THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 26 27 THIS 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 ordnance being considered too heavy for the scantlings to take. Bed screws - Heavy equipment placed against the side of a ship to be launched, for starting her. Also barrel screws. Be-Dundered – Stupified with noise. Bee - A hoop of metal. 'Bees of the bowsprit' were pieces of hard wood fixed to the outside of the bowsprit, through which the foretopmast stays are rove before they are brought in to the bows to be secured. Bee Block – A rectangular elm block with a sheave on the fore end and mortise in the aft end. Two bee blocks would be bolted onto the sides of the bowsprit, with the bolts acting as the sheave pins. The foretopmast stay and the spring stay would be reeved through the starboard and port sides respectively. Beechey, Frederick William - (1796-1856) British rear admiral, noted for his good work in surveying and geography. Beef - Salt beef was one of the staple foods for seamen. Roast fresh beef was very popular when available. It was also used as a term for strength. Beef boat - Small craft used to deliver fresh meat to the fleet, usually when on blockade duty, recognised by a large bullock painted on the main sail. Beef kid - A mess utensil, for carrying meat from the galley to the mess table. Beer stowage - What it says. See Cargo. Beer - Small beer was a light beer or ale, often preferred by seamen to the rum ration, as they got eight pints a day and it was healthier for them, by providing some vital vitamins. Beer ration was stopped in 1831. Beetle - 1. A heavy mallet used to drive reeming irons between deck seams when caulking. 2. Overhanging cliff. Hence 'beetle browed', denoting a projecting forehead. Before - In front of. 'Before the mast' referred to a common seaman's or petty officer's position in life, originally from the fact that his accommodation on board was in the forecastle, or, at least, not in the cabins, which were situated aft. cf 'made the quarterdeck'. 'Before the wind' referred to fine sailing, with the wind behind one of the quarters. Befoul - Make foul, or tangle with rope. Beggar bolts - Seamen’s' term for missiles thrown at attacking ships by galley-slaves. Behaviour - Handling characteristics of the ship. Behest - Request or command. Behoveful - Elizabethan for advantageous. Beitass - The luff spar on an old Viking ship. Belay – 1. (v) To fasten a rope by turning it a few times round two timber-heads, or some similar fitting. Tie off, came to mean 'stop'. “Belay there!” was the order to stop or desist. Or just ”Belay!” - Stop right now, please. 2. A pipe call meaning: cease hauling and make fast. Belaying pin – A short brass, iron or wood bar or pin, thickened at one end, that would be set vertically into a socket in a pinrail and about which a line would be secured. The line could be quickly released by removing the pin from the socket. Belaying-pin hash, A dose of - Beating to 'cure' slackness or insolence. Belcher, Sir Edward - (1799-1877) British admiral, the subject of a turbulent career of action and surveying. Belee - Place a ship so as to cut her off from the wind. Belfast rig - Late rig on a four master, with split topgallants on the front three masts. Belfry - Ship's bell housing, usually ornamental, positioned at the rail of the forecastle. Larger ships sometimes had two belfries and bells, one forward and one aft. Bell - At half hours of the Watch the ship's bell was rung a set number of times, as scheduled below, to inform crew of the time, particularly for Watch changes, etc. See Watches. Bell rope - Short length of hand-rope attached to the clapper of a bell, by the pulling of which it is rung. Bella Stella - Old name for the cross-staff. Bell bow - A particular bow shape on some clippers. Bell-buoy - An audible warning device, moored in a waterway to show the route of the navigable channel. There was a famous one on the River Mersey. Bell crank - Handle fixed to bell, to cause it to ring manually. Belle Isle - Action in Quiberon Bay on 7 June 1761 at which the marines shone, and of which they remain proud. Bellerophon, HMS - A famous Royal Naval ship in which Napoleon surrendered to Captain Frederick Maitland in 1815. The ship was fondly known as 'Billy Ruffian' to British seamen. Bell, Henry - (1767-1830) Scottish engineer who was a pioneer of steam engines in ships. Bellin, Jacques Nicholas - (1703-72) French engineer who for 50 years was first engineer of the Depôt des Cartes et Plans de la Marine, established in 1720. Bellingshausen, Thaddeus Fabian von - (17791852) Russian naval officer, known for his explorations of Antarctic areas. Bellows – An affectionate term for a seaman who knew his stuff and applied it well. Bell-Rope – A short rope spliced onto the bellcrank, with a double wall-knot crowned at the end. Bells – The number of times the ships’ bells were rung signified the times given below. Belly – 1. The swollen part of a sail, that is full of wind. 2. The main body of a fishing net. Belly band – A reinforced band of canvas running horizontally across a square sail, halfway between the close reef and the foot. Named after the belly of a sail, where it swells out in the wind. Also middle band. Belly halyard - An additional halyard rove through a block at the middle of a gaff, to give extra support. Belly-guy - Extra support given to a warp put in a crippled mast. Bellying - 1. 