|
Nautical
Terms Glossary
A,
B, C, D, E,
F, G, H,
I, J, K, L,
M, N, O,
P, Q, R, S,
T, U, V,
W, X, Y, Z
A |
|
A.B.
(Ableseaman) |
Rating a man able
to hand, reef and steer. |
Aback
- (backwinded)
|
The sail filling
on the wrong side in the case of a square rigged ship may cause
the ship to go astern.(See All-Aback) |
Abaft |
Towards the stern of a vessel. |
Abaft the Beam |
Aft a line which extends out from amidships. |
Abandon
Ship |
An order given to leave a ship when it is in
danger. |
Abandonment |
A marine insurance term
indicating that the cost of repairs to a vessel is more than the
cost of the vessel and cargo.
|
Abeam |
At right angle to the middle of the ship’s side. |
Aboard |
Within a vessel. |
Fall
Aboard |
One vessel falls foul of another. |
To Lay Aboard |
To sail alongside an enemy vessel with the
intention of boarding. |
Tacks
Aboard |
To brace the yards around for sailing close
hauled. |
About
|
On the other tack.
To pass through the eye of the wind. |
Above
Board |
Above the deck. |
Abreast
|
Along side or at right to. |
Accommodation |
(See LADDER) |
A-Cock-Bill |
The
situation of the yards when they are topped up at an angle with
the deck. The situation of an anchor when it hangs to the
cathead by the ring only. |
Adrift
|
Broken from moorings or fasts. Without Fasts. |
Afloat |
Resting on the surface of the water. |
Afore |
Forward. The opposite of abaft. |
Aft
-After |
At, near, or towards
the stern. To move aft is to move to the back of the boat. |
After |
"Leading"
- A line that lead from its point of attachment toward the
stern.
|
Aground |
Touching the bottom. |
Ahead
|
In the direction of the vessel's head. Wind ahead
is from the direction toward which the vessel's head points
(opposite to A-stern). |
Ahoy |
Seaman's call to attract attention. |
A-Hull |
The situation of a vessel when she lies with all
her sails furled and her helm lashed a-lee. |
A-Lee |
The situation of the helm when it is put in the
opposite direction from that in, which the wind blows. |
All-Aback |
When all the sails are aback. |
All
Hands
|
The whole crew. |
All In The Wind
|
When all the sails are shaking. |
Aloft |
Up above, up the
mast or in the rigging. |
Aloof
|
At a distance. |
Amain
|
Suddenly. At once. |
Amidships |
In the middle of the ship, either to the length
or breadth. |
Anchor
|
A hook which digs
in to the bottom to keep the ship from drifting. |
Anchorage |
A sheltered place or area where a boat can
anchor. |
Anchor
Ball |
A black ball
visible in all direction display in the forward part of a vessel
at anchor. |
Anchor
Watch |
(see Watch) A member or members of the crew that
keep watch and check the drift of ship. |
Anchor
Light |
A white light visible in all direction display in
the forward part of a vessel at anchor. |
An-End |
When a mast is
perpendicular to the deck. |
A-Peek |
When the cable
is hove taut so as to bring the vessel nearly over her anchor.
The yards are a-peek when they are topped up by contrary lifts. |
Apparent Wind |
Wind felt on a
vessel underway. |
Apron |
A piece of
timber fixed behind the lower part of the stern [sic], just
above the fore end of the keel. A covering to the vent or lock
of a cannon. |
Arm - Yard-Arm |
The extremity
of a yard. Also, the lower part of an anchor crossing the shank
and terminating in the flukes. |
Arming |
A piece of
tallow put in the cavity and over the bottom of a lead-line. |
A-Stern |
In the
direction of the stern. The opposite of ahead. |
A-Taunt |
(See TAUNT.) |
Athwart
|
Across. |
Athwart-Ships |
Across the
line of the vessel's keel. |
Athwart-Hawse |
Across the
direction of a vessel's head. Across her cable. |
A-Trip |
The situation
of the anchor when it is raised clear of the ground. The same as
a-weigh.
|
Avast!
or Vast
|
The command to
stop, or cease, in any operation. |
A-Weather |
The situation of the
helm when it is put in the direction from which the wind blows. |
A-Weigh |
The same as
a-trip. |
Awning |
A covering of
canvass over a vessel's deck or over a boat, to keep off sun or
rain. |
B |
Back To Top
|
Back |
To back an anchor
is to carry out a smaller one ahead of the one by which the
vessel rides, to take off some of the strain.
To
back a sail
is throw it aback.
To
back and fill
is alternately to back and fill the sails.
|
Backstay |
Mast support
running to aft deck or another mast. (Stays). |
Backstaff |
A navigation
instrument used to measure the apparent height of a landmark
whose actual height is known such as the top of a lighthouse.
From this information, the ship's distance from that landmark
can be calculated.
|
Backwinded
|
When the wind
hits the leeward side of the sails. |
Baggywrinkle |
Chafing gear
made from old ropes. |
Bagpipe |
To bagpipe the
mizzen is to lay it aback by bringing the sheet to the weather
mizzen rigging. |
Bail |
Ironrod partially
circling the boom to which sheet block is attached. (See Bale).
To remove water from the boat. |
Bailers |
Openings in
the bottom or transom to drain water when sailing (See Self
Bailers. |
Balance-Reef |
A reef in a
spanker or fore-and-aft mainsail which runs from the outer head-earing,
diagonally, to the tack. It is the closest reef and makes the
sail triangular, or nearly so. |
Bale
|
To bale a boat is to
throw water out of her.
A
fitting on the end of a spar to which a line may be led.
|
Ballast |
Is either pigs of iron, stones, or gravel,
which last is called single
ballast; and their use is to
bring the ship down to her bearings in the water which her
provisions and stores will not do.
Trim the ballast
is to spread it about and lay it even, or runs over one side of
the hold to the other.
To
freshen ballast
is to shift it.
Coarse gravel is called
shingle ballast. |
Bank |
A boat is
double banked when men seated on the same thwart pull two oars,
one opposite the other. |
Bar |
A bank or
shoal at the entrance of a harbor. |
Barber Hauler |
A line attached to
the jib or jib sheet used to adjust the angle of sheeting by
pulling the sheet towards the centre line of the boat. |
Bare-Poles |
The condition
of a ship when she has no sail set. |
Barge |
A large
double-banked boat used by the commander of a vessel in the
navy. |
Bark |
A 3-Masted
Sailing Vessel with Sq. rigged on fore and main mast. |
Barkentine |
A 3-Masted
Sailing Vessel with Sq. rigged on fore mast only. |
Barnacle |
A shellfish
often found on a vessel's bottom. |
Barratry |
An
unlawful or fraudulent act or very gross and culpable negligence
by the master or mariners of a vessel in violation of their duty
as such, directly prejudicial to the owner or cargo, and without
his consent. Smuggling, trading with an enemy, casting away the
ship, and plundering or destroying cargo are considered
barratry." Rene de Kerchove,
International Maritime Dictionary, 2nd. Ed., p.44.
An
alternate slant is contained in: (Sec. 296) of part XLII-
Crimes, of Department of Commerce, Navigation Laws of the United
States 1923, p. 397.
"Whoever, on the high seas, or within the United
States, willfully and corruptly conspires, combines, and
confederates with any other person, such other person being
either within or without the United States, to cast away or
otherwise destroy any vessel, with intent to injure any person
that may have underwritten or may thereafter underwrite any
policy insurance thereon or on goods on board thereof, or with
intent to injure any person that has lent or advanced, or may
lend or advance, any money on such vessel on bottomry or
respondentia; or whoever, within the
United States, builds, fits, out, or aids in building or fitting
out, any vessel with intent that the same be cast away or
destroyed, with the intent herinbefore mentioned, shall be fined
not more than ten thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than
ten years. (Sec. 296.)"
British
maritime writer AC Hardy, Wreck - SOS, 1944, p.33.
"Insurance companies are wise
in their generation. They employ technical experts to help them,
and he would be a bold or resourceful man who is able to-day to
sink his ship without detection."
|
Battens
|
Thin strips of
wood put around the hatches to keep the tarpaulin down. Also,
put upon rigging to keep it from chafing. A large batten widened
at the end and put upon rigging, is called a Scotchman. |
Beacon
|
A post or buoy
placed over a shoal or bank to warn vessels off. Also as a
signal-mark on land. |
Beam |
The widest part of
the boat. |
Beams |
Strong pieces of
timber stretching across the vessel to support the decks.
On the weather or lee beam
is in a direction to windward or leeward at right angles with
the keel.
On Beam Ends
- The situation of a vessel when turned over so that her beams
are inclined toward the vertical.
|
Beam Reach |
A point of sail
where the boat is sailing at a right angle to the apparent wind. |
Bearing |
The direction of an
object expressed either as a true bearing as shown on the chart
or as a bearing relative to the heading of the boat.
The bearings of a vessel
is the widest part of her below the plank-shear. That part of
her hull which is on the waterline when she is at anchor and in
her proper trim.
|
Bear |
An
object bears so and so when it is in such a direction from the
person looking.
To bear down upon a vessel
is to approach her from the windward.
To bear up
is to put the helm up, keep a vessel off from her course, and
move her to leeward.
To bear away
is the same as to bear up; being applied to the vessel instead
of to the tiller.
To bear-a-hand.
To make haste.
|
Beating |
Going toward
the direction of the wind by alternate tacks. |
Beaufort Scale |
Is a system
for estimating wind strengths. |
Becalm |
To intercept
the wind. A vessel or highland to windward is said to becalm
another. So one sail becalms another. |
Becket
|
A piece of
rope placed so as to confines a spar or another rope. A handle
made of rope in the form of a circle, (as the handle of a
chest.) Is called a becket. |
Bees |
Pieces of
plank bolted to the outer end of the bowsprit to reeve the
foretopmast stays through. |
Belay |
Change order.
To make a line secure to a pin, cleat or bitt. |
Belay pin |
Iron or wood
pin fitted into railing to secure lines to. |
Bend
|
To make fast.
To
bend a sail
is to make it fast to the yard.
To bend a cable
is to make it fast to the anchor.
A
bend is a knot by
which one rope is made fast to another.
|
Bends |
The strongest
part of a vessel's side to which the beams, knees, and
foot-hooks are bolted. The part between the water's edge and the
bulwarks. |
Beneaped |
(See NEAPED) |
Bentick Shrouds |
Formerly used
and extending from the futtock-staves to the opposite channels. |
Berth |
The place
where a vessel lies. The place in which a man sleeps. |
Between-Decks |
The space
between any two decks of a ship. |
Bibbs |
Pieces of
timber bolted to the hounds of a mast to support the
trestle-trees. |
Bight |
The double part of
a rope when it is folded; in contradistinction from the ends.
Any part of a rope may be called the bight except the ends.
Also, a bend in the shore making a small bay or inlet. |
Bilge
|
The lowest part of the
interior hull below the waterline.
Bilge-Ways
- Pieces of timber bolted together and placed under the bilge,
in launching.
Bilge Water
- Water which settles in the bilge.
Bilge
- The largest circumference of a cask
|
Bilged |
When the bilge
is broken in. |
Bilge Pump |
A mechanical,
electrical, or manually operated pump used to remove water from
the bilge. |
Bill |
The point at
the extremity of the fluke of an anchor. |
Billet-Head |
(See HEAD.) |
Binnacle |
A box near the
helm containing the compass. |
Biscuit |
Bread intended for naval or
military expeditions is now simply flour well kneaded with the
least possible quantity of water into flat cakes and slowly
baked."
It has been around for
a long time - Pliny(c. AD 100) calls it 'panis nauticus' ".
Hard tack was another name for ship's biscuit and became a
common term in the 1830s and 1840s.
Good biscuit was supposed to be
one third heavier than the flour from which it was made. It was
normally kept in cloth bags and rapidly became a home to weevils
- no doubt increasing the protein content. It would keep for
many years and was a major staple in ships until the advent of
shipboard bakeries in the early years of the 20th Century.
|
Bitt |
A vertically
posted above deck used to secure line. The cables are fastened
to them, if there is no windlass. There are also bitts to secure
the windlass, and on each side of the heel of the bowsprit. |
Bitter |
Or Bitter-End.
That part of the cable, which is abaft the bitts. |
Blade |
The flat part
of an oar which goes into the water. |
Blanketing |
A tactical
maneuver whereby a boat uses its sails to cover another
competitor's wind so causing him to slow down. |
Block |
A pulley used
to gain mechanical advantage. |
Bluewater Sailing |
Open ocean
sailing, as opposed to sailing in protected waters e.g.. Lakes,
bays. |
Bluff |
A bluff-bowed or
bluff-headed vessel is one which is full and square forward. |
Board
|
The stretch a vessel
makes upon one tack when she is beating.
Stern-Board
-
When a vessel goes stern foremost.
By the Board
- Said
of masts, when they fall over the side. |
Boarders |
Sailors used to
make attack on other ships by boarding or used to repel
boarders. Once the ship was captured they used to repair the
ship and act as prize crew. |
Boat-Hook |
An iron hook
with a long staff held in the hand by which a boat is kept fast
to a wharf, or vessel. |
Boatswain |
(Pronounced
bo-s'n.) A warrant officer in the navy who has charge of the
rigging and calls the crew to duty. |
Bobstays |
Used to
confine the bowsprit down to the stem or cutwater. |
Bolsters |
Pieces of soft
wood covered with canvass placed on the trestle-trees for the
eyes of the rigging to rest upon. |
Bolts |
Long
cylindrical bars of iron or copper used to secure or unite the
different parts of a vessel. |
Bolt-Rope |
The rope which
goes round a sail and to which the canvass is sewed. |
Bonnet
|
An additional
piece of canvass attached to the foot of a jib, or a schooner's
foresail by lacing. Taken off in bad weather. |
Boom
|
A spar used to extend
the foot of a fore-and-aft sail or studding-sail.
Boom-irons
- Iron rings on the yards, through which the studding-sail booms
traverse.
Boom Crutch
- Support for the boom holding it up out of the way when the
boat is at anchor or moored. Unlike a gallows frame, a crutch is
stowed when sailing.
Boom Vang
- A system used to hold the boom down when sailing downwind.
|
Boot Stripe |
A different
color strip of paint at the waterline. |
Boot Top |
A stripe near
the waterline. |
Boot-Topping |
Scraping off
the grass, or other matter, that may be on a vessel's bottom,
and daubing it over with tallow, or some mixture. |
Bound |
Wind-bound. When a
vessel is kept in port by a head wind. |
Bow |
The forward
part of the vessel. |
Bowline |
A knot use to
form an eye or loop at the end of a rope. |
Bower |
A working anchor, the
cable of which is bent and reeved through the hawse-hole.
Best
Bower
-
is the larger of the two bowers.
|
Bow-Grace |
A frame of old
ropes or junk placed round the bows and sides of a vessel, to
prevent the ice from injuring her. |
Bowline |
(Pronounced
bo-lin.) A rope leading forward from the leech of a square
sail, to keep the leech well out when sailing close-hauled. A
vessel is said to be on a bowline, or on a taut bowline, when
she is close-hauled. |
Bowline-Bridle |
The span on
the leech of the sail to which the bowline is toggled. |
Bowse |
To pull upon a
tackle. |
Bowsies |
Are
essentially long thin deadeyes used to tension the rig. |
Bowsprit |
A long spar
attached to the Jib boom in the bow; used to secure headsails. |
Box-Hauling |
Wearing a
vessel by backing the head sails. |
Box |
To box the compass
is to repeat the thirty-two points of the compass in order. |
Brace |
A rope by which a yard
is turned about.
To brace a yard
is to turn it about horizontally.
To brace up
is to lay the yard fore fore-and-aft.
To brace in
is to lay it nearer square.
To brace aback.
(See ABACK.)
To brace to
is to brace the head yards a little aback, in tacking or
wearing.
|
Brails |
Ropes by which
the foot or lower corners of fore-and-aft sails are hauled up. |
Brake |
The handle of a
ship's pump. |
Break |
The sudden rise or
fall of the deck when not flush.
To
break bulk
is to begin to unload.
To
break ground
is to lift the anchor from the bottom.
To
break shear
is when a vessel at anchor in tending is forced the wrong
way by the wind or current so that she does not lie so well for
keeping herself clear of her anchor.
|
Break of the Poop |
Forward end
of the poop deck. |
Breaker
|
A small cask
containing water. |
Breaming
|
Cleaning a
ship's bottom by burning. |
Breast-Fast
|
A rope used to
confine a vessel sideways to a wharf or to some other vessel. |
Breast-Hooks |
Knees placed
in the forward part of a vessel across the stem to unite the
bows on each side. |
Breast Line |
A docking line
going at a right angle from the boat to the dock. |
Breast-Rope |
A rope passed
round a man in the chains while sounding. |
Breech |
The outside
angle of a knee-timber. The after end of a gun. |
Breeching |
A strong rope
used to secure the breech of a gun to the ship's side. |
Bridge Deck |
A partition
between the cockpit and the cabin. |
Bridle |
Spans of rope
attached to the leeches of square sails to which the bowlines
are made fast. |
Bridle-Port
|
The foremost
port used for stowing the anchors. |
Brig |
Is a 2-Masted vessel with both masts square rigged. On the
sternmost mast, the main mast, there is also a gaff sail.
