THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 70 71 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 frame, where the fore half of the vessels joins the after half. Dead head – Any rough piece of wood used as an anchor buoy. Dead head - A piece of wood used as an anchor buoy. Deadlight - A heavy brass hinged plate or wooden shutter �ixed across inboard of a scuttle to protect the glass in heavy weather, to keep out the sea, or sometimes used to darken ship. Dead man – The end of a rope or yarn left dangling untidily. Dead man's �ingers - Whaler speak for the stalked barnacles found on whales. Dead Marine - Seamen’s' slang term for an empty wine bottle. The Duke of Clarence is reputed to have remarked that an empty bottle had done its duty and was ready to do it again, just like a Marine. Dead muzzler - Headwind. Dead on end – A head wind, blowing from right ahead. Also referred to as dead wind, or wind in the teeth. Dead Pays - Sailors kept on payroll after death. Dead Reckoning - The calculation of a vessel’s position by estimating the speed and course of ship by considering the distance logged, courses steered, currents acting upon it, leeway, etc. Also position by account. 'Dead' was a corruption of 'deduced' and does not indicate a sinister connection, although the results of many errors of such navigation could suggest otherwise. Deadrise - The angle of the �loors in the midship section of the ship. A ship with a veeshaped hull had a large deadrise, whereas a ship with a �lat bottom had no deadrise. A line on the body plan showing the angle of the midship frame in relation to the horizontal line of the keel. It is expressed in the number of inches risen above the base line at half breadth. Dead rope – A rope that is not rove through a sheave or block. Deadshare - Extra 'pays', or shares of pay, distributed among ship's of�icers. Dead Time - Between voyages in a foreign port, merchant seamen were not usually paid, so they became casual labourers. Dead upon the wind - SMS Deadweight – The total weight that a ship can carry, over and above her own weight, including all the cargo, stores, fuel, provisions, water, crew and passengers that she can carry up to her certi�ied maximum limit. Deadweight cargo – The amount of cargo that will take the ship down to her maximum draught. Deadweight scale – The scale showing the deadweight capacities of a ship and the draughts at various displacements. Dead wind – A head wind, blowing from right ahead. Also referred to as dead on end, or wind in the teeth. Dead-wood - Solid blocks of timber fastened to and forming part of the keel at fore and aft, where the shape narrows and the angles of the frame members are most acute, thus forming solid supports for the stemson and sternpost and other frame members. Dead-wood knee - 0300 Dead-work - An old name for the parts of a vessel visible above water when full laden. Dealing - 1 Hiring money in anticipation of quarter-pay, in dockyards. Originally, borrowers would 'deal' with alehouse-keepers, at very high interest rates, and be expected to spend some of what they borrowed. 2. In 1805, quarter-pay had subsistence money added to it, to obviate the need for dealing. 'Dealers' came into landlife. Deals - Sawn timber used on decks, etc. Deal Sheathing - Preceded copper sheathing as protection against Teredo Worm Deal shells - Fast smuggling boats. Deathboard - Used for burials at sea. Death-or-money boats - Fast smuggling boats. Debtors - Owing more than £20-Act of 1706, see Smugglers Deck – The planked �loor running the length or part of the length of a ship, covering the various compartments and connecting the sides. To a lubber, the �loor. Deck-beam - A thwartship timber forming the support for the deck planking. Deck block - (hgv) Deck cargo – Items of cargo carried on the open decks of a ship, either because they are dangerous or because they will not �it into the holds. Deck-cringle - A sheave in a metal shell attached to a lug projecting up through the deck. Deck hand – A seaman who works on deck. Deck head - The underneath side of the deck above. What a landsman would know as the ceiling. A deckhead inspection is carried out from ones hammock or bunk, in a relaxed manner. Deck-head lantern Deck hook - The timber framework inside the bow, giving it strength and supporting the fore end of the deck. Deck load – Deck cargo. Deck Log - Watch record of a ship’s progress, orders, actions and events, written by the deck of�icer on the Slate and later transcribed into the Log. Deck nail - Six inch nails used to �ix the deck planking to the beams beneath. Deck of�icer – The of�icer on watch. Deck passage - The name given to the accommodation, or lack of it, enjoyed by poor travellers, refugees, etc., for whom a cabin or berth was not available. Deck plating - Flat iron plates forming the deck. Decks - Poop, Quarter, Upper, Middle, Lower, Orlop, Decks - 2nd=upper, 1st=Lower gun, Deck=Main+22, Orlop+25, Half deck+21= Steerage, Spardeck+22 Deck sheet - The sheet controlling the foot of a studding sail, which led directly to the deck. Deck stopper – A short rope or chain attached to the deck at one end and with a cable-hook at the other, used to secure the anchor cable. Deck tackles - SMS Deck transom Deck watch – A timepiece used on deck when astronomical observations are being taken, the readings from which are compared with the ship’s chronometer. Declination (Dec or d) – 1. The navigational measurement north or south of the celestial equator, equivalent to the terrestrial latitudes. 