THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 112 113 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 Leste - A hot, dry, Southerly North African wind. Let draw – The order given to release the weather fore-sheet of a head sail when tacking. Let fall – 1. The order given to let a sail drop. 2. The order given to a boat’s crew to place the oars in the rowlocks and to level them. At this order, any fenders are taken in. Also out oars. Let fly – The order given in an emergency to release the sheets as quickly as possible. Let fly (or go) topgallant sheets - Salute. Let go – The order given to release a mooring line or other rope. Let in - To fit one timber into another. Letters of Marque (P200?) – A Letter of Reprisal, originally called Letter of Marque in 16c, was different from the L of M of the 17 and 18c. The latter was a licence issued by an Admiralty Court in time of war, empowering a private ship to cruise against a named enemy and to sell her prizes after they had been condemned by that court. A L of R was authorisation by an Admiralty Court for a merchant or traveller who had been robbed, in time of peace, in the territory or by the subjects of a foreign power, who had been unable to obtain justice in that country’s courts, to recoup his losses, up to a specified sum, by seizing property of persons belonging to the town or country concerned. Deriving from medieval Marcher Law (Lettre de Mark). Latter was classic form of privateering. Letter of Marque, (sometimes mart) - A modern expression. Originally, royal licences, called letters of reprisal, were granted to shipowners who had suffered from the actions of foreign pirates and had failed to get recompense from foreign courts, to get equal retribution from other ships of that country. The rules were soon forgotten, so letters of reprisal were often seen as licences to carry out acts of piracy. Letter of Reprisal - 16c Royal licences granted to shipowners who had suffered from foreign pirates and had failed to get recompense from foreign courts, to get equal retribution from other ships of that country. See also Letter of Marque. Let the Cat Out of the Bag - Doing a deed that results in the Cat-O-Nine Tails being taken out of its baize bag. Levache - A dry, sand-laden wind of SW Spain. Levant Company, The - Formed from Venice and Turkey Cos, formed 1592. Trading with eastern Mediterranean countries. Levante - A NE wind of E Spain. Levanter Wind - The moist E wind through the Starits of Gibraltar. Level lines - Lines drawn on a ship's plans, parallel to the keel, delineating the horizontal sections. Leviathan - Lewd - In Elizabethan times, said of anyone who was foolish, unprincipled, evil, vulgar, etc. Ley - Scourer, sometimes made from burnt Fritters. Liar - The punishment for a liar was to clean the heads. The first crewman caught in a lie on Monday morning would then keep the heads clean for the week. Libeccio - W-SW squalls of N Corsica. Liberty boat - The ship's boat used to take those privileged few seamen entitled to a run ashore, and which they sometimes 'missed the boat' on returning late, missing which would lead to their missing a quiet life for a while, as a defaulter. Liberty men, man – Passengers of a liberty boat. A Royal Navy seaman on a run ashore. Library - Lie – (v) To keep a ship secure in an anchorage. Lie a-hull – Heave to in heavy weather. Also lie to. Lie along – To heel over in the wind. Also lie over. Lie alongside - To be moored to a jetty or harbour wall, or another vessel. Lie along the land – To sail as close to the coast as possible, on a roughly parallel course with the coastline. Lie by – To stay close by another vessel. Lien - Lie off – To stay well clear of another vessel or of the land. Lie over – To heel over in the wind. Also lie along. Lie to – Heave to in heavy weather. Also lie ahull. Lieutenant's store - Lieutenant - 1st to 6th. Lifebelt – A buoyant jacket or belt used to keep a person in the water afloat. Lifeboat - Boat used as rescue craft. Up to the eighteenth century this usually meant the normal ship's boats. The first specialised Lifeboat was built by L. Lukin in the Tyne estuary in 1786 and had cork inserts and buoyancy chambers. Life-buoy, lifebuoy – 1. Old caulked cask suspended over stern, usually two. 2. Any buoyant object thrown overboard to support a person in the water until they can be rescued. Lifeline, life-line – 1. A rope rigged as a handhold or similar for the security of the crew in heavy weather. 2. A buoyed rope or rope’s end thrown into the water to rescue a crewmember that had fallen overboard. 3. A rope attached to life-buoys or lifeboats, with Turks heads at the ends to help stop weakening fingers from slipping off. Lift - Lift & send - Words used to describe the pitch of sea-wave action. Lift block - SMS (ecr) Lift jiggers - SMS Lifting gear – The term for all the cranes, derricks and similar equipment used for handling the cargo. Lifting sails - SMS Lifting Ship - A vessel designed for salvaging sunken ships, first known in the fifteenth century BC used by Egyptians. Lifts - SMS Ligan – Items thrown overboard and buoyed for later recovery. Light – 1. (v) To help bear a rope in the desired direction. 2. An opening in a vessel's side or deck, used to let in light. 