An
hermaphrodite brig
has a brig's foremast and a schooner's mainmast.
|
Brigantine |
Is a 2-Masted
vessel with the fore mast being square rigged. |
Bright Work |
Varnished
woodwork. |
Broach |
The boat
swings and puts the beam against the waves. |
Broach - To |
To fall off so
much when going free as to bring the wind round on the other
quarter and take the sails aback. |
Broad Reach |
A point of sailing
where the boat is moving away from the wind, but not directly
downwind. |
Broadside |
The whole side
of a vessel. |
Broken-Backed |
The state of a
vessel when she is so loosened as to droop at each end. |
Bucklers |
Blocks of wood
made to fit in the hawse-holes or holes in the half-ports when
at sea. Those in the hawse-holes are sometimes called
hawse-blocks. |
Bulge |
(See BILGE) |
Bulk |
The whole cargo when
stowed.
Stowed in Bulk
is when goods are stowed loose instead of being stowed in casks
or bags. (See BREAK BULK.)
|
Bulkhead |
The vertical
partitions that divide the hull into separate compartments are
called bulkheads. Some are watertight. These watertight
bulkheads are so arranged that in case of accident at sea, water
would be confined to one compartment only. The collision
bulkhead in the front end is constructed to withstand heavy
strain and shock in case the bow be staved in. |
Bulkward,
Bulwark |
Solid rail along
ship side above deck to prevent men and gear from going
overboard. |
Bull |
A sailor's
term for a small keg, holding a gallon or two. |
Bull's Eye |
A small piece
of stout wood with a hole in the centre for a stay or rope to
reeve through, without any sheave, and with a groove round it
for the strap which is usually of iron. In addition, a piece of
thick glass inserted in the deck to let light below. |
Bung |
A round wood
plug inserted in hole to cover a nail screw or bolt. |
Bunk |
A sleeping
berth. |
Buoy
|
A floating
navigation aid. |
Burdened Vessel |
That vessel
which, according to the applicable Navigation Rules, must give
way to the privileged vessel. |
Bulwarks |
The wood work
round a vessel above her deck consisting of boards fastened to
stanchions and timber-heads. |
Bum-Boats |
Boats which lie
alongside a vessel in port with provisions and fruit to sell. |
Bumpkin |
Pieces of
timber projecting from the vessel to board the fore tack to; and
from each quarter, for the main brace-blocks. |
Bunt
|
The middle of a
sail. |
Buntine
|
(Pronounced
buntin.) Thin woolen stuff of which a ship's colors are made.
|
Buntlines
|
Ropes used for
hauling up the body of a sail. |
Buoy
|
A floating cask or
piece of wood attached by a rope to an anchor to show its
position. Also, floated over a shoal or other dangerous place as
a beacon.
To
stream a buoy
is to drop it into the water before letting go the anchor.
A
buoy is said to
watch
when it floats upon the surface of the water.
|
Burton |
A tackle, rove in a
particular manner.
A
single Spanish
burton
has three single blocks or two single blocks and a hook in the
bight of one of the running parts.
A
double Spanish
burton
has three double blocks.
|
Butt
|
The
end of a plank where it unites with the end of another.
Scuttlebutt -
A cask with a hole cut in its bilge and kept on deck to hold
water for daily use.
|
Buttock |
That part of
the convexity of a vessel abaft under the stern contained
between the counter above and the after part of the bilge below
and between the quarter on the side and the stern-post. |
By
-
By the Head |
Said of
a vessel when her head is lower in the water than her stern. If
her stern is lower, she is by the stern.
By the lee
(See LEE. See RUN.) |
C |
Back To Top
|
Cabin
|
The after part
of a vessel in which the officers live. |
Cabin Sole |
The bottom
space of the enclosed space under the deck of a boat. |
Cable |
The rope or
chain made fast to the anchor. It is usually 120 fathoms in
length. |
Cable-Tier |
(See TIER.) |
Caboose
|
A house on
deck where the cooking is done. Commonly called the Galley. |
Calk
|
(See CAULK.) |
Cambered
|
When the floor of
a vessel is higher at the middle than towards the stem and
stern. |
Camel
|
A machine used for
lifting vessels over a shoal or bar.
|
Camfering
|
Taking off an
angle or edge of a timber. |
Canister
|
Musket balls
put into thin tin or wooden containers designed to break apart
on firing and langrage as old chain links, scrap metal,
horseshoe nails, stones, pottery pieces, etc., put into similar
containers designed to break apart on firing. Langrage (Langrel
Langrace) was considered barbaric, because it was almost certain
to cause Tetanus. They didn't know about bacteria, but their
clinical observations of causality were excellent. |
Can-Hooks
|
Slings with
flat hooks at each end used for hoisting barrels or light casks,
the hooks being placed round the chimes and the purchase hooked
to the centre of the slings. Small ones are usually wholly of
iron. |
Cant-Pieces
|
Pieces of
timber fastened to the angles of fishes and side-trees to supply
any part that may prove rotten. |
Cant-Timbers
|
Timbers at the two
ends of a vessel raised obliquely from the keel.
Lower
Half Cants
[reads "cints"] - Those parts of frames situated forward and
abaft the square frames or the floor timbers which cross the
keel.
|
Canvass
|
The cloth of
which sails are made. No. 1 is the coarsest and strongest. |
Cap
|
A thick,
strong block of wood with two holes through it, one square and
the other round, used to confine together the head of one mast
and the lower art of the mast next above it. |
Capstan
|
The drum-like part of the
windlass which is a machine used for winding in rope, cables, or
chain connected to an anchor cargo.
|
Capstan-Bars
|
Are heavy
pieces of wood by which the capstan is hove round. |
Carline
|
Wood stringer
support for hatches and cabins. |
Capsize
|
To overturn. |
Careen
|
To heave a
vessel down upon her side by purchases upon the masts. To lie
over when sailing on the wind. |
Carlings
|
Short and
small pieces of timber running between the beams. |
Carrick-Bend
|
A kind of
knot. |
Carrick-Bitts
|
Are the
windless bitts. |
Carry-Away |
To break a
spar or part a rope. |
Cascabel
|
Is the other
term for the knob on a cannon and comes from Spanish, Catalan,
etc. Cascabellus = Little bell. |
Cast
|
To pay a vessel's head off in
getting under way; on the tack, she is to sail upon.
|
Cat
|
The tackle used to
hoist the anchor up to the cat-head. |
Cat-block
|
The block of
this tackle. |
Cat-Harpin
|
An iron leg used
to confine the upper part of the rigging to the mast. |
Cat-Head
|
Large timbers
projecting from the vessel's side to which the anchor is raised
and secured. |
Cat's-Paw
|
A kind of hitch made in a rope.
A light current of air seen on
the surface of the water during a calm.
|
Caulk
|
To fill wooden
vessel seams with oakum and cotton using caulking irons and
hammer. |
Cavil
|
(See KEVEL.) |
Ceiling
|
The inside
planking of a vessel. |
Chafe
|
To rub the
surface of a rope or spar. |
Chafing-Gear |
Is
the stuff put upon the rigging and spars to prevent their
chafing.
|
Chains
|
Strong links
or plates of iron, the lower ends of which are bolted through
the ship's side to the timbers. Their upper ends are secured to
the bottom of the dead-eyes in the channels, in addition, used
familiarly for the CHANNELS which see. The chain cable of a
vessel is called familiarly her chain. |
Rudder-Chains
|
Lead from the
outer and upper end of the rudder to the quarters. They are hung
slack. |
Chain
Boat
|
A boat fitted up
for recovering lost cables, anchors, etc. |
Chain
Bolt
|
The bolt at
the lower end of the chain plate which fastens it to the
vessel's side. |
Chain-Plates
|
Plates of iron
bolted to the side of a ship to which the chains and dead-eyes
of the lower rigging are connected. Also used to support the
standing rigging. |
Chain
Shot
|
Two cannon balls
connected together with either chain or an iron bar, was used to
destroy the rigging other other ships.
Chain shot was first used in the 30 Years War. It was introduced
by Gustavus Adolfus to be shot at a low, flat trajectory for
breaking cavalry charges (and horses' legs). The naval use comes
later. |
Channels
|
Broad pieces
of plank bolted edgewise to the outside of a vessel. Used for
spreading the lower rigging. (See CHAINS.) |
Chanty
|
Shanties are
the work songs that were used on the square-rigged ships of the
Age of Sail. Their rhythms coordinated the efforts of many
sailors hauling on lines. |
Chapelling
|
Wearing a ship round when taken
aback without bracing the head yards.
|
Charley Noble
|
Galley
stovepipe. |
Check
|
A term
sometime used for slacking off a little on a brace and then
belaying it. |
Cheeks
|
The
projections on each side of a mast upon which the trestle-trees
rest. The sides of the shell of a block. |
Cheerly
|
Quickly, with
a will. |
Chess-Trees
|
Pieces of oak
fitted to the sides of a vessel abaft the fore chains with a
sheave in them to board the main tack to. |
Chimes
|
The ends of
the staves of a cask where they come out beyond the head of the
cask. |
Chinse
|
To thrust
oakum into seams with a small iron. |
Chips
|
Small pieces
of timber offcuts left over from shipbuilding, Traditionally
available to shipwrights and carpenters was much abused during
the 17th cenury when whole house and furniture were buit. |
Clamps
|
Thick planks
on the inside of vessels to support the ends of beams. In
addition, crooked plates of iron fore-locked upon the trunnions
of cannon. Any plate of iron made to turn, open and shut to
confine a spar or boom as a studdingsail boom or a boat's mast. |
Clasp-Hook
|
(See
CLOVE-HOOK.) |
Cleat
|
A piece of wood
with two horns used in different parts of a vessel to belay
ropes to. |
Clew
|
The lower corner
of square sails, and the after corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
To clew up
is to haul up the clew of a sail.
|
Clew-Garnet
|
A rope that
hauls up the clew of a foresail or mainsail in a square-rigged
vessel. |
Clewline
|
A rope that hauls up the clew
of a square sail. The clew-garnet is the clewline of a course.
|
Clinch
|
A half-hitch
stopped to its own part. |
Close-Hauled
|
Applied to a
vessel which is sailing with her yards braced up to get as much
possible to windward? The same as on a taut bowline, full and
by, on the wind. |
Clove
Hitch
|
A knot. Two
half hitches around a spar, post, or rope. |
Clove-Hook
|
An iron clasp,
in two parts, moving upon the same pivot and overlapping one
another. Used for bending chain sheets to the clews of sails. |
Club-Haul
|
To bring a
vessel's head round on the other tack by letting go the lee
anchor and cutting or slipping the cable. |
Clubbing
|
Drifting down
a current with an anchor out. |
Coaking
|
Uniting pieces
of spar by means of tabular projections formed by cutting away
the solid of one piece into a hollow so as to make a projection
in the other in such a manner that they may correctly fit the
butts preventing the pieces from drawing asunder. |
Coaks
|
Are fitted into
the beams and knees of vessels to prevent their drawing. |
Coal
Tar
|
Tar made from
bituminous coal. |
Coamings
|
Raised work
round the hatches to prevent water going down into the hold. |
Coat
|
Mast-Coat is a piece of canvass
tarred or painted placed round a mast or bowsprit where it
enters the deck.
|
Cock-Bill
|
To cock-bill a
yard or anchor. (See A-COCK-BILL.) |
Cock-Pit
|
An apartment
in a vessel of war used by the surgeon during an action. |
Codline
|
An eighteen
thread line. |
Coil
|
To lay a rope
down in circular turns. A coil is a quantity of rope laid up in
that manner. |
Collar |
An eye in the
end or bight of a shroud or stay to go over the mast-head. |
Come
|
Come home said of an anchor
when it is broken from the ground and drags.
To come up a rope or tackle
is to slack it off.
|
Companion
|
A wooden
covering over the staircase to a cabin. |
Companion-Way
|
The
staircase to the cabin. |
Companion-Ladder
|
The ladder
leading from the poop to the main deck. |
Compass
|
The instrument
which tells the course of a vessel. |
Compass-Timbers
|
Are such as are curved or
arched.
|
Concluding-Line
|
A small line
leading through the centre of the steps of a rope or Jacob's
ladder. |
Conning, Or Cunning
|
Directing the
helmsman in steering a vessel. |
Counter
|
That part of a
vessel between the bottom of the stern and the wing-transom and
buttock. |
Counter-Timbers
|
Are short timbers put in to
strengthen the counter.
To
counter-brace yards
is to brace the head-yards one way and the after-yards another.
|
Courses
|
The common term for the sails
that hang from a ship's lower yards. The foresail is called the
fore course and the mainsail the main course.
|
Coxswain
|
(Pronounced
cox'n.) The person who steers a boat and has charge of her. |
Cranes
|
Pieces of iron
or timber at the vessel's sides, used to stow boats or spars
upon. A machine used at a wharf for hoisting. |
Crank
|
The condition of a
vessel when she is inclined to lean over a great deal and cannot
bear much sail. This may be owing to her construction or to her
stowage. |
Creeper
|
An iron
instrument, like a grapnell, with four claws used for dragging
the bottom of a harbor or river to find anything lost. |
Cringle
|
A short piece
of rope with each end spliced into the bolt-rope of a sail
confining an iron ring or thimble. |
Cross-Bars
|
Round bars of
iron bent at each end used as levers to turn the shank of an
anchor. |
Cross-Chocks
|
Pieces of
timber fayed across the dead-wood amidships, to make good the
deficiency at the heels of the lower futtocks. |
Cross-Jack
|
(Pronounced croj-jack.) The sail cross-jack yard is the lower
crossed yard on the mizzen mast. |
Cross-Pawls
|
Pieces of timber
that keeps a vessel together while in her frames. |
Cross-Piece
|
A piece of
timber connecting two bitts. |
Cross-Spales
|
Pieces of timber placed across
a vessel and nailed to the frames to keep the sides together
until the knees are bolted.
|
Cross-Trees
|
Pieces of oak
supported by the cheeks and trestle-trees at the mast-heads to
sustain the tops on the lower mast and to spread the topgallant
rigging at the topmast-head. |
Crow-Foot
|
A number of
small lines rove through the uvrou [sic] to suspend an awning
by. |
Crown
of an Anchor
|
Is the place where
the arms are joined to the shank. |
Crow's Nest
|
Protected
look-out position high on the foremast. |
Crutch
|
A knee or
piece of knee-timber placed inside of a vessel to secure the
heels of the cant-timbers abaft. Also, the chock upon which the
spanker-boom rests when the sail is not set. |
Cuckold's Neck
|
A knot, by
which a rope is secured to a spar, the two parts of the rope
crossing each other and seized together. |
Cuddy
|
A cabin in the
fore part of a boat. |
Cuntline
|
The space
between the bilges of two casks stowed side by side. Where one
cask is set upon the cuntline between two others; they are
stowed bilge and cuntline. |
Cut-Water
|
The foremost
part of a vessel's prow which projects forward of the bows. |
Cutter |
A small boat. Also, a kind of
sloop.
|
D |
Back To Top
|
Dagger
|
A piece of timber
crossing all the puppets of the bilge-ways to keep them
together. |
Dagger-Knees
|
Knees placed
obliquely, to avoid a port. |
Davits
|
Small cranes,
usually located astern that are used to raise and lower smaller
boats from the deck to the water. Also, a spar with a roller or
sheave at its end used for fishing the anchor called a
fish-davit. |
Ditty
Bag
|
A small bag for
carrying or stowing all personal articles. |
Deadeye |
A circular
block of wood with three holes through it for the lanyards of
rigging to reeve through without sheaves and with a groove round
it for an iron strap |
Dead-Flat |
One of the
bends, amidships. |
Dead-Lights
|
Ports placed
in the cabin windows in bad weather. |
Dead
Reckoning
|
A calculation
of determining position by using course speed last known
position |
Dinghy
|
A small boat,
usually carried on hauled behind a bigger boat. |
Dead-Rising (Or Rising-Line)
|
Those parts of
a vessel's floor throughout her whole length where the
floor-timber is terminated upon the lower futtock. |
Dead-Water
|
The eddy under
a vessel's counter. |
Dead-Wood
|
Blocks of
timber laid upon each end of the keel where the vessel narrows. |
Deck
|
The planked floor of a vessel
resting upon her beams.
|
Deck-Stopper
|
A stopper used
for securing the cable forward of the windlass or capstan while
it is overhauled. (See STOPPER.) |
Deep-Sea-Lead
|
(Pronounced
dipsey.) The lead used in sounding at great depths. |
Departure
|
The easting or westing made by
a vessel. The bearing of an object on the coast from which a
vessel commences her dead reckoning.
|
Derrick
|
A single spar
supported by stays and guys to which a purchase is attached,
used to unload vessels and for hoisting. |
Displacement
|
The weight of
the water displaced by the vessel. |
Displacement Speed Hull Speed
|
The
theoretical speed that a boat can travel without planing. This
speed is 1.34 times the length of a boat at its waterline. |
Dog |
A short iron
bar with a fang or teeth at one end and a ring at the other.
