THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 24 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 Anglo-Dutch and a French fleet, in which great damage was sustained by both sides, mostly to the English. Beacon - 1. A post erected to warn of a bank or shoal. 2. A bonfire, often raised in a byre, used to signal. A chain of fire beacons was usually prepared and manned along stretches of coast threatened by invasion or attack. Beaconage - Payments for the maintenance of beacons. Beagle, HMS - The famous brig sent to survey the Magellan Strait in 1825 and later used by Charles Darwin on his voyage of discovery. Keel laid 1818, 1825 1st commission as survey ship, 1828 2nd ditto, 1831 3rd ditto, Darwin unpaid naturalist. 1840 4th ditto, 1841 5th ditto, 1845 decommissioned, 1870 broken up. Beak - Originally a projection at the prow of early galleys, but later came to mean a small platform at the fore part of the upper deck. More correctly called beakhead. Beaked - Pointed or hooked. Beakhead - Small platform at fore part of upper deck, in front of the forecastle. In early vessels of war this was shaped into a threatening pointed shape. See also Boarding platform, and Heads. Beakhead Beam – See Cat-Beam. Beakhead bulkhead - Separation of the beakhead from the hull interior. Beam - 1. Large horizontal transverse timber holding the ship's sides together and supporting the decks above. 2. The width of the ship. 3. Sideward direction: lee or weather beam; starboard beam, etc. 4. 'On her beam ends' means the ship referred to is over on her side. 5. 'Land on Port Beam' means land has been seen on the port side. 6. 'Beam On' means at the side. 7. 'Before the beam' refers to any object ahead of an imaginary line drawn at right angles to the midship-beam. Beam arm - See crow-foot. Beam ends – The position of a vessel that is listing to the point where its deck beams are nearly vertical and it is unlikely to recover. Beam fillings – 1. Small items of cargo stowed in the spaces between the beams and just under the deck. 2. Loose boards between the beams to prevent the surface movement of a bulk grain cargo. Beam knee - A heavy timber, shaped in a rightangle, forming the connection between a beam and the vessel's side. Beam hooks – Heavy hooks used to raise hatch covers. Beam line - The line visible on a ship's side, indicating the upper sides of her beams. Beam of the anchor - Anchor stock. Beam reach - Modern term replacing 'sailing with the wind abeam'. Beam sea - See head sea Beam shelf - Large horizontal timber onto which deck beams sit. Beam trawl – A trawl net that was dragged along the sea bed, with a heavy beam at its mouth, to keep it down. Beam wind – A wind coming directly from abeam. Beamy - Wide; broad beamed. Bean-cod - A Mulletta, a type of small sailing vessel. An English seaman's name for it, in jest, after its shape resembling a bean. Bear - 1. To 'lie off' or head in a certain direction. 2. 'Bear up': let the ship sail to leeward. Also, applied to a seaman who has served for a commission without success and consequently leaves the service 3. To ‘bear up round' was to put a ship right before the wind. 4. 'Bear down' is to approach from windward. 5. 'Bear away': to head off with the wind, usually in a squall, in order to reduce relative wind speed. Similar to 'bear up'. 6. 'Bring to bear': aim and range guns. 7. 'Bear a Hand': quickly join in on the task at hand. 8. To 'bear of from' or 'in with' meant standing off or going towards the land. 9. A large block of stone covered with matting and weighted with shot, pulled to-and-fro by means of ropes, to scrape the decks clean. When stones were short just a coir mat filled with wet sand was similarly used and so named. 10. To carry names on a ship’s books, as a members of the ship’s company. Bear a bob - Lend a hand. Bear a hand - To assist of give help. Bear away – 1. To change a ship’s course to make her run before the wind. Also bear up. 2. A helm order given when the conner wanted the helm pulled so that the vessel may go large before the wind. Also ‘bear up the helm’, or ‘up with the helm’. Beard - Lower facial hair, usually worn as a sartorial statement, originally not allowed by The Admiralty, but after being copied from the Army in the Crimean War, and after pressure on The Admiralty from Queen Victoria, they were allowed after 1869, if kept tidy. Chief popularity did not occur until the Second World War. Bearding - The fore-part of the rudder and the corresponding bevel of the stern post. Also the process of removing timbers from a vessel's hull to modify it. Bearding line - The brim of a vessel. Bear down – 1. To approach another vessel, usually threateningly, from windward. 2. To keep closer to the wind. Bearers - 1. Thwartship timbers immediately above the keelson of a ship or in the stern sheets of a boat. 2. Supports for the carpenters stages. Bearing – 1. The direction of ship's travel, or compass point. 