THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 102 103 THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF PETER TURNER THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF PETER TURNER ©2024 If any reader can provide information, please send to galf@abandos.com If any reader can provide information, please send to galf@abandos.com Jabot – A frilly cravat worn as part of the full dress uniform of a naval officer. Jacht - Dutch term first coined early 17c referring to a new type of three-masted Barque rigged ship. Jack – 1. The flag on the bowsprit jack-staff denoting a naval vessel. 2. Our friend, the seaman, in common and familiar parlance. Jackanapes coat - Early name for the rough wool monkey jacket worn by seamen. Jackass - A hawse plug. Jackass barque, bark - A three-masted ship similar to barquentine but which carried fore-andaft sails on its lower mainmast and square sails on its topmasts. A rig with at least one fully square rigged mast, but otherwise unorthodox. Jackass rig - Any unusual rig. Jack block – A single block stropped with a button and eye arrangement by which it could be attached to the topgallant mast. Jack-crosstrees- SMS Jack Dusty or Jack-in-the-Dust - Originally the Purser's steward or seaman, assigned to issue flour in the bread room, whose title came with the job. But later it also referred to the rating responsible for the book-keeping of the daily rum issue. Also, Dusty, or Jack o' the Dust. Jacket - An additional timber or number of timbers fixed for protection onto the outside of a ship's hull. Jack Ketch – The Master-at-Arms. Jack ladder - A ladder with wooden rungs and rope sides. Jack line - A rope rove through the grommets of a reef band, and used for reefing with a toggle on the jackstay. Also reefing jackstay or reef line. Jack-line-reef - A form of reefing arrangement resulting in a jack-line fore and aft of the sail, instead of individual reefing lines. Also Frenchreef. Jack Nastyface - Nickname for the cook's assistant, or anyone else disliked by the crew, from the fictitious name put on petitions circulated in the early nineteenth century, exposing bad conditions. Jack of all trades – A seaman capable of turning his hand to any necessary task. Jack of rum - Jack o' the Dust - Dusty, or Jack Dusty. Jack pin – A pin-shaped belaying pin used in the shrouds. Jack screw – A device used to compress soft goods in the hold, or to move heavy goods into place in the hold. Jackson - To clap on a Jackson was to crowd sail. Jackstaff - The flagpole at the bow, on the bowsprit cap, from which the jack, or national flag, is flown. For the British, when the union flag is flown anywhere else but on a jackstaff, either at sea or on land, it should be called the ‘Union Flag’ and not the ‘Union Jack’. Jackstay, Jack-stay – 1. A rope, batten, wire or iron stay carried on short stanchions fitted along the upper side of a spar or yard, to which the head of a square sail is bent, or attached. 2. A light jackstay is a rope rigged between two ships under way, for hauling loads across. 3. A heavy jackstay is the same, but heavier. Jack Strop - Seamen's slang for a troublemaker or sea-lawyer. Jack Tar - Seamen's slang for a sailor, but now used only in a derogatory sense. From the tarred canvas worn by seamen in heavy weather. Jackyarder - See Jackyard topsail. Jackyard topsail, jackyarder – A square sail set above a gaff sail, with its head attached to a small spar angled across the mast, like a lugsail. Also lug topsail. Jacob's ladder - A rope or jack ladder rigged abaft a topgallant or royal mast, to save seamen having to shin up the mast. Also, the ladder from a boat to a boat boom. Jacob’s staff – An ancient wooden instrument used to measure altitudes of heavenly bodies, comprising a cross, or transversary, sliding on a staff that had graduated degrees marked on it. Also arbalest, cross-staff or fore-staff. Jacobites - Jag – The last tight pull on a sheet or bowline, etc. Jaght - Dutch coastal trader. Jail Fever - Typhus Jail-prop - Habitual prisoner. Jakt - Scandinavian coastal trader. James the First - The First Lieutenant. Jamie Green - See Jimmy Green. Jammed - Said of rigging or cargo, etc., that has been wedged tight and is immovable. Jamming - SMS Janizaries – Turkish soldiers on Corsairs’ galleys. Jankers - Punishment, extra work. Japanned - Jarvis brace winch, brake-winch - Jaunty - Seamen's slang for the Master-at-Arms; probably a corruption of the French "gendarme", or maybe gentilhomme” (but, on second thoughts, probably not the latter). Java - Jaw – 1. The open ended fitting of a gaff or a boom, by which it fits to the mast. 2. Seamen's slang for backchat to a superior. Jaw parrels - An arrangement of alternating trucks and ribs threaded onto a parrel rope, to keep the trucks separate. Also called rib and truck. Jaw rope - A rope fastened to the jaw of a gaff or boom to hold it fast to the mast, usually rigged with bull's eyes to reduce chafing. Jaws - (tge) Jealousy - Used in Elizabethan times to mean mistrust or suspicion. Jeer bitts - The bitts to which the jeers are attached. (Jear) CTC Jeer block - SMS (hgv) Jeer capstan - SMS (tge) Jeers - Tackles used for hoisting (swaying) or lowering (striking) the courses. On other sails, halyards perform the same function. Jeminy - Neatness. heel over. In mid-channel – Halfway across any channel, or river. In mid-stream – In the middle of a current. Inner bottom - The plating laid on top of the floors. In a vessel with a double bottom, the upper layer of plating. Inner post - A timber fastened along the fore side of the stern post, to strengthen it and to support the transom. Inner turns - The turns of an earing, fastening the sail to the yardarm, that are inside the lift and closer to the corner of the sail. See also outer turns. In Order of Sailing - In Ordinary - See Ordinary. Inshore – Close to land. Also onshore. Inside clinch – An anchor clinch. Inside strake - A plate in direct contact with a frame member. In soundings - Close enough to land to determine the depth by means of a lead line, indicating that the sea’s depth is reducing. In stays – Said of a sailing vessel with her head to the wind as she goes about from one tack to another. Intake – The amount of cargo that a ship can take in. Intelligence - Information. Intend, to - To attend to. Intercept method – The basis of all modern navigation introduced in 1874 by Marc St. Hilaire of the French Navy. Also, Marc St Hilaire method or the new navigation. Intercostal keelson - A keelson formed of vertical plates fitted between the floors and connected to the bottom plates by angle-bars. Intercostal plate - A small plate fixed vertically or horizontally to form an intercostal keelson or Stringer respectively. Interest - International code flags (1931) - A system of signal flags instituted internatonally in 1934. Interval – The tidal prediction term meaning the period between the Moon’s southing and the next high water. Also lunitidal interval. In the Wind - Drunk. In tidal waters - In waters affected by the ebb and flow of the tide. Inverted ensign - A flag flying inverted, or upside-down, signals distress. Investment - Blockade of enemy ports. Invincible Armada - In way of - In line with. Irish horse - A lump of salt horse (beef) that was more tough and grisly than usual, from the belief that Irish horses were worked longer by their poor owners. Irish parliament - Lots of talking, but no conclusions. Irish pendant - Seamen's name for a frayed flag or a loose end of rope or twine, or a fender, left dangling free. Irish pennants - Ragged and loose ends in rigging, or clothing. Iron – A whaleman’s name for the harpoon. Iron-bound - Block. Iron-Bound Coast – Rocky with no anchorages. Ironclad - Early term for armoured warship, from the initial practice of fixing iron plates onto the wooden structure of the ship. Ironed - In irons. Iron garters – A punishment in which the offender was shackled by his legs to an iron bar. Iron Jackstay - Iron knee - (hgv) Iron Littior - ? Iron Monkey – A block with a quick release mechanism. Iron Ship - The general term for ships built of iron instead of wood, first tried out in late 18c but taking over from wood during 19c. Iron-sick - The condition of a ship in which the iron fastenings have worked loose from adjacent woodwork, due to corrosion. Iron stopper - SMS Iron topsail - An engine in a sailing ship. Iron Teeth - A ship's guns. Ironwood - Used as block pins. Island, The - The Royal Navy’s unofficial name for Madeira. It flows tide and half tide – An expression for the fact that the tidal ebb starts three hours sooner inshore than offshore and for tidal streams that are reversed at half-flood and half-ebb. It's not my part of the ship - Seamen's slang for something not being his responsibility. Ivory - Shown by the sea when the wind gets up. J Jacks and Junks
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