Used for a purchase, the fang being placed against a beam or
knee, and the block of a tackle hooked to the ring. |
Dog-Vane
|
A small vane
made of feathers or buntin to show the direction of the wind. |
Dog-Watches
|
Half watches
of two hours each, from 4 to 6 and from 6 to 8, P.M. (See
WATCH.) |
Dolphin
|
A rope or
strap round a mast to support the puddening where the lower
yards rest in the slings. In addition, a spar or buoy with a
large ring in it secured to an anchor to which vessels may bend
their cables. |
Dolphin-Striker
|
The martingale |
Dorade
|
A horn type of
vent designed to let air into a cabin and keep water out. |
Double Bottom
|
The double
bottom extends from the flat keel to the tank top. It is
strongly constructed and is water tight so that in case of
accident causing an inrush of water into the double bottom, the
ship would still be able to keep afloat. The principal parts of
the double bottom are the flat keel, vertical keel, floors,
intercostal girders, bilge, brackets, tank top, longitudinals,
bounding bars and angle clips. |
Double Sheetbend
|
Join small to
medium size rope. |
Douse
|
To drop a sail
quickly. |
Dowelling
|
A method of coaking by letting
pieces into the solid or uniting two pieces together by tenoning.
|
Downhaul
|
A rope used to
haul down jibs, staysails, and studdingsails. |
Drabler
|
A piece of
canvass laced to the bonnet of a sail to give it more drop. |
Draft
|
The depth of
water required to float a vessel. |
Drag
|
A machine with
a bag net used for dragging on the bottom for anything lost. |
Draught
|
The depth of
water which a vessel requires to float her. |
Draw
|
A sail draws when it
is filled by the wind.
To draw a jib
is to shift it over the stay to leeward when it is aback. |
Dreadnoughts
|
A uniform main
battery of 10-12 inch guns in number at least twice as many as
on Predreadnoughts and semi-dreadnought. |
Drift
|
A vessels
leeway. |
Drifts
|
Those pieces
in the sheer-draught where the rails are cut off. |
Drive
|
To scud before
a gale or to drift in a current. |
Driver
|
A spanker. |
Drop
|
The depth of a
sail from head to foot amidships. |
Drum-Head
|
The top of the
capstan. |
Dub
|
To reduce the end of a timber.
|
Duck
|
A kind of
cloth, lighter and finer than canvass; used for small sails. |
Dunnage
|
Loose wood or
other matters placed on the bottom of the hold above the ballast
to stow cargo upon. |
Dyce
|
Keeping the
attitude toward the wind as it is and no higher. In other words,
if the wind changes direction, change course to match. E.g.: if
on the starboard tack (wind coming from the starboard) and the
wind backs (anti-clockwise shift) fall off the wind (turn to
port) as necessary to maintain the wind coming from the same
direction with regard to the vessel. |
E |
Back To Top
|
Earing
|
A rope
attached to the cringle of a sail by which it is bent or reefed. |
Ease Sheet |
To let the
sheet out slowly loosen a line while maintaining control, |
Eiking |
A piece of
wood fitted to make good a deficiency in length. |
Elbow
|
Two crosses in
a hawse. |
EPIRB
|
Emergency
Position Indicating Radio Beacon. An emergency device that uses
a radio signal to alert satellites or passing airplanes to a
vessel's position. |
Escutcheon |
The part of a
vessels stern where her name is written. |
Euvrou |
A piece of wood by which the
legs of the crow-foot to an awning are extended. (See UVROU.)
|
Even-Keel
|
The situation
of a vessel when she is so trimmed that she sits evenly upon the
water, neither end being down more than the other. |
Eye
|
The circular
part of a shroud or stay, where it goes over a mast. |
Eye-Bolt
|
A long iron
bar having an eye at one end driven through a vessel's deck or
side into a timber or beam with the eye remaining out to hook a
tackle to. If there is a ring through eye, it is called a
ring-bolt. |
Eye
of the Wind
|
The direction
that the wind is blowing from. |
Eyes
of a Vessel
|
A familiar
phrase for the forward part. |
Eye-Splice |
A certain
kind of splice made with the end of a rope into a loop. |
Eyelet-Hole |
A hole made
in a sail for a cringle or roband to go through. |
F |
Back To Top
|
Fall |
The hauling
part of the tackle to which power is applied. |
Fathom |
Measurement of
six feet. |
Face-Pieces
|
Pieces of wood
wrought on the fore part of the knee of the head. |
Facing |
Letting one
piece of timber into another with a rabbet. |
Fag |
A rope is
fagged when the end is untwisted. |
Fairleader
|
A strip of board or plank, with
holes in it for running rigging to lead through. Also, a block
or thimble used for the same purpose.
|
Fake |
One of the
circles or rings made in coiling a rope. |
Fall |
That part of a
tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting. |
False-Fire
|
A tube when
lit burnt with a blue flame, used for signalling. |
False-Keel
|
Pieces of
timber secured under the main keel of vessels. |
Fancy-Line
|
A line rove
through a block at the jaws of a gaff used as a downhaul. Also,
a line used for cross-hauling the lee topping-lift. |
Fashion-Pieces
|
The aftermost
timbers terminating the breadth and forming the shape of the
stern. |
Fast
|
A rope by
which a vessel is secured to a wharf. There are bow or head,
breast, quarter, and stern fasts. |
Fathom |
Six feet. |
Feather
|
To feather an
oar in rowing is to turn the blade horizontally with the top aft
as it comes out of the water. |
Feather-Edged
|
Planks which
have one side thicker than another. |
Fender |
Pieces of wood
or rope hung over the side to protect a vessel from chafing when
alongside another vessel or dock. |
Fid
|
A block of
wood or iron, placed through the hole in the heel of a mast, and
resting on the trestletrees of the mast below. This supports the
mast. Also, a wooden pin, tapered, used in splicing large ropes,
in opening eyes. |
Fiddle |
Block
- A
long shell having one sheave over the other, and the lower
smaller than the upper.
|
Fiddlehead
|
(See HEAD.) |
Fife Rail |
A rail around
the mast with hole for belaying pins. |
Figure Eight Knot
|
A stopper knot
for the end of the rope. |
Figurehead
|
Carved figure
on the front of the ship over the cutwater. |
Fillings
|
Pieces of
timber used to make the curve fair for the mouldings between the
edges of the fish-front and the sides of the mast. |
Filler
|
(See MADE
MAST.) |
Finishing
|
Carved
ornaments of the quarter-galley below the second counter and
above the upper lights. |
Fish
|
To raise the
flukes of an anchor upon the gunwale. Also, to strengthen a spar
when sprung or weakened by putting in or fastening on another
piece. |
Fish-Front
|
Fishes sides.
(See MADE MAST.) |
Fish-Davit
|
The davit used
for fishing an anchor. |
Fishhook
|
A hook with a
pennant to the end of which the fish-tackle is hooked. |
Fish-Tackle
|
The tackle used for fishing an
anchor.
|
Flare
|
When the
vessel's sides go out from the perpendicular. In opposition to
falling-home or tumbling-in. |
Flat
|
A sheet is
said to be hauled flat when it is hauled down close. |
Flat-Aback
|
When a sail
is blown with it's after surface against the mast. |
Fleet
|
To come up a
tackle and draw the blocks apart for another pull after they
have been hauled two-blocks. |
Fleet
ho!
|
The order
given at such times. Also, to shift the position of a block or
fall so as to haul to more advantage. |
Flemish Coil
|
(See
FRENCH-FAKE.) |
Flemish-Eye
|
A kind of
eye-splice. |
Flemish Horse
|
The
Flemish Horse was made fast on the extreme outer end of the
yard-arm, the inner end lapping in past the outer foot-rope and
was seized to a jack-stay eye-bolt about three feet in from
where the main foot-rope was made fast at the shoulder on the
yard. This had no stirrup as it was only a short loop.
The Flemish Horse was for the man who straddled
the yardarm facing inward, whose duty it was to pass the
reef-earring when a sail was being reefed.
|
"I'd rather of a
kicking mule be undisputed boss than passing this 'ere
earing out on this 'ere flemish hoss"
---From an old
seaman's ditty----
|
|
|
Floor
|
The bottom of
a vessel,on each side of the keelson. |
Floor
Timbers
|
Those timbers
of a vessel which are placed across the keel. |
Flowing Sheet
|
When a vessel
has the wind free and the lee clews eased off. |
Flukes
|
The broad
triangular plates at the extremity of the arms of an anchor
terminating in a point called the bill. |
Fly
|
That part of a flag which
extends from the Union to the extreme end. (See UNION.)
|
Flying Jib
|
Sets outside
of the jib; and the jib-o'-jib outside of that. |
Fo’c’sle / Fore Castle
|
The extreme
forward compartment of the vessel. That part of the upper deck
forward of the fore mast; or, as some say, forward of the after
part of the fore channels. |
Foot
|
The lower end
of a mast or sail. (See FORE-FOOT.) |
Foot-Rope
|
The rope
stretching along a yard upon which men stand when reefing or
furling, formerly called horses. |
Foot-Waling
|
The inside
planks or lining of a vessel over the floor-timbers. |
Fore
|
The forward
part of the vessel. Used to distinguish the forward part of a
vessel, or things in that direction as fore mast, fore hatch; in
opposition to aft or after. |
Foremast
|
The mast in
the forepart of a vessel nearest the bow. |
Foresail
|
Is set on the
foremast of a schooner or the lowest square sail on the foremast
of Sq. riggers. |
Fore-And-Aft |
Lengthwise with the vessel. In
opposition to athwart-ships. (See SAILS.)
|
Forefoot
|
A piece of
timber at the forward extremity of the keel upon which the lower
end of the stem rests. |
Fore-Ganger |
A short piece
of rope grafted on a harpoon to which the line is bent. |
Forelock
|
A flat piece
of iron driven through the end of a bolt to prevent its drawing. |
Fore
Mast
|
The forward
mast of all vessels. |
Forereach
|
To shoot
ahead, especially when going in stays. |
Fore-Runner
|
A piece of rag
terminating the stray-line of the log-line. |
Forge
|
To forge
ahead, to shoot ahead as in coming to anchor after the sails are
furled. (See FOREREACH.) |
Formers
|
Pieces of wood
used for shaping cartridges or wads. |
Fother, Or Fodder
|
To draw a sail
filled with oakum under a vessel's bottom in order to stop a
leak. |
Foul
|
The term for
the opposite of clear. |
Foul
Anchor
|
When the cable
has a turn round the anchor. |
Foul
Hawse
|
When the two
cables are crossed or twisted outside the stem. |
Founder
|
A vessel founders when she
fills with water and sinks.
|
Fox
|
Made by twisting together two or more rope-yarns.
A Spanish fox
is made by untwisting a single yarn and laying it up the
contrary way.
|
Frames
|
The wooden
ribs that form the shape of the hull. |
Frap
|
To pass ropes
round a sail to keep it from blowing loose. Also, to draw ropes
round a vessel which is weakened to keep her together. |
Free
|
A vessel is going free when she
has a fair wind and her yards braced in. A vessel is said to be
free when the water has been pumped out of her.
|
Freshen
|
To
relieve a rope by moving its place; as, to freshen the nip of a
stay is to shift it so as to prevent it’s chafing through.
To freshen ballast
is to alter its position.
|
French-Fake
|
To coil a rope
with each fake outside of the other beginning in the middle. If
there are to be riding fakes, they begin outside and go in and
so on. This is called a Flemish coil. |
Full-And-By
|
Sailing close-hauled on a wind.
The order given to the man at the helm to keep
the sails full and at the same time close to the wind.
|
Furl
|
To roll a sail
up snugly on a yard or boom, and secure it. |
Futtock-Plates
|
Iron plates
crossing the sides of the top-rim perpendicularly. The dead-eyes
of the topmast rigging are fitted to their upper ends and the
futtock-shrouds to their lower ends. |
Futtock-Shrouds
|
Short shrouds
leading from the lower ends of the futtock-plates to a bend
round the lower mast, just below the top. |
Futtock-Staff
|
A short piece
of wood or iron seized across the upper part of the rigging to
which the catharpin legs are secured. |
Futtock-Timbers
|
Those timbers
between the floor and naval timbers and the top-timbers. There
are two - the lower, which is over the floor, and the middle,
which is over the naval timber. The naval timber is sometimes
called the ground futtock. |
G |
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|
Gaff
|
A
free-swinging spar attached to the top of a fore-and-aft sail. |
Gaff-Topsail
|
A light sail
set over a gaff, the foot being spread by it. |
Gage
|
The depth of
water of a vessel. Also, her position as to another vessel, as
having the weather. |
Galley
|
The kitchen of
a ship. |
Gallows
|
A frame used
to rest the boom when the sail is down. |
Gammoning
|
The lashing by
which the bowsprit is secured to the cutwater. |
Gang-Casks
|
Small casks,
used for bring water on board in boats. |
Gangway
|
That part of a
vessel's side, amidships, where people pass in and out of the
vessel. |
Gantline |
(See
GIRTLINE.) |
Garboard-Strake
|
The range of
planks next the keel on each side. |
Garland
|
A large rope,
strap or grommet, lashed to a spar when hoisting it inboard.
|
Garnet
|
A purchase on
the main stay for hoisting cargo. |
Gaskets
|
Ropes, or
pieces of plated stuff used to secure a sail to the yard or boom
when it is furled. They are called a bunt, quarter, or yardarm
gasket, according to their position on the yard. |
Gasket |
Line
used to secure a furled sail to the boom or yards.
|
Genoa
|
Largest jib on
a sailboat, also known as a genny. |
Gimblet
|
To turn an
anchor round by its stock. To turn anything round on its end. |
Girt
|
The situation
of a vessel when her cables are too taut. |
Girtline
|
A rope rove
through a single block aloft making a whip purchase. Commonly
used to hoist rigging by in fitting it. |
Give
Way!
|
An order to
men in a boat to pull with fore force or to begin pulling. The
same as "Lay out on your oars! Or, Lay out!" |
Glut
|
A piece of
canvass sewed into the center of a sail near the head. It has an
eyelet-hole in the middle for the bunt-jigger or becket to go
through. |
GMT
|
Greenwich
Meridian Time, also known as Universal Time or Zulu time. |
GPS
|
Global
positioning system is a satellite-based radio navigation used to
determine position. |
Gob-Line, Or GAUB-LINE
|
A rope leading
from the martingale inboard. The same as back-rope. |
Goodgeon
|
(See GUDGEON.) |
Gooseneck |
The fitting
which secures the boom to the mast. |
Goose-Winged
|
The situation
of a course when the buntlines and lee clew are hauled up and
the weather clew down. |
Gores
|
The angles at one or both ends
of such cloths as increase the breadth or depth of a sail.
|
Goring-Cloths
|
Pieces cut
obliquely and put in to add to the breadth of a sail. |
Grafting
|
A manner of
covering a rope by weaving together yarns. |
Grains
|
An iron with
four or more barbed points to it used for striking small fish. |
Grapnel
|
A small anchor
with several claws used to secure boats. |
Grappling Irons
|
Crooked irons
used to seize and hold fast another vessel. |
Grating |
Open
latticework of wood. Used principally to cover hatches in good
weather. |
Greave
|
To clean a
ship's bottom by burning. |
Gripe
|
The outside
timber of the forefoot, under water, fastened to the lower
stem-piece. A vessel gripes when she tends to come up into the
wind. |
Gripes
|
Bars of iron
with lanyards, rings and clews by which a large boat is lashed
to the ringbolts of the deck. Those for a quarter-boat are made
of long strips of matting, going round her and set taut by a
lanyard. |
Grommet
|
A ring formed
of rope by laying round a single strand. |
Ground Tackle
|
A collective
term for the anchor and anchor gear and everything used in
securing a vessel at anchor. |
Guess-Warp Or Guess-Rope
|
A rope
fastened to a vessel or wharf and used to tow a boat by; or to
haul it out to the swing-boom-end, when in port. |
Gun-Tackle Purchase
|
A purchase
made by two single blocks. |
Gunwale
(gunnel) |
The upper
railing of a boat's side. |
Guy
|
A rope
attaching to anything to steady it and bear it one way and
another in hoisting. |
Gybe |
(Pronounced
jibe.) To shift over the boom of a fore-and-aft sail.
|
H |
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|
Hail |
To speak or
call to another vessel or to men in a different part of a ship. |
Half
Hitch
|
Knot. |
Halyards
|
Lines used to
haul up the sail and the wooden poles (boom and gaff) that hold
the sails in place. |
Hammock
|
A piece of
canvass, hung at each end in which seamen sleep. |
Hand
|
To hand a sail
is to furl it.