3. Said of a ship not fully loaded with cargo. Light along – 1. To pass a rope along in the required direction. 2. Used as a slang expression to mean carry anything along, from 1. Light box - Light buoy - A buoy exhibiting a light. Light Dues - Revenue raised by lighthouse authority, deducted now by customs officials from port dues, paid by all ships using British ports. CTC Light draught - Said of a ship carrying no load and so having the minimum draught. Lightening the ship - SMS Lighter - Originally a boat used to lighten the load of a ship, thus enabling it to go further upstream in shallow waters. Now often applied to barges, etc. Light hand – A young bright seaman who would often suffer banter from older crew members. Light handed – Said of a ship without her full complement. Lighthouse - A permanent and prominent structure exhibiting a major navigational light. First flashing light was installed at Walney in 1820, by Robert Stevenson, prior to which all lights had been fixed. Lighting over - SMS Lightning Conductor - A copper strip running from a mast-head to the sea, to conduct safely away any lightning strikes. Also see Sir Wm Snow Harris. Lightning rod chain - (tge) Lightning Rods - Often three pronged, with chains connected at the foot of the Masts, ready to be thrown into the sea in a thunderstorm. Light port - A glazed port hole or scuttle. Light-room - The small compartment where the gunner could fill powder cartridges. It was separated from the magazine by double glazed windows, and contained the magazine light outside, so as to avoid the danger of explosion. Light sails - SMS Light sector - A sector in which either the navigational light could be, or could not be, seen, or is of a different colour. Lightship - See Lightvessel. Light space - Light-to – 1. Move a ship into the wind. 2. A pipe call meaning: stop hauling. Light vessel, lightvessel - A stationary anchored ship fitted with a warning light to alert mariners in dangerous areas of sea, where it would not be possible to erect a permanent Lighthouse. In ancient times the light was emitted from open fires, torches, candles, lanterns etc, but in 1807 Robert Stevenson developed an optical device of concave mirrors around a column, which made the beacon more efficient. Frenchmen A J Fresnel and D F Arago invented the Fresnel lens in early 19c, which is now fitted to many navigation lights on ships. Light weather reacher - Triangular barge sail set from bowsprit to topmast head. Light yards - SMS Ligier - An ambassador or commercial representative. Lignum Vitae - roller in tiller sweep - (hgv) Lignum-Vitae Sheaves - Limber boards - Planks fixed between the keelson and the futtock plank, to seal the junction and form part of the floor. They were removable to facilitate cleaning. Limber holes - Holes cut through the lower floor timbers, through which water could drain into the limbers, and then to the pump well. Limber rope – A rope pulled through the limbers and pulled back and forth to clear them out. Limbers - Channels running fore-and-aft either side of the keelson, through which water drains to the pump well. Limber strake - The strake immediately adjacent to the keelson. Lime juice – The compulsory ration introduced by the Royal Navy to combat the effects of scurvy. So British sailors were the original ‘lime juicers’. Limejuicers - British ships Limers - Any soft drink, from the practice of issuing lime drinks to combat scurvy in tropical climates. Limey, lime juicer - British seamen were called limeys by their American counterparts, from their habit of taking limes in the West Indies, as a cure for scurvy. British ships were consequently lime juicers. Limicole world - The world occupied by minor officials, who lived with one foot on shore and the other in the sea. Lynch pin - of 12pdr gun (tge) Line – Any cordage less than one inch in diameter. Line, The - The equator. Line abreast - Line Ahead - See Line of Battle. Lined Up - Paraded as defaulter. Line of Battle - Line of Battle Ship - Line of bearing – The discovery by American Captain Thomas Sumner, in 1837, that an altitude observation yields a position line. Also Sumner line. Line of position – A line drawn on a chart (or imaginary) along which a vessel must lie. Also position line. Liners - 1. Fishing boats using lines. 2. Passenger or cargo ships regularly travelling a fixed route to a schedule. Lines - SMS Line, Toe the – When mustered on deck, the crew would form up with their toes touching a seam in the deck planking. This term came ashore to refer to the practice of complying. Line throwing appliance – A gun designed to fire out a line to or from a stranded vessel. Lining - An additional cloth sewn on the fore side of a sail to strengthen it. (tge) Lining piece - A filling piece between plates and frames, inserted to make joggling unnecessary. Linings - ERR Link worming – A method of worming hemp rope, with a small chain laid along the cantlines to reduce chafing. Linstock - A pointed forked stick about a yard long, which was stuck into the deck and held the match. Lint – The mesh of a herring net. Linther - Type of small boat. Lint stock - (tge) Lipper – The disturbance caused on the surface of the sea by a shoal of fish. Liquid compass - A 19c invention comprising a
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