An Universal Dictionary of the Marine Or, a Copious Explanation of the Technical Terms and Phrases Employed in the Construction, Equipment, Furniture, Machinery, Movements, and Military Operations of a Ship. Illustrated With Variety of Original Designs of Shipping, in Different Situations; Together With Separate Views of Their Masts, Sails, Yards, and Rigging. to Which Is Annexed, a Translation of the French Sea-terms and Phrases, Collected from the Works of Mess. Du Hamel, Aubin, Saverien, &c. (part 3 of 4)

An Universal Dictionary of the Marine Or, a Copious Explanation of the Technical Terms and Phrases Employed in the Construction, Equipment, Furniture, Machinery, Movements, and Military Operations of a Ship. Illustrated With Variety of Original Designs of Shipping, in Different Situations; Together With Separate Views of Their Masts, Sails, Yards, and Rigging. to Which Is Annexed, a Translation of the French Sea-terms and Phrases, Collected from the Works of Mess. Du Hamel, Aubin, Saverien, &c. (part 3 of 4)

The most advantageous position of the masts is undoubtedly that from whence there results an equilibrio between the resistance of the water, on the body of the ship, on one part, and of the direction of their effort on the other. By every other position this equilibrio is destroyed, and the greatest effort of the masts will operate to turn the ship horizontally about its direction; a circumstance which retards her velocity. It is counterbalanced indeed by the helm; but the same inconvenience still continues; for the force of the wind, having the resistance of the helm to overcome, is not intirely employed to push the vessel forward. The axis of the resistance of the water should then be previously determined, to discover the place of the main-mast, in order to suspend the efforts of the water equally, and place the other masts so as that their particular direction will coincide with that of the main-mast. The whole of this would be capable of a solution, if the figure of the vessel were regular, because the point, about which the resistance of the water would be in equilibrio, might be discovered by calculation.

But when the real figure of the ship is considered, these flattering ideas will instantly vanish. This observation induced M. Saverien to employ a mechanical method to discover the axis of resistance of the water, which he apprehended might be used with success in the manner following:

When the vessel is lanched, before the places of the masts are determined, extend a rope A B, fig. 6. plate VI. from the head to the stern. To the extremities A and B attach two other ropes A D, B C, and apply to the other ends of these ropes two mechanical powers, to draw the ship according to the direction B C, parallel to itself. The whole being thus disposed, let a moveable tube Z, fixed upon the rope A B, have another rope Z R attached to it, whose other end communicates with a mechanical power R, equal to the two powers D and C. This last being applied to the same vessel, in such manner as to take off the effects of the two others by sliding upon the rope A B, so as to discover some point Z, by the parallelism of the ropes A D B C feebly extended with the rope Z R; the line Z R will be the axis of the equilibrium of the water´s resistance, and by consequence the main-mast should be planted in the point Z.

The figures E, E, E, are three windlasses on the shore, by which this experiment is applied.

With regard to the situation of the other masts, it is necessary, in the same manner, to discover two points; so that the direction of the two mechanical powers operating, will be parallel to the axis of resistance R Z already found.

The exact height of the masts, in proportion to the form and size of the ship, remains yet a problem to be determined. The more the masts are elevated above the centre of gravity, the greater will be the surface of sail, which they are enabled to present to the wind; so far an additional height seems to be advantageous. But this advantage is diminished by the circular movement of the mast, which operates to make the vessel stoop to its effort; and this inclination is increased, in proportion to the additional height of the mast; an inconvenience which it is necessary to guard against. Thus what is gained upon one hand is lost upon the other. To reconcile these differences, it is certain, that the height of the mast ought to be determined by the inclination of the vessel, and that the point of her greatest inclination should be the term of this height, above the centre of gravity. See the article TRIM.

With regard to the general practice of determining the height of the masts, according to the different rates of the ships in the royal navy, the reader is referred to the article SAIL.

In order to secure the masts, and counterbalance the strain they receive from the effort of the sails impressed by the wind, and the agitation of the ship at sea, they are sustained by several strong ropes, extended from their upper-ends to the outside of the vessel, called shrouds, see fig. 5. plate VI.

They are further supported by other ropes, stretched from their heads towards the fore-part of the vessel. See RIGGING.

The mast, which is placed at the middle of the ship’s length, is called the main-mast, grand-mât; that which is placed in the fore-part, the foremast, mât de misaine; and that which is towards the stern is termed the mizen-mast, mât d’artimon.

N. B. Mizen is applied to this mast by all the nations of Europe, except the French, who alone call the fore-mast misaine.

MASTER of a ship of war, maitre, an officer appointed by the commissioners of the navy to take charge of the navigating and conducting a ship from port to port, under the direction of the captain. The management and disposition of the sails, the working of the ship into her station in the order of battle, and the direction of her movements in the time of action, and in the other circumstances of danger, are also more particularly under his inspection. It is likewise his duty to examine the provisions, and accordingly to admit none into the ship but such as are sound, sweet, and wholsome. He is moreover charged with the stowage, or disposition of these materials in the ship’s hold; and to enable him the better to perform these services, he is allowed several assistants, who are properly termed mates and quarter-masters. See those articles.

MASTER of a merchant-ship, the commanding officer, who is appointed by the merchants to manage the navigation and every thing relating to her cargo, voyage, sailors, &c.

MASTER at arms, an officer appointed to teach the officers and crew of a ship of war the exercise of small arms; to confine and plant centinels over the prisoners, and superintend whatever relates to them during their confinement. He is also to observe that the fire and lights are all extinguished as soon as the evening gun is fired, except those which are permitted by proper authority, or under the inspection of centinels. It is likewise his duty to attend the gangway, when any boats arrive aboard, and search them carefully, together with their rowers, that no spirituous liquors may be conveyed into the ship, unless by permission of the commanding officer. In these several duties he is assisted with proper attendants, called his corporals, who also relieve the centinels, and one another, at certain periods.

MASTER-attendant, an officer in the royal dock-yards, appointed to hasten, and assist at, the fitting-out or dismantling, removing or securing vessels of war, &c. at the port where he resides. He is particularly to observe, that his majesty’s ships are securely moored; and for this purpose he is expected frequently to review the moorings which are sunk in the harbour, and observe that they are kept in proper repair to be always ready when occasion requires. It is also his duty to visit all the ships in ordinary, and see that they are frequently cleaned and kept in order; and to attend at the general musters in the dock-yards, taking care that all the officers, artificers, and labourers, registered in the navy-books, are present at their duty.

MAT, coussin, a sort of thick web or texture, formed of spun-yarn, or of a variety of strands, or separate parts of a small rope; or of a number of rope-yarns twisted into foxes. The foxes are therefore larger or smaller, as containing a greater or lesser number of rope-yarns, in proportion to the thickness of the mat intended to be woven.

Mats are commonly used to fasten upon the outside of such parts of the standing rigging as are exposed to the friction of other ropes, in extending, shifting, or trussing up the sails, particularly the lower ones. The largest and strongest sort of these mats are called panches.

MATE of a ship of war, an officer under the direction of the master, by whose choice he is generally appointed, to assist him in the several branches of his duty. Accordingly he is to be particularly attentive to the navigation in his watch, &c. to keep the log regularly, and examine the line, and glasses by which the ship’s course is measured, and to adjust the sails to the wind in the fore-part of the ship. He is also to have a diligent attention to the cables, seeing that they are well coiled and kept clean when laid in the tier, and sufficiently served when employed to ride the ship. Finally, he is to superintend, and assist at the stowage of the hold, taking especial care that all the ballast and provisions are properly stowed therein.

MATE of a merchant-ship, the officer who commands in the absence of the master thereof, and shares the duty with him at sea; being charged with every thing that regards the internal management of the ship, the directing her course, and the government of her crew.

The number of mates allowed to ships of war and merchantmen is always in proportion to the size of the vessel. Thus a first-rate man of war has six mates, and an East-Indiaman the same number; a frigate of 20 guns, and a small merchant-ship, have only one mate in each: and the intermediate ships have a greater or smaller number, according to their several sizes, or to the services on which they are employed.

MESS, a particular company of the officers or crew of a ship, who eat, drink, and associate together.

MESS-MATE, a companion or associate of the above division. See the article BIRTH.

MIDSHIP, maitre, a term of distinction, applied by shipwrights to several pieces of timber which lie in the broadest part of the vessel; as,

MIDSHIP-BEAM, maitre-bau, the beam upon which the extreme breadth of a ship is formed, and which is situated in the midship-frame, nearly in the middle of her length, serving as a standard from whence the dimensions and proportions of the masts and yards are to be taken.

MIDSHIP-FRAME, maitre-couple, a name given to that timber, or combination of pieces, formed into one timber, which determines the extreme breadth of the ship, as well as the figure and dimension of all the inferior timbers.

In the 8th page, from the beginning of the article Naval ARCHITECTURE, the reader will find a full explanation of what is meant by a frame of timbers. He will also perceive the out-lines of all the principal frames, with their gradual dimensions, from the midship-frame delineated in the plane of projection annexed to that article. As the parts, of which the several frames are composed, have the same relation to each other throughout the vessel; and as all the corresponding pieces, without and within those frames, are also nearly alike, and fixed in the same manner, it will be sufficient for our purpose to represent the principal, or midship-frame, together with its corresponding parts, which are as follow:

Explanation of the Midship-frame, plate VII. which exhibits a transverse section of a 74 gun ship, at the broadest part, answering to the same scale by which are delineated the head, quarter, and stern of a ship, of the same size, in plates IV. VIII. and X. to which the reader is referred.

A the keel, with a the false keel beneath it.

B the chocks fixed upon the kelson, to retain the opposite pieces of the riders firmly together.

C one of the beams of the orlop.

D one of the lower-deck beams; with d the beams of the upper-deck.

E the hanging-knees, by which the beams are attached to the timbers.

F the standards, which are fixed above the decks to which they belong.

G the clamps, which sustain the extremities of the beams.

H the gun-ports of the lower-deck; with h the ports of the upper-deck.

I, K, L different pieces of thick-stuff, placed opposite to the several scarfs, or joinings, in the frame of timbers.

M the planks of the deck.

N the water-ways.

O the planks of the ceiling, between the several ranges of thick-stuff.

P the spirketting.

Q the mainwale, to fortify the ship’s side opposite to the lower-deck.

R the channel-wale, opposite to the upper-deck.

S the waist-rail.

T the string, with the moulding under the gunwale.

U the floor-timbers, which are laid across the keel, and bolted to it.

V the several futtocks; and W the top-timbers, which are all united into one frame.

X the kelson.

MIDSHIPMAN, a sort of naval cadet, appointed by the captain of a ship of war, to second the orders of the superior officers, and assist in the necessary business of the vessel, either aboard or ashore.

The number of midshipmen, like that of all other officers, is always in proportion to the size of the ship to which they belong. Thus a first-rate man of war has twenty-four, and the inferior rates a suitable number in proportion. No person can be appointed lieutenant, without having previously served two years in the royal navy in this capacity, or in that of mate, besides having been at least four years in actual service at sea, either in merchant-ships, or in the royal navy.

Midshipman is accordingly the station in which a young volunteer is trained in the several exercises, necessary to attain a sufficient knowledge of the machinery, discipline, movements, and military operations of a ship, to qualify him for a sea-officer.

As the chief object of our attention has been to facilitate the acquisition of this intelligence, we have endeavoured to treat those subjects at large, in the different parts of this work, according to their importance. We have also sketched the general outlines of the respective charges of all the superior officers, which, in conformity to the plan of this work, become previous to this article. Thus the duties of the admiral, the captain, the lieutenant, and the master, are already explained in their proper places; and whatever intelligence appears necessary to discharge those offices, is also, in a high degree, essential to the midshipman. Those officers indeed, as well as many others, are furnished with suitable instructions to regulate their conduct; but the midshipman, being invested with no particular charge from the government, is by consequence omitted in those official regulations. In a work of this kind, however, the importance of the subject is not always determined by the superiority of rank or station. If our province is to communicate instruction, those who are the least informed are certainly the principal objects thereof, and to them our attention is more peculiarly directed. Hence the extent of our design comprehends many circumstances which would be immaterial in general orders and regulations; and hence abundance of particular directions to respective officers, inserted in those general regulations, are rejected here as foreign to our purpose. Averse as we are, on other occasions, to offend the rigid nicety of a critic, by introducing moral reflections, in a performance dedicated to scientifical description, we must for once be indulged with a short deviation from the plan hitherto invariably followed. Happy! if our efforts may in any degree operate to produce the effects for which they were calculated.

On his first entrance in a ship of war, every midshipman has several disadvantageous circumstances to encounter. These are partly occasioned by the nature of the sea-service, and partly by the mistaken prejudices of people in general, respecting naval discipline, and the genius of sailors and their officers. No character, in their opinion, is more excellent than that of the common sailor, whom they generally suppose to be treated with great severity by his officers, drawing a comparison between them not very advantageous to the latter. The midshipman usually comes aboard tinctured with these prejudices, especially if his education has been amongst the higher rank of people; and if the officers happen to answer his opinion, he conceives an early disgust to the service, from a very partial and incompetent view of its operations. Blinded by these prepossessions, he is thrown off his guard, and very soon surprized to find, amongst those honest sailors, a crew of abandoned miscreants, ripe for any mischief or villainy. Perhaps, after a little observation, many of them will appear to him equally destitute of gratitude, shame, or justice, and only deterred from the commission of any crimes by the terror of severe punishment. He will discover, that the pernicious example of a few of the vilest in a ship of war are too often apt to poison the principles of the greatest number, especially if the reins of discipline are too much relaxed, so as to foster that idleness and dissipation, which engender sloth, diseases, and an utter profligacy of manners. If the midshipman, on many occasions, is obliged to mix with these, particularly in the exercises of extending or reducing the sails in the tops, he ought resolutely to guard against this contagion, with which the morals of his inferiors may be infected. He should however avail himself of their knowledge, and acquire their expertness in managing and fixing the sails and rigging, and never suffer himself to be excelled by an inferior. He will probably find a virtue in almost every private sailor, which is entirely unknown to many of his officers: that virtue is emulation, which is not indeed mentioned amongst their qualities by the gentleman of terra firma, by whom their characters are often copiously described with very little judgment. There is hardly a common tar who is not envious of superior skill in his fellows, and jealous on all occasions to be out-done in what he considers as a branch of his duty! Nor is he more afraid of the dreadful consequences of whistling in a storm, than of being stigmatized with the opprobious epithet of lubber. Fortified against this scandal, by a thorough knowledge of his business, the sailor will sometimes sneer in private, at the execution of orders, which to him appear aukward, improper, or unlike a seaman. Nay, he will perhaps be malicious enough to suppress his own judgment, and by a punctual obedience to command, execute whatever is to be performed, in a manner which he knows to be improper, in order to expose the person commanding to disgrace and ridicule. Little skilled in the method of the schools, he considers the officer who cons his lesson by rote as very ill qualified for his station, because particular situations might render it necessary for the said officer to assist at putting his own orders in practice. An ignorance in this practical knowledge will therefore necessarily be thought an unpardonable deficiency by those who are to follow his directions. Hence the midshipman, who associates with these sailors in the tops, till he has acquired a competent skill in the service of extending or reducing the sails, &c. will be often entertained with a number of scurrilous jests, at the expence of his superiors. Hence also he will learn, that a timely application to those exercises can only prevent him from appearing in the same despicable point of view, which must certainly be a cruel mortification to a man of the smallest sensibility.

If the midshipman is not employed in these services, which are undoubtedly necessary to give him a clearer idea of the different parts of his occupation, a variety of other objects present themselves to his attention. Without presuming to dictate the studies which are most essential to his improvement, we could wish to recommend such as are most suitable to the bent of his inclination. Astronomy, geometry, and mechanics, which are in the first rank of science, are the materials which form the skilful pilot and the superior mariner. The theory of navigation is entirely derived from the two former, and all the machinery and movements of a ship are founded upon the latter. The action of the wind upon the sails, and the resistance of the water at the stem, naturally dictate an enquiry into the property of solids and fluids: and the state of the ship, floating on the water, seems to direct his application to the study of hydrostatics and the effects of gravity. A proficiency in these branches of science will equally enlarge his views, with regard to the operations of naval war, as directed by the efforts of powder, and the knowledge of projectiles. The most effectual method to excite his application to those studies is, perhaps, by looking round the navy, to observe the characters of individuals. By this enquiry he will probably discover, that the officer, who is eminently skilled in the sciences, will command universal respect and approbation; and that whoever is satisfied with the despicable ambition of shining the hero of an assembly, will be the object of universal contempt. The attention of the former will be engaged in those studies, which are highly useful to himself in particular, and to the service in general. The employment of the latter is to acquire those superficial accomplishments, that unbend the mind from every useful science, emasculate the judgment, and render the hero infinitely more dextrous at falling into his station in the dance, than in the line of battle.

Unless the midshipman has an unconquerable aversion to the acquisition of those qualifications, which are so essential to his improvement, he will very rarely want opportunities of making a progress therein. Every step he advances in those meritorious employments, will facilitate his accession to the next in order. If the dunces, who are his officers or mess-mates, are rattling the dice, roaring bad verses, hissing on the flute, or scraping discord from the fiddle, his attention to more noble studies will sweeten the hours of relaxation. He should recollect that no example from fools ought to influence his conduct, or seduce him from that laudable ambition which his honour and advantage are equally concerned to pursue.

MIZEN, artimon, (misana, Ital.) the aftermost or hindmost of the fixed sails of a ship, extended sometimes by a gaff, and sometimes by a yard which crosses the mast obliquely; the fore-end reaching almost down to the deck, and the after-end being peeked up as high above the middle of the yard, where it is attached to the mast. The figure of the mizen is accordingly a trapezia, or a parallelogram, one of whose corners is cut off by a diagonal, extended from one of its sides to the opposite corner, which becomes the peek of the mizen. See the article SAIL.

MIZEN-MAST, the mast upon which the mizen and its top-sail and stay-sails are supported, besides other sails, which are set occasionally, as the driver, ring-tail, &c. See the article MAST.

The shrouds, stays, and back-stays of this mast, as well as all the running-rigging, together with its several yards and sails, being described under the articles SHROWD, STAY, YARD, &c. the reader is referred thither for the explanations thereof, which are in general applicable also to the same furniture of both the other masts.

MOLE, a name given in the Mediterranean to a long pier, or artificial bulwark of masonry, extending obliquely across the entrance of a harbour, in order to break the force of the sea from the vessels which are anchored within.

MOLE is also, although improperly, applied to the harbour or haven, which is formed by the bulwark above described, which is then denominated the mole-head.

MONSOON, a name given to the periodical or trade-winds, which blow regularly in certain latitudes of the Indian ocean. They continue five or six months invariably in one direction, and then alter their course, and blow, during an equal space of time, from a different point of the compass with the same uniformity.

MOORING, the act of confining and securing a ship in a particular station, by chains or cables, which are either fastened to the adjacent shore, or to anchors in the bottom.

A ship may be either moored by the head, or by the head and stern; that is to say, she may be secured by anchors before her, without any behind: or she may have anchors out, both before and behind her; or her cables may be attached to posts, rings, or moorings, which answer the same purpose.

When a ship is moored by the head with her own anchors, they are disposed according to the circumstances of the place where she lies, and the time she is to continue therein. Thus wherever a tide ebbs and flows, it is usual to carry one anchor out towards the flood, and another towards the ebb, particularly where there is little room to range about; and the anchors are laid in the same manner, if the vessel is moored head-and-stern in the same place. The situation of the anchors, in a road or bay, is usually opposed to the reigning winds, or those which are most dangerous; so that the ship rides therein with the effort of both her cables. Thus if she rides in a bay, or road, which is exposed to a northerly wind and heavy sea from the same quarter, the anchors passing from the opposite bows ought to lie east and west from each other: hence both the cables will retain the ship in her station with equal effort against the action of the wind and sea.

MOORINGS are usually an assemblage of anchors, chains, and bridles, laid athwart the bottom of a river, or haven, to ride the shipping contained therein.

The anchors, employed on this occasion, have rarely more than one fluke, which is sunk in the river near low-water mark. Two anchors, being fixed in this manner, on the opposite sides of the river, are furnished with a chain, extending across from one to the other. In the middle of the chain is a large square link, whose lower end terminates in a swivel, which turns round in the chain as about an axis, whenever the ship veers about with the change of the tide. To this swivel-link are attached the bridles, which are short pieces of cable, well served, whose upper ends are drawn into the ship, at the mooring-ports, and afterwards fastened to the masts, or cable-bits.

A great number of moorings, of this sort, are fixed in the royal ports, or the harbours adjacent to the king’s dock-yards, as Deptford, Chatham, Portsmouth, Plymouth, &c.

MORTAR, a piece of artillery, shorter and wider than the cannon, and having a chamber different from the size of its bore.

Mortars are used in the attack of a fortified place, by sea, to discharge bombs or carcases amongst the buildings. The bomb is a great hollow ball, filled with powder, which, falling into the works of a fortification, &c. destroys the most substantial buildings by its weight; and, bursting asunder, creates the greatest disorder and mischief by its splinters.

The chambers of mortars are extremely different in their figures, and each of those figures is defended by better or worse arguments. Thus they are spherical, cylindrical, conical, bottled, or concave. In reality, nothing appears to be less determined upon true principles or experiments than the proportions of the several parts of a mortar[39].

As the sea-mortars, or those which are fixed in the bomb-vessels, are generally fixed at a much greater distance than is ever required ashore, they are made somewhat longer, and much heavier, than the land-mortars.

Plate VI. fig. 7. represents a sea-mortar, the principal parts of which are, A, the chace; B, the reinforce; C, the breech; and D, the trunnions. The interior part, comprehended between the dotted lines, is called the bore, wherein the bomb is lodged; and the inner part of the bore, which is diminished towards the breech, and contains the powder, is termed the chamber.

Mr. Muller, in his Treatise of Artillery, very justly observes, that the breech of our 13 inch sea-mortars is loaded with an unnecessary weight of metal. The chamber thereof contains 32 pounds of powder, and at the same time they are never charged with more than 12 or 15 pounds, by the most expert officers, because the bomb-vessel is unable to bear the violent shock of their full charge. Thus the action of the powder is diminished by the vacancy left in the chamber, which is never above half filled. As a charge of 12 or 15 pounds of powder at most is therefore sufficient, it is evidently proved, by the theory of powder, that this will produce the greatest effect when discharged from a mortar with a cylindrical chamber, represented by fig. 8. He also proves, by a variety of experiments made by Captain Desaguliers and himself, that the conical chamber, now used, is considerably inferior to the cylindrical one with the last charge of powder.

To facilitate the use of the mortar, it is placed in a solid carriage of timber, called the bed, whose different parts are strongly bolted together. By means of this it is firmly secured in its situation, so that the explosion of the powder may not alter its direction. In the middle of the upper-side of this carriage, plate VI. fig. 9. are two semi-circular notches, to receive the trunnions; over these are fixed two very strong bands of iron, called the cap-squares, a, the middle of which is bent into a semi-circle, to embrace the trunnions, and keep them fast in the mortar-bed. The cap-squares are confined to the timber-work by strong pins of iron, called the eye-bolts, b, into whose upper ends are driven the keys, chained beneath them. On the fore-part of the bed a piece of timber is placed transversely, upon which rests the belly of the mortar, or that part which contains the chamber. The elevation of this piece, which is called the bed-bolster, is represented by fig. 13. and the plan by fig. 12. it is used to elevate and support the mortar whilst firing.

These beds are placed upon very strong frames of timber, which are fixed in the bomb-ketch, and represented in fig. 14. plate VI. They are securely attached to the frames, by means of a strong bolt of iron, fig. 15. called the pintle, passing perpendicularly through both, and afterwards through one of the beams of the vessel. Thus the pintle, which passes through the hole in the centre of the plan, fig. 10. serves as an axis to the bed; so that the mortar may be turned about horizontally as occasion requires.

Plate VI. fig. 9. represents the elevation of the bed of a 10 inch sea-mortar; fig. 10 is the plan, and 11 the front view thereof; fig. 12 exhibits the plan, and fig. 13 the elevation of the bed-bolster.

We have already observed, that the bomb, which is usually called the shell by artillery-people, is a great hollow ball, charged with powder. Fig. 16 is a perspective view of the bomb, and fig. 17 a section of it, whereby the thickness is exhibited. The parts a and b of the shell are its handles, by which it is lifted up or removed; and c is the fuse-hole, or aperture, through which the powder is poured in to charge it.

It appears, by fig. 17, that the lower part of the shell is thickest, by which it becomes heavier on that side, and accordingly falls thereon, and never on the fuse. It is also the better enabled thereby to resist the impression of the powder, by which it is discharged from the mortar. Both of these reasons, however, Mr. Muller conceives to be immaterial, because nothing but an absolute stoppage of the air can exhaust the fuses, as their composition enables them to burn in water, as well as air or earth; and the explosion of the mortar would not, in his opinion, be able to break them, if they are equally thick every where. The most proper quantity of powder to charge a bomb is probably two thirds of the weight which would fill the cavity.