Bear-a-hand
is to make haste.
Lend-a-hand
is to
assist.
Hand-over-hand
is hauling rapidly on a rope by putting one hand before the
other alternately.
|
Hand-Lead
|
A small lead
used for sounding in rivers and harbors. |
Handsomely
|
Slowly,
carefully. Used for an order as "Lower handsomely!" |
Handspike
|
A long wooden
bar used for heaving at the windlass. |
Handy
Billy
|
A
watch-tackle. |
Hanks
|
Rings or hoops
of wood, rope, or iron, round a stay and seized to the luff of a
fore-and-aft sail. |
Harpings
|
The fore part
of the wales which encompass the bows of a vessel and are
fastened to the stem. |
Harpoon
|
A spear used for striking
whales and other fish.
|
Hatch
or Hatchway
|
An
opening in the deck for entering below. Covers for these
openings. |
Hatch-Bar
|
An iron bar
going across the hatches to keep them down. |
Haul
|
Haul her wind
said of a vessel when she comes up close upon the wind. |
Hawse
|
The
situation of the cables before a vessel's stem when moored.
Also, the distance upon the water a little in advance of the
stem; as, a vessel sails athwart the hawse or anchors in the
hawse of another.
Open Hawse
- When a vessel rides by two anchors without any cross in her
cables.
|
Hawse-Hole
|
The hole in
the bows through which the cable runs. |
Hawse-Pieces
|
Timbers
through which the hawse-holes are cut. |
Hawse-Block
|
A block of
wood fitted into a hawse-hole at sea. |
Hawser
|
A large rope
used for various purposes as warping for a spring. |
Hawser-Laid
|
Or Cable-Laid
Rope Is rope
laid with nine strands against the sun. |
Hawse
Hole
|
A hole in the
hull for mooring lines to run through. |
Haze
|
A term for
punishing a man by keeping him unnecessarily at work upon
disagreeable or difficult duty. |
Head
|
The work at the prow of a
vessel. If it is a carved figure, it is called a figure-head; if
simple carved work, bending over and out, a billet-head; and if
bending in, like the head of a violin, a fiddle-head. Also, the
upper end of a mast, called a masthead. (See BY-THE-HEAD. See
FAST.)
|
Head-Ledges
|
Thwartship
pieces that frame the hatchways. |
Headsails
|
Any
sail forward of the foremast. |
Head |
Ship
toilet |
Heart
|
A block of
wood in the shape of a heart for stays to reeve through. |
Heart-Yarns
|
The center
yarns of a strand. |
Heave
Short
|
To heave in on
the cable until the vessel is nearly over her anchor. |
Heave-To
|
To put a
vessel in the position of lying-to. (See LIE-TO.) |
Heave
In Stays
|
To go about in tacking.
|
Heaver |
A short wooden
bar tapering at each end. Used as a purchase. |
Heel
|
The
after part of the keel. Also, the lower end of a mast or boom.
Also, the lower end of the sternpost.
To heel
is to lie over on one side.
|
Heeling
|
The square
part of the lower end of a mast through which the fid-hole is
made. |
Helm
|
The machinery
by which a vessel is steered, including the rudder, tiller,
wheel, etc.. Applied more particularly, perhaps, to the tiller
steering apparatus. |
Helm-Port
|
The hole in
the counter through which the rudder-head passes. |
Helm-Port-Transom
|
A piece of
timber placed across the lower counter, inside, at the height of
the helm-port, and bolted through every timber for the security
of that port. |
High
And Dry
|
The situation
of a vessel when she is aground, above watermark. |
Hitch
|
A peculiar
manner of fastening ropes. |
Hog
|
A flat rough
broom used for scrubbing the bottom of a vessel. |
Hogged
|
The state of a vessel when, by
any strain, she is made to droop at each end, bringing her
center up.
|
Hold
|
The space for
cargo below the deck of the ship |
Hold
Water
|
To stop the
progress of a boat by keeping the oar-blades in the water. |
Holy-Stone
|
A large stone
used for cleaning a ship's decks. |
Home
|
The sheets of
a sail are said to be home when the clews are hauled chock out
to the sheave-holes. An anchor comes home when it is loosened
from the ground and is hove in toward the vessel. |
Hood
|
A covering for
a companion hatch, skylight, etc. |
Hood-Ends
|
Or Hooding-Ends, Or Whooden-Ends.
Those ends of the planks which fit into the rabbets of the stem
or sternpost. |
Hook-And-Butt
|
The scarfing,
or laying the ends of timbers over each other. |
Horns
|
The jaws of
booms. Also, the ends of crosstrees. |
Horse
|
(See
FOOT-ROPE.) |
Horse/Traveler |
Metal or rope
traveler to sheet a sail. |
Hounds
|
Those
projections at the masthead serving as shoulders for the top or
trestle-trees to rest upon. |
House
|
To house a
mast is to lower it almost half its length and secure it by
lashing its heel to the mast below. |
Housing,
or House-Line
|
(Pronounced
houze-lin.) A small cord made of three small yarns and used for
seizings. |
Hull
|
The
main body of the boat, not including the deck, mast or
cabins.(see A-Hull)
|
Hurricane |
A strong
tropical revolving storm of force 12 (65 mph) or higher in the
Northern Hemisphere. Hurricanes revolve in a clockwise
direction. |
Hypothermia
|
The loss of
body heat -- is the greatest danger for anyone in the water. As
the body loses its heat, body functions slow. This can quickly
lead to death. |
I |
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|
In-And-Out
|
A term
sometimes used for the scantline [sic] of the timbers, the
moulding way, and particularly for those bolts that are driven
into the hanging and lodging knees, through the sides, which are
called in-and-out bolts. |
In
Irons
|
A sailboat
with its bow pointed directly into the wind, preventing the
sails from filling properly so that the boat can move. |
Inner-Post
|
A piece brought on at the fore
side of the main-post and generally continued as high as the
wing-transom to seat the other transoms upon.
|
J |
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|
Jack
|
A common term
for the jack-cross-trees. (See UNION.) |
Jack-Block
|
A block used
in sending topgallant masts up and down. |
Jack-Cross-Trees
|
Iron
cross-trees at the head of long topgallant masts. |
Jack Line |
A strong line,
or a wire stay running fore and aft along the sides of a boat to
which a safety harness can be attached. |
Jack-Staff
|
A short staff,
raised at the bowsprit cap, upon which the Union Jack is
hoisted. |
Jack-Stays
|
Ropes
stretched taut along a yard to bend the head of the sail to.
Also, long strips of wood or iron, used now for the same
purpose. |
Jack-Screw
|
A purchase,
used for stowing cotton. |
Jacobs Ladder |
A rope ladder
with wooden steps. |
Jaws
|
The inner ends
of booms or gaffs, hollowed in. |
Jeers
|
Tackles for
hoisting the lower yards. |
Jettison
|
To throw
overboard. |
Jetty |
A man made
structure projecting from the shore. Breakwater protecting a
harbor entrance. |
Jewel-Blocks
|
Single blocks
at the yard-arms through which the studdingsail halyards lead. |
Jib
|
A triangular foresail in front
of the foremast.
Flying jib
sets outside of the jib; and the jib-o'-jib outside of that.
|
Jibboom
|
Spar forward
of bowsprit to which the the tack of the jib is lashed. |
Jib
Sheet
|
The lines that
lead from the clew of the jib. |
Jigger |
Aft
sail on the mizzenmast of a yawl or a ketch. After mast (4th
mast) on schooner or sailing ship carrying a spanker.
A small tackle, used about decks or aloft.
|
Jibe
|
To go from one
tack to the other when running with the wind coming over the
stern. |
Jolly-Boat
|
A small boat,
usually hoisted at the stern. |
Junk
|
Condemned rope
cut up and used for making mats, swabs, oakum, & etc. |
Jury-Mast
|
A temporary
mast, rigged at sea, in place of one lost. |
K |
Back To Top
|
Keckling
|
Old rope wound
round cables to keep them from chafing. (See ROUNDING.) |
Kedge
|
A
small anchor, with an iron stock, used for warping.
To kedge
is to warp a vessel ahead by a kedge and hawser.
|
Keel
|
The timber at
the very bottom of the hull fore and aft to which frames are
attached. It may be composed of several pieces scarfed and
bolted together.(see False Keel) |
Keel-Haul
|
To pass a
person backwards and forwards under a ship's keel, for certain
offences. |
Keelson
|
A timber
placed over the keel on the floor-timbers, and running parallel
with it. |
Kentledge
|
Pig-iron
ballast, laid each side of the keelson. |
Ketch |
Two-masted boats, the after
mast shorter, but with a ketch the after mast is forward of the
rudder post .
|
Kevel
or Cavil
|
A strong piece
of wood, bolted to some timber or stanchion, used for belaying
large ropes to. |
Kevel-Heads
|
Timber-heads,
used as kevels. |
King Spoke |
Marked top
spoke on a wheel when the rudder is centered. |
Kink |
A Twist In A
Rope. |
Knees |
Supporting
braces used for strength when two parts are joined. |
Knockabout
|
A type of
schooner without a bowsprit. |
Knight-Heads
|
Or Bollard-Timbers
The
timbers next the stem on each side, and continued high enough to
form a support for the bowsprit. |
Knees
|
Crooked pieces of timber, having two arms, used to connect the
beams of a vessel with her timbers. (See DAGGER.)
Lodging knees
are placed horizontally, having one arm bolted to a beam and the
other across two of the timbers.
Knee of the head
is placed forward of the stem, and supports the figurehead.
|
Knittles,
Or Nettles
|
The halves of two adjoining
yarns in a rope, twisted up together, for pointing or grafting.
Also, small line used for seizings and for hammock-clews.
|
Knock-Off!
|
An order to
leave off work. |
Knot
|
A division on the log line, answering to a
nautical mile
of distance.
A speed of one nautical mile
per hour.
Intertwining the parts of one
or more ropes.
To crown a knot
is to pass the strands over and under each other above the knot.
|
Etymology: Middle
English, from Old English cnotta; akin to Old High
German knoto knot Date: before 12th century |
|
|
L |
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|
Labor
|
A vessel is
said to labor when she rolls or pitches heavily. |
Lacing
|
Rope used to
lash a sail to a gaff, or a bonnet to a sail. Also, a piece of
compass or knee timber, fayed to the back of the figure-head and
the knee of the head, and bolted to each. |
Land-Fall
|
The making land after being at sea.
A good land-fall
is when a vessel makes the land as intended.
|
Land
Ho!
|
The cry used
when land is first seen. |
Langrage
|
See
Canister
|
Langrel
|
See
Canister |
Langrace
|
See
Canister
|
Lanyard
|
A
shot line used for making anything fast or used as a handle.
Ropes rove through dead-eyes for setting up
rigging.
|
Larboard
|
The left side
of a vessel, looking forward. |
Larbowlines
|
The familiar
term for the men in the larboard watch. |
Large
|
A vessel is said to be going
large when she has the wind free.
|
Latchings
|
Loops on the
head rope of a bonnet, by which it is laced to the foot of the
sail. |
Latitude
|
The distance
north or south of the equator measured and expressed in degrees. |
Lazyjacks
|
Lines from
topping lifts to under boom, which act as a net to catch the
sails when lowered. |
Launch
|
Large. The
Long Boat. |
Launch-Ho!
|
High enough! |
Lay
|
To come or to
go; as, Lay aloft! Lay forward! Lay aft! Also, the direction
which the strands of a rope are twisted as, from left to right,
or from right to left. |
Lazarette
|
A storage
compartment in the stern. |
Leach
|
(See
Leech.) |
Leachline
|
A rope used
for hauling up the leach of a sail. |
Lead
|
A piece of
lead in the shape of a cone or pyramid with a small hole at the
base, and a line attached to the upper end used for sounding.
(See HAND-LEAD, DEEP-SEA-LEAD.) |
Leading-Wind
|
A fair wind.
More particularly applied to a wind abeam or quartering. |
League
|
Measure of
distance three miles in length. |
Leak |
A hole or
breach in a vessel, at which the water comes in. |
Lee
|
The side sheltered from the
wind. If a vessel has the wind on her starboard side, that will
be the weather, and the larboard will be the lee side.
Under the lee
of anything is when you have that between you and the wind.
By the lee
is the
situation of a vessel going free when she has fallen off so much
as to bring the wind round her stern and to take her sails aback
on the other side.
|
Lee-Board
|
A board fitted
to the lee side of flat-bottomed boats, to prevent their
drifting to leeward. |
Lee-Gage
|
(See
Gage.) |
Leech |
After edge of
a fore and aft sail. |
Leefange
|
An iron bar,
upon which the sheets of fore-and-aft sails traverse. Also, a
rope rove through the cringle of a sail which has a bonnet to
it, for hauling in, so as to lace on the bonnet. Not much used. |
Leeward
|
(Pronounced
lu-ard.)The lee side. In a direction opposite to that from which
the wind blows, which is called windward. The opposite of lee is
weather, and of leeward is windward; the two first being
adjectives. |
Leeway
|
What a vessel
loses by drifting to leeward. When sailing close-hauled with all
sail set, a vessel should make no leeway. If the topgallant
sails are furled, it is customary to allow one point; under
close-reefed topsails, two points; when under one close-reefed
sail, four or five points. |
Ledges
|
Small pieces
of timber placed athwart-ships under the decks of a vessel,
between the beams. |
Lie-To
|
Is to stop the
progress of a vessel at sea, either by counterbracing the yards,
or by reducing sail so that she will make little or no headway,
but will merely come to and fall off by the counteraction of the
sails and helm. |
Life-Lines
|
Ropes carried
along yards, booms, &c., or at any part of the vessel, for men
to hold on by. |
Lift
|
A rope or tackle, going from
the yardarms to the masthead, to support and move the yard.
Also, a term applied to the sails when the wind strikes them on
the leeches and raises them slightly.
|
Light
|
To move or
lift anything along; as, to "Light out to windward!" that is,
haul the sail over to windward. The light sails are all above
the topsails, also the studdingsails and flying jib. |
Lighter
|
A large boat,
used in loading and unloading vessels. |
Limbers,
or Limber-Holes
|
Holes cut in
the lower part of the floor-timbers next the keelson forming a
passage for the water fore-and-aft. |
Limber |
Boards
are placed over the limbers, and are movable. |
Limber-Rope
|
A rope rove
fore-and-aft through the limbers, to clear them if necessary. |
Limber-Streak
|
The streak of
foot-waling nearest the keelson. |
Lines
|
Ropes used for
various purposes aboard a boat. |
Lines
Drawing
|
A plan
showing, in three views, the moulded surface of the vessel. |
List
|
The
inclination of a vessel to one side; as, a list to port, or a
list to starboard. |
Lizard
|
A piece of
rope, sometimes with two legs, and one or more iron thimbles
spliced into it. It is used for various purposes. One with two
legs, and a thimble to each, is often made fast to the topsail
for the buntlines to reeve through. A single one is sometimes
used on the swinging-boom topping-lift. |
Locker
|
A
chest or box, to stow anything away in.
Chain-locker
- Where the chain cable are kept.
