More Ideas for Saving Lives
Patent No. 20,072, April 27, 1858
Transfer from U.S. Patent Office
Life buoy patent model
Francis D. Lee of Charleston, South Carolina, envisioned a shipboard water tank that—if drained in time—would float free of a sinking ship. Passengers would cling to its exterior while a “treasure safe” suspended below would save “bullion, mails, and other valuables.” If the buoy itself sank, a smaller cork buoy would float out of the turret at the top to “mark the location of the lost treasure.”
Patent No. 146,316, January 13, 1874
Transfer from U.S. Patent Office
Life raft patent model
This raft uses rows of air-filled cylinders as floats. The elaborate wood framework protects the floats from damage and forms a deck. The inventor, George Clark of Ecorse, Michigan, hoped his rafts would be placed on the upper decks of steamships, “...whence they may readily be thrown into the water by one or two persons of ordinary strength, thus avoiding the delay and uncertainty of...launching boats.”
Patent No. 149,891, December 12, 1874
Transfer from U.S. Patent Office
Lifeboat patent model
Alpheus G. and Abram T. Sterling, fishermen from Portland, Maine, designed this boat to partially flood when launched. Water allowed into one chamber helped the boat resist capsizing while air-sealed rubber fenders and a second interior chamber kept it afloat.
Patent No. 211,807, January 28, 1879
Transfer from U.S. Patent Office
Lifeboat patent model
Designers George Tremberger and Michael Joseph Stein of New York City claimed that this boat’s “cabin is free to roll in the body of the boat, and consequently the effect of the rolling motions of the boat is not felt by the passengers.” Among the boat’s many features were a telescoping mast and hand-operated propeller.