2. The angle observed between the deck of one ship and the top(truck) of another's mainmast. Dee-block, D-block – A D shaped wooden block with a �ixed central hole bolted onto the channels, to reeve the lift. Deep, By the - Call made by the Leadsman when the Leadline* is between marks*. Deep-sea lead and line - A leadline for use to 200 fathoms or more, weighing 25-30 lb. Matked every 5 or 10 fathoms. Deep-sea line block – A single block in which a part of the shell is cut away, like that of a snatch block, in order that the line may be laid across it and held in place by a hinged part of the strap. Deep-sea sailor - Seamen's slang for a sailor who sails the world's oceans and not just a coaster. Deep-sea sounding - With the ship stopped, men were stationed at intervals along the ship's side, each with a coil of the deep-sea line, and with the lead right forward. After the lead was dropped, each man let his coil go as he felt the strain coming on, warning the next man with the cry 'watch, there, watch!'. Deep sea tot - Short measure. From the result of ones tot being drawn just at the moment of an excessive roll by the ship. Deep six - Beyond the deepest marker on the lead line. Used to refer to giving something a �loat test, i.e. ditching it. Deep-waisted - Said of a vessel in which the quarterdeck and forecastle are signi�icantly higher than the main deck. Deepwaterman - Long distance shipping, as against coastal shipping. Defaulters - The formal muster for hearing charges of indiscipline. The name was also used to describe those so parading. Defend - In Elizabethan times, to forbid. Defender - See Cold Defender*. Dehabiyah - 19c Nile cargo and passenger ship Deliver, quick to - Nimble and active. Demi-cannon - Very heavy gun, cross between cannon and culverin. *55 Demi-culverin - 9 pounders Demicurtalls - Brass cannon Demijohn Demurrage - Compensation due to shipowner from the freighter for delaying the vessel beyond the time speci�ied in the Charter-Party. Dentifrice - Used instead of brickdust to polish Great Guns. Departure - The position on losing sight of land, from which dead reckoning will �irst be based. Depressing sails - SMS Depth contours - See Fathom lines. Derelict - The name for a vessel abandoned at sea without hope of recovery. Derrick – A type of crane used to hoist heavy loads, comprising a swinging boom supported by a topping lift and side guys or guy pendants. Named after a seventeenth century hangman. Derrick post – A short heavy mast from which the derrick is supported and stayed, located about midway between the ship’s side and her centreline. Deserters - 3-6% Destrelle - An early type of anchor. Detract, to - In Elizabethan times, to withdraw from. Deviation of the compass - The angle the compass needle makes with the magnetic meridian caused by attracting forces from the iron and steel within the ship herself. The problem was not recognized until about 1800. Devil - 1 The deck seam immediately adjacent to a vessel's side, between deck and hull (See Between the Devil and the deep blue sea). 2 The plank running adjacent to the keel (See Devil to pay, and no pitch hot). Devil bolts - Bolts with two visible ends but no middle, used to save money in unscrupulous shipyards, with deadly results sometimes. Devil dodger - Naval padre. Devil�ish - Grey whale, for their ferocity when trapped in shallows. Devil’s claw – A strong two-pronged hook connected at one end to the windlass or deck and used to hold the chain cable. Devil’s Table Cloth – The cloud over Table Mountain. Devil to pay and no pitch hot - Seamen's slang for an unsolvable dilemma. This is from the devil being the name given to the outermost deck seam, which had to be payed by sealing it with pitch but which was the most dif�icult seam to get at and of a very awkward shape. Dhobie, dhobey - Seamen's slang for the action of laundering, or just for dirty washing, from the Hindi word for laundry. Dhow Diagonal built - A form of boat construction in which the side planks are laid edge to edge but at an angle of forty-�ive degrees to the keel. It was usual for naval sailing boats to have two thicknesses of diagonal planking. Diamond knot – A decorative knob knot formed by unlaying the rope’s end, making the knot and laying the rope up again. Sometimes also used as a hand-hold at the end of a rope. Diamond Rock – A rock of the island of Martinique in the Caribbean, located outside the French port of ??? and taken by the Royal Navy in 1804. It was then given the new name of HMS Diamond and rated a Sloop and armed appropriately, with lieutenant ??? in command and ??? men. They held the island against strenuous French marine counter-attacks for ??? weeks, eventually surrendering only through lack of water. Dice shot - Small jagged pieces of iron used as shot. Dickie – A Master’s Mate. Dicky - Seamen's slang for something small, such as a dicky run, being a shore leave for the evening only, rather than a long leave. Dight - Dressed up and decorated. Dingbat - Seamen's slang for a small rope mop used for drying the deck. Dinghy – A small general purpose boat with a pair of oars and a small sail. Dinner – 1. Noon for hands (Early Dinner =11.30) (30minutes). 2. A pipe call meaning:
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