The fuse of the bomb is represented by c d, fig. 17. It is generally a conical tube, formed of beech, willow, or some dry wood, and filled with a composition of sulphur, salt-petre, and mealed-powder. The bomb being charged, this fuse is inserted in the cavity through the fuse-hole; and when fired, communicates the fire to the powder in the shell.

The fuses for bombs are charged with great care, that nothing may prevent them from communicating the fire to the powder in the centre of the bomb. They are driven into the shell so as that only about an inch and a half comes out beyond the fuse-hole; and then the shell is said to be fixed.

These fuses are also charged long before there is occasion to use them; and that the composition with which they are filled may not fall out, or be damaged, by growing damp, the two ends are covered with a composition of tallow, mixed either with pitch or bees wax. When the fuse is to be put into the shell, the little end is opened or cut off; but the great end is never opened till the mortar is to be fired[40].

When the proper quantity of powder, necessary to charge the mortar, is put into the chamber, it is covered with a wad, well beat down with the rammer. After this the fixed shell is placed upon the wad, as near the middle of the mortar as possible, with the fuse-hole uppermost, and another wad pressed down close upon it, so as to keep the shell firm in its position. The officer then points the mortar, or gives it the inclination necessary to carry the bomb to the place designed. When the mortar is thus fixed, the fuse is opened; the priming-iron is also thrust into the touch-hole of the mortar to clear it, after which it is primed with the finest powder. This done, two of the matrosses, or sailors, taking each one of the matches, the first lights the fuse, and the other fires the mortar. The bomb, thrown out by the explosion of the powder, is carried to the place intended; and the fuse, which ought to be exhausted at the instant of the shell’s falling, inflames the powder contained therein, and bursts the shell into splinters; which, flying off circularly, occasion incredible mischief wheresoever they reach.

Necessary orders before a bombardment by sea.

When any fixed shells are issued from the tenders, the artillery people on board are immediately to fix others in their room, and are always to keep in their tenders the same number they had at first.

The shells are to be fixed in the boat appointed to carry them, provided the weather permits; otherwise, in the safest place on deck, and to be kitted, or lowered down into a spare rack, which must be in each boat for that purpose. While the shells are fixing, the powder-room is to be shut, the hatches laid and well secured against fire, and the place where they are fixed is to be well watered.

The shells being carefully examined in order that no spike is left therein, by which the fuse may be split, the fuses are to be cut the full length, and to be set home into the shell very strongly.

No shells, fixed during the service, are to be kitted; but if any should be left, when the service is over, they are immediately to be kitted.

The powder in the bomb-vessels is to be used first; and none to be opened or measured out, except in the captain’s cabin, the door of which is to be kept shut during the whole time, and covered with tanned hides, to make it as secure as possible.

The fixed shells in the boats are to be likewise covered from fire or wet with hair-cloth and tanned hides, with the utmost care.

If the service is carried on at night, all the powder is to be ready measured out in cartridges, which may be kept in the powder-magazine and captain’s cabin, in the empty powder-barrels and powder-bags; and all the shells requisite are to be ready. The tin tubes, one powder-horn, and the port-fires; also the punches and bits for the vents, are to be kept in the captain’s cabin.

No fire or light, except match and port-fires, to be on board either bomb-vessel or tender during the service.

The captain’s cabin and the passage to it; also the way to the magazine and decks, are to be constantly watered.

The spunges for the mortars are to be all examined and tried, and if too large, they are to be cut so as to enter easily.

The vents of the mortars are to be examined, and the punches and tubes tried in them.

A laboratory-chest is to be on board each bomb-vessel, in the captain’s cabin, in which all the small stores are to be kept.

Two tubs of water are to be on deck, for the lightest port-fires and match, which must be constantly held in them till ordered to fire.

Two careful men are also to be appointed for this service, who are to do nothing else on any account.

Two careful men of the artillery are to be left on board each tender, for the filling and fixing of the shells.

Application must be made to the admiral for two men of war’s boats to attend on each bomb-ketch and tender, for carrying shells and stores. One of these is to be loaded with fixed shells, which, when sent to the bomb-vessel, must remain with her until they are all taken out, which should be only as they are wanted for loading the mortars; it is then to return to the tender. The other boat, mean while, will be receiving more fixed shells, and on the signal given from the bomb-ketch for more shells, must immediately repair to her with them.

A gang of warrant-officers, and eight seamen, are to be at each mortar, to give whatever assistance may be required.

A gang from the navy, with a careful warrant-officer, and a non-commissioned officer of the artillery, are to have the charge between decks on board each bomb and tender, to get up the fixed shells that are in the rack; and a careful person is to remain constantly at the powder-room door, which must be kept shut as much as possible.

When any powder is wanted from the tender for loading the mortar, it should be measured out in the tender, and the proper charge put into paper-cartridges, upon which should be written the quantity, and the mortar for which it is allotted.

If the service of mortars should render it necessary to use pound-shots, 200 of them, with a wooden bottom, are to be put into the 13 inch mortar, and a quantity of powder, not exceeding five pounds; and 100 of the above shot, with 2½ lb. of powder for the 10 inch mortar, or 3 lb. at most.

One inch of fuse burns 4 seconds and 48 parts.

Weight of the sea-mortars and shells, as also of their full charges.

┌────────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┬─────────┬───────────┐ │ │Powder │ │Weight of│ Weight of │ │ Nature of the │ contained in│Weight of the │ the │ powder │ │ mortar. │ the chamber │ mortar. │ shell │ contained │ │ │ when full. │ │ when │ in the │ │ │ │ │ fixed. │ shell. │ ├────────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼─────────┼───────────┤ │ │ lb. oz. pl.│Cwt. qu. lb.│ lb.│ lb. oz.│ │10 inch howitzer│ 12 0 0│ 31 2 26│ │ │ │13 inch mortar │ 30 0 0│ 81 2 1│ 198│ 7 0│ │10 inch mortar │ 12 0 0│ 34 2 11│ 93│ │ └────────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┴─────────┴───────────┘

The howitzer, fig. 18. is a sort of mortar, which is to be fixed horizontally like a cannon; and has, like the cannon, a wheel-carriage. These pieces, however, are very rarely used in the sea-service.

For an account of the elevation of the mortar, and flight of bombs according to the different charges of powder, the reader is referred to the article RANGE.

MOULD, devers, a thin flexible piece of timber, used by shipwrights, as a pattern whereby to form the different curves of the timbers, and other compassing pieces, in a ship’s frame. There are two sorts of these, namely, the bend-mould and hollow-mould: the former of these determines the convexity of the timbers, and the latter, their concavity on the outside, where they approach the keel, particularly towards the extremities of the vessel. The figure, given to the timbers by this pattern, is called their bevelling. See that article.

MOUNTED, monté, the state of being armed or equipped with a certain number of cannon; expressed of a vessel of war.

MOUSE, fusée, a sort of knob, usually in the shape of a pear, wrought on the outside of a rope, by means of spun-yarn, parsling, &c. as described in the article puddening. It is used to confine some other securely to the former, and prevent it from sliding along its surface.

These mouses are particularly used on the stays of the lower-mast, to prevent the eye from slipping up to the mast; a circumstance which would render it extremely difficult to remove the stay from the mast-head, when necessary.

MOUSING a hook, the operation of fastening a small cord, or line, across the upper-part, from the point to the back thereof, in order to prevent it from unhooking by the motion of the vessel, or otherwise.

MUSTERING, (mousteren, Dutch) the act of calling over a list of the whole ship’s company, or any particular detachment thereof, who are accordingly summoned to answer by their names on the occasion.

N.

NAVAL, of or belonging to a ship, or to the royal navy. Hence we say, naval-stores, naval officers, &c.

NAVE-LINE, a sort of small tackle, depending from the head of the main-mast and foremast, and fastened to the middle of the parrel immediately behind the mast, and communicating with the gears. It is used to keep the parrel directly opposite to the yard, and particularly whilst hoisting or lowering, as it would otherwise hang under the yard, and prevent it from being sufficiently braced.

NAVIGATION, (navigation, Fr.) the art of directing the movements of a ship by the action of the wind upon the sails. See the article SAILING.

Navigation is then applied, with equal propriety, to the arrangement of the sails, according to the state of the wind; and to the directing and measuring a ship’s course by the laws of geometry; or it may comprehend both, being then considered as the theory and practice thereof.

Since every sea-officer is presumed to be furnished with books of navigation, in which that science is copiously described, it would be superfluous to enter into a particular detail of it in this place. As it would also be a fruitless task to those who are entirely ignorant of the rules of trigonometry, it appears not to come within the limits of our design: and those who are versed in that science generally understand the principles of navigation already. It suffices to say, that the course of a ship, and the distance she has run thereon, are measured by the angles and sides of a right-angled plain triangle, in which the hypothenuse is converted into the distance; the perpendicular, into the difference of latitude; the base, into the departure from the meridian; the angle, formed by the perpendicular and hypothenuse, into the course; and the opposite angle, contained between the hypothenuse and base, into its complement of the course.

The course of the ship is determined by the compass; and the log-line, or a solar observation, ascertains the distance. Hence the hypothenuse and angles are given, to find the base and perpendicular; a problem well known in trigonometry.

That part of navigation, which regards the piloting or conducting a ship along the sea-coast, can only be acquired by a thorough knowledge of that particular coast, after repeated voyages. The most necessary articles thereof are already described in the article COASTING: it is sufficient to observe, that the bearings and distances from various parts of the shore are generally ascertained in the night, either by light-houses, or by the different depths of the water, and the various sorts of ground at the bottom; as shells of different sizes and colours, sand, gravel, clay, stones, ooze, or shingle. In the day, the ship’s place is known by the appearance of the land, which is set by the compass, whilst the distance is estimated by the master or pilot.

NAVY (from navis, Lat.) implies, in general, any fleet or assembly of ships. It is, however, more particularly understood of the fleet of vessels of war, that belong to a kingdom or state, to be employed either in assaulting and destroying its enemies, or protecting its commerce, and defending its coasts against hostilities or invasion.

The navy of Great-Britain, together with its civil and military departments, is governed by the lord high-admiral, or the lords commissioners for executing this office. It is divided into several classes, or orders, in proportion to the size of the ships, &c. See the article RATE.

If the only objects to be considered in the distribution of the navy, into different rates, were to improve ship-building, and facilitate the operations of the marine, it might appear expedient to multiply the rates, much beyond their present number, which would oblige the shipwrights to study the principles of their art with more diligence and application. But the simplicity of the service in our dock-yards, and the views of œconomy, which ought never to be neglected when they regard important objects, has rendered it convenient to arrange the masts, the yards, the sails, the rigging, and artillery, into six rates; which, besides that of sloops of war, answers all the purposes of the navy. See DOCK-YARDS.

NAVY is also the collective body of officers employed in his majesty’s sea-service.

NEAPED, (from nepflod, Sax.) the situation of a ship which is left aground on the height of a spring-tide, so that she cannot be floated off till the return of the next spring. See TIDE.

NEEDLE, See the article COMPASS.

NETTING, a sort of fence, formed of an assemblage of ropes, fastened across each other, so as to leave uniform intervals between. These are usually stretched along the upper-part of a ship’s quarter, and secured in this position by rails and stanchions. See QUARTER.

NIPPERS, garcettes de tournevire, certain pieces of flat, braided cordage, used to fasten the cable to the voyal in a ship of war, when the former is drawn into the ship by mechanical powers applied to the latter.

These nippers are usually six or eight feet in length, according to the size of the cable; and five or six of them are commonly fastened about the cable and voyal at once, in order to be heaved in by the capstern. Those which are farthest aft are always taken off, as the cable approaches the main hatchway; and others are at the same time fastened on, in the fore-part of the ship, to supply their places. The persons employed to bind the nippers about the cable and voyal, are called nipper-men: they are assisted in this office by the boys of the ship, who always supply them with nippers, and receive the ends of those which are fastened, to walk aft with them, and take them off at the proper place, in order to return them to the nipper-men.

NITTLES. See KNITTLES.

NO NEARER! (arrive!) the command given by the pilot, or quarter-master, to the helmsman, to steer the ship no higher to the direction of the wind than the sails will operate to advance the ship in her course. It is often abbreviated into no near, and sometimes into near; and is generally applied when the sails shake in the wind. See SHIVERING.

NO MAN’S LAND, St. Aubinet, a space between the after-part of the belfrey and the fore-part of a ship’s boat, when the said boat is stowed upon the booms, as in a deep-waisted vessel. These booms are laid from the forecastle nearly to the quarter-deck, where their after-ends are usually sustained by a frame called the gallows, which consists of two strong posts, about six feet high, with a cross piece, reaching from one to the other, athwart-ships, and serving to support the ends of those booms, masts, and yards, which lie in reserve to supply the place of others carried away, &c. The space called No man’s land is used to contain any blocks, ropes, tackles, &c. which may be necessary on the forecastle. It probably derives this name from its situation, as being neither on the starboard nor larboard side of the ship, nor on the waiste or forecastle; but being situated in the middle, partakes equally of all those places.

NORMAN, a name given to a short wooden bar, thrust into one of the holes of the windlass in a merchant-ship, whereon to fasten the cable. It is only used when there is very little strain on the cable, as in a commodious harbour, when the ship is well sheltered from the wind and tide.

NUTS of the anchor, two little prominencies, appearing like short square bars of iron, fixed across the upper-part of the anchor-shank, to secure the stock thereof in its place; for which purpose there is a corresponding notch, or channel, cut in the opposite parts of the stock, of the same dimensions with the nuts. See the article ANCHOR.

O.

OAKHAM, or OAKUM, the substance into which old ropes are reduced, when they are untwisted, loosened, and drawn asunder. It is principally used to drive into the seams, or intervals, between the planks of a ship, to prevent the water from entering. See the article CAULKING.

White OAKUM, is that which is formed of untarred ropes.

OAR, rame, (are, Sax.) a long piece of timber, flat at one end, and round or square at the other, and which being applied to the side of a floating-vessel, serves to make it advance upon the water.

That part of the oar which is out of the vessel, and which enters into the water, is called the blade, or wash, plat; and that which is within-board, is termed the loom, whose extremity, manche, being small enough to be grasped by the rowers, or persons managing the oars, is called the handle.

To push the boat or vessel forwards, by means of this instrument, the rowers turn their backs forward, and, dipping the blade of the oar in the water, pull the handle forward so that the blade at the same time may move aft in the water: But since the blade cannot be so moved, without striking the water, this impulsion is the same, as if the water were to strike the blade from the stern towards the head: the vessel is therefore necessarily moved according to this direction. Hence it follows, that she will advance with the greater rapidity, by as much as the oar strikes the water more forcibly. Thus it is evident, that an oar acts upon the side of a boat or vessel like a lever of the second class, whose fulcrum is the station, upon which the oar rests on the boat’s gunnel. In large vessels, this station is usually called the row-port; but in lighters and boats it is always termed the row-lock.

To ship the OARS, armer, is to fix them in the row-locks ready for rowing.

OBSERVATION, the art of measuring the altitude of the sun or a star, in order to determine the latitude, or the sun’s azimuth, &c.

OFF, an expression applied to the movement of a ship, when she sails out from the shore towards the distant sea. When a ship is beating to windward, so that by one board she approaches towards the shore, and by the other sails out to sea-ward, she is said to stand off and on shore, alternately. Hence,

OFFING, largue, dehors, implies out at sea; or at a competent distance from the shore, and generally out of anchor-ground.

OFFWARD, the situation of a ship which lies aground, and leans off from the shore.

OLERON, a name given to a code of general rules relating to naval affairs, and formed by Richard I. when he was at the island of Oleron. These have been frequently esteemed the most excellent sea-laws in the world; and are still preserved in the black book of the admiralty.

OPEN, debouclé, the situation of a place which is exposed to the wind and sea, with little or no shelter for shipping to anchor therein.

OPEN, ouvert, is also expressed of any distant object, to which the sight or passage is not intercepted by something lying, or coming between. Thus, to be open with any place, is to be opposite to it; as the entry of a port, road, or haven.

OPENING, a passage, or streight, between two adjacent coasts or islands.

ORDINARY, gardiens, the establishment of the persons employed by the government to take charge of the ships of war, which are laid-up in the several harbours adjacent to the royal dock-yards. These are principally composed of the warrant-officers of the said ships, as the gunner, boatswain, carpenter, deputy-purser and cook, and their servants. There is besides a crew of labourers enrolled in the list of the ordinary, who pass from ship to ship occasionally to pump, moor, remove, or clean them, whenever it is necessary.

The term ordinary is also applied, sometimes, to the ships themselves; it is likewise used to distinguish the inferior sailors from the most expert and diligent. Thus the latter are rated able on the navy-books, and have 1_l._ 4_s._ per month whereas those who are rated ordinary, have only 19_s._ per month.

ORLOP, (over-loop, Dutch) faux-pont, a plat-form of planks laid over the beams, in the hold of a ship of war, whereon the cables are usually coiled, and the several officers store-rooms contained.

OVER-BOARD, the state of being thrown out of a ship, or boat, into the water whereon she swims: also the act of falling from such a vessel into the sea, &c. as, the ship sprung a leak, and obliged us to throw the guns over-board; a heavy sea broke over the deck, and carried two of our men over-board.

OVER-CAST-STAFF, trebuchet, a scale, or measure, employed by shipwrights to determine the difference between the curves of those timbers which are placed near the greatest breadth, and those which are situated near the extremities of the keel, where the floor rises and grows narrower.

OVER-HAULING, parcourir, the act of opening and extending the several parts of a tackle, or other assemblage of ropes, communicating with blocks or dead-eyes. It is used to remove those blocks to a sufficient distance from each other, that they may be again placed in a state of action, so as to produce the effect required. See the article TACKLE.

OVER-HAULING, is also vulgarly expressed of an examination or inspection into the condition of a person or thing.

OVER-MASTED, the state of a ship, whose masts are too high, or too heavy, for the weight of her hull to counter-balance.

OVER-SETTING, chavirer, the act of turning any thing upside-down; also the movement of a ship when she over-turns, faire capot, so that the keel becomes above the water, and the masts under the surface.

OUT, dehors, an expression frequently used at sea, implying the situation of the sails when they are set, or extended, to assist the ship’s course; as opposed to in; which is also applied, in the contrary sense, to signify that such sails are furled.

OUT-FIT, is generally used to signify the expences of equipping a ship for a sea-voyage; or of arming her for war, or both together. See FITTING-OUT.

OUT OF TRIM, endormi, the state of a ship when she is not properly balanced for the purposes of navigation; which is either occasioned by the size, or position of her masts and sails; or by the comparative quantity, or arrangement of her cargo and ballast in the hold.

OUT-RIGGER, a strong beam of timber, of which there are several fixed on the side of a ship, and projecting from it, in order to secure the masts in the act of careening. See that article.

The outer ends of these beams are firmly lashed to a bolt in the ship’s side beneath, by which they are enabled to support the mast, by counteracting the strain it suffers from the effort of the careening tackles; which being applied in the mast-head, draws it downwards, so as to act upon the vessel with the power of a lever, whose fulcrum is in her centre of gravity.

OUT-RIGGER is also a small boom, occasionally used in the tops to thrust out the breast-back-stays to windward, in order to increase their tension, and thereby give additional security to the top-mast.

This boom is usually furnished with a tackle at its inner-end, communicating with one of the topmast-shrouds; and has a notch on the outer end to contain the back-stay, and keep it steddy therein. As soon as the back-stay is drawn tight, by means of its tackle in the chains, the out-rigger is applied aloft, which forces it out to windward, beyond the circle of the top, so as to increase the angle which the mast makes with the back-stay, and accordingly enable the latter the better to support the former.

This machine is sometimes applied without any tackle; it is then thrust out to its usual distance beyond the top-rim, where it is securely fastened; after which the back-stay is placed in the notch, and extended below.

OWNER, the proprietor of a ship, by whom she is freighted to the merchant for a sea-voyage.

P.

PACKET, or PACKET-BOAT, (paquet, Fr.) a vessel appointed by the government to carry the mail of letters, packets, and expresses from one kingdom to another by sea, in the most expeditious manner. Thus the packet-boats, under the direction of the post-master-general of Great-Britain, carry the mails from Dover to Calais, from Falmouth to Lisbon, from Harwich to Helvoetsluys, and from Parkgate to Dublin.

PADDLE, pagaie, (pattal, Welsh) a sort of oar used by the savages of Africa and America to navigate their canoes. It is much shorter and broader in the blade than the oars of a boat, and is equally employed in rowing and steering. See the article CANOE.

PAINTER, cableau, (probably from bindar, Sax. to bind) a rope employed to fasten a boat either along-side of the ship to which she belongs, or to some wharf, key, &c. as occasion requires.

PALM, paumet, an implement used instead of a thimble in the exercise of making and mending sails. It is formed of a piece of leather or canvas, on the middle of which is fixed a round plate of iron, of an inch in diameter, whose surface is pierced with a number of small holes, to catch the head of the sail-needle. The leather is formed so as to encircle the hand, and button on the back thereof, while the iron remains in the palm; so that the whole strength of the hand may be exerted to thrust the needle through the canvas, when it is stiff and difficult to be penetrated in sewing.

PANCH, a sort of thick and strong mat, or texture, formed by interweaving twists of rope-yarn as close as possible. It is chiefly used to fasten on the outside of the yards, or rigging, to prevent their surfaces from being rubbed by the friction of some other contiguous object, particularly when the vessel is rocked by a tempestuous sea. See also MAT.

PARBUCKLE, a contrivance used by sailors to lower a cask or bale from any height, as the top of a wharf or key, into a boat or lighter, which lies along-side, being chiefly employed where there is no crane or tackle.

It is formed by fastening the bight of a rope to a post, or ring, upon the wharf, and thence passing the two parts of the rope under the two quarters of the cask, and bringing them back again over it; so that when the two lower parts remain firmly attached to the post, the two upper parts are gradually slackened together, and the barrel, or bale, suffered to roll easily downward to that place where it is received below. This method is also frequently used by masons, in lifting up or letting down large stones, when they are employed in building; and from them it has probably been adopted by seamen.

PARCELLING, certain long narrow slips of canvas, daubed with tar, and frequently bound about a rope, in the same manner as bandages are applied to a broken limb in surgery.

This is chiefly practised when the said rope is intended to be served, at which time the parcelling is laid in spiral turns, as smoothly upon the surface as possible, that the rope may not become uneven and full of ridges. It is also employed to raise the mouses, which are formed on the stays and on the voyal being firmly fastened by marling it from one end to the other.

PARCELLING a seam, is laying a shred of canvas upon it, and daubing it over with melted pitch, both above and below the canvas.

PARLIAMENT-HEEL, the situation of a ship, when she is made to stoop a little to one side, so as to clean the upper part of her bottom on the other side, and cover it with a new composition; and afterwards to perform the same office on that part of the bottom which was first immersed. The application of a new composition, or coat of stuff, on this occasion, is called boot-topping. See that article.

PARREL, racage, (probably from parallel) a machine used to fasten the sail-yards of a ship to the masts, in such a manner as that they may be easily hoisted and lowered thereon, as occasion requires.

There are four different sorts of parrels, one of which is formed of a single rope; another, of a rope communicating with an assemblage of ribs and trucks; a third, of a rope passing through several trucks, without any ribs; and the fourth, of a truss, by which the yard may be at any time slackened from the mast, or confined thereto as close as possible.

The first of these, which is also the simplest, is formed of a piece of rope, well covered with leather, or spun-yarn, and furnished with an eye at each end. The middle of it being passed round the middle of the yard, both parts of it are fastened together on the after-side of the yard, and the two ends, which are equally long, are passed round the after-part of the mast; and one of them being brought under, and the other over the yard, the two eyes are lashed together with a piece of spun-yarn on the fore-side thereof, whilst another lashing is employed to bind them together, behind the mast, according to the manner described in the article MARLING.

The second and most complicated are composed of ribs and trucks, the former of which are long flat pieces of wood, having two holes near their ends, bigots, as represented by fig. a. plate VIII. the latter, pommes, are small globular pieces, b, with a hole through the middle, of the same size with those of the ribs. Between every two ribs are placed two trucks, of which one is opposite to the upper hole, and the other to the lower holes of both ribs; so that the parrel-rope, bâtard, which passes through the whole, unites them together like a string of beads.

In order to fasten this machine c more conveniently about the mast and yard, so as to attach the latter to the former, the parrel-rope is formed of two pieces, each of which are furnished with an eye at one end, and both eyes lie on one side of the mast; that is to say, one piece of the rope passes through the lower part of the parrel, and thence under the yard, whilst the other comes through the upper part of the parrel and over the yard, till both eyes meet on the fore-side of the yard, where they are joined together. The other two ends of the parrel-rope are passed about the yard, and the hind part of the parrel alternately, till the latter is sufficiently secured to the former. The whole process is compleated by marling the turns of the parrel-rope together, so as to confine them close in the cavity, formed on the back of the ribs, as expressed in the figure.

