THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 118 119 THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF PETER TURNER ©2024 THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF PETER TURNER If any reader can provide information, please send to galf@abandos.com If any reader can provide information, please send to galf@abandos.com Make the land – To come within sight of the land. Make up – To settle up the finances at the end of a fishing trip. Make water – Have water leak into the ship’s hull through the side or bottom. Making off – On a whaler, chopping blubber blanket pieces into small bits to fit into kettles. Makings - The ingredients or materials for making something, such as a cup of tea or a rolled cigarette. Making way - Making headway. This is often mistaken for 'Under way'. Mallet - A wooden hammer used by caulkers, riggers, shipwrights and sailmakers. Also called a beetle. Malouins - Seamen from St Malo. Malta Dog - Severe diarrhoea and sickness. Malta, The Knights of – An order formed from the younger sons of aristocratic European Catholic families to fight the ‘Eternal War’ against Islam. Maltese lace - Threadbare material with holes worn in it, or the frayed edges of clothing. Maltese pound - Weighed thirteen ounces. Malversation - Mammee - A large tropical fruit tree. Man – The order to hands to stand by at their station, or some other place where they would be needed. Manavalins – Leftovers from the officer’s table, of great value to the ship’s youngsters. It came to mean any scraps or odds and ends. Man-brokers - Mand – 1. A measure of about 1,000 sprats or herring. 2. The basket used to hold a mand of sprats. Also maund and cade. Man, E & F - Also James Man. Exclusive rum broker from 1784 for about 200 years. Manfare net - A net to hold a mand of herring. Manger - The compartment between the hawseholes, on the lower deck, formed with a bulkhead at its after part, known as the manger-board, which prevented water from the hawse-holes flowing aft, by diverting it into the scuppers. Manger boards - A bulkhead across the after part of the manger, to stop water from the hawse-holes from flowing aft, redirecting it through the scuppers. Man harness hitch – A loop made into the bight of a rope to make a hand or shoulder hold, to give better purchase to the man hauling on it. Manilla cordage - 3 Strand Shroud Laid. Mankey - Filthy. Manning the ropes - SMS Manning the ship - Originally a form of salute to a foreign ship with the whole crew lining the bulwarks, to signify the guns not being manned. Manning the yards - SMS Manoeuvre – A vessel’s movement evolution of speed, position or direction change. Man-of-war - Man-of-war fashion anchoring - SMS Man overboard - The alarm cry given when someone is seen to leave the deck over the side. Manrope, man ropes - Safety ropes rigged where a hand-hold may be necessary. Not always permanently rigged. Manrope knot – A knot made as a hand hold in a rope. Man ropes – A rope rigged as a handhold alongside a ladder or at some other hazardous situation. Man ship – To provide a crew. Man the capstan – The order given to stand by to work the capstan. Man the cat – haul taut – When weighing anchor, the order given to man the cat tackle and to then haul to take the weight of the anchor. Man the fore shrouds - In heavy weather men stood in for sails Man the yards – In the Royal Navy, the ceremonial positioning of the crew along all yards as a salute. Marc St Hilaire method – The basis of all modern navigation introduced in 1874 by Marc St. Hilaire of the French Navy. Also intercept method, or the new navigation. Mardle – (v) Gossip, particularly between the crews of two fishing vessels that meet at sea. Mareage - Private cargo of a seaman's choice BDD Mare's tail - Cirrus. Margin plank - CTC Marin - A warm, moist, cloudy SE wind in the Gulf of Lions. Marines - First raised in 1664 under Order of Council, for the Lord Admiral's Regiment of Sea Soldiers. In 1755 it became a permanent force under the Admiralty, mostly used to maintain discipline aboard, provide sentries, etc. Marine chronometer - A timepiece designed for use at sea. See Chronometer. Marine Office - Department of the Board of Trade which supervised the signing-on and paying-off and treatment of merchant seamen. Mariner's compass - A compass comprising needles, card, pivot and bowl. Aka sea compass. Mariner's Mirror, The - First appeared in English in 1588, it was a translation of a combined sailing directory and sea atlas by Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, entitled Spieghel der Zeervaert, in 1584. Mariner's splice - A splice made on cables, where the ropes and strands are unlaid, each of the nine strands being divided and the halves are then plaited. Marine Society, The Marine surveying - Producing accurate charts of coats and harbours. Marine's walk - Marine telescope - See Spy glass. Marine timekeeper - See Marine chronometer. Mark - A sum of money of the value 13s. 8d. There were no mark coins. Mark - The fathom markings on