Boatswain's locker
- Where tools and small stuff for working upon rigging are kept.
|
Log
|
A line with a
piece of board called the log-chip attached to it, wound upon a
reel, and used for ascertaining the ship's rate of sailing. |
Log,
or Logbook
|
A journal
kept by the chief officer, in which the situation of the vessel,
winds, weather, courses, distances, and everything of importance
that occurs, is noted down. |
Longboat
|
The largest boat in a merchant
vessel. When at sea, it is carried between the fore and main
masts.
|
Longers
|
The longest
casks, stowed next the keelson. |
Longitude
|
The distance
in degrees east or west of the meridian at Greenwich, England. |
Longitudinals
|
These run fore
and aft from bulkhead to bulkhead, except in the shelter and
upper decks, where some are broken by hatch interference. They
give strength and rigidity to the framework and shell. They are
connected and welded at the flange of the channel to the shell
or deck. |
Long-Timbers
|
Timbers in the
cant-bodies, reaching from the deadwood to the head of the
second futtock. |
Loof
|
That part of a
vessel where the planks begin to bend as they approach the
stern. |
Loom
|
That part of
an oar which is within the row-lock. Also, to appear above the
surface of the water; to appear larger than nature, as in a fog. |
Luff
Up |
To steer the
boat more into the wind, thereby causing the sails to flap or
luff. |
Luff-Tackle
|
A purchase
composed of a double and single block. |
Luff-upon-luff
|
A luff tackle
applied to the fall of another. |
Lugger
|
A small vessel
carrying lug-sails. |
Lug-Still
|
A sail used in
boats and small vessels, bent to a yard, which hangs obliquely
to the mast. |
Lurch
|
The sudden
rolling of a vessel to one side. |
Lying-To
|
(See
Lie-To.)
|
M |
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|
Made
|
A made mast or
block is one composed of different pieces. A ship's lower mast
is a made spar, her topmast is a whole spar. |
Mainmast
|
The tallest
mast of the ship; on a schooner, the mast furthest aft. |
Mainsail
|
The sail set
on the mainmast.-the lowest square sail on the mainmast. |
Marlinespike
|
A tool for
opening the strands of a rope while splicing. |
Mall,
or Maul
|
(Pronounced
mawl.) A heavy iron hammer used in driving bolts. (See
TOP-MAUL.) |
Mallet
|
A small maul,
made of wood; as, caulking-mallet; also, serving-mallet, used in
putting service on a rope. |
Manger
|
A coaming just
within the hawsehole. |
Man-of War
|
A
warship intended for comba, usually carrying between 20 and 120
guns. |
Manropes
|
Ropes used in
going up and down a vessel's side. |
Mare
Clausum
|
A navigable
body of water. such as a sea, that is under the jurisdication of
one nation and closed to all others. |
Mare
Liberum
|
A navigable
body of water, such as sea, that is open to navigation by
vessels of all nations. |
Marl
|
To wind or twist a small line or rope round
another. |
Marline
|
(Pronounced mar-lin.) Small two-stranded stuff,
used for marling. A finer kind of spunyarn. |
Marling-Hitch
|
A kind of hitch used in
marling.
|
Marlinspike
|
An iron pin, sharpened at one end and having a
hole in the other for a lanyard. Used both as a fid and a
heaver. |
Marry
|
To join ropes together by a worming over both. |
Martingale
|
A short perpendicular spar, under the
bowsprit-end, used for guying down the head-stays. (See DOLPHIN
STRIKER.) |
Mast
|
A spar set upright from the deck, to support
rigging, yards and sails. Masts are whole or made. |
Mat
|
Made of strands of old rope, and used to prevent
chafing. |
Mate
|
An officer under the master. |
Maul
|
(See MALL.) |
Mend
|
To mend service, is to add more to it. |
Meshes
|
The places between the lines of netting. |
Mess
|
Any number of men who eat or lodge together. |
Messenger
|
A rope used for heaving in a cable by the
capstan. |
Midships |
The timbers at the broadest
part of the vessel. (See AMID-SHIPS.)
|
Miss-Stays
|
To fail of going about from one tack to another. |
Mizzenmast
|
The aftermost mast of a ship. The spanker is
sometimes called the mizzen. |
Monkey Block
|
A small single block strapped with a swivel. Also
the blocks fasterned to the yard through which buntlines are
roved. |
Monkey Jacket
|
Close fitting serge jacket. also known as
Jackanaapes coat. |
Monkey Rail
|
In older wooden vessels, a topgallant rail above
the quarter-deck or poop bulwarks (quarter boards). In modern
vessels, a small rail above ship's stern enclosing standing-room
for an officer supervising handling of mooring-lines in docking. |
Moon-Sail
|
A small sail sometimes carried in light winds,
above a skysail. |
Moor
|
To secure by two anchors. |
Mooring
|
The act of confining and
securing a ship in a particular station by chains or cables,
which are either fastened to the adjacent shore or to anchors on
the bottom. A ship may be either moored by the head or by the
head and stern; that is to lay, she may be secured by anchors
before her, without any behind or she may have anchors out, both
before and behind her; or her cables may be attached to polls,
rings, or moorings which answer the same purpose. When a ship is
moored by the head with her own anchors, they are disposed
according to the circumstances of the place where the lies and
the time she is to continue therein. Thus, wherever a tide ebbs
and flows, it is usual to carry one anchor out towards the
flood, and another towards the ebb, particularly where there is
little room to range about, and the anchors are laid in the same
manner, if the vessel is moored head and-stern in the same
place. The situation of the anchors in a road or bay is usually
opposed to the reigning winds or those which are most dangerous
so that the ship rides therein with the effort of both her
cables. Thus if she rides in a bay or road, which is exposed to
a northerly wind and heavy sea from the same quarter, the
anchors passing from the opposite bows ought to lie east and
west from each other: hence, both the cables will retain the
ship in her station with equal effort against the action of the
wind and sea.
|
Moorings
|
Usually an assemblage of anchors, chains, and
bridles laid athwart the bottom of the river or haven to ride
the shipping contained therein. The anchors employed on this
occasion have rarely more than one fluke which is sunk in the
river near low-water mark. Two anchors being fixed in this
manner on the opposite sides of the river are furnished with a
chain extending across from one to the other. In the middle of
the chain is a large square link whose lower end terminates in a
swivel which turns round in the chain as about an axis whenever
the ship veers about with the change of the tide. To this
swivel-link are attached the bridles, which are short pieces of
cable, well served, whose upper ends are drawn into the ship at
the mooring-ports and afterwards fastened to the masts or
cable-bits. A great number of moorings of this sort are fixed in
the royal ports or the harbours adjacent to the king's
dock-yards, |
Mortice
|
A morticed block is one made out of a whole block
of wood with a hole cut in it for the sheave; in distinction
from a made block. |
Moulds
|
The patterns by which the frames of a vessel are
worked out. |
Mouse
|
To put turns of rope yarn or spunyarn round the
end of a hook and its standing part when it is hooked to
anything so as to prevent it slipping out. |
Mousing
|
A knot or puddening, made of yarns, and placed on
the outside of a rope. |
Muffle
|
Putting mats or canvass round their looms in the
rowlocks muffles oars. |
Munions |
The pieces that separate the lights in the
galleries. |
Murderer
|
Small iron or
brass hand gun used for anti-personnel defence (agains
boarders)aboard
ship. A spike was provided to allow the weapon to be used at
various places around the ship.
|
N |
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|
Naval
Hoods, or
Hawse Bolsters
|
Plank above and below the hawse-holes.
|
Navigable |
An area with sufficient depth of water to permit
vessel passage. |
Navigation |
The art of getting vessel from one port to the
next port. |
Nautical Mile |
1 nm = 1853 meters = 2000
yards = 6080 feet. Contrary to some earlier replies, a
nautical mile is (or was) the length of a minute of latitude at
the latitude in question, not at the equator. (Since the Earth
isn't a perfect sphere, the length on the surface that is
subtended by a degree or a minute of latitude decreases slightly
towards the poles and the length of a nautical mile decreases
with it.) The confusion may have arisen because a "geographic
mile", a rarely used unit, is the length of a minute of
longitude on the equator. As someone has already noted, a
nautical mile is approximately 6080 English feet and that is
often useful as a working measurement. Noted above is that the
definition of "nautical mile" might no longer be the same
because, approximately 25 years ago, it was admitted as a metric
unit under the System Internationale (SI). Since the original
designers of the metric system, about 1780, got their
calculations wrong, Distances in kilometres cannot readily be
related to the spherical geometry used in navigation. Maybe the
idea was that one-kilometer should have been the distance
subtended by one centigrade or 1/100 or 1/100 of a right angle,
meaning that 10,000 km would have equaled 3,600 nautical miles,
though that implies an unbelievably large error. So, in the
1970s, the committees, which control SI, were persuaded to
accept the nautical mile as a valid unit.
While there are 3600 seconds
in a degree, there are (of course!) 5400 minutes in a right
angle. Thus, 10,000 km should be equal to 5400 nautical miles,
if the former was defined correctly and the world was a perfect
sphere. That makes 1.85185... (the three figures go on recurring
into infinity), which suggests that the people who marked the
metal bar to define the metre had their dimension very close
indeed.
The nautical mile was
originally defined as one minute of angle of the Earth's
meridian. Since the meter originally was defined as a 10.000.000
part of the distance from Equator to the pole, it follows that a
nautical mile is 10000000/5400 = 1851,851851 meters.
|
Neap Tides
|
Low tides coming at the middle of the moon's
second and fourth quarters. (See SPRING TIDES.) |
NEAPED, or BENEAPED
|
The situation of a vessel when she is aground at
the height of the spring tides. |
Near
|
Close to
wind. "Near!" the order to the helmsman when he is too near the
wind. |
Net Tonnage |
Vessel's
measurement of cargo carrying capacity. |
Netting
|
Network of
rope or small lines used for stowing away sails or hammocks. |
Nettles
|
(See
KNITTLES.) |
Ninepin Block
|
A block in
the form of a ninepin used for a fair-leader in the rail. |
Nip
|
A short turn
in a rope. |
Nippers
|
A number of
yarns marled together used to secure a cable to the messenger. |
Nock
|
The forward
upper end of a sail that sets with a boom. |
Nun Buoy |
Red
tapered navigation buoy. |
Nut
|
Projections on each side of
the shank of an anchor, to secure the stock to its place.
|
O |
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|
Oakum
|
Tarred hemp
or manila fibers made from old and condemned ropes which have
been picked apart. They were used for caulking the seams of
decks and sides of a wooden ship in order to make them
watertight. |
Oar
|
A long wooden
instrument with a flat blade at one end, used for propelling
boats. |
Off-And-On
|
To stand on
different tacks towards and from the land. |
Offing
|
Distance from
the shore. |
Orlop
|
The lower
deck of a ship of the line or that on which the cables are
stowed. |
Out-Haul
|
A rope used
for hauling out the clew of a boom sail. |
Out-Rigger
|
A spar rigged
out to windward from the tops or cross-trees to spread the
breast-backstays. |
Overhaul
|
To overhaul a tackle
is to let go the fall and pull on the leading parts so as to
separate the blocks.
To overhaul a rope
is generally to pull a part through a block so as to make slack.
To overhaul rigging
is to examine it.
|
Over-Rake
|
Said of heavy
seas which come over a vessel's head when she is at anchor head
to the sea. |
P |
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|
Painter
|
A rope
attached to the bows of a boat, used for making her fast. |
Palm
|
A piece of
leather fitted over the hand, with an iron for the head of a
needle to press against in sewing upon canvass. Also, the fluke
of an anchor. |
Panch
|
(See PAUNCH.) |
Parbuckle
|
To hoist or
lower a spar or cask by single ropes passed round it. |
Parcel a Rope
|
To put a
narrow piece of canvass (called parceling) round it before the
service is put on. |
Parcelling
|
(See PARCEL.) |
Parliament-Heel
|
The situation
of a vessel when she is careened. |
Parral
|
The rope by
which a yard is confined to a mast at its center. |
Part
|
To break a
rope. |
Partners
|
A frame-work
of short timber fitted to the hole in a deck, to receive the
heel of a mast or pump, & etc. |
Paunch Mat
|
A thick mat placed at the
slings of a yard or elsewhere.
|
Pawl
|
A short bar of iron which prevents the capstan or
windlass from turning back.
To pawl
is to drop a pawl and secure the windlass or capstan.
|
Pay |
To cover over
with tar or pitch. |
Pay-Off |
When a
vessel's head falls off from the wind. |
Pay Out
|
To feed line
over the side of the boat, hand over hand. |
Pazaree
|
A rope
attached to the clew of the foresail and rove through a block on
the swinging boom. Used for guying the clews out when before the
wind. |
Peak
|
Outer end of the gaff of upper
aft corner of a gaff sail. (See A-PEAK.)
A stay-peak
is when the cable and fore stay form a line.
A short stay-peak
is when the cable is too much in to form this line.
|
PENDANT, or PENNANT
|
A long narrow piece of bunting
carried at the masthead.
Broad pennant
is a square piece, carried in the same way, in a commodore's
vessel.
A rope to which a purchase is
hooked. A long strap fitted at one end to a yard or masthead
with a hook or block at the other end for a brace to reeve
through, or to hook a tackle to.
|
PFD
|
Personal
Flotation Devices (PFD), better known as life jackets. |
Pillar of the Hold
|
A main
stanchion
with notches for descent and ascent. |
Pillow
|
A block,
which supports the inner end of the bowsprit. |
Pilothouse
|
A small cabin
on the deck of the ship that protects the steering wheel and the
crewman steering. |
Pin
|
The axis on
which a sheave turns. Also, a short piece of wood or iron to
belay ropes to. |
Pink-Stern
|
A high,
narrow stern. |
Pinky
|
New England
fishing and trading vessel usually 50 to 70' generally schooner
rigged with or without a foresail. Built with pointed stern same
shape as the bow. |
Pinnace
|
A boat, in
size between the launch and a cutter. |
Pintle
|
A metal bolt,
used for hanging a rudder. |
Pitch
|
A resin taken
from pine and used for filling up the seams of a vessel. |
Pitching |
The movement
of a ship, by which she plunges her head and after-part
alternately into the hollow of the sea. |
Planking
|
Wood boards
that cover the frames outside the hull. |
Planks
|
Thick, strong boards used for
covering the sides and decks of vessels.
|
Plat
|
A braid of
foxes. (See FOX.) |
Plate
|
(See
CHAIN-PLATE.) |
Plug
|
A piece of
wood fitted into a hole in a vessel or boat so as to let in or
keep out water. |
Point
|
To take the
end of a rope and work it over with knittles. (See REEF-POINTS.) |
Pole
|
Applied to
the highest mast of a ship, usually painted; as, skysail pole. |
Pommelion
|
A name given by seamen to the cascable or
hindmost knob on the breech of a cannon." The pomelions were
used to keep damp out of cannons during non-fighting periods --
and keep rust (and/or salt) from building up inside the barrel.
This was probably 99 and 44/100th percent of the time.
It is related to 'Pommel', the knob terminating
the hilt of a sword; also used for the saddlebow. Pommellum:
diminutive of Latin 'Pomum' 'Fruit', or 'Apple' [French 'Pomme],
etc.]
|
Poop
|
A deck raised over the after part of the spar
deck. A vessel
is pooped when the sea breaks over her stern.
|
Poppets
|
Perpendicular pieces of timber
fixed to the fore-and-aft part of the bilge-ways in launching.
|
Port
|
Used instead of larboard.
To port the helm
is to put it to the larboard.
|
PORT, or PORT-HOLE
|
Holes in the side of a vessel
to point cannon out of. (See BRIDLE.)
|
Portage
|
To carry
goods or boat between two navigatible points. |
Portoise
|
The gunwale.
The yards are a-portoise when they rest on the gunwale.
|
Port-Sills
|
(See SILLS.) |
Predreadnoughts |
A main battery of 10-12 inch guns
and a secondary battery of 5-6 inch guns.
Semi-dreadnoughts
included an intermediate battery of 8-10 inch guns.
Dreadnoughts
had a uniform main battery of 10-12 inch guns, in number at
least twice as many as on Predreadnoughts and semidreadnoughts.
The intermediate guns gave the ships additional hitting power
above and beyond “true” Predreadnoughts, but the multiple
calibers caused great difficulties in fire control (a splash
from a 9.2 inch shell is indistinguishable from that of a 12
inch). This was one of the motivators for the design of the
all-big-gun battleship, AKA dreadnought.
|
Preventer
|
Line and/or tackle which limits the movement of
the boom, usually for the purpose of preventing accidents or an
extra rope to assist another. |
Price
|
A quantity of
spunyarn or rope laid close up together. |
Prize
|
An enemy vessel captured.
Cargo from captured ship
|
Prize Money
|
The proceeds
from the sale of captured vessels allowed by the Admiralty. |
|
Pricker.
A small marlinspike, used in sail-making. It generally has a
wooden handle.
|
Puddening
|
A quantity of
yarns, matting or oakum, used to prevent chafing. |
Pump-Brake
|
The handle to
the pump. |
Purchase
|
Any sort of mechanical power employed in raising
or removing heavy bodies.
To purchase the anchor
is to loosen it out of the ground.
To purchase
is to raise by a purchase.
|
Q |
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|
Q Flag
|
All yellow
signal flag meaning "My vessel is healthy and I request free
pratique". |
Quarter
|
The part of a vessel's side
between the after part of the main chains and the stern. The
quarter of a yard is between the slings and the yard-arm.
