THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 134 135 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 receiving ship, or maybe from the fact that the Portsmouth fire brigade were known as the Pompiers. Pompion - Pumpkin. Pomponpet - A kicking dance enjoyed by sailors. Pontoon Bridge Pontoon- Square vessel with flat bottom and vertical sides used as moored utility vessels. Poodle faking - Seamen's slang for going ashore to meet female company. Poon - Generic term for Dutch inland freight sailing ships. Poop, Poop-deck - Highest and aftmost deck of a ship. Poop Break - The forward end of the after superstructure. Pooped – Originally a term to describe a large sea having broken over the stern, where the poop deck is situated, resulting usually in the end of the ship, but it has come to mean tired out. Pooping – The action of a following sea breaking over a vessel’s stern when running before heavy seas. Most dangerous. Poop off - Seamen's slang for firing a small cannon, so, also, for carrying anything ineffectively. Poo-poo, foo-foo - Seamen's slang for something effeminate or not well understood. For example, talcum powder was called foo-foo powder, and some technical object could be called a poo-poo pump, etc. Poop royal - A supplementary deck at the aftmost part of the poop, on French or Spanish vessels, used as the master's cabin. Called topgallant poop in English vessels. Poor as piss and twice as nasty - Seamen's slang for something really bad. Poor Jack, poor John – 1. Dried and salted fish. 2. Small beer. Poppet – A wooden shutter used to close a boat’s rowlock when not in use, attached to the boat by a lanyard to secure it from loss. Poppling sea – A ruffling of the sea’s surface from the wind. Pops Pork Port - 1. An opening in a ship's side used for access, loading, light, ventilation, etc. Port- SMS Port - "In Port" means not in harbour, but in road. Also left side of ship looking forward, after 1844. Previously Larboard. Port - The left-hand side of a vessel, looking forward. Port - Red light; port passed to left at dinner. Portable soup - Beef essence. Portable Stove Port Admiral Portage – 1. The wages earned by a seaman during a complete voyage. 2. The wages earned while in port. Portalano - Early charts used to get from one port to another. Porter- Concentrated beer. Port fire stock(tge) Port flange - Canopy over outer side of gunport. See rigol. Port-hand buoy, or Starboard-hand buoy - Buoys that are to be left to port or starboard respectively when entering harbour with the main flood stream. Port hole - A circular window in a vessel's side, sealed in heavy weather by means of a hinged dead-light. Also scuttle. Port lanyard - The rope spliced to the outside of a port, from which it goes through a pipe into the ship’s side and used to haul up the port-lid. Portlast - The gunwale. Portlast- SMS Port-last A heavy rope topping lift. Port lintel(hgv) Port luff- SMS Port Mahon Baboon, or Port Mahon Soger - Insulting epithets used against marines by sailors. Port of refuge – A port or harbour used as a temporary refuge from dangerous seas or storms. Portoise- SMS Portolan - An early Mediterranean pilot book. Port pendant - See Port Lanyard. Portpiece Type of cannon. Port Riggles Port sail – A sail stretched between a ship and a boat or lighter alongside to catch dropped items of cargo when loading or unloading. Port sash - The frame on the upper half of a square window port. Port sill - The sill of a square port. Portsmouth Polls Port tack – The tack with the wind on the port side. Port tackle ERR Port Tackle-+42 Port the helm – A helm order given when the conner wanted the rudder and ship’s head to carry to starboard. Portugal Pieces 16c currency Portulan - See Portolan. Portulan chart – A Mediterranean plane chart. Port your helm - ?? Position by account – The calculation of a vessel’s position by judging the distance logged, courses steered, currents, leeway, etc. Also dead reckoning. Position by observation – A vessel’s position obtained by astronomical measurement. Also observed position. Position line – A line drawn on a chart (or imaginary) along which a vessel must lie. Also Line of position. Post-boy jack - Flag flown by post packets, in the hope of being allowed free passage through enemies. Post Captain Post Ships- In late 18c, the smallest vessels described as Frigates, with 28 guns. However, smaller ships under the command of 'Post' Captains could be called Post ships to differentiate them from 'unrated' ships. Posted Aloft Posy - A short inscription or motto. Pot Island - The galley. Poulterers Pound – (v) To drop heavily back into the sea, or onto the ground, after having been lifted by the action of heavy seas. Poundage- Customs dues. First levied in 1347, Plain sail – The set of sails generally worn in normal weather, not including fair weather sails. Plane sailing – The convenient practice of sailing with the