THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 16 17 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 which the clear sky is visible. Arching – See hogging. Arctic – The north polar region. The Arctic Circle lies nearly 23º28’ from the north pole. Arctic Ocean – The sea around the north polar regions. Ardent – Said of a vessel that comes to the wind quickly, or gripes. Arenaceous – Sandy. Arenal – A cloud of dust. Arenation – The burial of scorbutic patients up to their neck in sand, for cure, or the spreading of sand over unwell people. Argonauts – The crew of the Argo, who sailed, in Greek mythology, to find the Golden Fleece. Argosy - An early large merchant vessel. Argozin – The attendant of the slaves’ shackles in a galley ship. Aris – The sharp stone corners of jetties. Aris pieces - The side pieces of a made mast, held by hoops. Also called fish-sides, or side fishes. Arisings - Materials left at the completion of a task. Ark The imaginary vessel described in the Bible as having been built by Noah and used to preserve life during The Flood. It is reported to have been 300 cubits in length, 50 in breadth and 30 in height. Arloup – An early name for the Orlop deck. Arm – A narrow inlet of the sea. Armada - Usually a Spanish royal fleet of warships, although sometimes used in Elizabethan times to refer to a single warship. Armadillo – A fleet of guarda-costas. Armador – A Spanish privateer. Armament – The arming of a vessel. Armatae – Ancient fighting vessels that sailed, but fought only under oars. Arm Chest – A locker holding small arms on the upper decks or tops. Armed – Equipped ready for war. Armed mast - Made from more than one piece of timber. See Made mast. Armillary Sphere – A model of the celestial sphere, primarily used for teaching astronomy. Arming – The application of tallow to and around the cup of the sounding lead, to pick up material from the sea bottom. The identification of seabed material was an important aid to navigation in known soundings. Armings – 1.Decorative cloths once hung on holidays outside the upper works of a vessel. 2. A type of boarding net. Armlet – A small inlet of the sea. Armourer – The warrant-officer responsible for small arms, who was also the blacksmith. Armoury – The place on a ship for the storage and maintenance of the small arms. Arm-Rack – A ship’s fitting used for the stowage, and sometimes local transportation, of small arms. Arms – 1. All the munitions of war of a ship, from large guns to small arms. 2. The arms of a great gun were its trunnions. Armstrong - Arm in arm. Armstrong patent - A pump-action windlass, worked by seesaw operation. Also used to mean ‘handraulic’, or manual. Arquebus, harquebus - An early portable firearm, that was fired from a tripod stand. The name came to be generic for all early firearms. Arquebusier, harquebusier - One who is skilled and qualified in using an arquebus. Array – To dress, equip or arm for battle. Arrest - The term for procurement, for the Crown, of merchantmen to be used as warships. A ship was arrested and held under arrest whilst repairing for the venture of war for which she was arrested. In medieval times it was unusual for the ship or its crew to be paid for, by the Crown. Arse – 1. The choke end of a block, opposite the swallow. The hole in a block through which the fall runs. 2. The bottom of a buoy, as eloquently described by the seamen of Trinity House. Articles of Agreement - Contract between the ship owner and crew, detailing entitlements, penalties, code of conduct, etc. Articles of War - The code of discipline used in the Royal Navy, detailing duties and penalties meted out for all offences, including failing one’s duty. First incorporated into navy law in 1661. The final article, to cover anything not covered elsewhere, was informally known as the Captain's Cloak. Artificer – A member of the crew who works with wood or metal. Usually an idler. Artificial - In Elizabethan times, used to refer to something done skilfully or artfully. Artificial eye - An eye formed into a rope-end by hitching the unlaid strands over a piece of rope or wood the size of the intended eye, the ends being then scraped down, marled, parcelled and served. Artificial horizon - An instrument attached to the sextant, such as a bubble or pendulum level, used to obtain altitudes when the horizon was not visible. Artists – Early term used for some navigators. Ascend - What the bow does during a ‘scend. As Deaf As The Mainmast – Nautical equivalent of the proverbial doorpost used to describe those of apparently challenged hearing ability. A-shake - Stopped. Ashlar – The random stonework of a dock or pier, etc. Ashore – On land. Asiento, Treaty of – The concession obtained by Britain from Spain in 1714, to supply slaves to the Spanish Caribbean. This was the first contract of the British South Sea Company. Askew – Crooked or awry. Aslant – Located or placed obliquely. Asleep – Said of a sail only just filling. Aspect – The loom of land over the horizon. Aspic – An ancient cannon, of about 12 pounds calibre. Aspirant de Marine – The equivalent to a midshipman, but in the French navy. Asportation – The illegal carrying of goods or vessels. Assay - Early expression of an assault. Also used as 'at all assays', meaning in any danger. Asses’ tails - Long strands of seaweed. A-Starboard – The opposite of a-port. A-stay - Said of an anchor cable when in line with the forestay. Astern – Behind, or in the after parts of, a vessel. Astragal – A half-round on flat moulding at the breech and near the muzzle of a cannon. Astronomical day - In the Royal Navy, until 1925, the day started at noon, and was therefore 12 hours behind the civil day and 24 hours behind the ship’s day. Astronomical time – Time based on the hour angle of the true sun. The time used on sundials. Also true solar time, or apparent solar time. Aswim – Afloat. At Anchor – Said of a vessel riding by her anchor. Athwart - Across. When used in navigation, across the line of a ship's course. Athwart hawse - 1. Said of a ship that has crossed its anchor cable due to the effects of wind and tide, when only riding at a single anchor. 