The wind is said to be quartering
when it blows in a line between that of the keel and the beam
and abaft the latter.
|
Quarter-Block
|
A block
fitted under the quarters of a yard on each side the slings for
the clewlines and sheets to reeve through. |
Quarter-Deck
|
That part of
the upper deck abaft the main-mast. |
Quarter-Master
|
A petty
officer in a man-of-war who attends the helm and binnacle at sea
and watches for signals, &etc. when in port. |
Quartering Sea
|
Winds and
waves on a boat's quarter. |
Quay
|
Wharf used to
discharge cargo |
Queen Topsail
|
Small stay sail located
between the foremast and mainmast.
|
Quick-Work
|
That part of
a vessel's side which is above the chain-wales and decks. So
called in ship-building. |
Quilting
|
A coating
about a vessel, outside, formed of ropes woven together. |
Quoin
|
A wooden
wedge for the breech of a gun to rest upon. |
R |
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|
Rabbet
|
An incission
in a piece of timber to receive the planks or timbers secured to
it; e.g., the garboard and the keel. |
Race
|
A strong,
rippling tide. |
Rack
|
To seize two
ropes together, with cross-turns. Also, a fair-leader for
running rigging. |
Rack-Block
|
A course of
blocks made from one piece of wood, for fair-leaders. |
Raddle
|
Used to
describe material used to make flat gaskets for securing boats
when hoisted on to the davits. |
Rake
|
The
inclination of a mast from the perpendicular. |
Ramline
|
A line used
in mast-making to get a straight middle line on a spar. |
Range of Cable
|
A quantity of
cable, more or less, placed in order for letting go the anchor
or paying out. |
Rating
|
The status of
a seaman in officers it is their rank. |
Ratlines
|
(Pronounced
rat-lins.) Lines running across the shrouds horizontally like
the rounds of a ladder and used to step upon in going aloft. |
Rattle Down Rigging
|
To put
ratlines upon rigging. It is still called rattling down, though
they are now rattled up beginning at the lowest. |
Razee
|
A vessel of
war, which has had one deck, cut down. |
Red Jack
|
Red flag used by pirates prior
to 1700 replace by black flag.
Under the Red
- Jack Pirates
|
Reef
|
To reduce a sail by taking in upon its head, if a
square sail, and its foot, if a fore-and-aft sail.
A reef
is all of the sail that is comprehended between the head of the
sail and the first reef-band, or between two reef-bands.
|
Reefing |
The operation
of reducing a sail by taking in one or more of the reefs. |
Reef-Bands
|
Pieces of
canvass, about six inches wide, sewed on the fore part of sails,
where the points are fixed for reefing the sail. |
Reef Points |
Short Line
for the reef band to secure the foot of the sail. |
Reef-Tackle
|
A tackle used
to haul the middle of each leech up toward the yard so that the
sail may be easily reefed. |
Reeve
|
To pass the
end of a rope through a block, or any aperture. |
Relieving Tackle
|
A tackle
hooked to the tiller in a gale of wind, to steer by in case
anything should happen to the wheel or tiller-ropes. |
Render
|
To pass a
rope through a place. A rope is said to render or not, according
as it goes freely through any place. |
Rib-Bands
|
Long, narrow,
flexible pieces of timber nailed to the outside of the ribs, so
as to encompass the vessel lengthwise. |
Ribs
|
A figurative term for a
vessel's timbers.
|
Ride At Anchor
|
To lie at
anchor. Also, to bend or bear down by main strength and weight;
as, to ride down the main tack. |
Riders
|
Interior timbers placed occasionally opposite the
principal ones to which they are bolted reaching from the
keelson to the beams of the lower deck.
Also, casks forming the second tier in a vessel's
hold.
|
Rigging
|
The lines
that hold up the masts and move the sails (standing and running
rigging). |
Right
|
To right the
helm is to put it amidships. |
Rim
|
The edge of a
top. |
Ring
|
The iron ring at the upper end
of an anchor, to which the cable is bent
|
Ring-Bolt
|
An eye-bolt
with a ring through the eye. (See EYE-BOLT.) |
Ring-Tail
|
A small sail,
shaped like a jib, set abaft the spanker in light winds. |
Roach
|
A curve in
the foot of a square sail, by which the clews are brought below
the middle of the foot. The roach of a fore-and-aft sail is in
its forward leech. |
Road, Or Roadstead
|
An anchorage
at some distance from the shore. |
Robands
|
(See
ROPE-BANDS.) |
Rode
|
The anchor
line and/or chain. |
Rolling Tackle
|
Tackles used
to steady the yards in a heavy sea. |
Rombowline
|
Condemned
canvass, rope, & etc. |
Rope-Bands, Or Robands
|
Small pieces
of two or three yarn, spunyarn, or marline used to confine the
head of the sail to the yard or gaff. |
Rope-Yarn
|
A thread of
hemp or other material of which a rope is made. |
Rough-Tree
|
An unfinished
spar. |
Round In
|
To haul in on
a rope, especially a weather-brace. |
Round Up
|
To haul up on
a tackle. |
Rounding
|
A service of rope hove round a
spar or larger rope.
|
Roundhouse
|
The officers' head. At the front of the ship, it
was a small round cubicle that provided privacy and protection
from the elements.
A name given in East Indiamen and other large
merchant ships to square cabins built on the after-part of the
quarterdeck and having the poop for its roof; such an apartment
is frequently called the "coach" in ships of war. Round, because
one can walk around it. In some trading vessels the round house
is built on the deck, generally abaft the main mast.
|
Rowlocks, Or Rollocks
|
Places cut in
the gunwale of a boat for the oar to rest in while pulling. |
Royal
|
A light sail
next above a topgallant sail. |
Royal Yard
|
The yard from
which the royal is set. The fourth from the deck. |
Rubber
|
A small
instrument used to rub or flatten down the seams of a sail in
sail making. |
Rudder
|
A fin or
blade attached under the hull’s stern used for steering. |
Run
|
The after part of a vessel's bottom which rises
and narrows in approaching the sternpost.
By the run
is to let go altogether, instead of slacking off.
|
Rung-Heads
|
The upper
ends of the floor-timbers. |
Runner
|
A rope used
to increase the power of a tackle. It is rove through a single
block which you wish to bring down and a tackle is hooked to
each end, or to one end, the other being made fast. |
Running Lights |
Navigation
lights tell other vessels not only where you are, but what you
are doing. |
Running Rigging
|
Lines which
run through pulleys and block and tackle that are used to adjust
the sails and yards. |
S
|
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|
Saddles
|
Pieces of
wood hollowed out to fit on the yards to which they are nailed,
having a hollow in the upper part for the boom to rest in. |
Sag
|
To sag to
leeward, is to drift off bodily to leeward. |
Sail
|
A piece of cloth that catches the wind and so
powers a vessel. They are of two kinds: square sails, which hang
from yards, their foot lying across the line of the keel, as the
courses, topsails, & etc., and fore-and-aft sails, which set
upon gaffs, or on stays, their foot running with the line of the
keel, as jib, spanker, & etc. |
Sail Ho!
|
The cry used
when a sail is first discovered at sea. |
Sailing Rig
|
The equipment
used to sail a boat, including sails, booms and gaffs, lines and
blocks. |
Salon,
also Saloon |
Main social
cabin of a boat. |
Save-All
|
A small sail
sometimes set under the foot of a lower studdingsail. (See WATER
SAIL.) |
Scandalize
|
A method of
reducing sail by taking up the tack and lowering the peak on
fore and aft sails. On a square rig ship the yards are not set
square to the masts when the ship is at anchor, used as a sign
for mourning or a death on board. Mid 19th cent.; alteration of
obsolete scantelize, from scantle 'make small. |
Scantling
|
A term
applied to any piece of timber with regard to its breadth and
thickness when reduced to the standard size. |
Scarf
|
To join two
pieces of timber at their ends by shaving them down and placing
them over-lapping. |
Schooner
|
Sailing ships with at least 2
masts (foremast and mainmast) with the mainmast being the
taller. Word derives from the term "schoon/scoon" meaning to
move smoothly and quickly. ( a 3-masted vessel is called a
"tern").
A fore-and-aft schooner
has only fore-and-aft sails.
A topsail schooner
carries a square fore topsail, and frequently, also, topgallant
sail and royal. There are some schooners with three masts. They
also have no tops.
A main-topsail schooner
is one that carries square topsails, fore and aft.
|
Score
|
A groove in a
block or dead-eye. |
Scotchman
|
A large
batten placed over the turnings-in of rigging. (See BATTEN.) |
Scraper
|
A small,
triangular iron instrument with a handle fitted to its center
and used for scraping decks and masts. |
Scrowl
|
A piece of
timber bolted to the knees of the head in place of a
figure-head. |
Scud
|
To drive
before a gale with no sail or only enough to keep the vessel
ahead of the sea. Also, low, thin clouds that fly swiftly before
the wind. |
Scull
|
A
short oar.
To sculll
is to
impel a boat by one oar at the stern.
|
Scuppers
|
Holes cut in the water-ways for the water to run from the decks.
Holes through the shipsides, which drain water at
deck level over the side.
|
Scuttle
|
A
hole cut in a vessel's deck, as, a hatchway. Also, a hole cut in
any part of a vessel.
To scuttle
is to cut or bore holes in a vessel to make her sink.
|
Scuttlebutt
|
(See BUTT.) |
Scrimshaw
|
A sailors
carving or etching on bones, teeth, tusks or shells |
Scurvy
|
Disease
historically common to seaman caused by lack of Vitamin "C". |
Sea
Cock
|
A through
hull valve, a shut off on a plumbing or drain pipe between the
vessel's interior and the sea boat. |
Seams
|
The intervals between planks
in a vessel's deck or side.
|
Semi-dreadnoughts
|
Included an
intermediate battery of 8-10 inch guns. |
Secure
|
To make fast. |
Seize
|
To fasten
ropes together by turns of small stuff. |
Seizings
|
The
fastenings of ropes that are seized together. |
Selvagee
|
A skein of
rope-yarns or spunyarn marled together. Used as a neat strap. |
Send
|
When a ship's
head or stern pitches suddenly and violently into the trough of
the sea. |
Sennit, Or Sinnit
|
A braid,
formed by plaiting rope-yarns or spunyarn together. Straw,
plaited in the same way for hats, is called sennit. |
Serve
|
To wind small
stuff, as rope-yarns, spunyarn, & etc., round a rope, to keep it
from chafing. It is wound and hove round taut by a serving-board
or mallet. |
Service
|
To wind
around. |
Set
|
To set up
rigging is to tauten it by tackles. The seizings are then put on
afresh. |
Shackles
|
Links in a
chain cable which are fitted with a movable bolt so that the
chain can be separated. |
Shakes
|
The staves of
hogsheads taken apart. |
Shank
|
The main piece in an anchor,
at one end of which the stock is made fast, and at the other the
arms.
|
Shank-Painter
|
A strong rope
by which the lower part of the shank of an anchor is secured to
the ship's side. |
Sharp
Up
|
Said of yards
when braced as near fore-and-aft as possible. |
Sheathing
|
A casing or
covering on a vessel's bottom. |
Shears
|
Two or more
spars raised at angles and lashed together near their upper
ends, used for taking in masts. |
Shear
Hulk
|
An old vessel
fitted with shears, & etc., and used for taking out and putting
in the masts of other vessels. |
Sheave
|
The wheel in
a block upon which the rope works. |
Sheave-Hole
|
The place cut
in a block for the ropes to reeve through. |
Sheep-Shank
|
A kind of
hitch or bend, used to shorten a rope temporarily. |
Sheer, Or Sheer-Strake
|
The line of
plank on a vessel's side running fore-and-aft under the gunwale.
Also, a vessel's position when riding by a single anchor. |
Sheet
|
A rope used
in setting a sail to keep the clew down to its place. With
square sails, the sheets run through each yard-arm. With boom
sails, they haul the boom over one way and another. They keep
down the inner clew of a studdingsail and the after clew of a
jib. (See HOME.) |
Sheet-Anchor
|
A vessel's
largest anchor; not carried at the bow. |
Sheetbend
|
A knot used
to tie two ropes of unequal thickness together |
Shell |
The principal function of the
shell is to act as a watertight skin. It also gives strength to
the construction of intermediate parts.
The outer
part or body of a
block
in which the
sheave
revolves.
|
Shellback
|
An old sailor who has a vast
knowledge of seamanship and who is able to pass on their
knowledge. The name come from being at sea for so long seashells
grew on his back. Can also be used to identify an old fashion
seaman.
|
Shingle
|
(See
BALLAST.) |
Ship
|
A
vessel with three masts with tops and yards to each.
To enter on board a vessel.
To fix anything in its place.
|
Shiver
|
To shake the
wind out of a sail by bracing it so that the wind strikes upon
the leech. |
Shoe
|
A piece of
wood used for the bill of an anchor to rest upon to save the
vessel's side. Also, for the heels of shears, & etc. |
Shoe-Block
|
A block with
two sheaves, one above the other, the one horizontal and the
other perpendicular. |
Shore
|
A
prop or stanchion placed under a beam.
To shore
is to prop up.
|
Shroud
|
A line or
wire running from the top of the mast to the spreaders, then
attaching to the side of the vessel. |
Shot Garlands
|
The function of the shot
garlands was to house the ready-use stock of round shot.
Garlands were usually made from a plank of oak of suitable
length, fashioned with hollows or bowels in which the shot sat.
The width and depth of the plank was governed by the size of the
shot; therefore, it can be assumed that its width was generally
twice that of the diameter of the shot and its depth no less
than three quarters the diameter. The hollows had to be
sufficiently deep to ensure that the shot would not roll out
when the ship healed in heavy seas. Usually each garland was
situated around hatches and other features along the centreline
of the deck. They were also fitted to the ships side and to the
bulwarks of the foc'sle and the quarter deck, but this practice
was eliminated by the end of the eighteenth century. This
abolition was ordered by the Navy Board in 1780.This ensured
that most of the weight borne by the vessel was as close to the
centreline as possible.
Lavery's book 'The Arming and
Fitting of English Ships of War
1600-1815' tends to agree with
the above, late 1600's shot was stacked in piles held together
by tarpaulins. Then in the early 1700's shot racks fitted to
bulwarks between gun positions and abolition of same resulting
in oak shot racks around coamings and hatchways near midline as
possible.
Some
ships were fitted with brass shot racks around the hatchways,
Another fond name for a shot rack was a monkey, like the powder
monkey, and these were referred to as brass monkeys.
In
winter when these brass shot racks got water into the hollows it
didn't soak away like it would in a wooden rack, it just froze
and expanded, then more water from scrubbing decks, etc. would
add to it until the ball was pushed out of the rack, This was
referred to as freezing the balls off a brass monkey and it has
been part of English language ever since.
|
SIGNALS
|
Certain alarms or notices used to communicate intelligence to a
distant object at sea. Signals are made by firing artillery and
displaying colours, lanthorns, or fire-works. These are combined
by multiplication and repetition. Thus, like the words of a
language, they become arbitrary expressions to which we have
previously annexed particular ideas Hence, they are the general
sources of intelligence throughout a naval armament, & etc.
See ADMIRAL and ENGAGEMENT.
Signals ought to be distinct
with simplicity. They are simple when every instruction is
expressed by a particular token in order to avoid any mistakes
arising from the double purport of one signal. They are distinct
when issued without precipitation when sufficient time is
allowed to observe and obey them, and when they are exposed in a
conspicuous place so as to be readily percieved at a distance.
All signals may be reduced into three different kinds, viz.
Those which are made by the sound of particular instruments as
the trumpet, horn, or fife to which may be added, striking the
bell, or beating the drum. Those which are made by displaying
pendents, ensigns, and flags of different colours, or by
lowering or altering the position of the sails. And, finally,
those which are executed by rockets of different kinds by firing
cannon or small arms. By artificial fire-works and by
lanthorns. Firing of great guns will serve equally in the day or
night, or in a fog to make or confirm signals or to raise the
attention of the hearers to a future order. This method,
however, is attended with some inconveniencies and should not be
used indiscriminately. Too great a repetition of the cannon is
apt to introduce mistakes and confusion, as well as, to discover
the track of the squadron. The report and flight of the rockets
is liable to the same objection when at a short distance from
the enemy. It is then, by the combination of signals previously
known, that the admiral conveys orders to his fleet, every
squadron, every division, and every ship of which has its
particular signal. The instruction may, therefore, occasionally
be given to the whole fleet, or to any of its squadrons; to any
division of those squadrons, or to any ship of those divisions.
Hence the signal of command may at the same time be displayed
for three divisions and for three ships of each division, or for
three ships in each squadron and for only nine ships in the
whole fleet. For, the general signal of the fleet being shown if
a particular pendent be also thrown out from some remarkable
place on the same mast with the general signal, it will
communicate intelligence to nine ships that wear the same
pendent.
|
Sills
|
Pieces of
timber put in horizontally between the frames to form and secure
any opening; as, for ports. |
Sister Block
|
A long piece of wood with two
sheaves in it, one above the other, with a score between them
for a seizing, and a groove around the block, lengthwise.
|
Skids
|
Pieces of
timber placed up and down a vessel's side, to bear any articles
off clear that are hoisted in. |
Skin
|
The part of a
sail which is outside and covers the rest when it is furled.