The third is nothing more than a single rope, with any number of trucks thereon, sufficient to embrace the mast. These are calculated for the cheeks of a gaff. See that article.

The last, which are known by the name of truss-parrels, are somewhat resembling the first, only that instead of being fastened by lashings, the ropes, of which they are composed, communicate with tackles reaching to the deck, so that the parrel may be occasionally slackened or straitened, in order to let the yard move off from the mast, or confine it thereto as strictly as possible. The last of these are peculiar to the lower-yards, whereon they are extremely convenient. The second are always used for the top-sail yards, and frequently for the lower-yards, in merchant-ships; and the first are seldom employed but for the top-gallant-yards.

PARSLING. See PARCELLING.

PARTING, démarrer, the state of being driven from the anchors, expressed of a ship, when she has broke her cable by the violence of the wind, waves, or current, or all of them together.

PARTNERS, etambraies, certain pieces of plank nailed round the several scuttles, or holes, in a ship’s deck, wherein are contained the masts and capsterns. They are used to strengthen the deck where it is weakened by those breaches, but particularly to support it when the mast leans against it; as impressed by a weight of sail, or when the capstern bears forcibly upon it whilst charged with a great effort.

PARTNERS is also a name given occasionally to the scuttles themselves, wherein the masts and capsterns are fixed.

PASS, or PASSPORT, a permission granted by any state to navigate in some particular sea, without hindrance or molestation from it. It contains the name of the vessel, and that of the master, together with her tonnage, and the number of her crew, certifying that she belongs to the subjects of a particular state, and requiring all persons, at peace with that state, to suffer her to proceed on her voyage without interruption.

PASSAGE, traversée, a voyage from one place to another by sea; an outward or homeward-bound voyage.

PASSAREE, a rope used to fasten the main-tack down to the ship’s side, a little behind the chesstree. This contrivance however is very rarely used, and never but in light breezes of wind.

PAUL, elinguet, (epaule, Fr.) a certain short bar of wood, or iron, fixed close to the capstern, or windlass of a ship, to prevent those engines from rolling back, or giving way, when they are employed to heave-in the cable, or otherwise charged with any great effort. See CAPSTERN and WINDLASS.

PAUNCH. See PANCH.

To PAY, espalmer, as a naval term, implies to daub or anoint the surface of any body, in order to preserve it from the injuries of the water, weather, &c.

Thus the bottom of a ship is paid with a composition of tallow, sulphur, resin, &c. as described in the article BREAMING.

The sides of a ship are usually paid with tar, turpentine, or resin; or by a composition of tar and oil, to which is sometimes added red oker, &c. to protect the planks thereof from being split by the sun or wind. The lower-masts are, for the same reasons, paid with materials of the same sort, if we except those, along which their respective sails are frequently hoisted and lowered; such are the masts of sloops and schooners, which are always paid with tallow for this purpose: for the same reason all top-masts and top-gallant-masts are also paid with hog’s lard, butter, or tallow. See COAT and STUFF.

PAYING-OFF, abattée, the movement by which a ship’s head falls to leeward of the point whither it was previously directed: particularly when, by neglect of the helmsman, she had inclined to windward of her course, so as to make the head-sails shiver in the wind, and retard her velocity. See also FALLING-OFF.

PAYING-OFF is likewise used to signify the payment of the ship’s officers and crew, and the discharge of the ship from service, in order to be laid-up at the moorings.

PAYING-OUT, or PAYING-AWAY, the act of slackening a cable, or other rope, so as to let it run out of the vessel for some particular purpose.

PEAK, or PEEK, a name given to the upper-corner of all those sails which are extended by a gaff; or by a yard which crosses the mast obliquely, as the mizen-yard of a ship, the main-yard of a bilander, &c. The upper extremity of those yards and gaffs are also denominated the peak. Hence

PEEK-HALIARDS, are the ropes, or tackles, by which the outer end of a gaff is hoisted, as opposed to the throat-haliards, which are applied to the inner end. See HALIARDS.

PENDANT, flamme, a sort of long narrow banner, displayed from the mast-head of a ship of war, and usually terminating in two ends or points, as expressed by a, fig. 4. plate V. There are, besides others, pendants, cornets, of a larger kind, used to distinguish the chief of a squadron of ships. See the article COMMODORE.

PENDANT, pantoire, is also a short piece of rope, fixed under the shrouds, upon the head of the main-mast and fore-mast, from which it depends as low as the cat-harpings, having an eye in the lower-end, which is armed with an iron thimble, to prevent the eye from being fretted by the hooks of the main and fore-tackles, &c.

There are, besides, many other pendants of the latter kind, which are generally single or double ropes, to whose lower extremities is attached a block, or tackle: such are the fish-pendant, the yard-tackle-pendants, the reef-tackle-pendants, &c. all of which are employed to transmit the effort of their respective tackles to some distant object.

PERIAGUA, a sort of large canoe, used in the Leeward islands, South America, and the gulf of Mexico. It differs from the common vessels of that name, as being composed of the trunks of two trees, hollowed and united into one fabric; whereas those which are properly called canoes, are formed of the body of one tree. See CANOE.

PIER, a strong mound, or fence, projecting into the sea, to break off the violence of the waves from the entrance of a harbour.

PILLOW, coussin, a block of timber, whereon the inner-end of the bowsprit is supported. See BOWSPRIT.

PILOT, the officer who superintends the navigation, either upon the sea-coast or on the main ocean. It is, however, more particularly applied by our mariners to the person charged with the direction of a ship’s course, on, or near the sea-coast, and into the roads, bays, rivers, havens, &c. within his respective district[41].

PIN of a block. See BLOCK.

PINK, (pinque, Fr.) a name given to a ship with a very narrow stern; whence all vessels, however small, whose sterns are fashioned in this manner, are called pink-sterned.

PINNACE, a small vessel, navigated with oars and sails, and having generally two masts, which are rigged like those of a schooner.

PINNACE is also a boat, usually rowed with eight oars. See the article BOAT.

PINTLES, certain pins or hooks, fastened upon the back part of the rudder, with their points downwards, in order to enter into, and rest upon the googings, fixed on the stern-post to hang the rudder. See HELM.

PIRATE, pirate (πειρατης, Gr.) a sea-robber, or an armed ship that roams the seas without any legal commission, and seizes or plunders every vessel she meets indiscriminately, whether friends or enemies.

The colours usually displayed by pirates are said to be a black field, with a death’s head, a battle-axe and hour-glass. The last instrument is generally supposed to determine the time allowed to the prisoners, whom they take, to consider whether they will join the pirates in their felonious combination, or be put to death, which is often perpetrated in the most cruel manner.

Amongst the most celebrated pirates of the north is recorded Alvilda, daughter of a king of the Goths, named Sypardus. She embraced this occupation to deliver herself from the violence imposed on her inclination, by a marriage with Alf, son of Sigarus, king of Denmark. She drest herself as a man, and composed her band of rowers, and the rest of her crew, of a number of young women, attired in the same manner. Amongst the first of her cruizes she touched at a place where a company of pirates bewailed the death of their captain. The strangers were captivated with the agreeable manners of Alvilda, and chose her for their chief. By this reinforcement she became so formidable upon the sea, that prince Alf came to engage her. She sustained his attacks for a considerable time; but, in a vigorous action, Alf boarded her vessel, and having killed the greatest part of her crew, seized the captain, namely, herself; whom nevertheless he knew not, because the princess had a casque which covered her visage. Being master of her person, he removed the casque, and, in spite of her disguise, instantly recognized her, and offered her his hand in wedlock[42].

PITCH, brai, (pix, Lat.) a composition, black, dry, brittle, and shining, which remains at the bottom of an alembic after the oil of turpentine is drawn off by distillation. It is used in calking a ship, to fill the chinks, or intervals between the planks of her sides, or decks, or bottom. It is sometimes mixed with resin, or other glutinous material. See TAR.

To PITCH the seams. See the article PAY.

PITCHING, tangage, (appicciare, Ital.) may be defined, the vertical vibration which the length of a ship makes about her centre of gravity; or the movement, by which she plunges her head and after-part alternately into the hollow of the sea.

This motion may proceed from two causes: the waves, which agitate the vessel; and the wind upon the sails, which makes her stoop to every blast thereof. The first absolutely depends upon the agitation of the sea, and is not susceptible of inquiry; and the second is occasioned by the inclination of the masts, and may be submitted to certain established maxims[43].

When the wind acts upon the sails, the mast yields to its effort, with an inclination, which increases in proportion to the length of the mast, to the augmentation of the wind, and to the comparative weight and distribution of the ship’s lading.

The repulsion of the water, to the effort of gravity, opposes itself to this inclination, or at least sustains it, by as much as the repulsion exceeds the momentum, or absolute effort of the mast, upon which the wind operates. At the end of each blast, when the wind suspends its action, this repulsion lifts the vessel; and these successive inclinations and repulsions produce the movement of pitching, which is very inconvenient; and when it is considerable, will greatly retard the course, as well as endanger the mast, and strain the vessel.

PLANE, a term used by shipwrights, implying the area, or imaginary surface, contained within any particular outlines. Thus the plane of elevation, plate I. exhibits a surface limited by the head before, by the stern abaft, by the keel below, and by the upper part of the vessel’s side above. Thus the horizontal plane, in the same plate, is comprehended within the lines which describe the ship’s greatest breadth and length; and thus also the plane of projection, represented likewise in plate I. circumscribes the greatest height and breadth of the same vessel.

PLANKING, border, the act of covering and lining the sides of a ship with an assemblage of oak planks, which completes the process of ship-building, and is sometimes called laying on the skin, by the artificers. See the article BUILDING.

The breadth and thickness of all the planks of a 74 gun ship, as also of her wales and thick-stuff, are exhibited in the midship section, plate VII.

PLAT, garcette de cable, a sort of braided cordage, formed of several strands of old rope-yarn, twilled into foxes. It is used to wind about that part of the cable which lies in the hause-hole, or against the fore-part of the ship, where it would otherwise be greatly injured by the continual friction, produced by the agitation of the ship in stormy weather. See the articles FRESHEN and SERVICE.

PLUG, pelardeaux, (plugg, Swed.) certain pieces of timber, formed like the frustrum of a cone, and used to stop the hause-holes, and the breaches made in the body of a ship by cannon-balls; the former of which are called hause-plugs, and the latter, shot-plugs, which are formed of various sizes in proportion to the holes made by the different sizes of shot, which may penetrate the ship´s sides or bottom in battle; accordingly they are always ready for this purpose. See ENGAGEMENT.

PLUNDER, butin, a name given to the effects of the officers or crew of a prize, which are pillaged by the captors.

PLYING, the act of making, or endeavouring to make, a progress against the direction of the wind. Hence a ship, that advances well in her course in this manner of sailing, is said to be a good plyer, boulinier. See the articles BEATING and TACKING.

POINT, a low angle, or arm of the shore, which projects into the sea, or into a river, beyond the rest of the beach.

POINTING, the operation of tapering the end of a rope, and weaving a sort of mat, or close texture, about the diminished part of it, so as to thrust it more easily through any hole, and prevent it from being readily untwisted. Thus the end of a reef-line is pointed, so that, being stiffer, it may more readily penetrate the eye-let holes of the reef; and the ends of the strands of a cable are occasionally pointed, for the greater conveniency of splicing it to another cable, especially when this task is frequently performed. The extremities of the splice of a cable are also pointed, that it may pass with more facility through the hause-holes.

POINTS, garcettes de ris, short flat pieces of braided cordage, tapering from the middle towards each end, and used to reef the courses and top-sails of a ship. See the article REEF.

POLACRE, a ship with three masts, usually navigated in the Levant, and other parts of the Mediterranean. These vessels are generally furnished with square sails upon the main-mast, and lateen sails upon the fore-mast and mizen-mast. Some of them however carry square sails upon all the three masts, particularly those of Provence in France. Each of their masts is commonly formed of one piece, so that they have neither top-mast nor top-gallant-mast; neither have they any horses to their yards, because the men stand upon the top-sail-yard to loose or furl the top-gallant-sail, and on the lower-yard to reef, loose, or furl the top-sail, whose yard is lowered sufficiently down for that purpose. See also XEBEC.

POLE-AXE, a sort of hatchet nearly resembling a battle-axe, having an handle about 15 inches in length, and being furnished with a sharp point, or claw, bending downwards from the back of its head; the blade whereof is formed like that of any other hatchet. It is principally employed to cut away and destroy the rigging of any adversary who endeavours to board.

Pole-axes are also said to have been successfully used on some occasions in boarding an enemy, whose sides were above those of the boarder. This is executed by detaching several gangs to enter at different parts of the ship’s length, at which time the pole-axes are forcibly driven into her side, one above another, so as to form a sort of scaling-ladders.

POLE-MAST. See the article MAST.

Under bare POLES, etre à sec, the situation of a ship at sea when all her sails are furled, particularly in a tempest. See the articles SCUDDING and TRYING.

POMIGLION, a name given by seamen to the cascabel, or hindmost knob of a cannon. See that article.

PONTOON, (ponton, Fr.) a low flat vessel, nearly resembling a lighter, or barge of burthen, and furnished with cranes, capsterns, tackles, and other machinery necessary for careening ships of all sizes. These are very common in the principal parts of the Mediterranean, but are rarely used in the northern parts of Europe.

POOP, dunette, (puppis, Lat.) the highest and aftmost deck of a ship. See the article DECK.

POOP-ROYAL, dunette sur dunette, a short deck, or platform, placed over the aftmost part of the poop in the largest of the French and Spanish men of war, and serving as a cabin for their masters and pilots. This is usually called the top-gallant-poop by our shipwrights.

POOPING, the shock of a high and heavy sea, upon the stern or quarter of a ship, when she scuds before the wind in a tempest. This circumstance is extremely dangerous to the vessel, which is thereby exposed to the risk of having her whole stern beat inwards, by which she would be immediately laid open to the entrance of the sea, and of course, foundered or torn to pieces.

PORT, a harbour or haven on the sea-coast. See the article HARBOUR.

PORT is also a name given, on some occasions, to the larboard, or left-side of the ship, as in the following instances:

The ship heels to PORT, i. e. stoops or inclines to the larboard side.

Top the yard to PORT, the order to make the larboard extremity of a yard higher than the other. See TOPPING.

PORT the helm! the order to put the helm over to the larboard-side of the vessel.

In all these senses this phrase appears intended to prevent any mistakes happening from the similarity of sounds in the words starboard and larboard, particularly when they relate to the helm, where a misapprehension might be attended with very dangerous consequences.

PORTS, sabords, the embrasures or openings in the side of a ship of war, wherein the artillery is ranged in battery upon the decks above and below.

The ports are formed of a sufficient extent to point and fire the cannon, without injuring the ship’s side by the recoil; and as it serves no end to enlarge them beyond what is necessary for that purpose, the shipwrights have established certain dimensions, by which they are cut in proportion to the size of the cannon.

The ports are shut in at sea by a sort of hanging-doors, called the port-lids, mantelets; which are fastened by hinges to their upper-edges, so as to let down when the cannon are drawn into the ship. By this means the water is prevented from entering the lower-decks in a turbulent sea. The lower and upper edges of the ports are always parallel to the deck, so that the guns, when levelled in their carriages, are all equally high above the lower extremity of the ports which is called the port-cells. The ports are exhibited, throughout the ship’s whole length, by H. in the ELEVATION, plate I. They are also represented upon a larger scale in plate IV. fig. 10. and plate VIII. fig. 3. The gun-room-ports, in the ship’s counter, are expressed by H. fig. 1. plate X. See also the articles DECK and CANNON.

POWDER-CHESTS, certain small boxes, charged with powder and a quantity of old nails, or splinters of iron, and fastened occasionally on the decks and sides of a ship, in order to be discharged on an enemy who attempts to seize her by boarding. See that article.

These cases are usually from 12 to 18 inches in length, and about 8 or 10 in breadth, having their outer or upper-part terminating in an edge. They are nailed to several places of the quarter, the quarter-deck and bulk-head of the waist, having a train of powder which communicates with the inner apartments of the ship, so as to be fired at pleasure to annoy the enemy. They are particularly used in merchant-ships, which are furnished with close quarters to oppose the boarders. See CLOSE-QUARTERS.

PRAM, or PRAME, a sort of lighter, used in Holland and the ports of the Baltic sea, to carry the cargo of a merchant-ship along-side, in order to lade her: or to bring it ashore to be lodged in the store-houses after being discharged out of the vessel.

PRATIC, pratique, a term used in the European ports of the Mediterranean sea, implying free intercourse or communication with the natives of the country, after a limited quarantine has been performed, in consequence of a voyage to Barbary or Turkey.

PREVENTER, an additional rope, employed at times to support any other, when the latter suffers an unusual strain, particularly in a strong gale of wind; as the

PREVENTER-BRACE, a temporary brace, fixed occasionally to succour the main or fore-yard of a ship, but particularly the latter, when it is charged with a greater effort than usual, and which, it is apprehended, the common standing braces would not be able to support. See BRACE.

Preventer-shrouds, and Preventer-stays, are applied, in the same manner, to serve the same purposes; and may be easily understood by referring to the articles SHROUD and STAY.

PRICKING the chart, pointer, the act of tracing a ship’s course upon a a marine chart, by the help of a scale and compasses, so as to discover her present situation.

PRICKING the sails, the act of stitching two cloths of a sail together along the space, comprehended between the two edges, or selvages, that overlay each other. Or, it is the sowing a middle-seam between the two seams which are employed to unite every cloth of a sail to the next adjoining. This operation is rarely performed till the sails have been worn for a considerable time, so that the twine, with which they were originally sewed, is become very feeble and incapable of resisting the efforts of a strong gale of wind.

PRIMING, the train of powder which is laid from the opening of the touch-hole, along the cavity of the pan, in order to fire the piece: also the operation of laying this train. See the articles CANNON and EXERCISE.

PRIMING-WIRE, or PRIMING-IRON, a sort of iron-needle, employed to penetrate the touch-hole of a cannon, when it is loaded, in order to discover whether the powder contained therein is thoroughly dry, and fit for immediate service.

PRIVATEER, a vessel of war, armed and equipped by particular merchants, and furnished with a military commission by the admiralty, or the officers who superintend the marine department of a country, to cruize against the enemy, and take, sink, or burn their shipping, or otherwise annoy them as opportunity offers. These vessels are generally governed on the same plan with his majesty’s ships, although they are guilty of many scandalous depredations, which are very rarely practised by the latter.

PRIZE, a vessel taken from the enemy by a ship of war, privateer, or armed merchantman[44].

PRIZING, the application of a lever to move any weighty body, as a cask, anchor, cannon, &c.

PROTEST, an instrument, drawn up in writing, and attested before a justice of peace, by the master and a part of the ship’s crew after the expiration of a voyage, describing the severity of the said voyage, occasioned by tempestuous weather, heavy seas, an insufficient crew, or any other circumstances by which the ship has suffered, or may suffer, either in her hull, masts, rigging, or cargo. It is chiefly intended to shew, that such damages or misfortunes did not happen through any neglect or ill conduct of the master or his officers.

PROW, proue (pros, Lat.) a name given by seamen to the beak, or pointed cut-water of a polacre, xebeck, or galley. The upper-part of the prow, in those vessels, is usually furnished with a grating-platform for the convenience of the seamen who walk out to perform whatever is necessary about the sails or rigging on the bowsprit.

PUDDENING, bourrelet, a thick wreath, or circle of cordage, tapering from the middle towards the ends, and fastened about the main-mast and fore-mast of a ship, to prevent their yards from falling down, when the ropes by which they are usually suspended are shot away in battle.

The puddening, which is represented by fig. 1. plate VIII. is generally formed in the following manner: A small piece of rope, whose length is twice the diameter of the mast, is spliced together at the two ends, and being thus doubled and extended, a thimble is seized into each of the extremities. After this a large quantity of parcelling is firmly wound about its surface in such a manner as to make it gradually larger from the two ends towards the middle. It is afterwards, once or twice, served with spun-yarn throughout its whole length, to bind the parcelling more closely, and render it firmer and more compact; and the whole is completed by pointing it on the surface. Being then fitted with a laniard at one of the eyes, it is fixed about the mast by passing the laniard alternately through both eyes or thimbles on the fore side of the mast. See also DOLPHIN.

PULLING, a name given by sailors to the act of rowing with the oars.

PUMP, a well-known machine, used to discharge the water from the ship’s bottom into the sea.

The common pump is so generally understood, that it hardly requires any description. It is a long wooden tube, whose lower end rests upon the ship’s bottom, between the timbers, in an apartment called the well, inclosed for this purpose near the middle of the ship’s length.

This pump is managed by means of the brake, and the two boxes, or pistons. Near the middle of the tube, in the chamber of the pump, is fixed the lower-box, which is furnished with a staple, by which it may at any time be hooked and drawn up, in order to examine it. To the upper-box is fixed a long bar of iron, called the spear, whose upper-end is fastened to the end of the brake, by means of an iron bolt passing through both. At a small distance from this bolt the brake is confined by another bolt between two cheeks, or ears, fixed perpendicularly on the top of the pump. Thus the brake acts upon the spear as a lever, whose fulcrum is the bolt between the two cheeks, and discharges the water by means of the valves, or clappers, fixed on the upper and lower boxes.

These sort of pumps, however, are very rarely used in ships of war, unless of the smallest size. The most useful machine of this kind, in large ships, is the chain-pump, which is universally used in the navy. This is no other than a long chain, equipped with a sufficient number of valves, at proper distances, which passes downward through a wooden tube, and returns upward in the same manner on the other side. It is managed by a roller or winch, whereon several men may be employed at once; and thus it discharges, in a limited time, a much greater quantity of water than the common pump, and that with less fatigue and inconvenience to the labourers.

This machine is nevertheless exposed to several disagreable accidents by the nature of its construction. The chain is of too complicated a fabric, and the sprocket-wheels employed to wind it up from the ship’s bottom, are deficient in a very material circumstance, viz. some contrivance to prevent the chain from sliding or jerking back upon the surface of the wheel, which frequently happens when the valves are charged with a considerable weight of water, or when the pump is violently worked. The links are evidently too short, and the immechanical manner in which they are connected, exposes them to a great friction in passing round the wheels. Hence they are sometimes apt to break or burst asunder in very dangerous situations, when it is extremely difficult or impracticable to repair the chain.

The consideration of the known inconveniences of the above machine has given rise to the invention of several others which should better answer the purpose. They have been offered to the public one after another with pompous recommendations by their respective projectors, who have never failed to report their effects as considerably superior to that of the chain-pump with which they have been tried. It is however much to be lamented, that in these sort of trials there is not always a scrupulous attention to what may be called mechanical justice. The artist who wishes to introduce a new piece of mechanism, has generally sufficient address to compare its effects with one of the former machines which is crazy or out of repair. A report of this kind indeed favours strongly of the evidence of a false witness, but this finesse is not always discovered. The persons appointed to superintend the comparative effects of the different pumps, have not always a competent knowledge of hydraulics to detect these artifices, or to remark with precision the defects and advantages of those machines as opposed to each other. Thus the several inventions proposed to supplant the chain-pump have hitherto proved ineffectual, and are now no longer remembered.

Of late, however, some considerable improvements have been made on the naval chain-pump, by Mr. Cole, under the direction of Capt. Bentinck. The chain of this machine is more simple and mechanical, and much less exposed to damage. It is exactly similar to that of the fire engine, and appears to have been first applied to the pump by Mr. Mylne, to exhaust the water from the caissons at Black-fryars bridge. It has thence been transferred to the marine by Capt. Bentinck, after having received some material additions to answer that service. The principal superiority of this pump to the former is, 1. That the chain is more simple and more easily worked, and of course less exposed to injuries by friction. 2. That the chain is secured upon the wheel, and thereby prevented from jerking back when charged with a column of water. 3. That it may be easily taken up and repaired when broken, or choaked with ballast, &c. 4. That it discharges a much greater quantity of water with an inferior number of men.

The latter part of this account is inserted after the last article in W.

PUNT, a sort of flat-bottomed boat, whose floor resembles the platform of a floating-stage. It is used by the naval artificers, either in calking, breaming, or repairing the bottom of a ship.

PURCHASE, a name given by sailors to any sort of mechanical power employed in raising or removing heavy bodies, or in fixing or extending the ship’s rigging. Such are the tackles, windlasses, capsterns, screws, and handspikes.

PURSER, an officer, appointed by the lords of the admiralty, to take charge of the provisions of a ship of war, and to see that they are carefully distributed to the officers and crew, according to the instructions which he has received from the commissioners of the navy for that purpose.

Q.

