which is provided with a door at its rear through which it may be entered, The conning tower 1s provided with the usual slots or holes 4, to enable the steersman to see ahead, and it con- tains the steering apparatus, which connects with and operates the rudder O. ©, d, is the auxiliary armor, which is of any suit- able construction, and which is placed around the bow portion of the boat, so as to extend a short distance below the load water Senns vessel which I have above generally outlined is the preferable form of boat with which I prefer to use my invention, but it is to be understood that any other form of vessel may be used, and that the boiler and engines may be dispensed with, in which case, the boat would have to be towed from place to place, by atug or other suitable propelling vessel. The improved manner of handling such a vessel by means of anchors passed out through the bow and stern, is clearly described in said appli- cation and a reiteration of the same, in this connection, is unnec- essary. Pis the extreme nose oi the vessel which. consists of a heavy metallic forging, or casting, and which is hemi-spherical in shape. Instead of making the nose of this particular shape, it may be made conical or hexagonal. 'This nose is hinged at its upper end by a heavy hinge so as to be swung outwardly, but it will, of course, be understood that it may be hinged at the bot- tom or at one side, the only requisite being that the nose shall be capable of being opened. Q are inclined tracks of ordinary construction, mounted upon a suitable super-structure R. In the drawings I have shown two of these tracks at the main por- tion of the hull, but it is to be understood that any number of tracks which can be arranged within the vessel may be used. These tracks Q are parallel or approximately parallel to each other. Q' isa single track which extends up to the bow or nose of the vessel, and which connects by suitable connecting tracks, . or switches, with the track Q. Mounted upon each of the tracks Q is a gun§S, which is of any suitable and appropriate con- struction. The tracks Q at their lower ends are made _ horizon- tally, so that the guns $ will remain stationary while being loaded. ' 'The manner of operating and handling guns with this improved apparatus, supposing that two guns are being used, is as follows: 'The port gun is loaded at the lower end of the track Q and is moved up thereon, and is swung over on the track Q' so as to open the hinged nose P of the boat. The port gun will now point directly ahead and is then fired, after which it 1 al- lowed to move down the track Q' and is swung back over the port track Q by its gravity. While the port gun is being moved up the tracks and fired, the starboard gun is being loaded, so that when the port gun is brought back the starboard gun is moved up and is switched off to the track Q', when it is fired in amanner similar to the port gun. The two guns are therefore fired in alternation, so that a very rapid and effective fire can be kept up. It is possible though not desirable to arrange the guns so that when each gun is pointed out through the nose of the vessel, it will be fired automatically. It may be a desirable ar- rangement to connect the guns together, so that one gun in mov- ing down the inclined track, will help to move the other gun up the same. The powder and shot magazines are placed near the bottom of the track Q, so as to facilitate the loading of the guns. The aiming of the guns is accomplished both by the pilot or steersman, and by the gunner within the hold, the former ac- complishing the horizontal aim by keeping the nose of the boat pointing directly at the enemy, and the latter accomplishing the vertical aim of the gun by the proper elevation of the gun, which can be done by anyone skilled in the art of gunnery. "What I claim as new is as follows: First--A war vessel consisting of a hull having a conical shaped nose, said hull being without sheer, and having a normally high load line, so that when in action the nose of the vessel will be near the water; tracks within said hull, extending from said nose above the waterline, down into the hold of the vessel to a point below the water line; and one or more guns movably mounted on said tracks, and adapted to be pointed out of said nose, with muzzle of said gun, outside of the vessel, and fired, substantially as set 'forth. Second--A war vessel; consisting of a hull, having a con- ical shaped nose, said hull being without sheer,and having a nor- mally high load line, so that when in action the nose of the vessel willbe near the water; a hinged plate, over the nose of the boat, adapted to normally cover the same ; an inclined track or tracks