Abstract: An underwater air pocket work unit has a work chamber contained within a double walled flotation chamber, the upper end of which has a resilient gasket to seal against the hull of a vessel, or other submerged structure. The work chamber is open completely through the structure to provide unobstructed access at both ends and the flotation chamber is open at the lower end. Valves are provided for admitting pressurized air to the flotation chamber to control the buoyancy for holding the structure in place, and for admitting air to the work chamber as necessary for working space. Both chambers have dump valves for releasing the air and the work chamber has window ports for holding work lights.

Abstract: A dual buoyancy device having two external dimensions, in the smaller of which, one end is closed by an elastic sheet undistended, and in the greater of which the sheet is distended from its normal position thereby increasing the external dimension of the device; the distention of the sheet is accomplished by a thruster member bearing on the sheet which thruster is impelled by a weight and lever system actuated by gravity, which causes the thruster to distend the sheet.

Abstract: A floating dry dock for a boat comprising a tubular, boat-supporting platform made from a planar array of interconnected PVC conduit (or similar material) and a pair of vertical, buoyant, tubular side walls connected to the platform. The dock includes an atmosphere venting system with its outlet above the water surface at all times connected to the base conduit platform and a freely positionable pump in fluid communication with the platform conduit array, which allows for the pumping of water into and out of the platform tubular array, which controls the depth level of the platform. The vertical side wall conduits are sealed and filled with air to add positive buoyancy to the platform to prevent it from sinking beyond a desired level. The diameter of each conduit of the ballasting tubular array for the platform is selected to accommodate boats of varying displacements. In operation, the device can be stored by floating adjacent a sea wall or the like.

Abstract: A submersible vessel, such as a barge, has a plurality of ballast compartments, each of which communicates with the exterior of the vessel through a separate riser, each terminating in an elongate vertical opening in the hull of the vessel. A vertically movable gate is positioned over said openings. At its uppermost limit of travel, the gate provides a conduit into the bottom portion of said openings so that water may be drawn into the ballast compartments through the risers in response to suction applied to the ballast compartments, thereby submerging the vessel. To raise the vessel, the gate is lowered to uncover the uppermost portion of said openings. Positive air pressure is applied to the ballast compartments to move the water upwardly through the risers and out of the vessel over the top of the gate.

Abstract: An apparatus for use in recovering an article at least partially submerged in water comprises at least two floatable members each having an arm mounted thereon and whose buoyancy can be varied, each arm carrying a recovery member having gripping or scooping means. A pivot interconnects said arms so that their motion opposes that of the recovery members. A locking device for progressively and releasably locking the arms with respect to each other is provided such that on release thereof the pivot moves downwardly by gravity, causing the recovery members to come together in a caliper-like action. Pressure sensing means in recovery members feeds back information to the locking device to cause the arms to lock and prevent an increase in pressure is attained. A further embodiment does not need a locking device.

Abstract: A cooling system of self-propelled floating crane engines, in which an external hydraulic circuit intended to cool internal hydraulic circuits of engines comprises pipelines, pumps, tanks filled with liquid, and skin heat exchangers. The tanks are compulsorily connected to each other and arranged so that a portion of their surface is integrated into an underwater outer skin of a floating crane pontoon, whereas the skin heat exchangers disposed in said tanks are essentially a surface heat exchangers being connected to the internal hydraulic circuit of at least one of the engines, and the pipelines of the external hydraulic circuit are connected to the tanks and to the internal hydraulic circuits of the rest of the engines.

Abstract: A self stabilizing elevator float having a float body divided into a series of ballast tanks which are bailed or flooded to raise or lower the float body. A first pair of vertically displaceable towers are arranged at one end of the float. A second pair of towers at the opposite end of the float are displaced sufficiently transverse from the float so that the first and second pair of towers imparts longitudinal and transverse stability to the float.

Abstract: A seagoing vessel is stabilized by a passive system including tanks symmetrically disposed on the vessel below the water line. The tanks are connected by a conduit and pressurized with air to a selected pressure level. During each oscillatory roll and/or pitch cycle of the vessel, the tanks alternately fill and drain with selected volumes of water to reduce the righting moment of the vessel. The period of oscillation of the vessel is thus lengthened beyond the period of wave motion.