assumption that the meridians are parallel, when in fact they converge. Often incorrectly referred to as plain sailing. Plait – Sennit or gaskets made by intertwining yarn or small line. Plane chart - A sea chart prepared on the supposition that the Earth is flat, resulting in distortion over wide areas. Plane sailing - Sometimes incorrectly called ‘plain sailing’. This assumption is made that over the area concerned the Earth is flat. On this supposition meridians are considered as being parallel to each other, whereas in fact they converge. There are four principal components: Course or rhumb in degrees or points; Distance, the number of miles sailed or between places; Difference of latitude or northing/southing. Distance made good north or south on any course in miles; Departure or easting/westing or meridional distance. Distance may good east or west on any course. This can be converted into difference of longitude for other sailings. Calculations are made by resolving a right-angled triangle, in which the hypotenuse represents the distance of the two sides difference of latitude and departure. Planetary tables Planing hull- SMS Plank - A board, usually of oak or pine, between one and four inches thick, used to cover the decks and sides of a vessel. Plankers - One last drink ashore before hitting the brow. Planking(hgv) Planking clamp - A clamp used to hold a plank in place temporarily, whilst it is permanently fixed. Plank sheer - The topmost plank running along the top-timbers of a vessel’s frame members. Plant, to - To colonize. Plantano - Plantain. Plat, Platt – Old spelling of plait. A strap of twisted yarns woven together to form a protective material. Platdrawer - 16c chart or plot maker. Plate – 1. Silver items, not coin. 2. A sheet of iron or steel rolled to a consistent thickness and cut to a regular shape. Plate Fleet- Spain's Silver Fleet. Platform - The staging at the head of a lower mast. Platting- SMS Pledget - A length of oakum. Pleit- A coastal merchant ship of the Hanseatic period, particularly 15c. Plimsoll, Mr Samuel, MP - 1876 Act of Parliament CTC Plimsoll Man – A proponent of marine reforms advocated by 19c British MP Samuel Plimsoll. Plimsoll, Samuel - (1824-98) Ploughshare - A type of anchor introduced in the early 20c, now mainly used on small boats. Plug – A stopper fitted into the drain hole in a boat’s bottom, to enable it to be drained when hoisted aboard or taken ashore. Plug stop rudder- SMS Plum Pudding- Part of whale flesh Plush - The larger than standard final share of grog that by tradition went to the cook of the mess, made larger by ordinary members of the mess taking slightly less than the regular measure, for this purpose. Plusher's, plusser's - The residue of rum left in the barrel after the tot had been distributed, and the reason why there was rivalry to be assigned as the Tanky. Also sometimes used to refer to extra grog. Ply – (v) To work to windward, tacking frequently. Plymouth Sound Pod Point (vb) - To taper a rope’s end down to a point, to assist when reeving through an eye or block. Point beacher - Seamen's slang for an old Portsmouth prostitute. Point blank - The distance to a target at which wind and elevation could virtually be ignored. For 16c cannon or culverin this was only about 350 to 400 yards. Point high - Lie close to the wind when closehauled. Pointing - A kind of neat plait with which ropes are sometimes ended off or decorated. Points of the compass – Also rhumbs. Points of sailing- SMS Poit Flat boards made to be strapped onto boots, to prevent sinking into mud flats. Sometimes necessary for ferry passengers. Poker-beer - Beer warmed with a poker. Polacca- A medium sized Italian sailing ship of 16 and 17c. Polacre - Slightly larger than tartane - Any ship with pole masts Polacre brigantine - A rig with a pole mast with three or more square yards but with no cross-trees or topmast rigging, except back-stays. Polar diagram- SMS Polar distance – A body’s angular distance from the pole. Pole axe - An early boarding weapon, comprising an axe-head with a spike at the rear, on a short wooden handle. The axe was used as a weapon and to destroy rigging, etc., and the spike was used to grip the ship's side or masts when climbing aboard or about. Pole mast - Masts made from a single piece of timber forming the lower and topmasts. Sometimes applied to the topmast/royal mast in one piece. A lower mast made from one piece was called a single-tree mast. Pole Masted- See Polacca. Pole masts(ecr) Poleacre Poleheads ERR Policy - In Elizabethan times, a strategy or trick. Polish the Cape - By beating about its edges so long Politically - In Elizabethan times, craftily or falsely. 'Polly Infamous' - HMS Polyphemus. Pommelion(hgv) Pompey - Seamen's name for Portsmouth. Probably from the captured French ship HMS Pompee being moored there and used as a
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