QUADRANT, an instrument used to take the altitude of the sun or stars at sea, in order to determine the latitude of the place; or the sun’s azimuth, so as to ascertain the magnetical variation.

These instruments are variously constructed, and by consequence the apparatus of each kind is somewhat different from those of the others, according to the improvements they have at different times received from several ingenious artists.

As all the different kinds of quadrants are circumstantially described, either in printed directions to use them, or in other books, a particular account of them here might reasonably be esteemed superfluous. It suffices to say that the most useful, as well as the most general, for taking observations at sea is the octant, originally invented by Sir Isaac Newton, and since that time improved and brought into practice by Mess. Godfrey and Hadley. It may not however be unnecessary to remark, that the back-observation, which, in many situations, is certainly more accurate and useful than that which is taken in front, is almost totally neglected by our observers, under pretence of its being more uncertain, or more liable to error: but really because it is somewhat more difficult to learn. We may venture to affirm however, that no artist, who thoroughly understands the operation, will ever advance so absurd an objection, unless we should doubt the testimony of a multitude of experiments.

QUARANTINE, the state of the persons who are restrained within the limits of a ship, or lazaretto; or otherwise prevented from having a free communication with the inhabitants of any country, till the expiration of an appointed time, during which they are repeatedly examined with regard to their health. It is chiefly intended to prevent the importation of the plague, from the countries under the dominion of the Turks.

QUARTER of a ship, hanche, that part of a ship’s side which lies towards the stern, or which is comprehended between the aftmost end of the main chains and the sides of the stern, where it is terminated by the quarter-pieces.

Although the lines by which the quarter and bow of a ship, with respect to her length, are only imaginary, yet experience appears sufficiently to have ascertained their limits: so that if we were to divide the ship’s sides into five equal portions, the names of each space would be readily enough expressed. Thus the first, from the stern, would be the quarter; the second, abaft the midships; the third, the midships; the fourth, before the midships; and the fifth, the bow. Whether these divisions, which in reality are somewhat arbitrary, are altogether improper, may be readily discovered by referring to the mutual situation or approach of two adjacent vessels. The enemy boarded us on the larboard-side! Whereabouts? Abaft the midships, before the midships, &c.

Plate VIII. fig. 3. represents a geometrical elevation of the quarter of a 74 gun ship, as corresponding with the other figures of a ship of the same rate, delineated upon the same plate. See the articles HEAD, MIDSHIP-FRAME, and STERN.

In this figure, all the parts are distinguished by the same letters as those in the plane of elevation, plate I. wherein the quarter is continued into the side, upon a smaller scale.

Explanation of fig. 3. plate VIII.

A the keel, with a the false keel beneath it.

B the stern-post.

D D the quarter-gallery, with its ballustrades and windows.

E F the quarter-pieces, which limit and form the outlines of the stern.

F the taffarel, or upper pieces of the stern.

F G the profile of the stern, with its galleries.

H the gun-ports of the lower-deck.

h the gun-ports of the upper and quarter-decks.

I the after-part of the mizen-channel.

K the wing-transom.

K G the lower counter.

L B the station of the deck-transom.

L Q the after-part of the main-wale.

D R the after-part of the channel-wale, parallel to the main-wale,

S U the sheer-rail, parallel to both wales.

T t the rudder.

A t F the rake of the stern.

P i i the drift-rails.

T U the after-part of the load water-line.

k k l the curve of the several decks corresponding to those represented in the head.

As the marks, by which vessels of different constructions are distinguished from each other, are generally more conspicuous on the stern, or quarter, than any other part, we have represented, in plate VIII. some of the quarters, which assume the most different shapes, and form the greatest contrast with each other.

Fig. 4. shews the stern and quarter of a Dutch flight.

Fig. 5. the stern and quarter of a cat.

Fig. 8. is the stern and quarter of a common galley.

Fig. 9. exhibits the quarter of a first-rate galley, otherwise called a galleasse.

Fig. 6. the quarter of a Dutch dogger, or galliot.

Fig. 7. represents the stern and quarter of a sloop of war.

The quarters of all other ships have a near affinity to those above exhibited. Thus all ships of the line, and East-Indiamen, are formed with a quarter little differing from the principal figure in this plate. Xebecs have quarters nearly resembling those of galeasses, only somewhat higher. Hag-boats and pinks approach the figure of cats, the former being a little broader in the stern, and the latter a little narrower; and the sterns and quarters of cats seem to be derived from those of fly-boats. The sterns of Dutch doggers and galliots are indeed singular, and like those of no other modern vessel: they have nevertheless a great resemblance to the ships of the antient Grecians, as represented in medals and other monuments of antiquity.

On the QUARTER, may be defined an arch of the horizon, contained between the line prolonged from the ship’s stern and any distant object, as land, ships, &c. Thus if the ship’s keel lies on an east and west line, the stern being westward, any distant object perceived in the north-west or south-west, is said to be on the larboard or starboard quarter. See the article BEARING.

QUARTER-BILL, a roll, or list, containing the different stations, to which all the officers and crew of the ship are quartered, in the time of battle, and the names of all the persons appointed to those stations.

QUARTER-CLOTHS, bastingage, long pieces of painted canvas, extended on the outside of the quarter-netting from the upper-part of the gallery to the gangway. They are generally decorated with martial instruments, or allegorical figures.

QUARTER-GALLERY, a sort of small balcony, with or without ballustrades, on the quarter of a ship, as represented by fig. 1. plate VIII. The gallery on the quarter generally communicates with that on the stern, by means of a door passing from one to the other.

QUARTER-GUNNER, an inferior officer under the direction of the gunner of a ship of war, whom he is to assist in every branch of his duty; as keeping the guns and their carriages in proper order, and duly furnished with whatever is necessary; filling the powder into cartridges; scaling the guns, and keeping them always in a condition to be ready for service. The number of quarter-gunners in any ship is always in proportion to the number of her artillery, one quarter-gunner being allowed to every four cannon.

QUARTER-MASTER, an inferior officer, appointed by the master of a ship of war to assist the mates in their several duties; as stowing the ballast and provisions in the hold, coiling the cables on their platforms, overlooking the steerage of the ship, and keeping the time by the watch-glasses.

QUARTER-NETTING, a sort of net-work, extended along the rails on the upper-part of a ship’s quarter. In a ship of war these are always double, being supported by iron cranes, placed at proper distances. The interval is sometimes filled with cork, or old sails, but chiefly with the hammocs of the sailors, so as to form a parapet to prevent the execution of the enemy’s small arms in battle. See the article ENGAGEMENT.

QUARTER-RAILS, are narrow-moulded planks, generally of fir, reaching from the top of the stern to the gangway. They are supported by stanchions, and serve as a fence to the quarter-deck, to prevent the men from tumbling into the sea by the rolling of the ship, particularly in small vessels.

QUARTERS, a name given, at sea, to the several stations where the officers and crew of a ship of war are posted in action. See the article ENGAGEMENT.

The number of men appointed to manage the artillery is always in proportion to the nature of the guns, and the number and condition of the ship’s crew. They are, in general, as follow, when the ship is well manned, so as to fight both sides at once occasionally:

Nature of the gun.

Pounder. No. of men. To a 42 15 32 13 24 11 18 9 12 7 9 6 6 5 4 4 3 3

This number, to which is often added a boy to bring powder to every gun, may be occasionally reduced, and the guns nevertheless well managed. The number of men appointed to the small arms, on board his majesty’s ships and sloops of war, by order of the admiralty, are,

Rate of the ship. No. of men to the small arms. 1st 150 2d 120 3d of 80 guns 100 — of 70 guns 80 4th of 60 guns 70 4th of 50 guns 60 5th 50 6th 40 Sloops of war 30

The lieutenants are usually stationed to command the different batteries, and direct their efforts against the enemy. The master superintends the movements of the ship, and whatever relates to the sails. The boatswain, and a sufficient number of men, are stationed to repair the damaged rigging; and the gunner and carpenter, wherever necessary, according to their respective offices. See also the articles CANNON and EXERCISE.

The marines are generally quartered on the poop and forecastle, or gangway, under the direction of their officers; although, on some occasions, they assist at the great guns, particularly in distant cannonading.

QUARTERS! is also an exclamation to implore mercy from a victorious enemy.

QUICK-SAND, a loose quaking sand, into which a ship sinks by her own weight, as soon as the water retreats from her bottom.

QUICK-WORK, œuvres-vives, a general name given to all that part of a ship, which is under the surface of the water when she is laden fit for a sea-voyage. It is also applied, occasionally, to that part of the side which is above the sheer-rail, and which is usually painted with trophies, &c. on the outside.

QUILTING, (kulcht, Dutch) the operation of weaving a sort of coat, or texture, formed of the strands of rope, about the outside of any vessel, to contain water, &c. as a jar, cask, bottle, &c.

QUOIN, a sort of wedge, employed to raise the cannon to a proper level, that it may be more truly directed to the object.

QUOINS are also employed to wedge off the casks of wine, oil, spirituous liquors, &c. from each other, that their bilges may not rub against each other so as to occasion a leak, by the agitation of the ship, at sea.

R.

RABBIT, rablure, (rabatre, Fr.) a deep groove, or channel, cut in a piece of timber longitudinally, to receive the edge of a plank, or the ends of a number of planks, which are to be securely fastened therein. The depth of this channel is equal to the thickness of the plank, so that when the end of the latter is let into the rabbit, it will be level with the outside of the piece. Thus the ends of the lower planks of a ship’s bottom terminate upon the stem afore, and the stern-post abaft, with whose sides their surfaces are even. The surface of the garboard streak, whose edge is let into the keel, is, in the same manner, level with the side of the keel at the extremities of the vessel.

RACKING, the fastening two opposite parts of a tackle together, so as that any weighty body suspended thereby, shall not fall down, although the rope, which forms the tackle, should be loosened by accident or neglect.

This expedient is chiefly practised when the boats are hung up to the ship’s side, during the night time, in an open road or bay, lest the rope of the tackle should be untied by the inattention of some of the crew; by which accident the boat might be considerably damaged, and probably lost, or dashed in pieces.

RAFT, radeau, a sort of float, formed by an assemblage of various planks, or pieces of timber, fastened together side by side, so as to be conveyed more commodiously, to any short distance in a harbour or road, than if they were separate. The timber and plank, with which merchant-ships are laden, in the different parts of the Baltic sea, are attached together in this manner, in order to float them off to the shipping.

RAFT-PORT, a square hole, cut through the buttocks of some ships, immediately under the counter, to receive the planks or pieces of timber which are brought to lade her for transportation; and which, on account of their great length, could not be received aboard otherwise.

RAG-BOLT, an iron pin, having several barbs, as explained in the article IRON-WORK, and represented in fig. 2, plate II.

RAILS, are narrow planks, generally of fir, upon which there is a moulding stuck. They are for ornament, and are nailed across the stern, above the wing-transom and counters, &c. They are likewise nailed upon several planks along the side; one in particular is called the sheer-rail, which limits the height of the side from the forecastle to the quarter-deck, and runs aft to the stern, and forward to the cat-head; the wales are nearly parallel to this. Murray’s Ship-Building.

The reader will understand this article better by referring to the figures of the rails, as represented in plates I, IV, VII, and VIII. and their explanations, in NAVAL ARCHITECTURE, &c.

RAILS of the head, certain curved pieces of timber, extending from the bows on each side to the continuation of the ship’s stem, to support the knee of the head, and the ornamental figure fixed thereon. The form of these rails is represented at large in the figure referred to from the article HEAD, plate IV.

To RAISE, to elevate any distant object at sea, by a gradual approach towards it from the place whence it was formerly observed. This effect is known to be occasioned by the convexity of the surface of the sea, which previously intercepted the view, when directed towards the lower parts of the said object. This term is opposed to LAYING, which see.

RAISING a purchase, the act of disposing certain instruments, or machines, in such a manner, as that, by their mutual effects, they may produce a mechanical force sufficient to overcome the weight, or resistance of the object to which this machinery is applied.

RAKE, the projection of the upper parts of a ship at the height of the stem, and stern, beyond the extremities of the keel. Thus if a plummet be hung from the top of a ship’s stern, so as to be level with the continuation of the keel, the distance between the after end of the keel and the plummet will be the length of the rake abaft, or the rake of the stern.

RAKING a ship, the act of cannonading a ship on the stern, or head, so as that the balls shall scour the whole length of her decks; which is one of the most dangerous incidents that can happen in a naval action. This is frequently called raking fore and aft, being the same with what is called enfilading by engineers.

RANGE, a sufficient length of the cable, drawn up on the deck, before the anchor is cast loose from the bow, to let it sink to the bottom, without being interrupted, that the flukes may be forced the deeper into the ground, by the additional weight which the anchor acquires in sinking. For this reason the range, which is drawn up out of the tier, ought to be equal in length, to the depth of the water where the ship anchors. See ANCHOR and CABLE-TIER.

RANGE, is also the distance to which a bomb or cannon-ball is thrown from a piece of artillery, by the explosion of gun-powder. See the articles CANNON and MORTAR.

The flight of a shot is distinguished, by artillery people, into two different ranges, of which the first is called the point-blank; and the second, the random-shot. To these also may be added the ricochet, or rolling and bounding-shot.

Whatever has been observed, in other parts of this work, with regard to the flight of a shot from a piece of artillery, is on the presumption that it describes a right line in its passage to the object. This, however, is not strictly true; because by its weight it inclines to the earth every instant of its motion: but as its velocity is very great when first discharged from the cannon, the weight does not sensibly affect the direction in the first instant of its motion. Thus the line it describes, as represented in plate III. extending from fig. 16. to the ship under sail, is apparently straight, and the extent of this line is called the point-blank range of the piece; which accordingly may be defined the extent of the apparent right line, described by a ball discharged from a cannon.

This range is much less than the greatest range, or random-shot; but the piece cannot be levelled, or, as it is generally expressed, pointed at an object intended to be battered, if that object is not within the distance of the point-blank range; for beyond that, the stroke is very uncertain.

A piece is said to fire at random-shot, when the breech rests upon the bed of the carriage, so that the ball is carried to the greatest possible distance. But as, in this method of firing, the ball cannot be directed to any determinate object, it is rarely used in the sea-service, and only when the shot cannot fail of doing great execution in the place whereon it falls.

Besides the two ranges above described, there is the ricochet[45], invented by the Marshal de Vauban.

To fire a piece by way of the ricochet, the cannon is only charged with a quantity of powder sufficient to carry the shot along the face of the works attacked. The shot, thus discharged, goes rolling and bounding, killing, maiming, or destroying all it meets in its course, and creates much more disorder by going thus slowly, than if thrown from the piece with greater violence.

When ricochet firing is used, the pieces are elevated from 3 to 6 degrees, and no more; because if the elevation is greater, the shot will only drop into the work, without bounding from one place to another. They are to be loaded with a small charge, and directed in such a manner as just to go over the parapet[46].

It was the opinion of engineers formerly, that by charging the pieces high, the ball was thrown to a greater distance. Hence the pieces were charged with two thirds, or even the whole weight of the shot, in order to impel it with greater velocity; but it has been discovered since, that the half, or one third of the weight of the ball, is the fittest charge for the piece[47].

If the whole quantity of powder, employed to charge the cannon, could take fire at the same instant, it is apparent that the velocity, communicated to the shot, would increase in proportion to the additional quantity of powder. But though the time of its inflammation is very short, it may yet be conceived as divided into many instants. In the first instant, the powder begins to dilate and impel the shot forward; and if it has force enough to expel it from the piece before the whole charge is inflamed, that part which is left to take fire afterwards will produce no effect at all on the shot. A charge of extraordinary force does not therefore accelerate the velocity of the bullet: and hence it follows that the piece ought to be charged with no more powder, than will take fire whilst the ball is passing through the chace of the cannon.

It may not be amiss to observe here, that the range of cannon is greater in the morning and at night, than at noon; and in cold, than in hot weather. The reason is, that at these times the air being less heated, gives less way to the dilatation of the powder, which being by this means confined, as it were, to a smaller sphere of action, must have a stronger effect in proportion[48].

“When the lengths of cannon are proportional to the height of the charge, the shot will be discharged with the same velocity, whatever the calibre may be; and since the ratios of the velocities of shots, issuing from pieces of different lengths, loaded with different charges of powder, will be of great use in the construction of cannon, we have collected them in the following table, where the numbers at the top express the length of the pieces by the diameter of their shots. That is, the first is 12 diameters; the second 15, and so on. The first perpendicular column expresses the charges, in respect to the weight of the shots: thus, ¼, ⅓, ½, ⅔ imply that the weight of the charge is ¼, ⅓, ½, ⅔ of the weight of the shot. The other numbers, in the same horizontal lines, express the distance in feet moved over by the velocities of the shot, uniformly continued in a second of time.

A Table of Velocities.

│ 12 │ 15 │ 18 │ 21 │ 24 │ 27 │ 30 │ 36 │ ─┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤ ¼│1043│1052│1058│1063│1066│1068│1071│1074│ ⅓│1186│1200│1210│1217│1222│1224│1229│1234│ ½│1406│1434│1452│1465│1475│1482│1488│1497│ ⅔│1568│1613│1641│1662│1677│1688│1698│1711│

“We made use of the diameter of a 9 pound shot, which being 4 inches, is more convenient in the calculation; and this diameter expresses the height of the charge when it is a quarter of the weight of the shot, and the rest in proportion.

“Several remarks may be made upon this table, which are of great importance in the construction of cannon. First, when the charge is but a quarter of the shot’s weight, the difference between the velocities, when the length is 12 and 15 diameters, is but 9 feet in a second; and the differences between the other velocities decrease as the length increases.

“Hence, as the difference between the velocities when the piece is 15 and 36 diameters long, is but 22 feet in a second, it is easily perceived, that when the pieces are charged with one quarter of the shot’s weight, the length from 12 to 15 diameters is the best.

“Secondly, When the charge is one third of the shot’s weight, the difference of the velocities, when the piece is 12, 15, and 18 diameters long, are 14, 10 seconds; and from thence decrease more and more, as the length of the piece increases: so the length, from 15 to 18 diameters seems to be the best, every thing being considered.

“Thirdly, and lastly, it appears, from the same manner of reasoning, that when the charge is one-half of the shot’s weight, the length ought to be from 18 to 21 diameters; and when the charge is two thirds of the shot’s weight, the length ought to be from 21 to 24 diameters.” Muller’s Artillery.

As one of the effects of the bomb results from its weight, the range of mortars is extremely different from that of cannon, because the former is not pointed at a certain object, like the latter, but inclined to the horizon at a certain angle; so that the bomb, being thrown up obliquely, much in the same direction as a tennis-ball struck by the racket, may fall upon the place intended. Hence it appears that the mortar has no point-blank range, or at least that no use is made of it.

The mortar, being fixed in a situation obliquely with the horizon, so as that the line a c, which passes through the middle of it longitudinally, being continued, would make an angle b a d with the horizon a b; a bomb, discharged in the direction of this continued line, would deviate from it every instant of its motion by its weight, which inclines it downwards, and by this means it would describe a curve-line, as a e b, called a parabola[49].

The line a b, fig. 19. plate VI. is called the extent of the range, or the amplitude of the parabola; and the line a d, the elevation of the mortar.

To make a bomb fall on a given place, two things are to be considered; viz. the elevation of the mortar; and the quantity of powder used to charge it; both of which may be ascertained as follows: A bomb discharged from a mortar, pointed vertically, will describe a line nearly perpendicular to the horizon: I say nearly, because the mortar will always have some little motion, which will destroy the exact perpendicularity of the bomb’s flight; but abstracted from this, a bomb, discharged vertically, would fall again into the mortar[50].

If the mortar be afterwards inclined more and more towards the horizon, the bomb will fall still farther and farther distant from the mortar, till the elevation rests at 45°; and the more the mortar is pointed under this angle, the more will the range of the bomb be diminished: all of which is strictly demonstrated by geometry. But the following is a very simple manner of conceiving it, without having recourse to that science.

A bomb, discharged in the direction of a line, nearly perpendicular to the horizon, will fall at a little distance from the bomb-vessel. This requires no proof. A bomb, thrown according to a line that makes a very acute angle with the horizon, will presently come to the ground by its weight, and by consequence will not, any more than the other, fall at a considerable distance from the mortar.

Hence it is easy to conceive, that in order to fall at the greatest distance from the mortar, the bomb must be fired according to an elevation at the greatest possible distance, as well from a vertical, as from an horizontal line. This elevation divides in two equal parts the angle formed by the vertical and horizontal lines, which being of 90 degrees, or what is called a right angle, a bomb will be thrown to the greatest distance, in the direction of a line making an angle of 45 degrees. For above this angle the range will diminish, because the bomb approaches the vertical line; and under the same elevation it will also decrease, because the flight of the bomb approaches the horizontal line.

Hence also it appears that there are two angles, according to which a mortar may be inclined to make the bomb fall on the same place; these are the angles, equally distant from the line, which cuts the quadrant into two equal parts: so that if, for example, a mortar is elevated at 30°, the bomb will fall at the same distance as if it had been elevated at 60°, each of these angles being 15° distant on this, and that side of the quadrant; that is, from the angle of 45 degrees.

The second thing to be considered, is, to know the exact charge of powder necessary to throw a bomb to a given distance.

If the bomb, being fired at an elevation of 45°, falls short of the place intended, the charge of powder must be increased. If it reaches the place, or goes beyond it, it is evident that the charge is sufficient. If the bomb, at an elevation under 45°, fall short of the place intended, with a given charge, the mortar must be more elevated: if, on the contrary, it falls too far off, it must be more inclined to the horizon: and by these essays the proper degree of inclination may be easily and speedily discovered.

If the mortar then is raised above 45°, it must be more inclined, so as to make a more acute angle with the horizon, to increase the range of the bomb; and, on the contrary, raised nearer a perpendicular, to diminish it: all of which are consequences drawn from what has been said on this subject.

It must be observed, first, that the greatest distance to which a bomb can be thrown, with the strongest charge, is little more than about 1800, or 2000 fathoms.

Secondly, that though a mortar may be elevated indifferently, either so much above or below 45° as to carry a bomb to a given distance, yet when any building is to be destroyed, it should be raised above 45°, because the shell, rising to a greater height when fired according to a greater angle, falls with greater force, and by consequence will do more damage to the place on which it is thrown. But when the business is to fire on a body of men, the mortar must be pointed below 45°, that the bomb may not have force enough to enter far into the ground, and that the splinters in the explosion may do more execution.

PRACTICE FOR SEA-MORTARS.

Nature of the Mortar. 13 Inch. 10 Inch. Flight in Ranges in Length of Powder. Powder. Seconds. Yards. Composition in Fuses. lb. oz. lb. oz. Inches Parts 3 0 12 612 2 64 4 0 1 12 14 832 3 8 2 4 15 958 3 30 5 0 2 6 16 1088 3 52 5 8 2 8 17 1299 3 74 3 2 18 1377 2 96 7 0 3 8 19 1534 4 18 4 0 20 1700 4 40 8 12 4 8 21 1874 4 62 9 0 5 8 22 2057 4 84 12 0 23 2248 14 24 2448 16 25 2656 18 8 2 26 2873 5 72 20 0 8 10 27 3098 5 94 22 0 9 8 28 3332 6 16 24 8 11 4 29 3574 6 38 28 0 12 0 30 3821 6 60 31 8 31 4085 6 82

The ranges of mortars, at the several elevations below, are in proportion to one another, viz.

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 100 98 94 86 76 64 50 34 17

Example. Knowing the range of a shell at 45 to be 890 yards, required the range at 30 with the same powder; say, as 100 : 86 : : 890 : 765.4; and if you have a shell’s range at 30, and would know how far it will go at 45 with the same quantity of powder, rule as 86 : 100 : : 765.4 : 890.

N. B. These propositions only hold good when the powder is equal.

RATES, the orders or classes into which the ships of war are divided, according to their force and magnitude.

It has already been observed, in the article NAVY, that this regulation, which limits the rates of men of war to the smallest number possible, seems to have been dictated by considerations of political œconomy, or of that of the simplicity of the service in the royal dock-yards. The British fleet is accordingly distributed into six rates, exclusive of the inferior vessels that usually attend on naval armaments; as sloops of war, armed ships, bomb-ketches, fire-ships and cutters, or schooners commanded by lieutenants.

Ships of the first rate mount 100 cannon, having 42 pounders on the lower deck, 24 pounders on the middle deck, 12 pounders on the upper deck, and 6 pounders on the quarter deck and forecastle. They are manned with 850 men, including their officers, seamen, marines, and servants.

In general, the ships of every rate, besides the captain, have the master, the boatswain, the gunner, the chaplain, the purser, the surgeon, and the carpenter; all of whom, except the chaplain, have their mates or assistants, in which are comprehended the sail-maker, the master at arms, the armorer, the captain’s clerk, the gunsmith, &c.

