THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 12 13 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 Almanac - Annual book of tables, or a single table, with calendar and astronomical data, used for navigation. Almirante - A Spanish sea officer of senior rank. Almirantesa - A wife of a Spanish sea officer of senior rank. Almury - The upright part of an astrolabe. Alnus caver - Early English transport ship, so named after its constituent wood. Aloft - Above the top deck. In the rigging. ’Aloft’ – The order given to hands to go aloft. Along - Lengthwise. 'Alongside' meant by the side of the ship, or side-by-side. 'Lying along' was when the ship inclined towards leeward due to the press of wind on the sails, or, lying alongside the land. Alongshore - Nautical term for the coast, or a course in sight of it. Alongst - 1. In the middle of a stream. 2. Moored head and stern. Aloof, a-loof - A-weather. Specifically a point between abeam and on the bow, with that part of the ship being called the loof. To 'keep aloof' is to keep distant, or apart. Alow - In or on the hull. As 'alow & aloft', meaning below and above. Alphabetical list – The list of the names and numbers of the people on the pay-book. Altar - A platform in the upper part of a dock. Altazimuth - A navigation instrument, used to find altitudes and azimuths. Altemetrie, altimetry - Early name for trigonometry, among navigators. Alternating sides - The practice of leading the falls of halliards to alternate sides of the ship sailby- sail. Alternating winds - All land and sea breezes are alternating winds, blowing onto the land during the day, when the land is warmer, and blowing to sea at night, when the sea is warmer, because of convection currents. However, this term was usually used to refer to exceptional instances of sudden alterations in a wind. Altimetry - Trigonometry, used to calculate heights or depressions. Altitude - The measured angular height of a heavenly body above the horizon. 'Apparent altitude' is as it appears from the earth's surface. 'True altitude' is that produced after correcting the apparent altitude for parallax and refraction. Altmiklec - A Turkish silver coin, worth a little under three shillings sterling. Altocumulus - High small fluffy clouds. A common early sign of an approaching depression. Altostratus - High elongated flat clouds. The second sign of an approaching depression. Aluff - See Aloof. Amain - An old term meaning 'yield' and 'immediately'. 'Let go amain' meant let the anchor go at once. When a warship encountered a merchant ship in the warship's sovereign waters, it insisted that the merchantman struck its topsail in salute by 'waving amain', done by the warship crew waving swords or pikes. The merchantman is then said to 'strike amain', if they do salute as required. Amalphitan Code - Early code of sea-laws, compiled by the Amalfi, when they were an important maritime power, at about the time of the first Crusade. Amaye - Sea markings on the French coast. Ambassador - A prank in which the victims are ducked in the wash-deck tub, in warm climates. Ambergris - A valuable waxy substance, used in the manufacture of perfumes, harvested from the intestines of whales, and sometimes found floating free in tropical seas. Amelioration - Recompense to the purchaser of a condemned ship, for repairs he has necessarily implemented. American grommet - A brass eyelet fixed into a sail or any piece of canvas. American War - The war between Britain and America of 1812 to 1815, caused by the rigorous exercise, by the British, of their rights of search over neutral, i.e. American, shipping, during the war with France. It was common for British deserters to serve on American ships, and also common for them to be taken off by the British when found during such a search. This was not popular with the Americans, who lost some good seamen in this way, and who sometimes lost their own liberty, the British being not too fussy about whether or not the seamen had protections. American whipping - A method of whipping a rope's end in which the ends of the whip are pulled out at the centre and reef knotted before trimming. Commonly used on hawsers. Also Sailor's whipping. Amidships - About the middle section of the deck. Amidward - Towards the midship section. Ammunition - Warlike stores, including ordnance. An 'ammunition chest' was located near the stern and in the tops of a man-of-war, holding ammunition and weapons in readiness for action. 'Ammunition shoes' were soft slippers worn by those entering the magazine. An 'ammunition wife' was a woman of dubious character. Amphibian, Amphibious - Applied to boats that could mount the shore, and to land operations mounted from the sea. Amphidrome - 18c sailing ships with hull and rigging designed to permit them to sail in both directions without having to go about. Amphitrite – A Greek sea goddess; the wife of Poseidon and the mother of Triton. A lewd version 'comes aboard' with ‘Badger Bag’, or Neptune, at the equator. Amphora - Clay bottles used to transport oil, wine, etc., in ancient times. Amplitude - The angle between the point at which the sun rises and sets and the true east and west points on the horizon. Ampotis - The ebb of the tide. Amusette - A small swivel gun. Amy - A friendly foreigner, serving on board. Analem - An instrument used to in navigation to find the course and elevation of the sun. Anan! - What? Eh? An affected colloquialism of the times. Anaumachion - Archaic term for the crime of refusing to serve in the navy, punishable by 'infamy'. Anchiromachus - Middle age fast sailing ship used to carry anchors and other such equipment to larger vessels. Anchor - A heavy hook implement used to hold the ship by