THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 110 111 THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF PETER TURNER ©2024 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 Lash2 Lashed into his Hammock - Dead. From the practice of a dead seaman being lashed into his weighted hammock for burial at sea. In battle, time was rarely wasted on such niceties, the dead being shoved unceremoniously overboard if they were in the way of continued fighting. Lashers - ERR Lashing – Any rope or line used to tie two items together or secure an object in place. Lashing fore & aft - SMS Lash-up - 1 Originally the term used to describe the process of running the gauntlet, but now generally applies to something badly done. 2 The process of securing hammocks and stowing them, on the call "Lash up and stow!" Lask – (v) To sail well with a quarterly wind, with the yards braced up and the sheets eased out. Laskets – Small hooplike lines sewn into the top of bonnets and drablers to attach them to the sail above. Lasking, or lasking off – Going large, i.e. sailing neither before nor against the wind but with a quartering wind. Last – 1. A 32 gallon barrel – old Dutch measure, used as a quantity of gunpowder. 2. A measure of ten thousand herring. 3. 2400 pounds. Lastage – 1. Any cargo in a ship. 2. A duty levied on a cargo ship. Last Dog - The Dog Watch of 1800 to 2000. See First Dog, for obvious reasons. Last dog and all night in - Under the normal watch system, a sailor would stand the last dog and then not be required to report again until 0800, having slept long. Last in, first out - The etiquette to be observed in the carrying of officers in boats. Last square frame - Actually the nearest square frame to the bow. Latchet line - SMS Latching a bonnet - SMS Lateen sail – A large triangular sail attached to a lateen yard by its foremost edge. Used as the mizzen rig on early square-rigged ships, before the spanker came into general use. They originated in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, where they are still found. Sometimes called ‘latene’, from ‘Latin’ sail. Lateen yard - A long spar hoisted on the mizen mast of early square-riggers, with the shorter and lower 'half' before the mast, forming the leading edge of a lateen sail. Commonly used, still, on foreign smaller vessels, most notably Arabic. Latitude – The angular distance of a location north or south of the equator. Latitude by Polaris, or by North Star – The action of determining the latitude by measuring the elevation of Polaris. Latitude by single (or double) altitude – The action of determining the latitude by solving spherical triangles. Latitude Sailing - Launch (vb) - 1. To place a boat in the water. 2. To cause a vessel to travel down its launching ways and enter the water for the first time, or after a refit that has entailed the vessel to be taken out of the water. Launch - 1. A broad ship's boat that was the main workboat of a warship, replacing the longboat, used for carrying heavy loads such as anchors, drinking water, etc. As a landing boat a Launch could carry up to a hundred men, with their kit. (hgv) Launch 2 Launch ho! - Job done. Launching ways - Heavy timbers laid on the slipway, on which the cradle slides as a vessel is launched. Lave - Laveering - SMS Law – When a drifter is blown back onto its nets the wind is said to be blowing against the law. Law of the Navy - The order of those in the Navy List, from which seniority was/is decided. Lawful occasion - Ships going about their business correctly and legally. Laws of Oleron – An early maritime code enacted by Eleanor of Aquitane for the seafarers of the Island of Oleron and later adopted by nearly all seafaring nations. It was introduced into England in 1190, by Richard I. Laxsan - Currency unit. Lay - 1. Aim guns, etc. 2. Whaleman’s share of the profits. 3. The direction in which the strands of a rope are laid. Hawser-laid and shroud-laid are right-handed; cable-laid ropes are left-handed. Lay aboard – To take a warship alongside an enemy vessel. Lay a hold – Come closer to the wind by putting the helm down. Lay along – 1. To list. 2. A ship in harbour or a time when hands are not required on deck. Lay alongside - To position a ship by the side of another. Lay Down From Above - Layer - The member of a gun's crew responsible for deciding the necessary elevation. Lay in – The order given to hands on the yards to move in towards the mast. Laying out anchor - SMS Laying out marks - SMS Laying out on the yard - SMS Laying the yard - SMS Lay of rope - Ordinary-lay is when the lay runs downwards from left to right, like a right-handed screw thread. Cable-lay is the opposite way, or left-handed. Wire ropes are always ordinary-lay. Lay out – The order given to hands to spread out along the yard. Lay the course – Maintain a course. Lay the land – To sail away from the land, so that it drops below the horizon. Lay to - Come to a temporary stop. cf Bring to and Come to. Lay up – To make rope by applying the torsion to strands that forms them into a rope. See hard-laid and soft-laid. Lazarette, lazaretto - 1. A store room for a ship's provisions, usually located in the after part of the hold. 2. An area used to quarantine anyone with an infectious disease. 