The number of other officers are always in proportion to the rate of the ship. Thus a first rate has six lieutenants, six master’s mates, twenty-four midshipmen, and five surgeon’s mates, who are considered as gentlemen; besides the following petty officers: quarter-masters, and their mates, fourteen; boatswains mates and yeomen, eight; gunners mates and assistants, six; quarter-gunners, twenty-five; carpenters mates, two, besides fourteen assistants; with one steward, and steward’s mate to the purser.

If the dimensions of all ships of the same rate were equal, it would be the simplest and most perspicuous method to collect them into one point of view in a table; but as there is no invariable rule for the general dimensions, it must suffice to remark those of some particular ships in each rate; for which purpose we have selected some of the latest construction.

The Victory, which is the last built of our first rates, is 222 feet 6 inches in length, from the head to the stern; the length of her keel, 151 feet 3 inches; that of her gun-deck, or lower deck, 186 feet; her extreme breadth is 51 feet 10 inches; her depth in the hold, 21 feet 6 inches; her burthen 2162 tons; and her poop reaches 6 feet before the mizen-mast.

Ships of the second rate carry 90 guns upon three decks, of which those on the lower battery are 32 pounders; those on the middle, 18 pounders; on the upper-deck, 12 pounders; and those on the quarter-deck, 6 pounders, which usually amount to four or six. Their complement of men is 750, in which there are six lieutenants, four master’s mates, twenty-four midshipmen, and four surgeon’s mates, fourteen quarter-masters and their mates, eight boatswain’s mates and yeomen, six gunner’s mates and yeomen, with twenty-two quarter-gunners, two carpenter’s mates, with ten assistants, and one steward and steward’s mate.

Ships of the third rate carry from 64 to 80 cannon, which are 32, 18, and 9 pounders. The 80–gun ships however begin to grow out of repute, and to give way to those of 74, 70, &c. which have only two whole batteries; whereas the former have three, with 28 guns planted on each, the cannon of their upper-deck being the same as those on the quarter-deck and fore-castle of the latter, which are 9 pounders. The complement in a 74 is 650, and in a 64, 500 men; having, in peace, 4 lieutenants, but in war, 5; and when an admiral is aboard, 6. They have 3 master’s mates, 16 midshipmen, 3 surgeon’s mates, 10 quarter-masters and their mates, 6 boatswain’s mates and yeomen, 4 gunner’s mates and yeomen, with 18 quarter-gunners, 1 carpenter’s mate, with 8 assistants, and 1 steward and steward’s mate under the purser.

Ships of the fourth rate mount from 60 to 50 guns, upon two decks, and the quarter-deck. The lower tier is composed of 24 pounders, the upper tier of 12 pounders, and the cannon on the quarter-deck and fore-castle are 6 pounders. The complement of a 50 gun ship is 350 men, in which there are three lieutenants, 2 master’s mates, 10 midshipmen, 2 surgeon’s mates, 8 quarter-masters and their mates, 4 boatswain’s mates and yeomen, 1 gunner’s mate and 1 yeoman, with 12 quarter-gunners, 1 carpenter’s mate and 6 assistants, and a steward and steward’s mate.

All vessels of war, under the fourth rate, are usually comprehended under the general name of frigates, and never appear in the line of battle. They are divided into the 5th and 6th rates, the former mounting from 40 to 32 guns, and the latter from 28 to 20. The largest of the fifth rate have two decks of cannon, the lower battery being of 18 pounders, and that of the upper-deck of 9 pounders; but those of 36 and 32 guns have only one complete deck of guns, mounting 12 pounders, besides the quarter-deck and fore-castle, which carry 6 pounders. The complement of a ship of 44 guns, is 280 men and that of a frigate of 36 guns, 240 men. The first has 3, and the second 2 lieutenants; and both have 2 master’s mates, 6 midshipmen, 2 surgeon’s mates, 6 quarter-masters and their mates, 2 boatswain’s mates and 1 yeoman, 1 gunner’s mate and 1 yeoman, with 10 or 11 quarter-gunners, and 1 purser’s steward.

Frigates of the 6th rate carry 9 pounders, those of 28 guns having 3 pounders on their quarter-deck, with 200 men for their complement; and those of 24, 160 men; the former has 2 lieutenants, the latter, 1; and both have 2 master’s mates, 4 midshipmen, 1 surgeon’s mate, 4 quarter-masters and their mates, 1 boatswain’s mate and 1 yeoman, 1 gunner’s mate and 1 yeoman, with 6 or 7 quarter-gunners, and 1 purser’s steward.

The sloops of war carry from 18 to 8 cannon, the largest of which have 6 pounders; and the smallest, viz. those of 8 and 10 guns, 4 pounders. Their officers are generally the same as in the 6th rates, with little variation; and their complements of men are from 120 to 60, in proportion to their force or magnitude.

N. B. Bomb-vessels are on the same establishment as sloops; but fire-ships and hospital-ships are on that of fifth rates.

Having already exhibited the dimensions of the largest first rate in our navy, we have, in the following table, collected those of the inferior rates:

│Guns.│ Length of│ Length of │ Extreme │ Depth in │Bur- │ Rates. │ │ the keel. │ the lower │ breadth. │ the hold. │then │ │ │ │ deck. │ │ │ in │ │ │ │ │ │ │tons.│ │ │Feet. Inch.│Feet. Inch.│Feet. Inch.│Feet. Inch.│ │ 2d rate, │ 90│ 144 ¾│ 177 6 │ 50 │ 21 │ 1934│ Barfleur, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 3d Arro- │ 74│ 138 │ 168 3 │ 47 4 │ 19 9│ 1644│ rate, gant, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Europa,│ 64│ 139 │ 159 │ 44 4 │ 19 4│ 1366│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 4th rate, │ 50│ 120 8 │ 146 │ 40 4 │ 17 4│ 1044│ Salisbury, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 5th Phœnix,│ 44│ 116 11 │ 140 9 │ 37 1⅜│ 16 │ 856│ rate, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Venus, │ 36│ 106 3 │ 128 4½│ 35 9 │ 12 4│ 722│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 6th Carys- │ 28│ 97 3½│ 118 4 │ 33 8 │ 10 6│ 586│ rate, fort, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Dol- │ 24│ 93 4 │ 113 │ 32 1 │ 11 │ 511│ phin, │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Sloop, │ 16│ 80 7⅝│ 98 │ 27 2 │ 12 8│ 316│ Nautilus, │ │ │ │ │ │ │

Nothing more evidently manifests the great improvement of the marine art, and the degree of perfection to which it has arrived in England, than the facility of managing our first rates; which were formerly esteemed incapable of government, unless in the most favourable weather of the summer. In testimony of this observation we may, with great propriety, produce the example of the Royal George, which, during the whole course of the late war, was known to be as easily navigated, and as capable of service, as any of the inferior ships of the line, and that frequently in the most tempestuous seasons of the year. The ingenious M. Du Hamel, who is eminently distinguished for his knowledge of marine affairs, has indeed judiciously objected to the defects and bad qualities of such large ships[51]. It is nevertheless hardly possible for any Englishman, who was witness to the defeat of M. Conflans, by the victorious Sir Edward Hawke, on the ever-memorable 20th of November, without dissenting a while from that gentleman’s opinion. In reality, a fact, confirmed by repeated experience, must unavoidably triumph over all theoretical conclusions.

Ships of the second rate, and those of the third, which have three decks, carry their sails remarkably well, and labour very little at sea. They are excellent in a general action, or in cannonading a fortress. Those of the third rate, which have two tiers, are fit for the line of battle, to lead the convoys and squadrons of ships of war in action, and in general, to suit the different exigencies of the naval service.

The fourth rates may be employed on the same occasions as the third rates, and may be also destined amongst the foreign colonies, or on expeditions of great distance; since these vessels are usually excellent for keeping and sustaining the sea.

Vessels of the fifth rate are too weak to suffer the shock of a line of battle; but they may be destined to lead the convoys of merchant-ships, to protect the commerce in the colonies, to cruize in different stations, to accompany squadrons, or be sent express with necessary intelligence and orders. The same may be observed of the sixth rates.

The frigates, which mount from 28 to 38 guns upon one deck, with the quarter-deck, are extremely proper for cruizing against privateers, or for short expeditions, being light, long, and usually excellent sailers.

RATTLINGS, enflechures, certain small lines which traverse the shrouds of a ship horizontally, at regular distances from the deck, upwards, and forming a variety of ladders, whereby to climb to any of the mast-heads, or descend from them. Hence the term is apparently derived from rath, an obsolete word, signifying an hill.

In order to prevent the rattling from slipping down by the weight of the sailors, they are firmly attached by a knot, called a clove-hitch, to all the shrouds, except the foremost or aftmost; where one of the ends, being fitted with an eye-splice, is previously fastened with twine or packthread.

REACH, (ræcan, Sax.) the line, or distance, comprehended between any two points or stations on the banks of a river, wherein the current flows in a streight uninterrupted course.

REAR, (arriere, Fr.) a name given to the last division of a squadron, or the last squadron of a fleet, and which is accordingly commanded by the third officer of the said fleet or squadron. See the article DIVISION.

REEF, ris, (reef, Dutch) a certain portion of a sail, comprehended between the top or bottom, and a row of eyelet-holes parallel thereto.

The intention of the reef is to reduce the surface of the sail in proportion to the increase of the wind; for which reason there are several reefs parallel to each other in the superior sails, whereby they may be still farther diminished, in order to correspond with the several degrees of the gale. Thus the top-sails of ships are usually furnished with three reefs, l m n, fig. 1. plate IX. parallel to the yard; and there are always three or four reefs, parallel to the bottom on those main-sails and fore-sails, which are extended upon booms: a circumstance common to many of the small vessels.

REEF also implies a chain of rocks, lying near the surface of the water.

REEF-BAND, a piece of canvas, sewed across the sail, to strengthen it in the place where the eyelet-holes of the reefs are formed.

REEFING, the operation of reducing a sail, by taking in one or more of the reefs, which is either performed by lines, points, or knittles.

Thus the top-sails are always, and the courses generally, reefed with points, which are flat braided pieces of cordage, whose lengths are nearly double the circumference of the yard. These being inserted in the eyelet-holes, are fixed in the sail by means of two knots in the middle, one of which is before, and the other behind the reef-band.

In order to reef the top-sails with more facility and expedition, they are lowered down and made to shiver in the wind, which considerably relaxes their tension. The extremities of the reef are then drawn up to the yard-arms by an assemblage of pullies communicating with the deck, termed the reef-tackle; and they are securely fastened to the yard-arms by small cords, called earings. The space of sail, comprehended in the reef, is then laid smoothly over the yard, in several folds, or doubles: and the whole is completed by tying the points about the yard, so as to bind the reef close up to it.

The courses of large ships are either reefed with points or small cords, which are thence called reef-lines. In the latter case the line is passed spirally through the eyelet-holes of the reef, and over the head of the sail alternately, and afterwards strained as tight as possible. It must be observed, however, that the reef-line is sometimes passed round the yard, and sometimes only round the head of the sail; and each of these methods have their advocates, with arguments more or less convincing. But if it should appear essential to prevent the friction by which a sail is galled between the line and the yard; and as the rope-bands are sufficient to sustain the effort of the sail, it is certainly much better to pass the line only round the sail, provided that the turns are inserted through the roband-legs; a circumstance which is carefully practised by every skilful sailor.

The same reason may be alledged, with equal propriety, in favour of tying the points of the courses in the same manner; that is to say, the after-end of the point should be thrust forward between the head of the sail and the yard; and the fore-leg of the said point should come aft over the head of the sail, and also under the yard: and thus crossed over the head of the sail, the point should be extended, and the two ends brought over the yard, and tied on the upper side of it as strait as possible.

When a sail is reefed at the bottom, it is done by knittles, which being thrust through the eyelet-holes thereof, are tied firmly about the space of canvas of which the reef is composed, and knotted on the lower side of the bolt-rope. These knittles are accordingly removed as soon as the reef is let out.

Besides the manner above described, there are other methods of reducing a sail to the storm, as explained in the articles GOOSE-WING and BALANCE.

REEF-TACKLE, a rope which passes from the deck to a block at the topmast-head, and thence to another block at the topsail-yard-arm, where it communicates with another rope, called its pendant, that runs downwards through a hole in the yard, and is afterwards attached to a cringle, a little below the lowest reef, as exhibited by fig. 1. plate IX. where b is the reef-tackle, and i the pendant thereof. It is used, as we have already observed, to pull the skirts of the reefs close up to the extremities of the topsail-yards, in order to lighten the sail, the weight of which would otherwise render it very difficult to perform this operation.

REEL of the log. See the article LOG.

To REEVE, is to pass the end of a rope through any hole, as the channel of a block, the cavity of a thimble, cleat, ring-bolt, &c.

RECKONING. See DEAD-RECKONING.

REFITTING, is generally understood to imply the repairing any damages, which a ship may have sustained in her sails or rigging, by battle or tempestuous weather; but more particularly by the former. See ENGAGEMENT and REPAIR.

REIGNING-WINDS, a name given to the winds which usually prevail on any particular coast or region, the knowledge of which is essentially necessary to every pilot who is charged with the navigation in those seas.

RELIEVING-TACKLES, two strong tackles, used to prevent a ship from overturning on the careen, and to assist in bringing her upright after that operation is compleated.

The relieving-tackles are furnished with two strong guys, (attrapes) or pendants, by which their efforts are communicated, under the ship’s bottom, to the opposite side, where the ends of the guys are attached to the lower gun-ports. The other ends of the tackles are hooked to the wharf, or pontoon, by which the vessel is careened. Thus if the ship is first to be laid down on the larboard-side, which is nearest the wharf, the relieving-tackles are passed under her bottom from the said wharf, and attached to the starboard-side, by which they will restrain her from falling lower than is necessary. See Righting.

RELIEVING-TACKLE, is also a name sometimes given to the train-tackles of a gun-carriage. See CANNON and EXERCISE.

RENDERING, as a sea-term, is generally understood to be the effect of yielding, or giving way, without resistance, to the efforts of some mechanical power. It is usually expressed of a complicated tackle, laniard, or lashing, when the effect of the power applied is communicated with facility to all the parts, without being interrupted in its passage. It is therefore used in contra-distinction to sticking or jamming.

RENDEVOUS, the port, or place of destination, where the several ships of a fleet or squadron are appointed to rejoin the whole, in case of a separation, occasioned by tempestuous weather, or other unforeseen accident.

REPAIR, radoub, the operation of amending any injuries, or supplying any deficiencies, which a ship may have received by age, battle, tempestuous weather, &c.

The repair is necessarily greater or smaller, in proportion to the loss which the vessel has sustained. Accordingly a suitable number of the timbers, beams, or planks, or a sufficient part of either, are removed, and new pieces fixed in their places. The whole is completed by breaming, calking, and paying the body with a new composition of stuff. See DOCKING.

REPRISE, a ship which is retaken from the enemy, soon after the first capture; or at least before she has arrived in any neutral or hostile port.

If a vessel, thus retaken, has been twenty-four hours in the possession of the enemy, it is deemed a lawful prize; but if it be retaken within that time, it is to be restored to the proprietor, with every thing therein, upon his allowing one-third to the vessel who made the reprise. Also if the reprise has been abandoned by the enemy, either in a tempest, or from any other cause, before it has been led into any port, it is to be restored to the proprietor.

RETREAT, the order or disposition in which a fleet of French men of war decline engagement, or fly from a pursuing enemy[52].

RHOMB-LINE, a line prolonged from any point of the compass on a nautical chart, except the four cardinal points.

RIBBANDS, lisses, (from rib and bend) in naval architecture, long narrow flexible pieces of timber, nailed upon the outside of the ribs, from the stem the stern-post, so as to envelop the ship lengthways, and appear on her side and bottom like the meridians on the surface of the globe.

The ribbands, being judiciously arranged with regard to their height and distance from each other, and forming regular sweeps about the ship’s body, will compose a kind of frame, whose interior surface will determine the curve of all the intermediate, or filling-timbers, which are stationed between the principal ones. As the figure of the ship’s bottom approaches to that of a conoid, and the ribbands having a limited breadth, it is apparent, that they cannot be applied to this convex surface without forming a double curve, which will be partly vertical and partly horizontal; so that the vertical curve will increase by approaching the stem, and still more by drawing near the stern-post. It is also evident, that by deviating from the middle line of the ship’s length, as they approach the extreme breadth at the midship-frame, the ribbands will also form an horizontal curve. The lowest of these, which is terminated upon the stem and stern-post, at the height of the rising-line of the floor, and answers to the upper part of the floor-timber upon the midship-frame, is called the floor-ribband. That which coincides with the wing-transom, at the height of the lower-deck upon the midship-frame, is termed the breadth-ribband: all the rest, which are placed between these two, are called intermediate ribbands.

From this double curve it results, that the ribbands will appear in different points of view, when delineated upon different planes of the same ship. To conceive this, let us suppose the skeleton of a ship upon the stocks, as in plate IV. fig. 11. and plate X. fig. 2. with the ribbands represented by dotted lines upon her bottom, If a spectator is placed opposite to the stem or stern-post, on a line prolonged from the keel, he will only view the projection of the ribbands on the plane of the midship-frame, in which the horizontal curve is very little perceived; he will discover part of the vertical curve, which rises continually from the extreme breadth towards the stem and stern, so that they must be drawn upon the plane of projection as oblique lines, which terminate upon the midship-frame at the point where the ribband touches it, and upon the stem and stern-post at the point where their ends are lodged.

If the spectator were to change his position, and perceive the projection of the ribbands upon a plane, supposed to be elevated upon the length of the keel, he would also discover their vertical curve, as it is sometimes expressed in the sheer-draught, without distinguishing the horizontal one.

But if we imagine the eye of the spectator placed considerably above the ship, on a line perpendicular to the middle of the keel, he will then discover the projection of the ribbands upon the plane of the ground beneath the ship, and view the horizontal curve, (see the horizontal plane, plate I.) without perceiving the perpendicular one.

In order to give the reader as distinct an idea as possible of the ribbands, we have, besides the above representations, exhibited a perspective view of them in the frame or skeleton of a small vessel, referred to, from the article TIMBER.

RIBS of a ship, a figurative expression for the timbers. See that article.

RIBS of a parrel. See PARREL.

RIDERS, a sort of interior ribs, fixed occasionally in a ship’s hold opposite to some of the principal timbers, and reaching from the kelson to the beams of the lower-deck, and sometimes higher, in order to strengthen her frame. They are bolted to the other timbers, to support them when it is apprehended the ship is not sufficiently strong in the part where they are fixed; which is generally amidships.

The riders have also their floor-pieces and futtocks, and sometimes their top-pieces, all of which are scarfed to each other in the same manner as in the timbers.

The riders ought to be stationed so as to lie between two ports of the lower deck, and to correspond with the timbers to which they are attached, in such a manner, as that the scarfs of the riders may be clear of those of the timbers. They are scored upon the kelson, clamps, and thick-stuff of the bottom. They are secured by bolts, which are driven from without, so as to penetrate the outside planks, the timbers, the clamps, and the riders; on the inside of which last they are fore-locked. See those articles.

These pieces are rarely used in merchant-ships, because they would be extremely inconvenient in the hold, besides occupying too large a space thereof; neither are they always used in vessels of war, at least till after the ship is enfeebled by several cruizes at sea.

RIDGE, a long assemblage of rocks, lying near the surface of the sea, so as to intercept the passage of a ship under sail. See also REEF and SHALLOW.

RIDING, when expressed of a ship, is the state of being retained in a particular station, by means of one or more cables with their anchors, which are for this purpose sunk into the bottom of the sea, &c. in order to prevent the vessel from being driven at the mercy of the wind or current. See MOORING.

RIDING athwart, the position of a ship which lies across the direction of the wind and tide, when the former is so strong as to prevent her from falling into the current of the latter.

RIDING between the wind and tide, the situation of a vessel at anchor, when, the wind and tide act upon her in direct opposition; in such a manner as to destroy the effort of each other upon her hull; so that she is in a manner balanced between their reciprocal force, and rides without the least strain on her cables.

When a ship does not labour heavily, or feel a great strain when anchored in an open road or bay, she is said to ride easy. On the contrary, when she pitches violently into the sea, so as to strain her cables, masts, or hull, it is called riding hard, and the vessel is termed a bad roader.

A ship is rarely said to ride when she is fastened at both the ends, as in a harbour or river, that situation being comprehended in the article MOORING.

RIGGING, a general name given to all the ropes employed to support the masts; and to extend or reduce the sails, or arrange them to the disposition of the wind.

The former, which are used to sustain the masts, remain usually in a fixed position, and are called standing rigging; such are the shrouds, stays, and back-stays. The latter, whose office is to manage the sails, by communicating with various blocks, or pullies, situated in different places of the masts, yards, shrouds, &c. are comprehended in the general term of running-rigging. Such are the braces, sheets, haliards, clue-lines, brails, &c.

In rigging a mast, the first thing usually fixed upon its head, is a circular wreath of rope, called the grommet, or collar, which is firmly beat down upon the top of the hounds. The intent of this is to prevent the shrouds from being fretted or worn by the tressel-trees, or shoulders of the mast; after this are laid on the two pendants, from whose lower ends the main, or fore-tackles are suspended; and next, the shrouds of the starboard and larboard side, in pairs, alternately. The whole is covered by the stays, which are the largest ropes of the rigging.

When a yard is to be rigged, a grommet is also driven first on each of its extremities: next to this are fitted-on the horses, the braces; and, lastly, the lifts, or top-sail sheet-blocks: all of which are explained in their proper places.

The principal objects to be considered in rigging a ship appear to be strength, convenience, and simplicity; or the properties of affording sufficient security to the masts, yards, and sails; of arranging the whole machinery in the most advantageous manner, to sustain the masts, and facilitate the management of the sails; and of avoiding perplexity, and rejecting whatever is superfluous or unnecessary. The perfection of this art then consists in retaining all those qualities, and in preserving a judicious medium between them.

RIGGING-OUT a boom, the operation of running out a pole upon the end of a yard, or bowsprit, to extend the foot of a sail. These booms are confined in those places by double rings, formed like a figure of 8, one part of which is fastened to the respective yard-arm, or bowsprit-end, and the other receives the boom, which is occasionally rigged out, or drawn in through it. The rings used in this service are termed boom-irons.

RIGHTING, relever, the act of restoring a ship to her upright position, after she has been laid on a careen, by the mechanical powers usually applied in that operation.

This is generally the natural effect of casting loose the careening pullies by which she had been drawn down. It is however necessary sometimes to apply mechanical powers to right the ship in such a situation. The principal of these are the relieving-tackles. See that article.

A ship is also said to right at sea when she rises, with her masts erected, after having been prest down on one side by the effort of her sails, or a heavy squall of wind.

RIGHTING, when expressed of the helm, implies the replacing it in the middle of the ship, after having produced the required effect, of wheeling her to the right or left, as much as appeared necessary.

RIM, or BRIM, a name given to the circular edge of any of the tops. See that article.

RING-BOLT, cheville à boucle, an iron bolt, with an eye at one end, wherein is fitted a circular ring, as expressed in fig. 3. and 4. plate II. The ring bolts are for several uses, but particularly to hook the tackles, by which the cannon of a ship are managed and secured: accordingly there is one fixed in the deck opposite to every cannon, represented by Z, plate III. DECK: and they are, for the same purpose, fixed in the edges of the gun-ports, as expressed in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, plate VII. They are driven through the plank and the corresponding beam, or timber, and retained in this position by a small pin thrust through a hole in the small end, as appears in fig. 39, plate II.

RING-ROPES, short pieces of rope, tied occasionally to the ring-bolts of the deck, to fasten the cable more securely when the ship rides in a tempest, or turbulent sea, or rapid current. They are, however, more particularly necessary in veering away the cable gradually in those circumstances, in order to freshen the hause; as, without this precaution, it would be extremely difficult to check the cable, which, being then charged with a great effort, might be drawn violently out of the ship at random.

RING-TAIL, a small triangular sail, extended on a little mast, which is occasionally erected for that purpose on the top of a ship’s stern. The lower part of this sail is stretched out by a boom, which projects from the stern horizontally. This sail is only used in light and favourable winds, particularly in the Atlantic ocean.

RING-TAIL is also a name given to a sort of studding-sail, hoisted beyond the after-edge, or skirt of those main-sails which are extended by a boom and gaff; as in all sloops, brigs, and schooners: this ring-tail is accordingly of the same depth with that part of the main-sail upon which it borders. See SAIL.

RIPPLING, a broken and interrupted noise, produced by a current on or near the sea-coast.

RISING-LINE, a name given by shipwrights to an incurvated line, which is drawn on the plane of elevation, to determine the height of the ends of all the floor-timbers throughout the ship’s length, and which accordingly ascertains the figure of the bottom, with regard to sharpness and flatness.

ROAD, (rade, Fr.) a bay, or place of anchorage, at some distance from the shore, on the sea-coast, whither ships or vessels occasionally repair to receive intelligence, orders, or necessary supplies; or to wait for a fair wind, &c.

