THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ THE READERS’ DICTIONARY OF SAILING SHIP TERMINOLOGY ___________________________________________________________________________ 8 9 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 Accommodation ship - One used to house the crew, perhaps while their own ship was being refitted with cannon, which was done in an arsenal. Accompany – To sail together in company, or convoy. Accost - To pass within hail of a ship, or to come near. Account - Buccaneers were said to 'go on the account' when they turned pirate, presumably because it sounded better, but maybe because they would be held to account if caught. Also see Quarterly Accounts. Accountant-General of the Navy - The superintendent of pay and general accounts in the navy. Accounts - The ship's books and registers. Accoutrement - The equipment of a marine, and other soldier. Accul - The end of a deep bay. Accumulated rate – The total number of seconds or minutes by which a chronometer has gained or lost over a given period, or epoch. Achatour - An old word for the caterer of a mess. Achromatic - A term applied to telescopes in which aberrations of colours had been corrected. Achronical - An old term for the rising of heavenly bodies at dusk, and their setting at dawn. Achterhung - Dutch name for a Bock. Acker - A tide swelling above another, in a river. Ackers - Foreign cash. Ack-men, ack-pirates - Fresh water, or river, thieves. Aclinic Line - Magnetic equator, where the magnetic needle lies horizontal. A-cockbill, a-cockbell – 1. The term for an anchor hanging by its ring at the cathead and held only by the cat-head stopper, ready to be let go, or from the hawsehole. 2. Said of a yard that has been topped by one lift, thus leaving it tilting and not a right angles to the mast. Acon - A flat-bottomed Mediterranean boat used to carry goods over shoals. Acorn - Ornamental top to the spindle, carrying the vane at the masthead, to prevent the vane being blown off. Acquittance - See Quittance. Acrostolium - The Greek or Roman forerunner of the figurehead, usually comprising the symbolic fixing of a helmet or shield at the prow of a ship. Acte – A peninsular. Acting commission - Carrying out the duties, without the promotion confirmed. Action - Battle. Action stations – Modern expression for 'At Quarters'. The places and duties on board detailed to all the sections of a crew for battle. Active List - The list of naval officers on active service. See also Retired List. Active service - Serving on full pay, ready to carry out duties against an enemy. Act of court - The decision of a court. Act of god - A sudden accident from non-human causes, for which ship owners are not held responsible, in maritime law. Act of grace - An act of parliament giving free pardon to deserters, etc. Actuarlae - Ancient long light oared sailing vessel. Actuaire - French open troop transport propelled by oars and sails. Actuairole - French open troop transport propelled by oars only. Acumba - Oakum. Adamant - The loadstone. Used to arm the early compass needle. Adamas - The moon in nautical horoscopes. Adam's ale - Drinking water. Adams, William - Early 17c English navigator who played an important role in the formation of oriental trade in the Far East. Adapter - A fitting into which the eye-piece of a telescope is screwed. Addel, addle, addled - Stale and putrid water in a cask. Addice - 1. An adze. 2. Addled eggs. Addlings - Accumulated pay. Adelantado - A lieutenant of the king of Spain. The word often used by early English historians for admiral. Adhesion - Temporary cohesion of two vessels, caused by tide action on the beam. Adit - Entry port in ancient ships. Adjust - 1. To set an instrument or device. 2. To set the frame of a ship. Adjustment - The final settlement of indemnity in a claim of marine insurance. Adjustment of the Compass – Swinging a vessel from point to point to check the compass variation on each bearing, due to iron in the vessel. Adjutant - A military assistant to an officer, performed in the navy by the first lieutenant, but sometimes applied to an assistant captain of a fleet. Admeasurement - The calculation of a ship's proportions according to assumed rules. Admiral - 1. In Elizabethan times, the chief ship of a fleet, later more often referred to as ‘the flag’. 2. A senior officer of the navy, of various ranks. The highest was the Lord High Admiral; the second highest, Admiral of the Fleet (Fleet Admiral); the third highest, Admiral; the fourth highest, Vice Admiral and the fifth, Rear Admiral. Until 1865, these ranks were further divided into red, white and blue squadrons, making nine levels of rank below 'Admiral'. A Yellow Admiral was a Captain put on the Admiral's List without posting, i.e. retired. There were a total of thirty Admirals in mid 18c: one Admiral of the Fleet; six Admirals; eight Vice-Admirals and fifteen RearAdmirals. 3. The senior skipper of a trawler fleet. 