Also, familiarly, the sides of the hold as an article is said to
be stowed next the skin. |
Skysail
|
A light sail
next above the royal. |
Sky-Scraper
|
A name given
to a skysail when it is triangular. |
Slabline
|
A small line
used to haul up the foot of a course. |
Slack
|
The
part of a rope or sail that hangs down loose.
Slack in stays
is said of a vessel when she works slowly in tacking.
|
Sleepers
|
The knees
that connect the transoms to the after timbers on the ship's
quarter. |
Sling
|
To set a
cask, spar, gun, or other article, in ropes so as to put on a
tackle and hoist or lower it. |
Slings
|
The
ropes used for securing the center of a yard to the mast.
Yard-slings
are now made of iron. Also a large rope fitted so as to go round
any article, which is to be hoisted or lowered.
|
Slip
|
To let a
cable go and stand out to sea. |
Slip-Rope
|
A rope bent
to the cable just outside the hawsehole and brought in on the
weather quarter for slipping. |
Loop
|
A single-masted
fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel with a single headsail set
from the forestay. |
Sloop
Of War
|
A vessel of
any rig, mounting between 18 and 32 guns. |
Slue
|
To turn anything round or
over.
|
Small
Stuff
|
The term for
spunyarn, marline, and the smallest kinds of rope, such as
ratline-stuff, & etc. |
Snake
|
To pass small
stuff across a seizing, with marling hitches at the outer turns. |
Snatch Block
|
A single
block, with an opening in its side below the sheave, or at the
bottom, to receive the bight of a rope. |
Snotter
|
A rope going
over a yard-arm, with an eye, used to bend a tripping-line to in
sending down topgallant and royal yards in vessels of war. |
Snow
|
A kind of
brig, formerly used. |
Snub
|
To check a
rope suddenly. |
Snying
|
A term for a
circular plank edgewise, to work in the bows of a vessel. |
Spar
|
A pole or a
beam. |
Spreaders
|
Small spars
between the mast and shrouds. |
Spring Line
|
A line tied
between two opposing forces that has a neutralizing effect. At
the dock with a bow line and stern line tied off, a spring line
is often added to limit the movements of a vessel even more. |
So!
|
An order to
'vast hauling upon anything when it has come to its right
position. |
Sole
|
The inside deck of the ship.
A piece of timber fastened to
the foot of the rudder to make it level with the false keel.
|
Sound
|
To get the
depth of water by a lead and line. An iron-sounding rod marked
with a scale of feet and inches sounds the pumps. |
Span
|
A rope with
both ends made fast, for a purchase to be hooked to its bight. |
Spanker
|
The after
sail of a ship or bark. It is a fore-and-aft sail setting with a
boom and gaff. |
Spar
|
The general
term for all masts, yards, booms, gaffs, & etc. |
Spell
|
The
common term for a portion of time given to any work.
To spell
is to relieve another at his work.
|
Spell
ho!
|
An
exclamation used as an order or request to be relieved at work
by another. |
Spencer
|
A
fore-and-aft sail set with a gaff and no boom and hoisting from
a small mast called a spencer-mast just abaft the fore and main
masts. |
Spill
|
To shake the
wind out of a sail by bracing it so that the wind may strike its
leech and shiver it. |
Spilling Line
|
A rope used
for spilling a sail. Rove in bad weather. |
Spindle
|
An iron pin
upon which the capstan moves. Also, a piece of timber forming
the diameter of a made mast. Also, any long pin or bar upon
which anything revolves. |
Spinnaker
|
A large triangular sail carried forward of
the main mast on modern sailing ships. Used when running before
the wind. First introduced on the yatch
Sphinx during
the 1870's and origionally called a "Spinxer". |
Spirketing
|
The planks
from the waterways to the port-sills. |
Splice
|
To join two ropes together by
interweaving their strands.
|
Spoon
|
To run before a gale (scud).
|
Spoondrift
|
Water swept
from the tops of the waves by the violence of the wind in a
tempest, and driven along before it, covering the surface of the
sea. |
Spray
|
An occasional
sprinkling dashed from the top of a wave by the wind, or by its
striking an object. |
Spring
|
To crack or split a mast.
To spring a leak
is to begin to leak.
To spring a luff
is to force a vessel close to the wind, in
sailing.
|
Spring-Stay
|
A preventer;
a stay to assist the regular one. (See STAY.) |
Spring Tides
|
The highest
and lowest course of tides, occurring every new and full moon. |
Sprit
|
A small boom
or gaff, used with some sails in small boats.. The lower end
rests in a becket or snotter by the foot of the mast and the
other end spreads and raises the outer upper corner of the sail
crossing it diagonally. A sail so rigged in a boat is called a
sprit-sail. |
Sprit-Sail-Yard
|
A yard lashed
across the bowsprit or knight-heads and used to spread the guys
of the jib and flying jib-boom. There was formerly a sail bent
to it called a sprit-sail. |
Spunyarn
|
A cord formed
by twisting together two or three rope-yarns. |
Spurling Line
|
A line
communicating between the tiller and tell-tale. |
Spurs
|
Pieces of
timber fixed on the bilge-ways with their upper ends bolted to
the vessel's sides above the water. Also, curved pieces of
timber serving as half beams to support the decks where whole
beams cannot be placed. |
Spur-Shoes
|
Large pieces of timber that
come abaft the pump-well.
|
Square
|
Yards are squared when they are horizontal and at right angles
with the keel. Squaring by the lifts makes them horizontal, and
by the braces, makes them at right angles with the vessel's
line. Also, the proper term for the length of yards. A vessel
has square yards when her yards are unusually long. A sail is
said to be very square on the head when it is long on the head.
To square a yard
in a working ship means to bring it in square by the braces.
|
Square Rig
|
A ship
carrying square sails |
Square-Sail
|
Is the oldest type of sail. Its
is a
square
or rectangular sail held horizontal by a yard.
A temporary sail set at the fore-mast of a
schooner or sloop when going before the wind. (See SAIL.)
|
Square Knot
|
Used for
tying two ropes together. |
Squall |
A sudden
violent blast of wind. |
Stay
|
A line or
wire from the mast to the bow or stern of a ship for support of
the mast (fore, back, running, and triadic stays). |
Starboard
|
Right side of
the ship when facing forward. |
Standing Rigging
|
Shrouds and
stays that secure the yards and mast in place. |
Stay
Sail
|
Any
sail attached to a stay. |
Stem
|
The timber at
the very front of the bow. |
Stern
|
After end of a vessel.
|
Stabber
|
A Pricker. |
Staff
|
A pole or
mast used to hoist flags upon. |
Stanchions
|
Upright posts
of wood or iron placed so as to support the beams of a vessel.
Also, upright pieces of timber placed at intervals along the
sides of a vessel to support the bulwarks and rail and reaching
down to the bends by the side of the timbers to which they are
bolted. Also, any fixed, upright support, as to an awning, or
for the manropes. |
Lifting Stanchion
|
A stanchion
made of iron and may be raised and fastened to the beam above. |
Stand
By!
|
An order to
be prepared. |
Standard
|
An inverted knee, placed above
the deck instead of beneath it; as, bill-standard.
|
Standing
|
The
standing part of a rope is that part which is fast, in
opposition to the part that is hauled upon or the main part in
opposition to the end.
The standing part of a tackle
is that part which is made fast to the blocks and between that
and the next sheave, in opposition to the hauling and
leading parts.
|
Standing Rigging
|
That part of a vessel's rigging which is made fast and not
hauled upon.
(See RUNNING.)
|
Starboard
|
The right
side of a vessel, looking forward. |
Star
bowlines
|
The familiar
term for the men in the starboard watch. |
Start
|
To start a
cask is to open it. |
Stay
|
To
tack a vessel or put her about so that the wind on one side is
brought upon the other round the vessel's head.
(See TACK, WEAR.)
To stay a mast
is to incline it forward or aft or to one side or the other by
the stays and backstays. Thus, a mast is said to be stayed too
much forward or aft or too much to port.
|
Stays
|
Large ropes used to support masts and leading from the head of
some mast down to some other mast or to some part of the vessel.
Those which lead forward are called fore-and-aft stays and those
which lead down to the vessel's sides, backstays. (See
BACKSTAYS.)
In stays, or hore
[sic][?? have?] in stays the situation of a vessel when she is
staying or going about from one tack to the other.
|
Staysail
|
A sail, which
hoists upon a stay. |
Steady!
|
An order to
keep the helm as it is. |
Steer
|
To control the direction of a
vessel via the steering gear.
To Steer small
is to keep a vessel on course with only small
movements of the steering gear.
To Steer large
is the opposite to steer small.
|
Steerage
|
That part of
the between-decks which is just forward of the cabin. |
Steeve
|
A bowsprit steeves more or less according as it
is raised more or less from the horizontal.
The steeve
is the angle it makes with the horizon. Also, a long, heavy spar
with a place to fit a block at one end and used in stowing
certain kinds of cargo which need be driven in close.
|
Stem
|
A piece of
timber reaching from the forward end of the keel to which it is
scarfed up to the bowsprit and to which the two sides of the
vessel are united. |
Stemson
|
A piece of
compass-timber fixed on the after part of the apron inside. The
lower end is scarfed into the keelson and receives the scarf of
the stem through which it is bolted. |
Step
|
A
block of wood secured to the keel into which the heel of the
mast is placed.
To step a mast
is to put it in its step.
|
Stern
|
The after end
of a vessel. (See BY THE STERN.) |
Stern-Board
|
The motion of
a vessel when going sternforemost. |
Stern-Frame
|
The frame
composed of the sternpost transom and the fashion-pieces. |
Sternpost
|
The
aftermost timber in a ship reaching from the after end of the
keel to the deck. The stem and sternpost are the two extremes of
a vessel's frame.
Inner sternpost
is a post on the inside corresponding to the sternpost.
|
Stern
Sheets
|
The after
part of a boat abaft the rowers where the passengers sit. |
Stern-way
|
The movement by which a ship
retreats, or falls backward, with her stern foremost.
|
Stiff
|
The quality
of a vessel which enables it to carry a great deal of sail
without lying over-much on her side. The opposite to crank. |
Stirrups
|
Ropes with
thimbles at their ends through which the footropes are rove and
by which they are kept up toward the yards. |
Stock
|
A beam of
wood or a bar of iron secured to the upper end of the shank of
an anchor at right angles with the arms. An iron stock usually
goes with a key and unships. |
Stocks
|
The frame
upon which a vessel is built. |
Stools
|
Small
channels for the deadeyes of the backstays. |
Stopper
|
A
stout rope with a knot at one end and sometimes a hook at the
other used for various purposes about decks as making fast a
cable so as to overhaul.
(See CAT STOPPER, DECK STOPPER.)
|
Stopper Bolts
|
Ringbolts to
which the deck stoppers are secured. |
Stop
|
A fastening
of small stuff. Also, small projections on the outside of the
cheeks of a lower mast at the upper parts of the hounds.
|
Strand
|
A
number of rope-yarns twisted together. Three, four or nine
strands twisted together form a rope.
A rope is stranded
when one of its strands is parted or broken by chafing or by a
strain.
A vessel is stranded
when she is driven on shore.
|
Strap
|
A piece of
rope spliced rounds a block to keep its parts well together.
Some blocks have iron straps, in which case they are called iron
bound. |
Streak, or Strake
|
A range of planks running
fore-and-aft on a vessel's side.
|
Stream
|
The
stream anchor is one used for warping, & etc., and sometimes as
a lighter anchor to moor by with a hawser. It is smaller than
the bowers and larger than the kedges.
To stream a buoy
is to drop it into the water.
|
Stretchers
|
Pieces of
wood placed across a boat's bottom, inside, for the oarsmen to
press their feet against in rowing. Also, cross pieces placed
between a boat's sides to keep them apart when hoisted up and
griped. |
Strike
|
To lower a
sail or colors. |
Studdingsails
|
Light sails
set outside the square sails on booms rigged out for that
purpose. They are only carried with a fair wind and in moderate
weather. |
Sued,
or Sewed
|
The condition
of a ship when she is high and dry on shore. If the water leaves
her two feet, she sues, or is sued two feet. |
Supporters
|
The
knee-timbers under the catheads. |
Surf
|
The breaking
of the sea upon the shore. |
Surge
|
A
large, swelling wave.
To surge a rope or cable
is to slack it up suddenly where it renders round a pin or round
the windlass or capstan.
|
Surge
Ho!
|
The notice
given when a cable is to be surged. |
Swab
|
A mop, formed
of old rope used for cleaning and drying decks. |
Sweep
|
To drag the
bottom for an anchor. Also, large oars used in small vessels to
force them ahead. |
Swift
|
To bring two
shrouds or stays close together by ropes. |
Swifter
|
The forward
shroud to a lower-mast. Also, ropes used to confine the capstan
bars to their places when shipped. |
Swig
|
A term used
by sailors for the mode of hauling off upon the bight of a rope
when its lower end is fast. |
Swivel
|
A long link
of iron used in chain cables made so as to turn upon an axis and
keep the turns out of a chain. |
Syphering
|
Lapping the edges of planks
over each other for a bulkhead.
|
T |
Back To Top
|
Tabling
|
Letting one
beam-piece into another. (See SCARFING.) Also, the broad hem on
the borders of sails to which the bolt-rope is sewed. |
Tack
|
To
put a ship about so that from having the wind on one side you
bring it round on the other by the way of her head. The opposite
of wearing.
A vessel is on the starboard tack,
or has her starboard tacks on board, when she has the wind on
her starboard side.
The rope or tackle by which
the weather clew of a course is hauled forward and down to the
deck.
The lower forward corner of
the sail
The tack of
a fore-and-aft sail is the rope
that keeps down the lower forward clew; and of a studdingsail,
the lower outer clew. The tack of the lower studdingsail is
called the outhaul. Also, that part of a sail in which the tack
is attached.
|
Tackle
|
(Pronounced
tay-cle.) A purchase, formed by a rope rove through one or more
blocks. |
Taffrail,
or Tafferel
|
The rail
round a ship's stern. |
Taffrail Log
|
A propeller
drawn through the water that operates a meter on the boat
registering the speed and distance sailed. |
Tail
|
A
rope spliced into the end of a block and used for making it fast
to rigging or spars. Such a block is called a tail-block.
A ship is said to tail up or down stream
when at anchor according as her stern swings up or down with the
tide in opposition to heading one way or another which is said
of a vessel when under way.
|
Tail-Tackle
|
A watch-tackle.
|
Tail
On!
or Tally On!
|
An order
given to take hold of a rope and pull. |
Tampion
|
(TOMPION)
Meaning a plug for a gun-muzzle dates from about 1480.
Originally, it referred to a piece of cloth used as a stopper. |
Tank
|
An iron
vessel placed in the hold to contain the vessel's water. |
Tar
|
A liquid gum
taken from pine and fir trees and used for caulking and to put
upon yarns in rope-making and upon standing rigging to protect
it from the weather. |
Tarpaulin
|
A piece of
canvass covered with tar used for covering hatches, boats, etc.
Also, the name commonly given to a sailor's hat when made of
tarred or painted cloth. |
Taut
|
Tight. |
Taunt
|
High or tall. Commonly applied to a vessel's masts.
All-a-taunt-o
- Said of a vessel when she has all her light and tall masts and
spars aloft.
|
Tell
Tale
|
A compass
hanging from the beams of the cabin which may know the heading
of a vessel at any time. Also, an instrument connected with the
barrel of the wheel and traversing so that the officer may see
the position of the tiller. |
Tend
|
To watch a
vessel at anchor at the turn of tides and cast her by the helm
and some sail if necessary so as to keep turns out of her
cables. |
Tenon
|
The heel of a
mast made to fit into the step. |
Thick-&Thin Block |
A block
having one sheave larger than the other. Sometimes used for
quarter-blocks. |
Thimble
|
An iron ring, having its rim
concaves on the outside for a rope or strap to fit snugly round.
|
Thole
Pins
|
Pins in the
gunwale of a boat between which an oar rests when pulling
instead of a rowlock. |
Throat
|
The
inner end of a gaff where it widens and hollows in to fit the
mast. (See JAWS.) Also, the hollow part of a knee.