The excellence of a road consists chiefly in its being protected from the reigning winds, and the swell of the sea; in having a good anchoring-ground, and being at a competent distance from the shore. Those which are not sufficiently enclosed are termed open roads.

ROADER, a vessel riding at anchor in a road, bay, or river. If a vessel under sail strikes against any roader, and damages her in passing, the former is obliged by law to make good the damages sustained by the latter.

The roaders attentively observe to anchor, or moor, at a competent distance from each other; and that those which arrive last shall not moor in the tract of the shipping which anchored before, so as to intercept their passage when they are ready to depart.

ROBANDS, or ROPE-BANDS. See ROPE-BAND.

ROGUES-YARN, a name given to a rope-yarn, of a particular construction, which is placed, in the middle of every strand, in all cables and cordage in the king’s service. It differs from all the rest, as being untarred, and twisted in a contrary manner, by which it is easily discovered. The use of this contrivance is to examine whether any cordage, supposed to be stolen or embezzled, has been formed for the king’s service.

ROLLER, a cylindrical piece of timber, fixed either horizontally or perpendicularly above a ship’s deck, so as to revolve about an axis. It is used to prevent the cables, hausers, &c. from being chafed by the friction which their surfaces would otherwise encounter, from bearing against that part of the ship, where the roller is placed, whilst they are drawn into the ship, &c. by mechanical powers.

ROLLERS, are also moveable pieces of wood, of the same figure, which are occasionally placed under planks, or long pieces of timber, in order to move them with greater facility either in the dock-yards, or in lading and delivering merchant-ships.

ROLLING, the motion by which a ship rocks from side-to side like a cradle, occasioned by the agitation of the waves.

ROLLING, therefore, is a sort of revolution about an imaginary axis, passing through the center of gravity of a ship: so that the nearer the center of gravity is to the keel, the more violent will be the rolling-motion; because the center about which the vibrations are made, is placed so low in the bottom, that the resistance made by the keel to the volume of water which it displaces in rolling, bears very little proportion to the force of the vibration above the center of gravity, the radius of which extends as high as the mast-heads.

But if the center of gravity is placed higher above the keel, the radius of vibration will not only be diminished; but an additional force to oppose the motion of rolling will be communicated to that part of the ship’s bottom which is below the center of gravity.

So far as relates to the effect of rolling, when produced by the quality or stowage of the ballast, and to the manner by which it may be prevented, viz. a change of the quantity or disposition of the ballast, we shall endeavour to explain under the article TRIM. It may, however, be necessary to remark, that the construction of the ship’s bottom may also contribute to diminish this movement considerably.

To illustrate this by an example, let us suppose the section of a ship perpendicular to the keel to be exactly circular, plate VIII. fig. 8. it is evident, that if this be agitated in the water, it will have nothing to sustain it, because the rolling or rotation about its center displaces no more water than when it remains upright: consequently the rolling motion must be very great in a high sea. But if a plank is fixed below it edgeways, or perpendicular to the surface, as low as e, throughout the whole length of the ship, it is plain that the plank e will displace a volume of water to the right, when the ship is inclined to the left, which will retard her motion; and this obstruction will always act contrary to her heeling or inclination to one side, and greatly diminish the vibration or rolling; although it will add very little to her stiffness: For, admitting the ship to incline to one side, as in fig. 8. the plank d e would produce a very weak effort to bring her upright. But the depth of the keel, the rising of the floors, and the dead wood fore and aft, as in fig. 9. plate VIII. will answer the same purpose as the plank d e.

Many fatal disasters have happened to ships, arising from a violent rolling; as the loss of the masts, loosening of the cannon, and straining violently on the decks and sides, so as to weaken the ship to a great degree. See BALLAST, LABOURING, and PITCHING.

ROLLING-TACKLE, a pulley or purchase fastened to that part of a sail-yard which is to the windward of the mast, in order to confine the yard close down to the leeward, when the sail is furled.

It is used to prevent the yard from having a great friction against the mast in a high sea, which would be equally pernicious to both.

ROPES, cordes, (rap, Sax. reep, Dutch) a general name given to all sorts of cordage, above one inch in circumference, used in the rigging a ship. See CABLE, HAUSER, TOWLINE, and WARP.

ROPES are either cable-laid or hauser-laid: the former are composed of nine strands, viz. three great strands, each of which is composed of three smaller strands; and the latter is made with three strands, each of which contains a certain number of rope-yarns, in proportion to the size of the rope required.

ROPE-BANDS, rabans, pronounced roebins, certain pieces of small rope, or braided cordage, used to tie the upper edges of the great sails to their respective yards. They are inserted through the eyelet-holes in the head of the sail, being generally of a sufficient length to pass two or three times about the said yard.

ROPE-YARN, fil de caret, the smallest and simplest part of any rope, being one of the threads of which a strand is composed; so that the size of the latter, and of the rope into which it is twisted, are determined by the number of rope-yarns.

ROVER, a pirate or free-booter. See PIRATE.

ROUGH-TREE, a name given in merchant-ships to any mast, yard, or boom, placed as a rail or fence above the ship’s side, from the quarter-deck to the fore-castle. It is, however, with more propriety, applied to any mast, &c. which remains rough and unfinished.

ROUND-HOUSE, a name given, in East-Indiamen, and other large merchant-ships, to a cabin or apartment built in the after part of the quarterdeck, and having the poop for its roof. This apartment is usually called the coach in our ships of war.

ROUNDING, certain old ropes wound firmly and closely about that part of a cable which lies in the hause, or under the ship’s bow, or athwart the stem. It is used to prevent the surface of the cable from being chafed or fretted in those places. See the articles KAICLING and SERVICE.

ROUNDING-IN generally implies the act of pulling upon any rope which passes through one or more blocks, in a direction nearly horizontal; as, round-in the weather-braces! &c. It is apparently derived from the circular motion of the rope about the sheave or pulley through which it passes.

ROUNDING-UP is used nearly in the same sense, only that it is expressed of a tackle which hangs in a perpendicular position, without sustaining or hoisting any weighty body: it is then the operation of pulling the blocks closer to each other, by means of the rope which passes through them, to compose the tackle; and is therefore opposed to over-hauling, by which the blocks are drawn farther asunder.

ROUSSING, the act of pulling together upon a cable, hauser, &c. without the assistance of tackles, capsterns, or other mechanical powers. It is particularly used in the exercise of removing a ship from one place to another, by means of ropes and anchors. See the article WARPING.

To ROW, ramer, (rowan, Sax.) to impel a boat or vessel along the surface of the water by oars, which are managed in a direction nearly horizontal. See OAR.

ROW-GALLEY. See the article GALLEY.

ROW-LOCKS, those parts of the gunwale, or upper edge of a boat’s side, whereon the oar rests in the exercise of rowing. In the sides of the smallest vessels of war, a number of little square holes, called row-ports, are cut for this purpose, parallel to the surface of the water.

ROWERS, rameurs, a name given to the persons by whom the oars are managed.

ROWING-GUARD. See GUARD-BOAT.

ROYAL, boulingue, a name given to the highest sail which is extended in any ship. It is spread immediately above the top-gallant-sail, to whose yardarms the lower corners of it are attached. This sail is never used but in light and favourable breezes.

RUDDER. See the article HELM.

RUN, the aftmost or hindmost part of a ship’s bottom, where it grows extremely narrow, as the floor approaches the stern-post.

RUNG-HEADS, fleurs, a name sometimes given by shipwrights to the upper ends of the floor-timbers, which are otherwise more properly called floor-heads. See NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.

RUNNER, itague, a thick rope used to increase the mechanical powers of a tackle. See that article.

The runner a, fig. 10. plate VIII. passes through a large hook-block, as c, and has usually a hook b attached to one of its ends, and one of the tackle-blocks to the other; and in applying it, the hook, as well as the lower block of the corresponding tackle, is fixed to the object intended to be removed.

RUNNING-OUT a warp, the act of carrying the end of a rope out from the ship, in a boat, and fastening it to some distant place, to remove the ship towards the said place, or keep her steddy whilst her anchors are lifted, &c.

RUNNING-RIGGING, all that part of a ship’s rigging which passes through the blocks, to dilate, contract, or traverse the sails. See the article RIGGING.

S.

SADDLE, a small cleat or wooden block, hollowed on the upper and lower side, and nailed on the lower yard-arms, to retain the studding-sail-booms in a firm and steddy position. For this purpose the cavity on the lower part of the saddle conforms to the cylindrical surface of the yard to which it is attached: and in like manner the hollow, on the upper side, answers to the figure of the boom, and serves as a channel whereby it may be run out or in, along the yard, as occasion requires.

SAGGING to leeward, the movement by which a ship makes a considerable lee-way, or is driven far to leeward of the course whereon she apparently sails. It is generally expressed of heavy-sailing vessels, as opposed to keeping well to windward, or, in the sea-phrase, holding a good wind.

SAIC, a sort of Grecian ketch, which has no top-gallant-sail or mizen-top-sail. See KETCH.

SAIL, voile, (segl, Sax. seyhel, seyl Dutch) an assemblage of several breadths of canvas, or other texture, sewed together, and extended on, or between the masts, to receive the wind, and carry the vessel along the water.

The edges of the cloths, or pieces, of which a sail is composed, are generally sewed together with a double seam: and the whole is skirted round at the edges with a cord, called the bolt-rope.

Although the form of sails is extremely different, they are all nevertheless triangular or quadrilateral figures or, in other words, their surfaces are contained either between three or four sides.

The former of these are sometimes spread by a yard, as lateen-sails; and otherwise by a stay, as stay-sails; or by a mast, as shoulder-of-mutton-sails: in all which cases the foremost leech or edge is attached to the said yard, mast, or stay, throughout its whole length. The latter, or those which are four-sided, are either extended by yards, as the principal sails of a ship; or by yards and booms, as the studding-sails, drivers, ring-tails, and all those sails which are set occasionally; or by gaffs and booms, as the main-sails of sloops and brigantines.

The principal sails of a ship (fig. 1. plate IX.) are the courses or lower sails a, the top-sails b, which are next in order above the courses; and the top-gallant-sails c, which are expanded above the top-sails.

The courses are the main-sail, fore-sail, and mizen, main-stay-sail, fore-stay-sail and mizen-stay-sail; but more particularly the three first. N. B. The main-stay-sail is rarely used except in small vessels.

In all quadrangular sails the upper edge is called the head; the sides or skirts are called leeches; and the bottom or lower edge is termed the foot. If the head is parallel to the foot, the two lower corners are denominated clues, and the upper corners earings.

In all triangular sails, and in those four-sided sails wherein the head is not parallel to the foot, the foremost corner at the foot is called the tack; and the after lower-corner the clue; the foremost perpendicular or sloping edge is called the fore leech, and the hindmost the after leech.

The heads of all four-sided sails, and the fore-leeches of lateen sails, are attached to their respective yard or gaff by a number of small cords called robands; and the extremities are tied to the yard-arms, or to the peek of the gaff, by earings.

The stay-sails are extended upon stays between the masts, whereon they are drawn up or down occasionally, as a curtain slides upon its rod, and their lower parts are stretched out by a tack and sheet. The clues of a top-sail are drawn out to the extremities of the lower yard, by two large ropes called the top-sail sheets; and the clues of the top-gallant-sails are in like manner extended upon the top-sail yard-arms, as exhibited by plate IX. fig. 1.

The studding-sails are set beyond the leeches or skirts of the main-sail and fore-sail, or of the top-sails or top-gallant-sails of a ship. Their upper and lower edges are accordingly extended by poles run out beyond the extremities of the yards for this purpose. Those sails however are only set in favourable winds and moderate weather.

All sails derive their name from the mast, yard, or stay upon which they are extended. Thus the principal sail extended upon the main-mast is called the main-sail, grande voile, d, fig. 2. plate IX.; the next above, which stands upon the main-top-mast, is termed the main top-sail, grand hunier, e; and the highest, which is spread across the main-top-gallant-mast, is named the main-top-gallant-sail, grand perroquet, f.

In the same manner there is the fore-sail, misaine, g; the fore-top-sail, petit hunier, h; and the fore-top-gallant-sail, petit perroquet, i; the mizen, artimon, k; the mizen top-sail, perroquet d’artimon, l; and mizen top-gallant-sail m. Thus also there is the main stay-sail o; main-top-mast stay-sail p; and main-top-gallant stay-sail q; with a middle stay-sail which stands between the two last. N. B. All these stay-sails are between the main and fore masts.

The stay-sails (voiles d’etai) between the main-mast and mizen-mast are the mizen stay-sail r; and the mizen top-mast stay-sail s; and sometimes a mizen top-gallant stay-sail above the latter.

The stay-sails between the fore-mast and the bowsprit are the fore stay-sail t; the fore top-mast stay-sail u; and the jib, foc, x. There is besides two square sails extended by yards under the bowsprit, one of which is called the sprit-sail, civadiere, y; and the other the sprit-sail top-sail z, perroquet de beaupré. For the French names of all the stay-sails, see the French term ETAI, and the phrases following it.

The studding-sails (bonnettes en étui) being extended upon the different yards of the main-mast and fore-mast, are likewise named according to their stations, the lower, top-mast, or top-gallant studding sails.

The ropes by which the lower yards of a ship are hoisted up to their proper height on the masts, are called the jears. In all other sails the ropes employed for this purpose are called haliards.

The principal sails are then expanded by haliards, sheets, and bowlines, except the courses, which are always stretched out below by a tack and sheet. See BOWLINE, CLOSE-HAULED, &c. They are drawn up together, or trussed up, by bunt-lines, clue-lines, d d, fig. 1.; leech-lines, e e; reef-tackles, f f; slab-line, g; and spilling-lines. As the bunt-lines and leech-lines pass on the other side of the sail, they are expressed by dotted lines in the figure. See those articles.

The courses, top-sails, and top-gallant sails, are wheeled about the mast, so as to suit the various directions of the wind, by braces. The higher studding-sails, and in general all the stay-sails, are drawn down, so as to be furled, or taken in, by down-hauls. See BRACE, TRIM, and DOWN-HAUL.

SAIL is also a name applied to any vessel beheld at a distance under sail.

To set SAIL, faire voile, is to unfurl and expand the sails, upon their respective yards and stays, in order to begin the action of sailing.

To make SAIL, is to spread an additional quantity of sail, so as to increase the ship’s velocity.

To shorten SAIL, is to reduce or take in part of the sails, with an intention to diminish the ship’s velocity.

To strike SAIL, is to lower it suddenly. This is particularly used in saluting or doing homage to a superior force, or to one whom the law of nations acknowledges as superior in certain regions. Thus all foreign vessels strike to an English man of war in the British seas. See SALUTE.

SAILING, the movement by which a vessel is wafted along the surface of the water, by the action of the wind upon her sails.

When a ship changes her state of rest into that of motion, as in advancing out of a harbour, or from her station at anchor, she acquires her motion very gradually, as a body which arrives not at a certain velocity till after an infinite repetition of the action of its weight.

The first impression of the wind greatly affects the velocity, because the resistance of the water might destroy it, since the velocity being but small at first, the resistance of the water which depends on it will be very feeble: but as the ship increases her motion, the force of the wind on the sails will be diminished; whereas on the contrary the resistance of the water on the bow will accumulate, in proportion to the velocity with which the vessel advances. Thus the repetition of the degrees of force which the action of the sails adds to the motion of the ship, is perpetually decreasing; whilst on the contrary the new degrees added to the effort of resistance on the bow are always augmenting. The velocity is then accelerated in proportion as the quantity added is greater than that which is subtracted: but when the two powers become equal, when the impression of the wind on the sails has lost so much of its force, as only to act in proportion to the opposite impulse of resistance on the bow, the ship will then acquire no additional velocity, but continue to sail with a constant uniform motion. The great weight of the ship may indeed prevent her from acquiring her greatest velocity; but when she has attained it, she will advance by her own intrinsic motion, without gaining any new degree of velocity, or lessening what she has acquired. She moves then by her own proper force in vacuo, without being afterwards subject either to the effort of the wind on the sails, or to the resistance of the water on the bow. If at any time the impulsion of the water on the bow should destroy any part of the velocity, the effort of the wind on the sails will revive it, so that the motion will continue the same. It must however be observed, that this state will only subsist when these two powers act upon each other in direct opposition; otherwise they will mutually destroy one another. The whole theory of working ships depends on this counter-action, and the perfect equality which should subsist between the effort of the wind and the impulsion of the water. Bouguer, Traité du navire.

The effect of sailing is produced by a judicious arrangement of the sails to the direction of the wind. Accordingly the various modes of sailing are derived from the different degrees and situations of the wind with regard to the course of the vessel.

To illustrate this observation by examples, the plan of a number of ships proceeding on various courses are represented by fig. 3. plate IX. which exhibits the thirty-two points of the compass, of which C is the center: the direction of the wind, which is northerly, being expressed by the arrow.

It has been observed in the article CLOSE-HAULED, that a ship in that situation will sail nearly within six points of the wind. Thus the ships B and y are close-hauled, the former being on the larboard tack, steering E. N. E. and the latter on the starboard tack sailing W. N. W. with their yards a b braced obliquely, as suitable to that manner of sailing. The line of battle on the larboard tack would accordingly be expressed by C B, and on the starboard by C y.

When a ship is neither close-hauled, nor steering afore the wind, she is in general said to be sailing large. The relation of the wind to her course is precisely determined by the number of points between the latter and the course close-hauled. Thus the ships c and x have the wind one point large, the former steering E. b N. and the latter W. b N. The yards remain almost in the same position as in B and y: the bowlines and sheets of the sails being only a little slackened.

The ships d and u have the wind two points large, the one steering east and the other west. In this manner of sailing, however, the wind is more particularly said to be upon the beam, perpendiculaire du vent, as being at right angles with the keel, and coinciding with the position of the ship’s beams. The yards are now more across the ship, the bowlines are cast off, and the sheets more relaxed; so that the effort of the wind being applied nearer to the line of the ship’s course, her velocity is greatly augmented.

In e and t the ships have the wind three points large, or one point abaft the beam, the course of the former being E. b S. and that of the latter

W. b S. The sheets are still more flowing; the angle which the yards make with the keel farther diminished; and the course accelerated in proportion.

The ships f and s the first of which steers E. S. E. and the second W.S. W. have the wind four points large, or two points abaft the beam. In g and r the wind is five points large, or three points abaft the beam, the former sailing S. E. b E. and the latter S. W. b W. In both these situations the sheets are still farther slackened, and the yards laid yet more athwart the ship’s length, in proportion as the wind approaches the quarter.

The ships h and q, steering S. E. and S. W. have the wind six points large, or more properly on the quarter; which is considered as the most favourable manner of sailing, because all the sails co-operate to increase the ship’s velocity: whereas, when the wind is right aft, as in the ship m, it is evident, that the wind, in its passage to the foremost sails, will be intercepted by those which are farther aft. When the wind is on the quarter, the fore-tack is brought to the cat-head; and the main-tack being cast off, the weather-clue of the mainsail is hoisted up to the yard, in order to let the wind pass freely to the foresail; and the yards are disposed so as to make an angle of about two points, or nearly 22°, with the keel.

The ships i and p, of which the former sails S. E. b S. and the latter S. W, b S. are said to have the wind three points on the larboard or starboard quarter: and those expressed by k and o, two points; as steering S. S. E. and S. S. W. in both which positions the yards make nearly an angle of 16°, or about a point and an half, with the ship’s length.

When the wind is one point on the quarter, as in the ships l and n, whose courses are S. b E. and S. b W. the situation of the yards and sails is very little different from the last mentioned; the angle which they make with the keel being somewhat less than a point, and the stay-sails being rendered of very little service. The ship m sails right afore the wind, or with the wind right aft. In this position the yards are laid at right angles with the ship’s length: the stay-sails, being entirely useless, are hauled down: and the mainsail is drawn up in the brails, that the fore-sail may operate: a measure which considerably facilitates the steerage, or effort of the helm. As the wind is then intercepted, by the main top-sail and main top-gallant-sail, in its passage to the fore top-sail and fore top-gallant-sail, these latter are by consequence entirely becalmed, and might therefore be furled, to prevent their being fretted by flapping against the mast, but that their effort contributes greatly to prevent the ship from broaching-to, when she deviates from her course to the right or left thereof.

Thus all the different methods of sailing may be divided into four, viz. close hauled, large, quartering, and afore the wind; all which relate to the direction of the wind with regard to the ship’s course, and the arrangement of the sails. See also Drift and Leeway.

Order of SAILING, the general disposition of a fleet of ships when proceeding on a voyage or expedition.

It has already been observed in the article FLEET, that the most convenient order of sailing, for a squadron of ships, is in three parallel columns, so as to form the line of battle with greater facility and expedition. In this disposition, the station of each ship is previously appointed by the commander in chief; and the ranks or columns are as near to each other as regularity, and a regard for their common security, will admit. This distance, which ought to be carefully observed in tacking, may be regulated by the movements of some of the ships in the column farthest to windward, which should accordingly govern the operations of the whole squadron. See TACKING.

SAILING also implies a particular mode of navigation, formed on the principles, and regulated by the laws of trigonometry. Hence we say, plain sailing, mercator’s, middle-latitude, parallel and great circle sailing. See the article NAVIGATION.

SAILOR, matelot, a seafaring man: a person trained in the exercise of fixing the machinery of a ship, and managing her, either at sea, or in a road, or harbour.

SAIL-YARD. See the article YARD.

SALVAGE, a third part of the value of anything recovered from the enemy, after having remained in his possession twenty-four hours; or of any thing dragged up from the bottom of the sea. It is paid by the first proprietors to the persons who have so recovered it, or else detained legally by the latter.

SALUTE, salut, (from saluto, Lat.) a testimony of deference or homage rendered by the ships of one nation to another; or by ships of the same nation to a superior or equal.

This ceremony is variously performed, according to the circumstances, rank, or situation of the parties. It consists in firing a certain number of cannon, or vollies of small arms; of striking the colours or top-sails; or of one or more general shouts of the whole ship’s crew, mounted on the masts or rigging for that purpose.

The principal regulations with regard to salutes in the royal navy are as follow.

‘When a flag-officer salutes the admiral and commander in chief of the fleet, he is to give him fifteen guns; but when captains salute him, they are to give him seventeen guns. The admiral or commander in chief of the fleet is to return two guns less to flag-officers, and four less to captains. Flag-officers saluting their superior or senior officer, are to give him thirteen guns. Flag-officers are to return an equal number of guns to flag-officers bearing their flags on the same mast, and two guns less to the rest, as also to captains.

‘When a captain salutes an admiral of the white or blue, he is to give him fifteen guns; but to vice and rear admirals, thirteen guns. When a flag-officer is saluted by two or more of his Majesty’s ships, he is not to return the salute till all have finished, and then to do it with such a reasonable number of guns as he shall judge proper.

‘In case of the meeting of two squadrons, the two chiefs only are to exchange salutes. And if single ships meet a squadron consisting of more than one flag, the principal flag only is to be saluted. No salutes shall be repeated by the same ships, unless there has been a separation of six months at least.

‘None of his Majesty’s ships of war, commanded only by captains, shall give or receive salutes from one another, in whatsoever part of the world they meet.

‘A flag-officer commanding in chief shall be saluted, upon his first hoisting of his flag, by all the ships present, with such a number of guns as is allowed by the first, third, or fifth articles.

‘When any of his Majesty’s ships shall meet with any ship or ships belonging to any foreign prince or state, within his Majesty’s seas, (which extend to Cape Finisterre) it is expected, that the said foreign ships do strike their top-sail, and take in their flag, in acknowledgment of his Majesty’s sovereignty in those seas: and if any shall refuse or offer to resist, it is enjoined to all flag-officers and commanders to use their utmost endeavours to compel them thereto, and not suffer any dishonour to be done to his Majesty. And if any of his Majesty’s subjects shall so much forget their duty, as to omit striking their top-sail in passing by his Majesty’s ships, the name of the ship and master, and from whence, and whither bound, together with affidavits of the fact, are to be sent up to the secretary of the admiralty, in order to their being proceeded against in the admiralty-court. And it is to be observed, that in his Majesty’s seas, his Majesty’s ships are in no wise to strike to any; and that in other parts, no ship of his Majesty’s is to strike her flag or topsail to any foreigner, unless such foreign ship shall have first struck, or at the same time strike her flag or top-sail to his Majesty’s ship.

‘The flag-officers and commanders of his Majesty’s ships are to be careful to maintain his Majesty’s honour upon all occasions, giving protection to his subjects, and endeavouring, what in them lies, to secure and encourage them in their lawful commerce; and they are not to injure, in any manner, the subjects of his Majesty’s friends and allies.

‘If a foreign admiral meets with any of his Majesty’s ships, and salutes them, he shall receive gun for gun. If he be a vice-admiral, the admiral shall answer with two guns less. If a rear-admiral, the admiral and vice-admiral shall return two less. But if the ship be commanded by a captain only, the flag-officers shall give two guns less, and captains an equal number.