a sounding line. Came to be used as 'mark my words' ashore. See Lead. Marker yarn – A white or coloured yarn laid into each strand of any rope issued by one of HM Dockyards or those of the East India Company, or similar, to identify the owner of the rope. Also rogue’s yarn. Market Day - When the cat wailed (was used to flog) BDD Mark of Cain - White patches on the uniform Macaroni - A fore-and-aft schooner. Machine Vessel – An explosive vessel; similar to a fire ship but packed with explosives. Also Infernal Vessel. Mackerel sky - Cirro-cumulus. Mackerel tail - Cirrus. Macklantan, maclantan - A scanty outfit of cloths brought on board by an enlistee. From this, anything poor or scanty. Made block – A built block. Made mast - Large mast made from several shaped timbers slotted together. Masts made from a single piece of timber were superior, but suitable large timbers were rare. The components included: Bolsters, Cheeks, Trestletree. Made the quarterdeck - Made up - Promoted. Maelstrom - Maestro - A fine fresh NW wind in the Adriatic in the summer. Magazine - The storeroom of a man-of-war in which gunpowder and other explosives were kept safely. Magnetic compass - A compass with a magnetic needle seeking the magnetic meridian. Magnetic declination - See Variation. Magnetic equator - A line approximately half way between the magnetic poles, where the dip is zero. Magnetic inclination - See Dip. Magnetic north – The direction indicated by a north-seeking needle affected by the earth’s magnetic field. The magnetic variation is the difference between magnetic and true north. Maiden voyage - The first true voyage of a ship for the purpose for which she had been built, as distinct from trials and shakedowns. Mailies – Seamen’s term for post, or letters. Main, to - To lower a sail or sails, usually as a salute. Also Amain. Main - 1. The principal item, such as the mainmast, mainsail, etc. 2. The open sea. 3. The mainland. Usually then called The Main. Main bilge pumps - Main boom - A spar used to spread the foot of the main sail in a fore-and-aft rigged vessel. Main brace, parting - SMS Main breadth - The greatest distance between parts of any pair of opposite frames in a vessel's structure. Main bridle - The main tackle used on a trawl beam. Main-chains - Main course – The mainsail. The principle sail on the lower mainmast. Main deck - The principal deck. On a threedecker the main deck was the one immediately below the upper deck. Main drift hance - (tge) Main geers – The assemblage of tackles on deck at the main mast, used to hoist and lower the main yard. Main halyard - The rope used to hoist the mainsail. Main hatch - The largest hatchway. Main hold - The main cargo space of a vessel. Main jeer capstan - The aftmost of two ship’s capstans. Main magazine - Mainmast - The principal mast. In a two-masted ship it was the chief mast; the centre mast in a three-masted ship and the second mast in all others. Main piece - The timber component of the stem, shaped to take the bobstay piece. Main rigging - The rigging of the mainmast, sometimes used to refer only to its shrouds. Main Royal - Main royal staysail - ERR Mainsail haul – The order given to tack a squarerigged ship, when the foremast yards are braced aback, the after yards are braced round and the mainsail is set for the new tack. Main sheer strake - The plating strake that runs alongside the line of the main deck. Main stay - (ecr) Main tack - The rope holding the weather clew of the mainsail. Main tackle – A large heavy-duty tackle comprising fixed single and double blocks with a moving double block, rigged on the main pendant, used to secure the masts or to set up rigging and stays. Main top - The platform at the head of the main mast. It's purposes were to spread the width of the upper shrouds, to provide a place from which the upper sails were controlled and to be used as a battle station. Maintopsail schooner - A schooner rig with square-rigged topsail and mainsail. Main wale - See Wales. Make a board – Sail a short tack. Make a good board – Sail to windward without making much leeway. Make a Carrick Bend - Make a dead man chew - Reference to the alleged practice of Pursers drawing a tobacco allowance for dead sailors. Make a leg - Bow or curtsy. Make and mend - A half day rest period aboard, during which the seamen’s' personal belongings and clothing were repaired. Came to mean a half day off for anything and is still used to mean time off. Make a signal - Send a message. Make it so! - The formal response from the officer of the watch, upon receipt of notification that a ceremonial was due, such as "Noon, Sir.." "Make it so!" Make leeway - Make one’s number - Introduce oneself to the captain on arriving for duty at a new posting, or to a new mess. From the fact that a warship would make her number when joining the Fleet. Make sail – 1. To set sails ready for sailing. 2. To increase sail. Make sternway – To move stern first through the water. M Magazines and Musters
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