2. The direction of one fixed object from another measured from a reference direction in degrees. To gain bearing now means to get ahead of a rival. Bearing Binnacle – A small secondary binnacle with just one compass. Bearing out - Crutching of the weather breast backstay to outrig it from the channel, to give better lateral pull. Bearing plate – A plate used to take relative bearings. Bearings - 1. The line on the ship's side marked by the water level when she is fully loaded and manned and correctly trimmed. 2. One was 'brought to his bearings' if he was persuaded to see reason. Bear off – The order given to a boat’s bowman to cast off the painter and push the bow off from the ship or wharf. Also shove off. Bear room (v) – To turn away to escape. Bear's hole - Swedish name for the Lubbers' hole, in the tops. Bear up – To change a ship’s course to make her run before the wind. Also bear away. Bear up the helm – A helm order given when the conner wanted the helm pulled so that the vessel may go large before the wind. Also up with the helm, or bear away. Beat – (v) To make a series of tacks or legs to windward to make progress. Beaten back - Forced to return to port in foul weather. Beating the booby - Beating hands in cold weather, to increase the blood circulation. Beating the Retreat - Ceremony at the end of the day to note cessation of hostilities until morning reveille. Also 'Setting the Watch'. Beating wind - A contrary wind that forces the ship to make her way by tacking. Beat to Quarters - "Hearts of Oak" played as a drum call to the crew to stop work and attend at their assigned positions for fighting the ship, i.e. 'At Quarters'. Also 'beat to arms'. Beaufort, Sir Francis - (1774-1857) British rear admiral who served as Hydrographer of the Navy from 1829 to 1855. Beaufort Scale - Scale devised in 1806 by Francis Beaufort, when he was Captain (he later became a rear admiral) of HMS Woolwich, to describe wind speed, as shown in the table below. Becalm - To prevent the wind on a sail, usually by a high cliff to windward, or the sails on each other. Becalmed - Condition of a ship having lost all wind, due to its dropping below Force One. Unable to make way due to a lack of sailing wind. Bêche-de-Mer - The Holothuria, or sea-slug. For some incomprehensible reason it is considered a great delicacy in the Far East. Becket - 1. A loop of rope with an eye at one end and a walnut knot at the other, used to fasten. 2. A short length of rope with its ends spliced together. 3. A short rope with an eye splice at each end, used to fasten. 4. The eye at the base of a block, to which the standing end of a fall is fastened. 5. Short cordage loops attached to yard jack-stays, for a man to pass his arms through as a safety measure. 6. A short rope or a large iron hook, used to hold larger ropes. Becket rowlock – A short length of rope holding an oar within its thole pins. These are more common in surf boats where the oars can more often be forced out of place by the waves. Becue - To make a rope fast to an anchor by first fastening it to the flukes and then lightly seizing it to the ring. If the anchor gets caught on rocks, a jerk on the rope breaks the seizing and brings the anchor home by the flukes. Becueing – A method of securing the anchor for use in hard ground, by taking the cable round a fluke or the crown and tying it to the ring with light seizing. If the anchor fails to break ground normally the seizing can be broken by a sharp tug and the anchor hove up by its fluke. Bed – 1. Timber supports placed under casks stowed in the hold to keep their bilges off the floor. 2. The base of any heavy object. Bed block - Block of wood seating the fish davit. Bed bolt - A bolt that passed horizontally through a gun carriage, on which the stool-bed rests. Bedding a cask - Securing a cask in place by packing it with dunnage. Bedlam - Hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem in London, for the insane. Bed-of-Guns – Seamen’s term for a ship’s The Beaufort Scale Scale Wind Speed (knots) Wind Sail Carried Height of Sea in feet State of Sea 0 0 – 1 Calm Full sail — Flat calm, mirror smooth 1 1 – 3 Light airs Full sail will just give steerage way 1/4 Small wavelets, no crests 2 4 – 6 Light breeze Full sail gives speed of 1 – 2 knots 1/2 Small wavelets, galssy crests not breaking 3 7 – 10 Light breeze Full sail gives speed of 3 – 4 knots 2 Large wavelets, crest start to break 4 11 – 16 Moderate breeze Full sail gives speed of 4 – 5 knots 3 1/2 Small waves, Becoming longer, frequent breaking 5 17 – 21 Fresh breeze Close hauled, ship could carry Royals, single reefs and t’gallant sails, double reef jibs, triple reef courses or close reef courses 6 Moderate waves, longer, breaking crests 6 22 – 27 Strong breeze 9 1/2 Large waves, crests breaking 7 28 – 33 Strong wind 13 1/2 Large waves, streaky foam 8 34 – 40 Near gale 18 High & longer waves, plus spindrift 9 41 – 47 Strong gale 23 High waves, foam, crests roll over 10 48 – 55 Storm Ship could only bear close-reefed topsail and reefed foresail 29 Very high waves, sea covered with foam 11 56 – 65 Violent strom Storm staysails 37 Exceptionally high waves, sea covered with foam 12 > 65 Hurricane No canvas > 37 Air filled with spray, visibility compromised
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