‘When any of his Majesty’s ships come to an anchor in a foreign port or road, within cannon-shot of its forts, the captain may salute the place with such a number of guns as have been customary, upon good assurance of having the like number returned, but not otherwise. But if the ship bears a flag, the flag-officer shall first carefully inform himself how flags of like rank, belonging to other crowned heads, have given or returned salutes, and to insist upon the same terms of respect.

‘It is allowed to the commanders of his Majesty’s ships in foreign parts, to salute the persons of any admirals, commanders in chief, or captains of ships of war of foreign nations, and foreign noblemen or strangers of quality, as also the factories of the king’s subjects, coming on board to visit the ship; and the number of guns is left to the commander, as shall be suitable to the occasion, and the quality of the persons visiting; but he is nevertheless to remain accountable for any excesses in the abuse of this liberty. If the ship visited be in company with other ships of war, the captain is not to make use of the civilities allowed in the preceding article, but with leave and consent of the commander in chief, or the senior captain.

‘Merchant-ships, whether foreigners, or belonging to his Majesty’s subjects, saluting the admiral of the fleet, shall be answered by six guns less; when they salute any other flag-ships, they shall be answered by four guns less; and if they salute men of war commanded by captains, they shall be answered by two guns less. If several merchant-ships salute in company, no return is to be made, till all have finished, and then by such a number of guns as shall be thought proper; but though the merchant-ships should answer, there shall be no second return.——

‘None of his Majesty’s ships of war shall salute any of his Majesty’s forts or castles in Great Britain or Ireland, on any pretence whatsoever.’ Regulations and Instructions for the Sea-service.

SAMSONS-POST, piedroit, a sort of pillar erected in a ship’s hold, between the lower deck and the kelson, under the edge of a hatchway, and furnished with several notches that serve as steps to mount or descend, as occasion requires.

This post being firmly driven into its place, not only serves to support the beam, and fortify the vessel in that place, but also to prevent the cargo or materials contained in the hold from shifting to the opposite side, by the rolling of the ship in a turbulent and heavy sea.

SAUCER. See the article CAPSTERN.

SCALING the guns, soufler, the act of cleaning the inside of a ship’s cannon, by the explosion of a small quantity of powder; which effectually blows out any dirt or scales of iron which may adhere to the interior surface.

SCANTING, addoner, the variation of the wind by which it becomes unfavourable to a ship’s course, after having been fair or large. It is distinguished from a foul wind, as in the former, a ship is still enabled to sail on her course, although her progress is considerably retarded; but in the latter she is obliged to deviate from the line of her course, as explained in the article TACKING.

SCANTLING, the dimensions of any piece of timber with regard to its breadth and thickness.

SCARF, empature, (scherven, Dutch) a particular method of uniting two pieces of timber together by the extremities.

When two pieces of timber are joined together, so that the end of one goes over the end of the other, being tapered so that the one may be let into the other, and become even, they are said to be scarfed: such are the keel-pieces. But when the ends of the two pieces are cut square, and put together, they are said to butt to one another; and when another piece is laid upon, and fastened to both, as is the case in all the frame-timbers, this is called scarfing the timbers; and half the piece which fastens the two timbers together is reckoned the length of the scarf. Murray’s Ship-building.

SCHOONER, a small vessel with two masts, whose main-sail and fore-sail are suspended from gaffs reaching from the mast towards the stern; and stretched out below by booms, whose foremost ends are hooked to an iron, which clasps the mast so as to turn therein as upon an axis, when the after ends are swung from one side of the vessel to the other.

SCOOP, écoupe, a little hollowed piece of wood, employed to throw water out of a boat into the sea, which is usually called bailing the boat.

SCRAPING, the act of shaving off the dirty surface of the plank, in a ship’s side or decks, particularly after a voyage, or when the seams have been covered with a new composition of melted pitch or rosin. The instrument with which this is performed is accordingly called a scraper, and is represented in fig. 4. plate IX.

After the sides of a ship are sufficiently scraped, they are varnished over with turpentine, or a mixture of tar and oil, or such materials; which preserves the planks from being rent or split by the sun and wind, and gives the ship a more gay and spendid appearance on the water.

SCUDDING, (Skutta, Swedish) the movement by which a ship is carried precipitately before a tempest.

As a ship flies with amazing rapidity through the water, whenever this expedient is put in practice, it is never attempted in a contrary wind, unless when her condition renders her incapable of sustaining the mutual effort of the wind and waves any longer on her side, without being exposed to the most imminent danger. See the article TRYING.

A ship either scuds with a sail extended on her fore mast, or, if the storm is excessive, without any sail, which in the sea-phrase is called scudding under bare poles, aller à sec. In sloops and schooners, and other small vessels, the sail employed for this purpose is called the square-sail, voile de fortune. In large ships, it is either the foresail, at large, reefed, or with its goose-wings extended, according to the degree of the tempest; or it is the fore top-sail close-reefed, and lowered on the cap: which last is particularly used when the sea runs so high as to becalm the foresail occasionally; a circumstance which exposes the ship to the danger of broaching-to.

The principal hazards incident to scudding are generally, a pooping sea; the difficulty of steering, which exposes the vessel perpetually to the risk of broaching-to; and the want of sufficient sea-room. A sea striking the ship violently on the stern may dash it inwards, by which she must inevitably founder. In broaching-to suddenly, she is threatened with being immediately overturned; and, for want of sea-room, she is endangered by shipwreck on a lee-shore; a circumstance too dreadful to require explanation!

SCUPPERS, dalots, (schoepen, Dutch, to draw off) certain channels cut through the water-ways and sides of a ship, at proper distances, and lined with plated lead, in order to carry the water off from the deck into the sea.

The scuppers of the lower deck of a ship of war are usually furnished with a leathern pipe, called the scupper-hoase, which hangs downward from the mouth or opening of the scupper. The intent of this is to prevent the water from entering when the ship inclines under a weight of sail.

SCUTTLE, (écoutille, Fr.) a small hatchway cut for some particular purpose through a ship’s deck, or through the coverings of her hatchways, and being furnished with a lid which firmly encloses it whenever necessary. See DECK and HATCHWAY.

SCUTTLING, the act of cutting large holes through the bottom or sides of a ship, either when she is stranded or overset, and continues to float on the surface. The design of this expedient is usually to take out the whole or a part of the cargo, provisions, stores, &c. with all possible expedition.

SEA, mer, (sæ, Sax. zee, Dutch) is known to be a great congregation of waters, which is either universal or local; as surrounding the whole earth, or flowing on the coast of some particular country.

This term, however, is variously applied by sailors, to a single wave; to the agitation produced by a multitude of waves in a tempest; or to their particular progress or direction. Thus they say, a heavy sea broke over our quarter, or we shipped a heavy sea; there is a great sea in the offing; the sea sets to the southward. Hence a ship is said to head the sea, when her course is opposed to the setting or direction of the surges.

A long sea implies an uniform and steddy motion of long and extensive waves; on the contrary, a short sea is when they run irregularly, broken, and interrupted; so as frequently to burst over a vessel’s side or quarter.

SEA-BOAT, vaisseau beau de mer, a vessel that bears the sea firmly, without labouring heavily, or straining her masts and rigging.

SEA-COAST, the shore of any country; or that part which is washed by the sea.

SEA-FARING, the occupation of a mariner or sailor.

SEAMAN, homme de mer, a mariner or person trained in the exercise of fixing the machinery of a ship, and applying it to the purposes of navigation.

The principal articles required in a common sailor to intitle him to the full wages, are, that he can steer, sound, and manage the sails, by extending, reefing, and furling them, as occasion requires. When he is expert at these exercises, his skill in all other matters relative to his employment is taken for granted.

SEA-MARK, a point or conspicuous place distinguished at sea.

Sea-marks are of various kinds, as steeples, promontories, piles of ruins, groupes of trees, &c. and are very necessary to direct vessels on the coast of their situation. See also BEACON and BUOY.

SEA-ROOM, belle derive, implies a sufficient distance from the coast, as well as from any rocks or shallows, whereby a ship may drive or scud without danger of shipwreck.

SEA-WEEDS, sarts, a sort of herbs or tangles floating on the surface of the sea, or washed upon the sea-coast. See the French term MER, and the phrases which follow in order.

SEAMS, coutures, the intervals between the edges of the planks in the decks and sides of a ship; or the places where the planks join together. These are always filled with a quantity of oakum, and covered with hot pitch, to prevent the entrance of the water. See the article CALKING.

SEIZING, amarrer, the operation of fastening any two ropes, or different parts of one rope together, with a small line or cord: also the cord (ammarage) which fastens them.

SELVAGEE, a sort of hank or skein of rope-yarn tied together at several distances. It is used to fasten round any rope, as a shroud or stay, so that a tackle may be hooked in it, to extend the said shroud or stay, which is called setting it up.

SENDING, the act of pitching precipitately into the hollow or interval, between two waves.

SENNIT, garcettes, (from seven and knit) a sort of flat braided cordage, formed by platting five or seven rope-yarns together.

SERVING, fourrer, winding any thing round a rope, to prevent it from being rubbed. The materials used for this purpose, and which are accordingly called service, fourrure, are generally small lines, leather, plat canvas, &c.

SETTEE, scitie, a ship of two masts, equipped with triangular sails, commonly called lateen sails. These vessels are peculiar to the Mediterranean sea, and are generally navigated by Italians, Greeks, or Mahometans.

SETTING, the act of observing the situation of any distant object by the compass, in order to discover the angle which it makes with the nearest meridian; as, at seven in the evening, we set the Tower of Arabia near the port of Alexandria, and it bore S. S. E. distant four leagues by estimation. See BEARING.

SETTING also denotes the direction of the wind, current, or sea, but particularly the two latter: as, the tide which sets to the south, is opposed to a swelling sea setting to the north-west.

SETTING, when applied to the sails, is the loosening and expanding them, so as to move a ship along the water, after she had been for some time at rest; or to accelerate her velocity when she is already moving, and perhaps give a new direction to her motion. It is used in contradistinction to taking-in the sails, as loosing or heaving-out is opposed to furling or stowing them.

SETTING-UP, the act of extending the shrouds, stays, and back-stays, to secure the masts, by the application of mechanical powers, as tackles, &c. See DEAD-EYE, LANIARD, &c.

SETTLED, lowered in the water; as, we have settled the land, or sunk it lower, by sailing farther out to seaward. This phrase is usually opposed to raising; the former being occasioned by departing from the object understood, and the latter by approaching it: however, the sense is more commonly expressed laying.

SEWED, the situation of a ship which rests upon the ground till the depth of water sufficient to float her is diminished by the reflux of the tide. Thus if a ship runs aground on the tide of ebb, and it be required to know if she has sewed, the water-line or mark on her side, stem, or stern-post, where the surface of the water reaches when she is afloat, is examined, and this mark being found above the water, she is said to be sewed by as much as is the difference.

SHAKES, ébaroui, a name given by shipwrights to the cracks or rents in a plank, occasioned by the sun or weather.

SHANK, the beam or shaft of an anchor. See that article.

SHANK-PAINTER, a short rope and chain which hangs the shank and flukes of the anchor up to the ship’s side, as the stopper fastens the ring and stock to the cathead.

To SHAPE the course, commander à la route, to direct or appoint the track of a ship, in order to prosecute a voyage.

SHARP. See BOTTOM.

SHEATHING, doublage, a sort of casing or covering laid on the outside of a ship’s bottom, to protect the planks from the pernicious effects of the worms: particularly in hot climates, as between the tropics.

Sheathing either consists of a number of boards or deals of fir, or of sheets of lead or copper; which last is a very late invention, having been only experienced on a few of his Majesty’s frigates: it seems, however, to answer the purpose much better than the fir-planks. When the sheathing is performed with boards, there is a quantity of hair and tar inserted between the outside of the bottom and the inner surface of the boards.

SHEAVE, rouet, (schijf, Dutch) a solid cylindrical wheel, fixed in a channel, and moveable about an axis, as being used to raise or increase the mechanical powers applied to remove any body.

The sheaves are either fixed in blocks, or in channels cut through the masts, caps, cat-heads, or sides of a ship. See those articles.

SHEEP-SHANK: a sort of knot or hitch cast on a rope, to shorten it as occasion requires: particularly to increase the sweep or length of a tackle by contracting its runner. By this contrivance the body to which the tackle is applied may be hoisted much higher, or removed much farther, in a shorter time.

Thus if any weighty body is to be hoisted into a ship, and it be found that the blocks of the tackle meet before the object can reach the top of the side, it will be necessary to lower it again, or hang it by some other method, till the runner of the tackle is sheep-shanked, by which the blocks will again be separated to a competent distance.

SHEER, relevement, the longitudinal curve of a ship’s deck or sides.

SHEERING, in navigation, the act of deviating or straying from the line of the course, either to the right or left, so as to form a crooked and irregular path through the water. It is commonly occasioned by the ship’s being difficult to steer, but very often from the negligence or incapacity of the helmsman. Hence, to sheer off is to remove at a greater distance.

SHEERS, machine à mater, an engine used to hoist-in or displace the lower masts of a ship. See the article MAST.

The sheers employed for this purpose in the royal navy are described under the article hulk. In merchant-ships this machine is composed of two masts or props, erected in the same vessel wherein the mast is to be planted, or from whence it is to be removed. The lower ends of these props rest on the opposite sides of the deck, and their upper parts are fastened across, so as that a tackle, which depends from the intersection, may be almost perpendicularly above the station of the mast, to which the mechanical powers are applied. These sort of sheers are secured by stays, which extend forward and aft to the opposite extremities of the vessel.

SHEET, écoute, a rope fastened to one or both the lower corners of a sail, to extend and retain it in a particular station. See CLUE and SAIL.

When a ship sails with a lateral wind, the lower corner of the main and fore sail are fastened by a tack and a sheet; the former being to windward and the latter to leeward: the tack, however, is entirely disused with a stern-wind; whereas the sail is never spread without the assistance of one or both of the sheets.

The stay-sails and studding-sails have only one tack and one sheet each: the stay-sail-tacks are always fastened forward, and the sheet drawn aft; but the studding-sail-tack draws the outer clue of the sail to the extremity of the boom; whereas the sheet is employed, to extend the inmost.

To haul home the SHEET. See HOME.

SHEET-ANCHOR. See the article ANCHOR.

SHELL, in artillery. See MORTAR and RANGE.

SHELL of a block, the outer frame or case, wherein the sheave or wheel is contained, and traverses about its axis. See BLOCK.

SHELVES, écueils, (schylf, Sax.) a general name given to any dangerous shallows, sand-banks, or rocks lying immediately under the surface of the water, so as to intercept any ship in her passage, and expose her to destruction.

SHIFTED, desarrimée, the state of a ship’s ballast or cargo when it is shaken from one side to the other, either by the violence of her rolling in a turbulent sea, or by an extraordinary inclination to one side when under a great pressure of sail. This circumstance, however, rarely happens, unless to those cargoes which are stowed in bulk, as corn, salt, or such materials. See LADEN and TRIM.

SHIFTED, sauté, when expressed of the wind, implies altered.

SHIFTER, detrempeur, a person appointed to assist the ship’s cook, particularly in washing, steeping, and shifting the salt provisions.

SHIFTING a tackle, the act of removing the blocks of a tackle to a greater distance from each other, on the object to which they are applied, in order to give a greater scope or extent to their purchase. This operation is otherwise called fleeting. See that article.

SHIFTING the helm, rencontrer, is the alteration of its position, by pushing it towards the opposite side of the ship. See HELM.

SHIFTING the voyal, depasser, changing its position on the capstern from the right to the left, and vice versa.

SHIP, vaisseau, (scip, Sax.) a general name given by seamen to the first rank of vessels which are navigated on the ocean.

Amongst people who are unacquainted with marine distinctions, this term is of very vague and indiscriminate acceptation: and indeed sailors themselves, submitting occasionally to the influence of custom, receive it according to this general idea. In the sea-language, however, it is more particularly applied to a vessel furnished with three masts, each of which is composed of a lower mast, top-mast, and top-gallant-mast, with the usual machinery thereto belonging.

The design of this work being professedly to treat of the construction, mechanism, furniture, movements, and military operations of a ship, we may properly consider the present article as a general recapitulation of the whole subject.

The plans, elevations, and sections used in the construction of a ship; the principal pieces of which she is composed, and the qualities requisite to answer the several purposes of navigation, are described, or referred to, in Naval ARCHITECTURE: and the application of this theory to practice is treated in the article Ship-BUILDING.

The machinery and furniture with which she is equipped are variously diffused throughout this work, and naturally spring from one another, like a multitude of branches from one general trunk. See MAST, SAIL, YARD, RIGGING, ANCHOR, &c.

The qualities by which she is enabled to encounter a tempestuous sea are treated in the article BALLAST and TRIM; and her several movements therein are explained under NAVIGATION, DRIFT, SAILING, TACKING, LEEWAY, PITCHING, and ROLLING.

Considered as a moveable fortress or citadel, her military operations are copiously described in CANNON, CANNONADE, ENGAGEMENT, LINE, and RANGE; and as her efforts are occasionally like those of a mine, or bombardment, the reader is also referred to the articles FIRE-SHIP and MORTAR.

The vessels which are usually comprehended under the general name of ship, besides those of the line of battle, are galleons, frigates, hag-boats, cats, barks, pinks, and fly-boats; all of which are defined in their proper places, except the hag-boat, that only differs from a frigate-built ship in the figure of the stern, which has a great resemblance to that of the cat, as being in a middle degree between the former and the latter. See also the article QUARTER.

Ships of war are properly equipped with artillery, ammunition, and all the necessary martial weapons and instruments for attack or defence. They are distinguished from each other by their several ranks or classes. See RATE.

SHIP of the line is usually applied to all men of war mounting sixty guns and upwards. Of late, however, our fifty-gun ships have been formed sufficiently strong to carry the same metal as those of sixty, and accordingly may fall into the line in cases of necessity. See LINE.

The ships of seventy-four cannon, and thereabouts, are generally esteemed the most useful in the line of battle, and indeed in almost every other purpose of war. It has therefore been judged conformable to our design, to represent different views and sections of a ship of this class. Thus plate IV. exhibits the head, together with the bow or fore part. Plate VII. shews a transverse section through the broadest part, with the profile of her upper and lower deck batteries. Plate III. contains an horizontal section at the lower deck, together with the plan of the battery planted on one side thereof, and all the pieces by which the deck is supported on the other. The quarter, and all the after part of the ship, is exhibited in plate VIII. and the elevation of the stern in plate X. all of which are on the same scale, viz. one fourth of an inch to a foot, except the deck, which is one eighth of an inch to a foot.

We have also, on a smaller scale, expressed an elevation or side-view of a sixty-gun ship, in plate I. with the head thereof in plate IV. fig. 11. and the stern in plate X. fig. 2. both of which are viewed upon a line on the continuation of the keel.

Armed SHIP. See ARMED SHIP.

Hospital-SHIP, a vessel fitted up to attend on a fleet of men of war, and receive their sick or wounded; for which purpose her decks should be high, and her ports sufficiently large. Her cables ought also to run upon the upper deck, to the end that the beds or cradles may be more commodiously placed between decks, and admit a free passage of the air, to disperse that which is offensive or corrupted.

Leeward SHIP. See LEEWARD.

Merchant-SHIP, a vessel employed in commerce, to carry commodities of various sorts from one port to another.

The largest merchant-ships are those employed by the different European companies of merchants who trade to the East Indies. They are in general somewhat larger than our forty-gun ships: they are mounted with twenty cannon on their upper deck, which are nine pounders, and six on their quarter-deck, which are six pounders. Plate IX. fig. 5. represents a view of one of these vessels on the larboard bow, where a is the ensign-staff, A the mizen-mast, B the main-mast, C the fore-mast, K the poop, L L an awning of wood extending across the after part of the quarter-deck, M poop-ladder, N O steps of the gangway, P head of the capstern on the quarter-deck, Q R the skeeds on the gangway, r the belfry on the forecastle, s the timber-heads, y the cut-water, with a lion-head fixed upon it. The other parts of this ship represented in the figure are referred to from the explanations of the head, plate IV. and the quarter in plate VIII.

Fig. 6. plate IX. exhibits a quarter view of a foreign-built East-Indiaman, with a square tuck, or perpendicular counter, and having three poop-lanthorns fixed on her taffarel.

Private SHIP of war. See PRIVATEER.

Store-SHIP, a vessel employed to carry artillery or naval stores for the use of a fleet, fortress, or garrison.

Transport-SHIP is generally used to conduct troops from one place to another.

Weatherly-SHIP. See WEATHERLY SHIP.

In the different kinds of ships, referred to above, and distinguished from each other by their size or figure, we have only considered those which are most common in European nations, where the marine art has received the greatest improvements. So far is apparently consistent with the views of utility. To give a circumstantial account of the various species of ships employed in different nations, besides being an almost endless task, would be of little service, except to gratify an useless curiosity. See VESSEL.

To SHIP, is either used actively, as, to embark any person, or put any thing aboard-ship; or passively, to receive any thing into a ship; as, we shipped a heavy sea at three o’clock in the morning.

To SHIP, also implies to fix any thing in its place; as, to ship the oars, i. e. to fix them in their row-locks. To ship the swivel-guns, is to fix them in their sockets, &c.

SHIP-SHAPE, according to the fashion of a ship, or in the manner of an expert sailor; as, the mast is not rigged ship-shape; trim your sails ship-shape.

SHIPPING, a multitude of vessels. The harbour is crouded with shipping.

SHOAL, a term synonimous with shallow. See that article.

SHOE of the anchor, soulier, a small block of wood, convex on the back, and having a small hole, sufficient to contain the point of the anchor-fluke, on the fore side. It is used to prevent the anchor from tearing or wounding the planks on the ship’s bow, when ascending or descending; for which purpose the shoe slides up and down along the bow, between the fluke of the anchor and the planks, as being press’d close to the latter by the weight of the former.

To SHOE an anchor, brider, is to cover the flukes with a broad triangular piece of plank, whose area or superficies is much larger than that of the flukes. It is intended to give the anchor a stronger and surer hold of the bottom in very soft and oozy ground.

SHORE, a general name for the sea-coast of any country.

SHORE is also a prop or large stanchion fixed under a ship’s sides or bottom, to support her when laid aground or on the stocks, &c.

Bold SHORE, a coast which is steep and abrupt, so as to admit the closest approach of shipping without exposing them to the danger of being stranded.

To SHORTEN, expressed of a ship’s sails, is used in opposition to make. See that article, as also SAIL.

SHOT, a missive weapon, discharged by the force of inflamed powder from a fire-arm in battle.

The shot used in the sea-service is of various kinds, as bullets, bar-shot, chain-shot, case-shot, and grape-shot; all of which are used in the royal navy. There is besides other shot, of a more pernicious kind, used by privateers, and other piratical rovers: such are langrage star-shot, fire-arrows, &c.

The first and most simple is the round-shot, which is a ball or globe of iron, whose weight is in proportion to the size of the cannon, or to the diameter of its bore.

The double-headed, or bar-shot, fig. 11. plate VII. are balls cut into two equal parts, and joined together by a kind of iron bar. In the French service the middle is sometimes filled with a composition, and the whole covered with linen dipped in brimstone; the cannon in firing also inflames the combustibles or composition of this ball, which sets fire to the sails of the vessel. One of the heads of this ball has an hole to receive a fuse, which, communicating with the charge of the cannon, sets fire to the bullet[54].

The chain-shot, fig. 12. consists of two balls chained together, being principally designed to destroy the masts and rigging, which they are better fitted to perform than the single bullets.

Grape-shot is a combination of balls, fig. 13. put into a thick canvas bag, and corded strongly together, so as to form a sort of cylinder, whose diameter is equal to that of the ball which is adapted to the cannon. This shot is represented by fig. 13. on a larger scale, at the bottom of the plate.

Case-shot, fig. 14. is formed by putting a great quantity of musket-bullets into a cylindrical tin-box called a canister. They are principally used by the French to scour the decks of the enemy.

Diameter of IRON SHOT used in the sea-service, according to their weight.

Wt.│ Diamet. lb.│Inch. Parts. 1½│ 2 20 3 │ 2 77 4 │ 3 5 6 │ 3 49 9 │ 4 00 12 │ 4 40 18 │ 5 4 24 │ 5 50 32 │ 6 60 42 │ 6 68

Construction of Grape-shot used in the Sea-service.