3. A room used to confine a felon. Lazy - The term given to an article in temporary disuse. Hence, a lazy tack is the unfixed end of a tack and a lazy sheet is the unfixed end of a sheet. Lazy guy – A single-rope guy, used to steady something that would not cause much strain on the guy. See Bottom guy. Lazy leadsman - The leadsman’s mate, who hauls in the leadline after each cast. Lazy painter – A small light rope attached to the stem of a boat and used to tether her when conditions are benign. Lazy sheet - See Lazy. Lazy-tack - See Lazy. SMS Lead – The direction in which a rope is led through blocks, cleats or fairleads. Lead and line - An ancient navigational aid by which the depth to the sea bottom could be measured, comprising a cylindrical lead weight with a recess in the bottom end into which tallow could be packed. The top was attached to the rope line, marked at certain points from which the depth was given. The tallow would pick up specimens from the sea bottom, for comparison with the sea bottom typr given on charts. Lead ballast – Lead used to lower the centre of gravity, usually only in small vessel’s. Lead-cleat-block - Lead hole - ERR Leading block – A fixed block at the leading part of a tackle, through which the direction of a rope could be altered. Leading Hand, or Rate - The next stage up from Able Rate. Leading line – In pilotage, a transit line chosen to lead safely down a safe track. Leading part – The parts of a rope forming the fall and moving parts of a tackle. Leading wind – 1. A wind from abeam or from a quarter. 2. A wind blowing straight up or down a channel. Lead Line - See Common Log. A line marked with knots to determine depth. Lead-line Marks – Page 129 Lead of the tacks - SMS Leads - 1. The routes of running rigging. 2. Open tracks of water through ice. Also Lanes. Leadsman - The crew member who heaves the lead, from the windward main channel. League - A measure of distance of one twentieth of a degree of latitude, or 3.18 miles, usually reckoned as about three nautical miles. In early accounts, a Roman League was 4 Roman miles. League of Armed Neutrality - Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Prussia. Leaguer - Half#, Third#, etc Leak - The ingress of water into a vessel, through a breach in her bottom or side, where she is said to have 'sprung a leak'. Leaks - SMS Leather dodger - A screen behind which carcasses were fused. Leathering - Leather was used wherever standing rigging could be chafed, over the worming, parcelling and serving. Leatherneck - The US Marines, from the leather patch on their collars, and from a lively inclination to disparage them. Leave - General #, Short # Leddy - Scottish name for the figurehead, even if not a 'lady', or even a human. Ledge - Athwartship timbers, between beams, used as additional deck supports. Lee - The side of a vessel opposite to that from which the wind blows, namely the weather side, and so used to refer to any sheltered place out of the wind. Lee board - A heavy composite board mounted at the sides of a flat-bottomed vessel that could be lowered to reduce leeway when tacking, in a similar way to a drop keel. Lee brails, etc - SMS Leech – The side edges of a square sail and the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail. Leech line - The halyard fastened to the leech. Leechline & spritsail brace blocks - (hgv) Leechline block - SMS Leech line cloths - Additional cloths sewn on the fore side of a sail, where the leech lines would chafe, to prevent it. Leech rope - The vertical section of the bolt rope sewn into the leech. Lee current – A current that sets with the wind. Lee fange – An iron rail rigged athwartships along which the traveller of a fore-and-aft sail could run freely when tacking. Lee gage – The position to leeward of another vessel. Lee helm – Bring the rudder and wheel to windward in order to bring the vessel into the wind. Lee helmsmen - Helmsmen who followed the movements of the weather helmsman, as he could not see the compass, sails, etc., whereas the weather helmsman could. When not at the wheel he was required to stand at the lee side of the wheel, ready for when he was needed. Lee lurch – A heavy and unexpected roll to leeward. Leese - Lose. Lee shore – Said of the shore when it is downwind of a vessel. Lee side - The side sheltered from the wind. See Lee. Lee tide – A tide flowing in the same direction as the wind. Leeward, to - Away from the direction from which the wind is blowing. Leeward - (pronounced "loo'ard") - Direction towards which the wind is blowing at sea. In other words, on the side sheltered from the wind. Opposite of Windward or Weatherside. Leewardly - Said of a vessel inclined to fall away. SMS Leeward service - SMS Leeway – The sideways drift of a vessel, from the effect of the wind. If a ship was too close to a lee shore, onto which it might be blown, it had insufficient leeway. Left-handed – The direction of lay of cable-laid ropes, where the strands lay from upper left to lower right. Leg – 1. The distance travelled on a single tack. Also board, or a trip. 2. A short rope that branches into three or more parts. Leg of mutton sail – A triangular sail with its fore edge attached to the mast, as in Bermudan sail. Also shoulder of mutton sail. Leg & fall block - ERR Leg of mutton mizzen - SMS Legger - SMS
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