2. Said of a ship anchored across the bows of another vessel. Athwartships - Reaching from one side of the ship to the other. Atlantic - Ocean bounded by the Americas to the west, Europe and Africa to the east, the Arctic to the north and the Antarctic to the south. The scene of most early exploration voyages and international naval conflicts. Atlantic Neptune - A book of maps of the eastern North American coast, issued in 1777 for the Royal Navy. Atlantis – A legendary island of mid Atlantic that was said to have disappeared under the sea. Atlas - A book of maps. cf Neptune, which name is given to a book of sea-maps. Atmospherical Tides - Tides caused by the combined effects of the sun and moon, and the movements of the earth in orbit. Atoll - An island with an inner lagoon. Usually formed by sequential coral growth and collapse. Atop - On top of. At Quarters - The state of a ship ready for armed action, with armaments prepared and with the crew in their allotted positions for fighting the ship, or navigating it whilst in action. Atrie, A-try - 1. Of a ship at sea, at a standstill, with reduced sails, due to bad weather. 2. To bring-to in a gale. Atrip, A-trip - Of ships, said of an anchor hanging vertically on its cable while being hove in, after it has broken free of the ground. Of yards, when they were swayed up ready. Of sails, when they were hoisted and sheeted home, ready for trimming. Attack - An assault. Attempt - To venture. Attend - Prefix to many orders, when the hands are required to ensure smooth operation of the order. Often shortened to 'tend. Attendant Master - A dock-yard official. Atterrage - A land-fall. Attestation - Testifying to the signing of a deed in Admiralty courts. Hence 'attested' meant legally certified. Attile - Old legal term for the equipment of a ship. Attraction – The force between masses that draw each other. In the case of ships, the fact that a ship will stand inshore faster then she can stand off. Atween - Between. Auditors of the Imprest - Those responsible for the accounts of the Royal Customs and Naval expenses. Auger, augre - Boring carpentry tool. That is, a carpentry tool used to bore holes, not an uninteresting tool. A wimble. Auk - A seabird, e.g. a razorbill. Aulin - An arctic gull. Aurora - The Greek goddess of dawn, hence her name given to the faint light glow preceding sunrise. Aurora Australis, Aurora Borealis - Coloured lights in the skies at high latitudes, caused by the refraction of light by air borne ice crystals. AA in the south, AB in the north. Auster - Latin name for the south wind. Austin, Sir Horatio Thomas - (1801-65) British vice admiral who took part in the American War and in subsequent voyages of exploration. Authority – The legal right to command, or written instruction or orders. Avalon - Welsh mythological paradise in the western seas. Avast! – 1. Stop immediately, please. Urgent order to stop, or hold fast. ‘Avast heaving!’ (sometimes ‘vast heaving’) was the cry to halt the capstan when nippers were jammed, or something similar. 2. A pipe call meaning: stop. Also called ‘high enough’. Avenue - The inlet of a port. Average - Apportionment of damages incurred for the ship or goods. See General or Particular Average. An 'Average Adjuster' was the person engaged to assess damages. An 'Average Agreement' was a legal document signed by the consignees of a cargo, committing them to a proportion of the general average. Avery, John - (1665-97) Alias Long Ben. A Devonshire pirate of notable success, operating from Madagascar. Aviso – A French or Italian advice-boat or despatch vessel; usually a sloop. Awaft - Displaying a stopped flag. Award - The judgement in a maritime case, or in a court-martial. Awash - 1. Deluged with water expected to run off. 2. Reefs or rocks level with the surface of the sea. 3. The anchor at sea level when being heaved up. 4. Used to describe one's back teeth when eating/drinking to say one has had enough, for the moment. Away - Under way, moving. Originally 'a-way'. 'Away aloft!' was the order given to the hands to climb aloft in preparation for being ordered to handle the sails and rigging. 'Away she goes!' was the order to step out with the tackle fall, when a ship fills and makes sail after weighing and the call when a ship starts on the slipways on launching. 'Away there!' was the call for a boat's crew. 'Away with it!' was the order to walk swiftly with a tackle fall. Away … – A short pipe call followed by the name of the boat as it leaves the side, such as ‘Away gig’. Away Galley – A piping-the-side call followed by the words ‘away galley’ as the galley was leaving the ship’s side. A-weather - Towards the weather or windward
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