Abstract: The invention relates to apparatus for reducing the relative motion of a vessel and for reducing the intensity of waves reflected from the vessel. According to the invention, the vessel is provided with at least two specially designed tanks or cavities, one on the starboard side of the vessel and one on the port side of the vessel. The tanks extend above and below the mean water line of the vessel. In one embodiment of the invention, each tank has (a) a bottom plate which extends substantially laterally outward from at least a portion of the bottom of the vessel and which is freely accessible to the surrounding water; (b) vertically aligned, transversely extending, outwardly directed, perforate plates which are spaced apart along a longitudinal length of the tank, and (c) a vertically aligned, longitudinally extending perforate plate or bulkhead which is spaced apart from the vessel along a longitudinal length of the tank.

Abstract: A vessel comprising a pair of laterally spaced elongated buoyancy hulls and vertically mounted thereon a plurality of hollow columns, distributed around the outer circumferential area of the vessel and supporting a work platform above the water level when the hulls are submerged, the hulls containing water ballast compartments. The platform supports one or more heavy duty cranes, adapted for outboard handling of loads. At the lower end of the columns, air chambers are provided in open connection with the surrounding water at their bottom ends. At their upper ends these chambers have air valves for discharging air from and supplying air to the chambers selectively controlled by directions from a computer which is added to the crane operating device.

Abstract: A living apparatus comprises a first reservoir within the ground surface of circular form and having a quantity of water therein. A building having a roof and a peripheral side wall of circular form is concentrically nested and spaced within said reservoir. A convex hull is peripherally connected and sealed to the bottom of said building wall and immersed within the water and floatingly projected into said reservoir, a substantial portion of said building wall extending above said ground surface. A second reservoir within the ground surface is spaced from and below said first reservoir. A drain outlet is spaced above the bottom of said first reservoir; and a conduit interconnects said outlet and said second reservoir.

Abstract: A storage tank 1 is divided into oil and ballast water chambers 3, 4 by an elastic partition membrane 2. To prevent the membrane from blocking the oil and water intake/discharge ports 5, 6 during the final stages of loading or unloading, the internal edges and corners of the tank are chamfered by apertured partition plates, supported wire mesh screens or the like, and the intake/discharge ports communicate with the spaces defined behind such plates or screens.

Abstract: In the trailerable sailboat disclosed herein, the provision of water ballasting enables the use of a V-bottomed displacement hull shape with substantial deadrise yielding a low-wetted surface are in relation to effective displacement. The water ballasting is provided by sealed structural elements which form, with the hull shell, a ballast tank space which is essentially entirely below the design waterline of the hull shape so as to permit self-filling of the tank space with seawater.

Abstract: A life raft, having a floor joined at its periphery to a flotation member, is formed with a flexibly-walled, depending, correspondingly water ballast chamber generally parallel and contiguous to the flotation member. The chamber may be compartmented for retention of the water ballast as a distributed stabilizing mass, and extends about a wholly open center area that underlies all or the greatest part of the floor, thus to concentrate the ballast below the peripheral flotation member as a further aid to stability.Ports are provided in the walls of the chamber, the openings of at least the outer wall being continuously open to the flow of water therethrough. In one form of the invention the openings of the inner side wall are check-valved to exhaust air from the center space, creating a partial vacuum that increases the stability of the raft.

Abstract: A stabilizing system for a crane vessel of the twin hull semi-submersible type having a working platform supported above sea level by columns on submersible hulls. Water ballast compartments above sea level on the corner columns are discharged selectively in order to stabilize the vessel during handling of heavy outboard loads by cranes. The water is discharged through controlled valves of special construction. This control is regulated in dependence of measured values of the moment of force applied on the vessel by the crane load, and effects the operation with the help of a computer.Lower water ballast compartments in the columns have an additional "passive" function and the water can be discharged therefrom by pressurized air or by pumping it into the upper ballast compartments.

Abstract: An apparatus for controlling the depth of an object submerged in a liquid dium includes a sealed chamber means, joined to the object, which retains a working fluid and which has a variable external volume for displacing variable amounts of the medium. The apparatus further includes a heat transfer device for controlling the external volume of the chamber by heating the working fluid to increase the external volume, and by cooling the working fluid to decrease the external volume.

Abstract: Control forces for stabilizing semi-submersible platforms are provided outboard the platform columns, at a point approximately where the free surface of the water intersects the columns, without altering the internal arrangements or structure of the platform and employing equipment which develops pressures needed to impose control forces only. In a similar manner, control forces for stabilizing pitch and roll motions in ships and to effectively damp the oscillatory motion of the water level in a "moon pool" are provided.