The throat brails
are the halyards & etc., that hoist or haul up the gaff or sail
near the throat. Also, the angle where the arm of an anchor is
joined to the shank.
|
Thrum
|
To stick
short strands of yarn through a mat or piece of canvass to make
a rough surface. |
Thus
|
(see dyce) |
Thwarts
|
The seats
going across a boat, upon which the oarsmen sit. |
Thwartships
|
(See
ATHWARTSHIPS.) |
Tide
|
To tide up or
down a river or harbor is to work up or down with a fair tide
and head wind or calm coming to anchor when the tide turns. |
Tide-Rode
|
The situation
of a vessel at anchor, when she swings by the force of the tide.
In opposition to wind-rode. |
Tier
|
A
range of casks. Also, the range of the fakes of a cable or
hawser.\
The cable tier
is the place in a hold or between decks where the cables are
stowed.
|
Tiller
|
A bar of wood or iron put into
the head of the rudder by which the rudder is moved.
|
Tiller-Ropes
|
Ropes leading
from the tiller-head round the barrel of the wheel by which a
vessel is steered. |
Timber
|
A general
term for all large pieces of wood used in shipbuilding. Also,
more particularly, long pieces of wood in a curved form, bending
outward, and running from the keel up, on each side forming the
ribs of a vessel. The keel, stem, sternposts, and timbers form a
vessel's outer frame. |
Timber Heads
|
The ends of
the timbers that come above the decks. Used for belaying hawsers
and large ropes. |
Timenoguy
|
A rope
carried taut between different parts of the vessel to prevent
the sheet or tack of a course from getting foul in working ship. |
Toggle
|
A pin placed
through the bight or eye of a rope, block-strap, or bolt, to
keep it in its place or to put the bight or eye of another rope
upon and, thus, to secure them both together. |
Top
|
A
platform placed over the head of a lower mast resting on the
trestletrees to spread the rigging and for the convenience of
men aloft.
To top up a yard or boom
is to raise up one end of it by hoisting on the lift.
|
Top-Block
|
A large
ironbound block hooked into a bolt under the lower cap and used
for the top-rope to reeve through in sending up and down
topmasts. |
Topgallant Mast
|
The third
mast above the deck. |
Topgallantsail
|
The third
sail above the deck. |
Top-Light
|
A signal
lantern carried in the top. |
Top-Lining
|
A lining on the after part of
sails to prevent them from chafing against the top-rim.
|
Topmast
|
A second spar
carried at the top of the fore or main mast used to fly more
sail. |
Topping
Lift
|
A line or
wire for lifting the boom. |
Top-Rope
|
The rope used
for sending topmasts up and down. |
Topsail
|
The
second sail above the deck.
A sail set above the gaff.
|
Topsail Schooner |
A schooner
with a square rigged sail on the forward mast. |
Top
Timbers
|
The highest
timbers on a vessel's side being above the futtocks. |
Toss
|
To throw an
oar out of the rowlock and raise it perpendicularly on its end
and lay it down in the boat with its blade forward. |
Touch
|
A
sail is said to touch, when the wind strikes the leech so as to
shake it a little.
Luff
and touch her!
The order to bring the vessel up and see how near she will go to
the wind.
|
Tow
|
To draw a
vessel along by means of a rope. |
Train-Tackle
|
The tackle
used for running guns in and out. |
Transom |
The planking
that forms the stern and closes off the sides. |
Transom-Knees
|
Knees bolted
to the transoms and after timbers. |
Traveller
|
An iron ring fitted so as to
slip up and down a rope.
|
Traverses
|
These are the
ribs or frames of the ship, and when placed in position, give
the principal shape or contour, Transverses are not all the same
distance apart; amidships, where there is the greatest strain,
they are spaced more closely. The transverses are cut or notched
where they connect on the shell to allow the longitudinals to
pass through. Clips at these points strengthen them. |
Treenails,
or
Trunnels
|
Long wooden
pins, used for nailing a plank to a timber. |
Trend
|
The lower end
of the shank of an anchor being the same distance on the shank
from the throat that the arm measures from the throat to the
bill. |
Trestle-Trees
|
Two strong
pieces of timber placed horizontally and fore-and-aft on
opposite sides of a mast-head to support the cross-trees and top
and for the fid of the mast above to rest upon. |
Triatic
Stay
|
A rope
secured at each end to the heads of the fore and main masts with
thimbles spliced into its bight to hook the stay tackles to.
|
Trice
|
To haul up by
means of a rope. |
Trick
|
The time
allotted to a man to stand at the helm. |
Trim
|
The
condition of a vessel with reference to her cargo and ballast. A
vessel is trimmed by the head or by the stern.
In ballast trim
is when she has only ballast on board.
Also, to arrange the sails by
the braces with reference to the wind.
|
Trip
|
To raise an
anchor clear of the bottom. |
Tripping
Line
|
A line used
for tripping a topgallant or royal yard in sending it down. |
Truck
|
A circular piece of wood,
placed at the head of the highest mast on a ship. It has small
holes or sheaves in it for signal halyards to be rove through.
Also, the wheel of a gun-carriage.
|
Trunnions
|
The arms on
each side of a cannon by which it rests upon the carriage and on
which, as an axis, it is elevated or depressed. |
Truss
|
The rope by
which the centre of a lower yard is kept in toward the mast. |
Trysail
|
A
fore-and-aft sail set with a boom and gaff and hoisting on a
small mast abaft the lower mast called a trysail-mast. This name
is generally confined to the sail so carried at the mainmast of
a full-rigged brig; those carried at the foremast and at the
mainmast of a ship or bark being called spencers, and those that
are at the mizzenmast of a ship or bark, spankers. |
Tumbling
Home
|
Said of a
ship's sides when they fall in above the bends. The opposite of
wall-sided. |
Turn
|
Passing a rope once or twice round a pin or kevel to keep it
fast. Also, two crosses in a cable.
To
turn in or turn out,
nautical terms for going to rest in a berth or hammock and
getting up from them.
|
Turn
up!
|
The order given to send the
men up from between decks.
|
Tye
|
A rope
connected with a yard to the other end of which a tackle is
attached for hoisting. |
U |
Back To Top
|
Unbend
|
To cast off
or untie. (See BEND.) |
Underway
|
Vessel in
motion when not moored, at anchor, or aground. |
Union
|
The upper
inner corner of an ensign. The rest of the flag is called the
fly. The union of the U.S. ensign is a blue field with white
stars, and the fly is composed of alternate white and red
stripes. |
Union-down
|
The situation
of a flag when it is hoisted upside down bringing the union down
instead of up. Used as a signal of distress. |
Union Jack
|
A small flag
containing only the union, without the fly, usually hoisted at
the bowsprit-cap. |
Unmoor
|
To heave up one anchor so that
the vessel may ride at a single anchor. (See MOOR.)
|
Unship
|
(See SHIP.)
|
Uvrou
|
(See EUVROU.) |
V |
Back To Top
|
V-Berth
|
Usually the
forward berth of the boat located in the bow. |
Vane |
A small flag
worn at each mast head to show wind direction. |
VHF
|
Very high
frequency radio. |
Vang
|
A rope
leading from the peak of the gaff of a fore-and-aft sail to the
rail on each side, and used for steadying the gaff. |
Vast
|
[written
'VAST; changed to alphabetize] (See AVAST.) |
Veer
|
Said of the wind when it changes. Also, to slack a cable and let
it run out. (See PAY.)
To veer and haul
is to haul and slack alternately on a rope, as in warping, until
the vessel or boat gets headway.
|
Viol,
or Voyal
|
A larger messenger sometimes
used in weighing an anchor by a capstan. Also, the block through
which the messenger passes.
|
W |
Back To Top
|
Wad
|
Quantity of
old rope-yarns rolled firmly together into the form of a ball
and used to confine the shot or shell together with its charge
of powder in the breech of a piece of artillery. |
Waft
|
Signal displayed from the stern
of a ship for some particular purpose by hoisting the ensign
furled up together into a long roll to the head of its staff. It
is particularly used to summon the boats off from the shore to
the ship whereto they belong; or as a signal for a pilot to
repair aboard. See
SIGNALS. |
Waist
|
That part of
the upper deck between the quarterdeck and forecastle. |
Waisters
|
Green hands
or broken-down seamen placed in the waist of a man-of-war. |
Wake
|
Moving waves,
track or path that a boat leaves behind it when moving thru the
water. |
Wales
|
Strong planks
in a vessel's sides running her whole length fore and aft. |
Wale-Reared
|
An obselete
phrase implying wall-sided |
Wall
|
A knot put on
the end of a rope. |
Wall-Sided
|
A vessel is
wall-sided when her sides run up perpendicularly from the bends.
In opposition to tumbling home or flaring out. |
Walt
|
An obsolete or spurious term
signifying
crank. |
Ward-Room
|
The room in a
vessel of war in which the commissioned officers live. |
Ware,
or Wear
|
To turn a
vessel round so that, from having the wind on one side, you
bring it upon the other, carrying her stern round by the wind.
In tacking, the same result is produced by carrying a vessel's
head round by the wind. |
Warp
|
To move a vessel from one
place to another by means of a rope made fast to some fixed
object, or to a kedge.
A warp
is a rope used for warping. If the warp is bent to a kedge which
is let go and the vessel is hove ahead by the capstan or
windlass, it would be called kedging.
|
Wash-Boards
|
Light pieces
of board placed above the gunwale of a boat. |
Watch
|
A
division of time on board ship. There are seven watches in a day
reckoning from 12 Midnight round through the 24 hours, five of
them being of four hours each, and the two others, called dog
watches, of two hours each, viz., from 4 to 6, and from 6 to 8,
P.M. (See DOG WATCH.) Also, a certain portion of a ship's
company appointed to stand a given length of time. In the
merchant service all hands are divided into two watches,
larboard and starboard, with a mate to command each.
A buoy is said to watch
when it floats on the surface
Watch-And-Watch
- The arrangement by which the watches are alternated every
other four hours. In distinction from keeping all hands during
one or more watches.
Anchor watch,
a small watch of one or two men kept while in port.
|
Watch
Ho!
Watch!
|
The cry of
the man that heaves the deep-sea-lead. |
Watch-Tackle
|
A small luff
purchase with a short fall, the double block having a tail to
it, and the single one a hook. Used for various purposes about
decks. |
Water
- Boards
|
Or
weather-boards of a boat to keep out the waves or spray of the
sea. |
Water
Boune
|
The state of
a ship with regard to the water surrounding her bottom when
there is barely a sufficient depth of it to float her off from
the ground, particularly when she had for some time rested
thereon. |
Water
Line
|
The line made
by the water's edge when a ship has her full proportion of
stores and crew on board. |
Water
Logged
|
The state of
a ship when by receiving a great quantity of water into her hold
by leaking she has become heavy and inactive upon the sea so as
to yield without resistance to the efforts of every wave rushing
over her decks. As in this dangerous situation, the center of
gravity is no longer fixed, but fluctuating from place to place,
the stability of the ship is utterly lost; she is, therefore,
almost totally deprived of the use of her sails which would
operate to overset her or press the head under water. Hence
there is no resource for the crew except to free her by the
pumps or to abandon her by the boats as soon as possible. |
Water
Sail
|
A save-all
set under the swinging-boom. |
Water Shot
|
See
MOORING. |
Water Spout
|
An
extraordinary and dangerous meteor consisting of a large mass of
water collected into a sort of column by the force of a
whirlwind and moved with rapidity along the surface of the sea.
|
Waterways
|
Long pieces
of timber running fore and aft on both sides connecting the deck
with the vessel's sides. The scuppers are made through them to
let the water off. |
Way
|
Of a ship, the course or progress
which she makes on the water under sail. Thus, when she begins
her motion, she is said to be under way and, when that motion
increases, she is said to have fresh way through the water.
Hence also she is said to have bead-way or
stern-way.
|
Wear
|
(See WARE.) |
Weather
|
Known to be the particular state of the air with regard to the
degree of the wind, to heat or cold or to dryness and moisture.
Weather
is also used as an adjective applied by mariners to every thing
lying to windward of a particular situation. Thus, a ship is
said to have the weather-gage of another when she is further
to-windward. Also, when a ship under sail presents either of her
sides to the wind, it is then called the weather-side and all
the rigging and furniture situated thereon are distinguished by
the same epithet; as, the weather-shrouds, the weather-lifts,
the weather braces. [See LEE.]
A Weatherly ship
is one that works well to windward, making but little leeway.
To Weather
is to sail to windward of some ship, bank, or head-land.
|
Weather Beaten
|
Shattered by
a storm or disabled in battle. |
Weather-Bitt
|
To take an
additional turn with a cable round the windlass-end. |
Weather Gage
|
A vessel has
the weather gage of another when she is to windward of her. |
Weather Roll
|
The roll
which a ship makes to windward. |
Weigh
|
To haul up;
as, weigh the anchor. |
Wheel
|
Device used
for steering a boat. |
Whip
|
A
purchase formed by a rope rove through a single block.
To whip
is to hoist by a whip. Also, to secure the end of a rope from
fagging by a seizing of twine.
|
Whip-Upon-Whip
|
One whip
applied to the fall of another. |
Widow-Maker
|
A term for the bowsprit (many
sailors lost their lives falling off the bowsprit while tending
sails).
|
Winch
|
A purchase
formed by a horizontal spindle or shaft with a wheel or crank at
the end. A small one with a wheel is used for making ropes or
spunyarn. |
Windjammer
|
A
square-rigged commercial sailing ship. Used as an insulting term
by steamboat sailors. |
Windlass
|
The machine
used in merchant vessels to weigh the anchor by. |
Wind-Rode
|
The situation
of a vessel at anchor when she swings and rides by the force of
the wind, instead of the tide or current. (See TIDE-RODE.) |
Wing
|
That part of
the hold or between-decks which is next the side. |
Wingers
|
Casks stowed
in the wings of a vessel. |
Wing-And-Wing
|
The situation
of a fore-and-aft vessel when she is going dead before the wind,
with her foresail hauled over on one side and her mainsail on
the other. |
Withe
or Wythe
|
An iron
instrument fitted on the end of a boom or mast with a ring to it
through which another boom or mast is rigged out and secured.
|
Woold
|
To wind a
piece of rope round a spar or other item. |
Work
Up
|
To draw the yarns from old
rigging and make them into spunyarn, foxes, sennit, &c. Also, a
phrase for keeping a crew constantly at work upon needless
matters, and in all weathers, and beyond their usual hours, for
punishment.
|
Worm
|
"Worm and parcel with the lay,
Turn and serve the other way. "Organic standing rigging was
wormed, parcelled, and served in areas under great stress or
potential friction: bobstays, stay and shroud eyes, pendants,
and sometimes the entire forward shrouds. Worming wound pieces
of marline into the contlines of the rope, leaving it smoother
for the Parcelling, or wrapping with strips of tarred canvas,
which left a good foundation for the Serving, a tight backwards
wrapping of twine, with extra tar slobbered over all. For
a model, the serving is the only item to worry about. The
worming and parceling would be invisible and, if installed,
lumpy.
|
Wring
|
To bend or
strain a mast by setting the rigging up too taut. |
Wring-Bolts
|
Bolts that
secure the planks to the timbers. |
Wring-Staves
|
Strong pieces
of plank used with the wring-bolts. |
X
|
Xebec
- See Zebec |
Y |
Back To Top
|
Yacht
|
A vessel of
pleasure or state. |
Yankee
|
A foresail
flying above and forward of the jib, usually seen on bowsprit
vessels. |
Yard
|
A long piece
of timber or spar tapering slightly toward the ends and hung by
the centre to a mast to spread the square sails upon. |
Yardarm
|
The
extremities of a yard. |
Yardarm and Yardarm
|
The situation
of two vessels lying alongside one another so near that their
yardarms cross or touch. |
Yarn
|
(See
ROPE-YARN.) |
Yaw
|
The motion of
a vessel when she goes off from her course. |
Yawl
Boat
|
Smaller
powered boat used to provide steerageway when not under sail. |
Yawing
|
The motion of
a ship when she deviates from to the right or left. |
Yellow Admiral
|
A post
captain is posted to rear admiral on retirement without serving
in that rank. |
Yellow Jack
|
Term used for yellow fever.
Used for a quarantine flag which is coloured
yellow.
|
Yeoman
|
A officer
under the boatswain employed in a vessel of war to take charge
of a storeroom; as, boatswain's yeoman, the man that has charge
of the stores of rigging, & etc. |
Yoke
|
A piece of
wood placed across the head of a boat's rudder with a rope
attached to each end by which the boat is steered. |
Z |
Back To Top
|
Zebeck
|
A small
3-masted Mediterranean vessel with lanteen and some square
sails. |
Zenith
|
In nautical
astronomy a point immediately above an observer correspond to a
straight line from the centre of the earth through the observer
to the zenith. |
Zulu
|
A fishing vessel from the
north-east of scotland.
|
Zulu
Time
|
GMT- Greenwich Meridian Time,
also known as Universal Time
|
|
|