Oil recovery vessel for the removal of oil and other polluting matter floating on the water surface

Claim 1

In a vessel for skimming oil and the like from the surface of a body of water, said vessel having a bow, a stern, and sidewalls, said vessel having an intake located in said bow with an overflow edge slightly below the surface of said body of water and a funnel receiving oil and water by gravity from said overflow edge, said funnel opening downwardly into a conduit between said sidewalls, said conduit extending downwardly from said funnel and then turning and extending upwardly and discharging oil and water to a plurality of separation compartments disposed between said sidewalls one behind the other in a series lengthwise of the ship from said bow to said stern and in fluid communication with each other; the improvement comprising a pump in said conduit, said pump having an open centerless rotary impeller disposed below said surface and located in the upwardly extending portion of said conduit, said conduit discharging into the forwardmost of said series of compartments near the bow of the vessel, an outlet disposed in the rearmost of said series of compartments near the stern of the vessel below said surface of said body of water, and pump means to remove oil from the surface of the liquid in said compartments.