Abstract: A float construction is formed of at least one closed storage chamber arranged to float on the surface of a body of water with walls extending downwardly from the storage chamber and forming a plurality of chambers open at the lower ends. When the storage chamber is floated, water completely fills the chambers below the storage chamber so that the natural frequency of the float construction is varied for the different vibrations to which it is exposed.

Abstract: A seagoing vessel is stabilized by a passive system including tanks symmetrically disposed on the vessel below the water line. The tanks are connected by a conduit and pressurized with air to a selected pressure level. During each oscillatory roll and/or pitch cycle of the vessel, the tanks alternately fill and drain with selected volumes of water, thereby to reduce the righting moment of the vessel. The period of oscillation of the vessel is lengthened beyond the period of wave motion.

Abstract: A floating vessel having a crane for lifting heavy weights comprises tanks having relatively large openings below the water-line which openings can be closed in a substantially water-tight manner to vary the shape of at least that part of the vessel which is below the water-line.

Abstract: An angular accelerometer incorporates two tilt sensors both connected to a differential amplifier arranged to provide a difference signal which is fed to a first integrator the output of which is fed to a second integrator. The tilt sensors are of the torque balance type. The tilt sensors are spaced from one another in a direction transverse to the direction along which the angular acceleration movement takes place.

Abstract: A roll-damping tank for ships to extend athwartships and to contain liquid that moves in the direction from end to end of the tank as the ship rolls, in which the ends of the tank at the sides of the ship are configured by curving or chamfering to destroy the velocity of the wave in the tank.

Abstract: One or more hollow elongated structures are mounted on the underside of a boat to provide wave-forming lift surfaces. Each structure defines a chamber which substantially parallels the length of the boat. Each structure has a pointed, closed forward end, an open rearward end, and an outer surface which tapers, at least in part, to provide a smooth transition between the ends and to define a planing surface that increases in area as it approaches the rearward end. When the boat is at rest, water enters the chamber and helps to stabilize the boat. When the boat gets underway, the chamber empties and the planing action of the outer surface lifts the boat and reduces its wetted surface area. Emptying water from the chamber is facilitated by ducting air or exhaust gases into the chamber. Ducting exhaust gases into the chamber has the advantages of muffling exhaust noise and reducing engine back pressure when the boat is underway, thereby enhancing engine performance.

Abstract: A cargo vessel suited for cargo handling in a horizontal plane has a deck and a submersible pontoon, subdivided into cells, and connected to the pontoon by a number of pillars. The pontoon can be trimmed to provide an excess of buoyant force but anchors will, during transfer of cargo, maintain the deck stable and level with an embankment. A side plating having openings, and hatches for temporarily closing the same, encloses a space between the pontoon and the deck to provide stability during a voyage.

Abstract: A process for reducing the stresses in a vessel consisting of building a hull with a number of compartments and fitting into each an independent cargo tank for the storage of liquefied gas. Before the cargo tanks are fitted, the hull in the region of each compartment along the central transverse section thereof is subjected by ballasting to a predetermined vertical static bending moment in the absence of the tank, and thereafter each tank is installed in the hull while maintaining the predetermined vertical static bending moment so that the maximum stresses to which the tank will be subjected under different sailing conditions will be substantially reduced.

Abstract: A ship for liquid cargoes, e.g. an oil tanker, has two longitudinal bulkheads giving central and wing areas and transverse bulkheads dividing the areas into tanks. The wing areas have upper cargo tanks and lower ballast tanks, but the latter have vertical portions extending to deck level giving for example an L-shaped configuration.

Abstract: A construction and launch barge having a shallow draft hull with a construction deck supporting at its center a floatable offshore structure both during construction thereof and during the towing of the barge to the site where the offshore structure is to be installed. In order to maintain stability, a plurality of hollow column stabilizers are provided on the barge; these may be, e.g., four, one adjacent to each corner of the barge and extending up high thereabove. A ballast compartment helps determine the desired waterline of the vessel, a mechanism being provided to displace the water therein by air or to displace the air by water. The column stabilizers are sufficiently high and occupy sufficient area for assuring the proper location of the metacenter of the fully loaded barge.

Abstract: A buoyant body with a spherical hull having a well extending along a vertical axis. The well is open at both ends to permit flow of water therein and is such dimension as to make the period of its vertical oscillation greater than the period of vertical oscillation of any waves of significant height reasonably expected to be encountered by the body. The body is otherwise weighted so as to be tuned against roll oscillation.