'Bellying canvas' applied to a ship going free, when the belly and foot reefs are shaken out. 2. 'Bellying to the breeze' meant the sails were filling. 3. 'Bellying to leeward' meant too much sail was being carried. Belly-lashing - A lashing midway between the bowsprit-cap and the jib-boom band, to secure it in position. Belly mat - See paunch mat. Belly out - Of sails, to swell out. Belly-Stay - A stay used half-mast down. Belly timber - Food Below - Not on deck. 'Go Below' means to leave the deck. 'The Watch Below' referred to the watch that was off duty. ”Below!” - A warning called to those below when something is on the move gravitationally. Beluga - Delphinapterus leucas. The white whale. In fact a member of the dolphin family, found in Northern Seas. Benbow, John - (1635-1702) British admiral, known for his fiery attitude to his captains, they in turn getting into trouble for not being able to accept it. Bench – 1. The seat across the rear of the Great Cabin or a boat. 2. The curved seat in a boat’s stern where the officer or guest sat in transit. Bend - 1. The generic naval term for a knot. 2. The chock of the bowsprit. 3. (v) To tie or make fast. 4. To 'bend to your oars' was the order given to rowers to row a longer stroke. 5. To temporarily tie a rope to another. “Bend” – The order given to attach parts of the rigging together. Bending - Tying. Bending shackle – The heavy shackle used to attach the anchor to its chain cable. Bending slab - A heavy cast-iron plate with holes into which iron pegs, called dogs, would be placed in a pattern forming the shape of the frame member to be formed. The red-hot frame piece would be worked against the dogs, by means of mauls and squeegees, until it stays in the correct shape. Bending the cable – Securing the cable to the anchor, by taking it through the anchor ring and round the bight, where it is seized into a clinch. Bend on the tack - The distant line, that piece of rope used when hoisting signals to keep the flags the required distance apart. Bend roll - A musket rest. Bends - 1. Knots. 2. Wales; the thickest planks on a ship’s sides. 3. Disease of divers, caused by rapid decompression (uncommon in the days of sailing ships). Bend sail – Attach a sail to its yard, spar or stay. Beneaped – Said of a vessel that has run aground during periods of neap tides, or has been prevented from leaving a barred harbour until a corresponding period of higher tides occurs. Also neaped. Bengal lights - Blue lights, used to indicate the ship's position to a boat. Benjy - A low-crowned, wide-brimmed straw hat Bent – 1 A signal flag is bent onto its halyard before hoisting. 2 A rope is bent onto another before being spliced to it. 3 Bent on a splice means about to get married. 4 Also slang term for being worn in with usage, particularly applied to sails. Bentinck - A triangular, or narrow-footed course, with its foot extended by a boom that pivots about its centre, to help when going about, used as trysails, but superseded by storm staysails, except in the US where they were retained. Bentinck-boom -.A boom stretching from the foot of a foresail, used to stretch the foresail foot and to help with adjustment of the sail. Bentinck-foresail - A course with its foot extended by a bentinck-boom stretched between clews. Bentinck shrouds - Additional shrouds rigged to support the mast when the vessel rolls, rigged from the weather futtock shrouds to the lee channels, up to mid 19c. Bent on a splice - A seaman's term for intending to get married. Bent timbers – The shaped frames or ribs of a boat. Benzoin - Incense from Sumatra. Berg - An iceberg, or ice mountain, usually afloat. Bergantina - A small Mediterranean rowing and sailing vessel, similar to a pinnace. Beriberi – A disease often contracted by seamen, but confused with scurvy until the early 19c, when scurvy was under control, if not yet fully understood. Beriberi was eventually ascribed to a deficiency of vitamin B1 and caused inflammation of the nerves and eventual heart failure. Bering, Vitus - (1681-1741) Danish explorer of Arctic seas. Bermuda rig - A small boat or yacht rig with raked mast short gaff long boom and bowsprit and a high tapering sail called Bermudian Mainsail. Also called Bermudoes or Bermudian rig. Bermuda Squall – A sudden violent storm from Ships’ Bells No. of Bells Time 1 0030 0430 0830 1230 1630 1830 2030 2 0100 0500 0900 1300 1700 1900 2100 3 0130 0530 0930 1330 1730 1930 2130 4 0200 0600 1000 1400 1800 2000 2200 5 0230 0630 1030 1430 1830 2030 2230 6 0300 0700 1100 1500 1900 2100 2300 7 0330 0730 1130 1530 1930 2130 2330 8 0400 0800 1200 1600 2000 2200 2400
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