being embedded in the sea bed and being tethered to the ship by means of a cable. The term was also used figuratively to signify security. Each ship had, in theory, three principal anchors; the sheet, the best bower and the second bower, but most had many more. As a rule of thumb, the largest anchor weighed approximately one twentieth of the weight of the ship. On a typical 70 gun ship of the early 18c the sheet anchor weighed 52cwt (although it could weigh up to 71cwt), the best bower was about 1cwt lighter, the small bower was the same as the best bower, but on the port bow (the best bower anchor being on the starboard bow), and the spare anchor about 1cwt lighter than that. Smaller stream and kedge anchors were often carried, the stream weighing about a third of the best bower and the kedge about a third of the stream. Proportions of anchors changed over the ages, so figures should be used with caution. A grapnel was carried in each ship's boat. A 32ft longboat carried an 80lb grapnel, but a 31ft pinnace would have one of just 56lbs, due to the latter boat being used only in sheltered waters. See Anchor Use Expressions. Anchorable - Suitable for anchoring. Anchorage - Suitable location for an anchor to grip, thus keeping the ship safely moored in position. Anchor-ball - A grenade attached to a grapnel, for attaching to, and setting fire to, an enemy ship. Anchor bed – The support structure on the side of a vessel’s forecastle on which the anchor was stowed when at sea. Anchor bell - A bell at the stem of a ship, struck during fog in accordance with the Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea. Also used to indicate the number of cable shackles still out as an anchor is being hauled in. Anchor buoy - A small buoy attached to the crown of a ship's anchor when it is on the bottom, to show its position. Anchor chain cables - In general use after about 1820. Anchor-chocks - Indentations caused by wear in the anchor stock, and small blocks of wood or iron on which the stowed anchor rests. Anchor clinch - The bend formed at the end of the anchor cable, through the anchor ring, forming a clinch or bight which is seized by spun yarn. Anchor components - Anchors usually consist of the following components: arm, bill, blade, bolt, crown, flukes, hoops, nut, palm, ring, snape, stock, throat, treenails. Anchored - Held by the anchor. Anchor-hold - The grip of the anchor on the ground. Anchor hook - Hook on the end of the fish tackle, used to lift the anchor. Anchor hoops – Hoops binding the stock of an anchor to the end of the shank. Anchor ice - See Ice. Anchoring - The act of casting anchor. 'Anchoring ground' is that where the anchor will be effective. Anchor light - A riding light. Anchor-lining - Protecting pieces of plank, fastened onto the ship's sides to prevent wear and tear from the anchor when being fished or drawn up. Anchor orders - The various orders given when a vessel is coming to, or weighing, anchor. They were given in the following order: ‘pay out the cable’; ‘veer away the cable’; ‘come up the capstan’; ‘man the capstan’; ‘heave taut’; ‘unbitt’; ‘heave round’; ‘heave away’; ‘up and down’; ‘pawl the capstan’; ‘hook the cat’; ‘man the cat – haul taut’; ‘off nippers – surge the messenger’; ‘stoppers before all’; ‘hook the fish’; ‘bitt the cable’. Anchor palm - Fluke of anchor. Anchor palm block - A block on the side of the ship, where the anchor palm rested when stowed. Anchor-Ring – The great ring on the anchor. Anchor's aweigh! - The cry indicating that the anchor has broken clear of the ground and is suspended from the ship. Anchor- seat - An archaic name for the prow of a ship. Anchor-shackle - A 'Jew’s harp' shackle used to fasten the anchor to its chain. Anchor smith - One who forges anchors. Anchor-stock – The bar at the top end of an anchor, transverse to the flukes. Anchor-stock-fashion - A method of joining overlapping wale-planks. Anchor-stocking - A method of securing and working planks with tapered butts. Anchor-stock tackle - A small tackle used to hold the stock closer to the ship. Anchor use expressions - To lay or lie 'at anchor' is to be held by the anchor. 'Anchor bearings' were bearings taken while at anchor. 'Anchor cable ranging' is that part of the anchor cable that lays flat on the bottom, before the part that rises to the ship, used to prevent heavy pressure immediately being applied to the bitts. The 'anchor came home' when it dragged loose from the sea bottom. An 'anchor clinch' was a type of half hitch used to secure the cable to the anchor. To 'anchor man-of-war fashion' meant tidily and professionally. An 'anchor spring' was an additional hawser laid out from the cable, to enable a ship to be slewed round. A ship was said to 'back an anchor' when she carried a small anchor ahead of the main one in use, to stop it coming home. A ship was said to 'break the sheer' when she turned beam-on to the wind or tide, thus being pushed at right angles to the anchor chain, which force dragged the anchor free of the bottom. To 'cast anchor' is to drop anchor. ‘1, 2, 3, Let Go!’ was the command to drop anchor. 'Cock-billing' was used to describe when the cable was suspended vertically from the cat-head, with the anchor above water and ready to drop. A ship would 'come to anchor' when she let go the anchor. A 'foul anchor' is one around which the cable has become tangled. 'Seamen's disgrace' was a foul anchor. A 'Line of anchors' was a method of anchoring when more than one anchor was dropped, with the ship moored to span between them. This is considered less safe than if riding at one anchor with the wind at right angles to the line of anchors, due to the stress on the
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