4. A shell of the genus Conus. Admiral Brown - Seamen’s name for floating excrement, usually around a becalmed ship. Admiral's day cabin - What it says. This was usually the principal cabin under the quarterdeck. Admiral’s Flip – Half champagne half brandy. Admiral's lantern - Placed on the main top, for identification of the flagship at night. Admiral’s Midshipman – A time-served midshipman who had passed for lieutenant and been appointed to a ship by the Admiralty, and not by the Captain, thus having precedence for promotion. Admiral's retinue - His general staff. Admiralty - The generic term, used internationally, for jurisdiction over maritime matters. A judge of Admiralty would preside over a court with authority to rule on local issues, the court being established at various locations around the relevant area from time to time. Admiralty! - Reply to Watchman's Challenge if an approaching boat contained a member of the Board of Admiralty. See Boat Calls. Admiralty Black Book - The English version of the Laws of Oleron. Admiralty Board - The ruling body of the Royal Navy. Variously instituted as Commissioners for Executing the Office of The Lord High Admiral, or Lords Commissioners, or The Board of the Admiralty, also The Secretary of the Admiralty, also Admiralty Office. The High Court of the Admiralty dealt with prize money, piracy, &c, and was a source of income for the Lord High Admiral. Admiralty Commission - Incorporated in 1645. It ran the Navy under the Parliament of the Civil War. Admiralty Court - The constitution of a court with jurisdiction, on behalf of the king, over navy matters. Admiralty hitch – A turn of line around a marline spike, which is then lifted and its tip slipped under the bight on the right of the standing part, used to get a strong grip for heavy hauling or when making splices, seizings or servings. Also marline spike hitch. Admiralty midshipman - The term for a timeserved midshipman who had passed examination and was then appointed to a ship by the Admiralty, as compared to the usual practice of them being rated by the captain and appointed by an admiral. Admiralty Pattern anchor - The most familiar type of anchor and the standard type of anchor used before stockless anchors were introduced, given this name after 1840. Wooden stocked and with two triangular flukes on arms opposing the stock. See Anchor. Admiralty sweep - A wide turn taken by a ship's boat to come alongside. Hence used to describe anything overdone. Admiralty yacht - Fast 17c sailing warship used for fleet command duties. Adornings - Carvings on the stern and quarter galleries of a ship. Adown! - The demand of boarders to the crew of a captured ship to go below. Adreamt - Dozing. A not uncommon state of a crewman off watch, when first roused to duty. Adrent - Drowned. Adriatic oak - Best in world, now called Yugoslavian. Adrift - Not under control. Also 'gone adrift' from leave or late for watch or duty, i.e. not reported back on time – although not necessarily desertion. Ad valorem - Duties levied on goods. Advance - 1. Wages paid to a seaman when he signs on, equivalent to two month's wages in the Royal Navy. The clearing of this debt was known as 'working off the dead horse'. Also, Advance Money. 2. To raise or promote. Advanced - 1. 'Advanced post' is an outpost. 2. An 'Advanced squadron' was one sent ahead, on lookout, or to attack an enemy first, the latter usually being called the vanguard, or just van. Advance list - The register of advance pay given on enlistment to crewmen and officers. Advancement - Promotion in rank. Advance Money - When a seaman enlisted he was paid two months wages in advance, prior to going to sea. Clearing off this debt was known as 'working up the dead horse'. Advance Note - A note for one or two month's wages issued to sailors on their signing the ship's articles. Received in advance of sailing and often used to indebt a sailor to a crimp. Advantage - 1. The term for reeving a tackle in order to get the maximum power, or advantage, from it. 2. Some element giving superiority over an enemy. Adventure - Share in the enterprise, i.e. the trade upon which the ship is engaged, or speculation in foreign merchandise, often by seamen. Adventurer - Speculator or investor. Advice Boat - Small fast craft used to carry information. Adviso - In Elizabethan times, an announcement. Advocate General - An officer whose duty was to represent the Lord High Admiral in the High Court of Admiralty, or in courts-martial. Adze, addes, addice - Principal tool of old-time wooden shipbuilders, and coopers, used to smooth or, 'dub', a plank. Aeratae - An ancient brass-prowed ship. Aerology - The science of the air. Aeromancy - An early name for meteorology. Aerometry - The science of measuring the air and its properties. Afer - Latin name for the south west wind. Affair - 1. An indecisive engagement. 2. A duel. Affectionate Friend – The subscription to a letter signed by a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Navy when writing to officers that were not of noble birth. Snobs! Affleck - The name of two brother admirals in the Royal Navy during the 18c. Affreightment - A contract for letting a ship for freight. Afloat - 1. Floating, as distinct from aground. 2. At sea. Afore - In front. Afoul - Tangled. Afoundrit - Sunk or foundered. Afraid - One of the worst descriptions that could be applied to a sea officer, implying cowardice. Aft - Behind. Aft-castle - A raised part at the rear of a ship, for fighting. cf Forecastle. After - Applied to any object in the rear part of a ship. Afterbody - The term for that part of a ship's hull that is aft of the midship section. After-clap - An occurrence which takes place after the consequences of the cause were thought to have ceased. After cockpit - Midshipmen’s mess on Orlop Deck, used as Surgeon's Operating Theatre. After-end - The stern end of a ship, or, of any object, its end towards the stern. Afterguard - Nicknamed 'Sea Dandies' and 'Silk
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