Abstract: A stabilization system for ships having two tanks for the storage of liquid connected by a cross-over duct. The tanks are located close to one another on either side of the fore and aft center line of the ship. The cross-over ducts are spaced from the bottom of the tanks so that only a portion of the liquid in the tanks moves from one tank to the other during rolling of the ship. The ducts contain valves which can be used to tune the system or to shut it down.

Abstract: A stabilized life raft utilizing a fluid filled depending buoy chamber for overall stabilization and including as improved features thereon a peripheral skirt chamber which fills with the raft supporting fluid upon deployment of the raft and serves as a temporary stabilizer while the buoy chamber becomes filled. The buoy chamber includes baffles to impede the flow of the stabilizing fluid from one portion of the chamber to another in the event of a sudden weight shift within the raft. An improved valve permits a more rapid inward flow of fluid upon deployment of the raft and yet prevents outward flow in instances where the buoyant raft is suddenly thrust upwardly by elements such as waves. The raft, because of the particular placement of the various structural elements in conjunction with the placement of the survival gear and inflation system, is automatically self-righting.

Abstract: The measured rolling rate of a ship and a measured liquid level difference in a liquid contained in a stabilizing tank are supplied to frequency dependent members having identical frequency response to obtain a derived roll angle and derived level difference after which a circuit is provided to measure the phase difference between the quantities developed and to develop an output analog voltage representing the difference between a desired relationship between the phases of the two and the actual phase relationship.

Abstract: A barge includes port and starboard sides in which longitudinal troughs are formed. Each trough is bounded at its top by an outwardly directed undersurface of an upper wing section and bounded at the bottom by an outwardly directed topsurface of a lower wing section. The topsurface of the lower wing section is located for submersion during offshore operations to oppose heave and roll motions of the barge. An upper ballast system is provided in the upper wing sections to carry ballasting fluid above the center of the barge. A lower ballast system is provided in the lower wing sections to carry ballast fluid below the barge center. Operation of the upper and lower ballast systems enables a unique control of floatation characteristics to be provided. Namely, by ballasting the upper ballast tanks, the center of gravity is raised and the metacentric height is reduced. Deballasting of the upper ballast tanks causes a lowering of the center of gravity and an increase of the metacentric height.

Abstract: In a ship's roll damping tank, means are provided that are operative to extract substantial wave velocity energy from the liquid in the tank. Perforated pipes are laid in spaced parallel relationship across the bottom of the tank, i.e. in the fore and aft direction of the ship, to create, by injection from the pipes into the tank liquid, upflows of fluid that interfere with the normal orbital movement of the tank liquid wave particles.Wave velocity energy can likewise be extracted by means of an apertured false bottom, upward protuberances on the tank floor, and perforated or unperforated horizontal end baffles.

Abstract: A ballasting system for oil tankers and other ships for separating the oil nd the water ballast which eliminates oil contamination and pollution in ballasting and deballasting ships. Flexible fabric-reinforced or stretchable membranes are attached in liquid sealing relationship within the oil tank all around at the athwartships quarter-points to thereby preclude flow between the oil and ballast water. Ballast water is contained in the tank on one side of the membranes while the oil cargo or the flowable cargo is separated on the other side of the membranes. The entire tank can be maintained full for ship stability and prevention of sloshing of the fluids.

Abstract: An improved vessel for use in ice-covered waters has a motion inducing tank disposed in its hull at a location spaced from the even-keel center of buoyancy of the hull. Ports communicate from the lower extent of the hull to the exterior of the hull below the hull load waterline for flow of water into and out of the tank in response to pressure in the tank being different from ambient pressure outside the hull. The tank extends vertically in the hull from a lower end located below the hull load waterline to an upper end located above the waterline substantially as far as the location of the ports below the load waterline. Airflow devices are coupled to the upper extent of the tank and are operable alternately for generating superatmospheric and subatmospheric air pressure in the tank. The airflow devices include an air pressurizing device having a suction connection and a discharge connection.

Abstract: A purse-seine net, lures, or other fish catching devices are used in conjunction with a fishing vessel having a normally closed opening through the side of its hull below waterline. When the purse-seine net is used, a looped opening at the end of the net is placed over and around the opening through the vessel's hull, and the fish are transferred from the net in through the hull, as by suction, into a hold area where they are separated from the sea water; then the sea water is returned to the sea. Trim and stability problems of the vessel are solved by a novel system incorporating one or more compensating tanks, a ballast pump, and novel hull design.