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 TM 55-1905-223-SDC
plate must be reamed so the screws will not hold the plate away from the ship. The gasket can also be held
in place with retainer strips. At the center of the inner side weld is a ring or eyebolt to secure a line which
holds the patch close to the skin of the ship.
Another method often used is to drill a hole through the center of the plate and to insert a line through the
hole, with the outboard end knotted. The line used may be either wire or manila. Wire is stronger and it does
not give easily. When coated with fuel oil, however, wire is very slippery. Manila line is recommended.
These plates are made in various sizes up to 5 feet square. The larger sizes are very heavy and it is
necessary to weld an eye at the top center to secure a handling line, which also can act as the vertical
support with the patch in place. Similarly, eyes may be welded in place at the forward and after ends for
securing guys. This patch is lowered over the side by the handling and supporting line. A crew member
inside the ship reaches out through the shell hole, grabs the center line, and pulls the patch tight against the
ship's side. The center line then is made fast to a stanchion.
Every ship carries a large amount of material from which almost identical patches can be
improvised, such as mattresses, pillows, blankets, mess tables, joiner doors, planks, floorplates and
gratings.
e. Hinged plate patch. A variation of the plate patch is a circular plate 18 inches or less in diameter cut
in two and so hinged that it may be folded and pushed through a hole from inside the ship. The plate is to be
fitted with a gasket and a line for securing it to the ship. This patch is designed for use over a relatively small
hole as it has no vertical support to hold it in place.
f. Flexible plate patch. A flexible variety of the plate patch has been suggested for use over curved
surfaces, such as the turn of the bilge. The plate is made of lightweight sheet-metal reinforced with parallel
strips of light angle iron, welded in place, about 6 or 8 inches apart. The plate is provided with four eyes for
securing lines, and it should have some kind of soft gasket on the facing surface. It is, in effect, a stiff, metal
collision mat.
g. Patches inside ship. Sometimes it is desirable to place the patch inside the ship, not only to make
it accessible but to reduce the danger of having the patch knocked away by sea action. For inside patches,
innerspring mattresses are preferred principally because they hold their shape better while being placed, are
thicker, and adjust better to protruding edges. It would be well to use at least one thickness of blanket as a
facing for an innerspring mattress. Two thicknesses of crew mattresses generally will be more effective than
a single mattress.
The mattresses should be backed with joiner doors, steel plates, or wooden plates made of cleated planks,
and they must be shored stoutly in place. Holes or cracks into which the mattress cannot be pushed may be
stuffed with rags, oakum, and wedges. In some cases, these patches have not been satisfactory but they
have given good results over many shell holes and in replacing damaged watertight doors.
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