Pounders.│Thickness of│ Spindles. │ Weight. │ Bottoms. │ │ │ │ Length. │ Diamet. │ Shot. │Bottom. │ │ │ │ │ │Inch. Parts.│Inch. Parts.│Inch. Parts.│lb. oz.│lb. oz. 42 │ 0 60│ 9 16│ 0 57│ 4 0 │ 7 0 32 │ 0 55│ 8 32│ 0 55│ 3 0 │ 5 4 24 │ 0 48│ 7 27│ 0 70│ 2 0 │ 4 0 18 │ 0 44│ 6 61│ 0 64│ 1 8 │ 3 0 12 │ 0 38│ 5 77│ 0 55│ 1 0 │ 2 0 9 │ 0 36│ 5 38│ 0 41│ 0 38 │ 1 8 6 │ 0 30│ 4 58│ 0 44│ 0 8 │ 1 0 4 │ 0 27│ 4 16│ 0 27│ 0 6 │ 0 10½ 3 │ 0 22│ 3 63│ 0 35│ 0 4 │ 0 8 1½│ 0 19│ 2 88│ 0 27│ 0 2 │ 0 4 1 │ 0 17│ 2 62│ 0 17│ 0 0½│ 0 3 0½│ 0 14│ 2 25│ 0 12│ 0 0¾│ 0 2 Lead.

Pounders.│ Canvas for Bags. │ Cord. │ Weight │ │ │finished. │Length.│Breadth│ Width │ Length. │ Circum. │ │ │ │ made. │ │ │ │Inches.│Inches.│ │Feet. Inch.│ Inches. │lb. oz. 42 │ 16 │ 20 5│ 9 8│ 10 0│ 1 0│ 43 0 32 │ 15 │ 19 │ 9 0│ 8 10│ 1 0│ 32 4 24 │ 14 │ 17 5│ 8 3│ 7 4│ 0 8│ 22 8 18 │ 12 │ 16 5│ 7 8│ 6 6│ 0 8│ 16 8 12 │ 11 │ 14 5│ 6 8│ 5 8│ 0 5│ 11 0 9 │ 10½ │ 12 75│ 6 0│ 5 1│ 0 5│ 8 13 6 │ 9 │ 11 5│ 5 3│ 4 8│ 0 4│ 5 8 4 │ 7 75│ 10 │ 4 6│ 3 10│ 0 4│ 4 0 3 │ 7 │ 9 5│ 4 3│ 3 9│ 0 4│ 2 12 1½│ 6 │ 7 5│ 3 4│ 3 5│ 0 3│ 1 6 1 │ 5 │ 6 75│ 3 0│ 3 0│ 0 3│ 1 0 0½│ 4 5│ 5 25│ 2 3│ 2 3│Packthread│ 0 8¾

Fire-arrows are described in the notes under the article ENGAGEMENT, and Langrage under that word.

Star-shot consists of four pieces of iron, whose bases, when separate, form the quadrant of a circle; so that the whole being joined, forms a cylinder equal to the shot of the cannon. Each of those pieces is furnished with an iron bar, the extremity of which is attached to a sort of link, as keys are strung upon a ring. Being discharged from the gun, the four branches or arms extend every way from the link in the center. These also are chiefly intended to destroy the sails or rigging, but their flight and execution is very precarious at any tolerable distance.

SHROUDS, haubans, (scrud, Sax.) a range of large ropes extended from the mast-heads to the right and left side of the ship, to support the masts, and enable them to carry sail, &c.

The shrouds are always divided into pairs or couples: that is to say, one piece of rope is doubled, fig. 7. plate IX. and the two parts fastened together at a small distance from the middle a, so as to leave a sort of noose or collars a b to fix upon the mast-head. This collar being fixed in its place, viz. close down upon the tressel-trees k fig. 2. plate VI. a pair of shrouds depend from it, whose lower ends ought to reach down to the deck. The lower ends of these shrouds are set up or extended to the channel I. fig. 2. plate VI. on the outside of the ship, by the application of mechanical powers, as explained in the articles dead-eye and laniard.

The shrouds as well as the sails are denominated from the masts to which they belong. Thus they are the main, fore, and mizen shrouds, the main top-mast, fore top-mast, or mizen top-mast shrouds, and the main top-gallant, fore top-gallant, or mizen top-gallant shrouds.

The number of shrouds by which a mast is sustained, as well as the size of rope of which they are formed, is always in proportion to the size of the mast, and the weight of sail it is intended to carry.

The two foremost shrouds on the starboard and larboard side of the ship are always fitted first upon the mast-head; and then the second on the starboard and the second on the larboard, and so on till the whole number is fixed. The intention of this arrangement is to brace the yards with greater facility when the sails are close-hauled, which could not be performed without great difficulty if the foremost shrouds were last fitted on the mast-head, because the angle which they would make with the mast would then be greatly increased. See also Swifter.

The topmast-shrouds are extended from the topmast-heads to the edges of the tops, as expressed by fig. 3, pl. VI. and fig. 1. pl. IX. The lower dead-eye q, employed for this purpose, is fitted with an iron band, called the foot-hook plate, which passes thro’ a hole in the edge of the top, and communicates with a rope called the foot-hook shroud, whose lower end is attached to the shrouds of the lower mast, in the station l. The upper ends of the foot-hook shrouds are furnished with an iron hook n, which enters a hole in the lower end of the foot-hook plate, so that when the top-mast shrouds are extended to secure the mast, the foot-hook shrouds necessarily acquire an equal tension by means of the foot-hook plate, which, passing through the top, transmits the effort of the mechanical powers, to the foot-hook shrouds below.

The shrouds of the top-gallant masts are extended to the cross-trees, as represented by m, fig. 1. plate IX. See also fig. 5. plate VI.

SIDE, coté, a name given to the flanks of a ship, or in general to all that part which is presented to the view between the stem and stern, in a direction nearly perpendicular to the horizon.

The figure of the side is formed by that of the timbers upon which it is constructed. It is covered with planks, extending from one end of the ship to the other; it is also reinforced in different places by beams, clamps, knees, riders, and standards. See those articles.

The side is terminated above by the gunnel, and below by the lower edge of the main wale, which separates it from the bottom: it is inclosed by the stern abaft, and by the bow forward.

SIGNALS, (signal, Fr.) certain alarms or notices used to communicate intelligence to a distant object at sea.

Signals are made by firing artillery, and displaying colours, lanthorns, or fire-works: and these are combined by multiplication and repetition. Thus, like the words of a language, they become arbitrary expressions, to which we have previously annexed particular ideas: and hence they are the general sources of intelligence throughout a naval armament, &c. See ADMIRAL and ENGAGEMENT.

Signals ought to be distinct, with simplicity. They are simple, when every instruction is expressed by a particular token, in order to avoid any mistakes arising from the double purport of one signal. They are distinct, when issued without precipitation; when sufficient time is allowed to observe and obey them; and when they are exposed in a conspicuous place, so as to be readily perceived at a distance.

All signals may be reduced into three different kinds, viz. Those which are made by the sound of particular instruments, as the trumpet, horn, or fife; to which may be added, striking the bell, or beating the drum. Those which are made by displaying pendants, ensigns, and flags of different colours; or by lowering or altering the position of the sails: And, finally, those which are executed by rockets of different kinds; by firing cannon, or small arms; by artificial fire-works; and by lanthorns.

Firing of great guns will serve equally in the day or night, or in a fog; to make or confirm signals; or to raise the attention of the hearers to a future order. This method, however, is attended with some inconveniencies, and should not be used indiscriminately. Too great a repetition of the cannon is apt to introduce mistakes and confusion, as well as to discover the tract of the squadron. The report and flight of the rockets is liable to the same objection, when at a short distance from the enemy.

It is then, by the combination of signals, previously known, that the admiral conveys orders to his fleet; every squadron, every division, and every ship of which has its particular signal. The instruction may therefore occasionally be given to the whole fleet, or to any of its squadrons; to any division of those squadrons, or to any ship of those divisions.

Hence the signal of command may at the same time be displayed for three divisions, and for three ships of each division; or for three ships in each squadron, and for only nine ships in the whole fleet. For, the general signal of the fleet being shewn, if a particular pendant be also thrown out from some remarkable place on the same mast with the general signal, it will communicate intelligence to nine ships that wear the same pendant.

The preparatory signal given by the admiral to the whole, or any part of his fleet, is immediately answered by those to whom it is directed; by shewing the same signal, to testify that they are ready to put his orders in execution. Having observed their answer, he will shew the signal which is to direct their operations: as,

To chace, to form the line, to begin the engagement, to board, to double upon the enemy, to rally or return to action, to discontinue the fight, to retreat and save themselves. The dexterity of working the ships in a fleet depends on the precise moment of executing these orders; and on the general harmony of their movements: a circumstance which evinces the utility of a signal of preparation.

As the extent of the line of battle, and the fire and smoke of the action, or other circumstances in navigation, will frequently prevent the admiral’s signals from being seen throughout the fleet, they are always repeated by the officers next in command; by ships appointed to repeat signals; and, finally, by the ship or ships for which they are intended.

The ships that repeat the signals, besides the chiefs of squadrons or divisions, are usually frigates lying to windward or to leeward of the line. They should be extremely vigilant to observe and repeat the signals, whether they are to transmit the orders of the commander in chief, or his seconds, to any part of the fleet; or to report the fortunate or distressful situation of any part thereof. By this means all the ships from the van to the rear will, unless disabled, be ready at a moment’s warning to put the admiral’s designs in execution.

To preserve order in the repetition of signals, and to favour their communication, without embarassment, from the commander in chief, to the ship for which they are calculated, the commanders of the squadrons repeat after the admiral; the chiefs of the divisions, according to their order in the line, after the commanders of the squadrons; and the particular ships after the chiefs of the divisions; and those, in return, after the particular ships, vice versa, when the object is to convey any intelligence from the latter to the admiral.

Besides the signals above mentioned, there are others for different ranks of officers; as for captains, lieutenants, masters, &c. or for any of those officers of a peculiar ship. See DIVISION and SQUADRON.

SKEET, a sort of long scoop commonly used to wet the decks and sides of a ship in hot weather, in order to keep them cool, and to prevent them from splitting by the heat of the sun. This practice is accordingly performed in general every morning and evening before sun-rise and after sun-set.

This instrument, fig. 8. plate IX. is also employed in small vessels to wet the sails, to render them more steady and efficacious in light breezes.

SKIDS, or SKEEDS, are long compassing pieces of timber, formed so as to answer the vertical curve of a ship’s side. See Q, R, fig. 5. plate IX. They are notched below so as to fit closely upon the wales; and as they are intended to preserve the planks of the side, when any weighty body is hoisted or lowered, they extend from the main wale to the top of the side; and they are retained in this position by bolts or spike-nails.

SKIFF, esquife (scaffa, Lat.) a small boat resembling a yawl. See the article BOAT.

SLAB-LINE, cargue à vue, a small cord passing up behind a ship’s mainsail or fore-sail, and being reeved through a block, fig. 1. plate IX. attached to the lower part of the yard, is thence transmitted in two branches to the foot of the sail, to which it is fastened. It is used to truss up the sail as occasion requires; but more particularly for the conveniency of the pilot or steersman, that they may look forward beneath it, as the ship advances.

SLACK-WATER, the interval between the flux and reflux of the tide; or between the last of the ebb and the first of the flood, during which the current is interrupted; and the water apparently remains in a state of rest.

SLATCH, is generally applied to the period of a transitory breeze of wind, or the length of its duration.

SLEEPERS, a name formerly given by shipwrights to the thick-stuff placed longitudinally in a ship’s hold, opposite to the several scarfs of the timbers. It is now properly applied to the knees, which connect the transoms to the after-timbers on the ship’s quarter.

SLINGS, elingue (slingan, Sax.) a rope whose ends are fixed in such a manner to its other part, as to encircle a cask, bale, or case, and suspend it whilst hoisting or lowering. Of these there are various sorts, according to the weight or figure of the object to which they are applied. Those which are most frequently used in lading and delivering ships are represented in fig. 9. plate IX. being nearly in the form of a pair of spectacles, the tackle being hooked to the middle part a, whilst b and c are fixed on the opposite quarters of the cask, &c.

SLIP, a place lying with a gradual descent on the banks of a river convenient for ship-building.

SLOOP, a small vessel furnished with one mast, the main-sail of which is attached to a gaff above, to the mast on its foremost edge, and to a long boom below; by which it is occasionally shifted to either quarter. See VESSEL.

SLOOP OF WAR, a name given to the smallest vessels of war, except cutters. They are either rigged as ships or as snows. See COMMAND, HORSE, and RATE.

To SLUE, is to turn any cylindrical or conical piece of timber about its axis, without removing it. This term is generally expressed of the movement by which a mast or boom is turned about, in its cap or boom-iron.

SMACK, a small vessel commonly rigged as a sloop or hoy, used in the coasting or fishing trade; or as a tender in the King’s service.

SNATCH-BLOCK, galoche, a block having an opening in one of its sides, wherein to fix the bight of rope occasionally. See BLOCK.

SNOTTER. See the article SPRIT.

SNOW, senau, is generally the largest of all two-masted vessels employed by Europeans, and the most convenient for navigation.

The sails and rigging on the main-mast and fore-mast of a snow, are exactly similar to those on the same masts in a ship; only that there is a small mast behind the main-mast of the former, which carries a sail nearly resembling the mizen of a ship. The foot of this mast is fixed in a block of wood on the quarter-deck abaft the main-mast; and the head of it is attached to the afterpart of the main-top. The sail, which is called the try-sail, is extended from its mast towards the stern of the vessel.

When the sloops of war are rigged as snows, they are furnished with a horse, which answers the purpose of the trysail-mast, the fore part of the sail being attached by rings to the said horse, in different parts of its height.

SOLE, a name sometimes given to the lower side of a gun-port, which however is more properly called the port-sell.

SOUNDING, (sonder, Fr.) the operation of trying the depth of the water, and the quality of the ground, by means of a plummet, plomb de sonde, sunk from a ship to the bottom.

There are two plummets used for this purpose in navigation; one of which is called the hand-lead, weighing about 8 or 9 pound; and the other the deep-sea-lead, which weighs from 25 to 30 pound, and both are shaped like the frustrum of a cone or pyramid. The former is used in shallow waters, and the latter at a great distance from the shore; particularly on approaching the land, after a sea-voyage. Accordingly the lines employed for this purpose are called the deep-sea lead-line, and the hand lead-line.

The hand lead-line, which is usually 20 fathoms in length, is marked at every 2 or 3 fathoms; so that the depth of the water may be ascertained either in the day or night. At the depth of 2 and 3 fathoms, there are marks of black leather; at 5 fathom, there is a white rag; at 7, a red rag; at 10, black leather; at 13, black leather; at 15, a white rag; and at 17, a red ditto.

Sounding with the hand-lead, which is called heaving the lead by seamen, is generally performed by a man who stands in the main-chains to windward. Having the line all ready to run out, without interrupton, he holds it nearly at the distance of a fathom from the plummet, and having swung the latter backwards and forwards three or four times, in order to acquire the greater velocity, he swings it round his head, and thence, as far forward as is necessary; so that, by the lead’s sinking whilst the ship advances, the line may be almost perpendicular when it reaches the bottom. The person sounding then proclaims the depth of the water in a kind of song resembling the cries of hawkers in a city. Thus, if the mark of 5 fathoms is close to the surface of the water, he calls ‘By the mark five!’ and as there is no mark at 4, 6, 8, &c. he estimates those numbers, and calls, ‘By the dip four,’ &c. If he judges it to be a quarter, or an half more than any particular number, he calls, ‘And a quarter five! and a half four,’ &c. If he conceives the depth to be 3 quarters more than a particular number, he calls it a quarter less than the next: thus, at 4 fathom and ¾, he calls ‘A quarter less five!’ and so on.

The deep-sea-lead is marked with two knots at 20 fathom, 3 at 30, 4 at 40, and so on to the end. It is also marked with a single knot in the middle of each interval, as at 25, 35, 45 fathoms, &c. To use this lead more effectually at sea, or in deep water on the sea-coast, it is usual previously to bring-to the ship, in order to retard her course: the lead is then thrown as far as possible from the ship on the line of her drift, so that, as it sinks, the ship drives more perpendicularly over it. The pilot feeling the lead strike the bottom, readily discovers the depth of the water by the mark on the line nearest its surface. The bottom of the lead being also well rubbed over with tallow, retains the distinguishing marks of the bottom, as shells, ooze, gravel, &c. which naturally adheres to it.

The depth of the water, and the nature of the ground, which is called the soundings, are carefully marked in the log-book, as well to determine the distance of the place from the shore, as to correct the observations of former pilots. See COASTING and NAVIGATION.

SPAN, pendour (spanna, Ital.) a small line or cord, the middle of which is usually attached to a stay, from whence the two ends branch outwards to the right and left, and having either a block or thimble attached to their extremities. The intention of the span is accordingly to confine some rope which passes through the corresponding block or thimble, as well to increase the effort of the said rope, as to prevent it from swinging at too great a distance from the centre of its action in stormy weather. Such are the spans occasionally used for the top-gallant braces, or the fore-top-gallant bowlines, &c.

SPAN-SHACKLE. See the article DAVIT.

SPARE, rechange, an epithet applied to any part of a ship’s equipage, or furniture, that lies in reserve, to supply the place of such as may be lost, or rendered incapable of service. Hence we say, spare top-masts, spare sails, spare rigging, &c.

PUMP-SPEAR. See the article PUMP.

SPELL, the period wherein a sailor, or gang of sailors, is employed in a particular exercise, from which they are relieved as soon as the limited time expires. Such are the spells, to the hand-lead in sounding; to the pump; to look out on the mast-head, &c. and to steer the ship; which last, however, is generally called the trick. See STEERING.

Spell also implies the relief, or the return of duty to those services: Thus we say, spell the pump, spell the lead, &c.

To SPILL, to discharge the wind out of the cavity or belly of a sail when it is drawn up in the brails in order to furl or reef it. This is either performed by collecting the sail together, or by bracing its edge to the wind, so as to shiver or be laid aback.

SPILLING-LINES, certain ropes fixed occasionally to the main-sail and fore-sail of a ship, in tempestuous weather, for reefing or furling them more conveniently. They are passed through blocks above the yard, and thence leading down before the sail, come under its bottom, and return upwards behind it to the yard, where they are fastened; so that the sail, by their effort, is closely and immoveably confined to the yard.

SPINDLE, a sort of iron-pin tapering at the upper end to a point. It is used to stick into the upper end of the top-gallant-mast, so as to carry a vane, which, turning thereon horizontally, will show the direction of the wind. It is usually crowned with a globular or conical piece of wood called the acorn, which prevents the vane from being blown off. See ACORN.

SPINDLE is also the lower end or foot of the capstern, which is shod with iron, and becomes the pivot or axis upon which it turns in the saucer. See the article CAPSTERN.

SPIRKETTING, that range of planks which lies between the water-ways and the lower edge of the gun-ports within the side of a ship of war.

To SPLICE, episser (splitser Dutch, plico Lat.) to join the two ends of a rope together, or to unite the end of a rope to any other part thereof.

There are several different methods of performing this operation, according to the services on which it is to be employed. Thus, there is the short-splice, the long-splice, the eye-splice, and the cunt-splice; all of which are calculated for different purposes.

The short-splice is made by untwisting the ends of two ropes, or the two ends of one rope, and, having placed each of the strands of one opposite to and in the interval between two strands of the other, to draw them close together; and then interweave the strands of one into the alternate strands of the other, by penetrating the latter with a fid or marline-spike, parallel to the axis or length of the rope. This splice is used on the cables, slings, block-strops, and in general all ropes which are not intended to run through blocks, or where the splice is not in danger of being loosened or separated.

The long-splice being fixed in three places, occupies a greater extent of the rope; but by the division of the joinings, the bulk is also divided into different parts of its length. Hence it is much neater and smoother than the short-splice, and better adapted to run through the channel of a block, &c. for which use it is generally calculated.

The eye-splice being intended to make a sort of eye or circle at the end of a rope, the strands are untwisted, and their extremities thrust through the three strands in that part of the said rope, whereon the splice is to be formed, and thence passing over the surface of the second strand, they are again thrust through the third, which compleats the operation.

The cunt-splice is constructed in the same manner as the eye-splice, being no other than the ends of two lines fastened together at a short distance from each other, the extremities of either being interwoven into the bight of the other, so that the line becomes double in the extent of the splice. This is chiefly used in lead-lines, log-lines, and fishing-lines, where the short-splice would be liable to separation, as being frequently loosened by the water.

SPLIT, the state of a sail which is rent asunder by the violence of a tempest, or by sustaining a greater effort on one part of its surface than the rest.

SPLIT, when applied to a ship, is also the state of being stranded and bilged on a rock or shore.

SPOON-DRIFT, a sort of showery sprinkling of the sea-water, swept from the surface of the waves in a tempest, and flying according to the direction of the wind like a vapour.

SPOONING. By the explanation of this term in our dictionaries, it seems formerly to have signified that movement, in navigation, which is now called scudding. Be that as it may, there is at present no such phrase in our sea-language.

SPRAY, the sprinkling of the sea, which is driven from the top of a wave in stormy weather. It differs from spoon-drift, as being only blown occasionally from the broken surface of a high wave, whereas the latter continues to fly horizontally along the sea, without intermission, during the excess of a tempest or hurricane.

SPRING, a crack or breach running transversely or obliquely through any part of a mast or yard, so as to render it unsafe to carry the usual quantity of sail thereon.

SPRING is also a rope passed out of one extremity of a ship and attached to a cable proceeding from the other, when she lies at anchor. It is usually performed to bring the ship’s broad-side, or battery of cannon, to bear upon some distant object; as another ship, or a fortress on the coast, &c. When a ship rides by anchors which are only carried out of one end, she will swing upon the surface of the water like a weather-cock, according to the direction of the wind; unless when the wind is opposed by a current. Now, if instead of being fastened at one end, she is attached by ropes, which, proceeding from her head and stern towards the same source, sustain an equal effort of the wind, it is evident that her side will be presented to the wind; and that, by slackening one of those ropes, and keeping fast the other, her side will lie more or less obliquely to the wind, so as to be opposed to any distant object to the right or left.

Thus, if a ship rides with her head northerly, and it is required to cannonade a fortress lying on the south or south-east: a hauser is run out of the stern, and being carried forward, without her side, is attached to the cable, at a competent distance ahead of the ship: the hauser is then tightened by the capstern or tackles, and the cable being slackened, the ship immediately turns her side towards the object intended to be battered.

SPRING is likewise a rope reaching diagonally from the stern of a ship to the head of another which lies along-side or a-breast of her, at a short distance. This is generally performed to make one of the ships sheer off, to a greater distance from the other; or to make merchant-ships lie uniformly in the same tier. Springs of this sort are therefore occasionally applied from a ship, to a wharf or key, for the same purposes.

To SPRING A LEAK. See the article LEAK.

SPRINGING THE LUFF. See LUFF.

SPRING-TIDE, the periodical excess of the elevation and depression of the TIDE. See that article.

SPRIT, (spryttan, Sax. to branch out) a small boom or pole which crosses the sail of a boat diagonally, from the mast, to the upper hindmost corner of the sail, which it is used to extend and elevate: the lower end of the sprit rests in a sort of wreath or collar called the snotter, which encircles the mast in that place. These sort of sails are accordingly called sprit-sails.

SPRITSAIL, civadiere, a sail attached to a yard which hangs under the bowsprit, as represented in fig. 2. y, plate IX. It is furnished with a large hole in each of its lower corners, to evacuate the water with which the cavity, or belly of it is frequently filled, by the surge of the sea when the ship pitches.

SPRITSAIL-TOPSAIL, perroquet de beaupré, a sail extended above the former, by a yard which hangs across the gib-boom. The lower corners of this sail are hauled home to the spritsail-yard-arms; after which the sail is drawn out towards the extremity of the boom, in light winds, as any other topsail-yard is hoisted upon its mast.

Formerly the spritsail-topsails were set on a mast, which was erected perpendicularly on the end of the bowsprit: but this method has of late been justly rejected as inconvenient and dangerous to the bowsprit, although serviceable in light breezes,

SPUNGE. See the article CANNON.

SPUN-YARN, bittord, a small line or cord formed of two or three rope-yarns twisted together by a winch. The yarns of which it is usually made at sea, are drawn out of the strands of old cables or other ropes, and are knotted together and tarred. It is employed for several purposes; particularly to fasten one rope to another, to seize block-strops to the shrouds, and to serve ropes which are liable to be chafed by rubbing one against another, &c.

SPURS of the beams. See the article DECK, and the explanation of the figure annexed thereto.

SQUADRON, escadre, (squadrone, Ital.) either implies a detachment of ships employed on any particular expedition, or the third part of a naval armament. See the articles FLAG, CENTRE, FLEET, and DIVISION.

SQUALL, raffale, a sudden and violent blast of wind, usually occasioned by the interruption and reverberation of the wind from high mountains. These are very frequent in the Mediterranean; particularly that part of it which is known by the name of the Levant, as produced by the repulsion, and new direction which the wind meets with in its passage between the various islands of the Archipelago.

SQUARE, a term peculiarly appropriated to the yards and their sails, implying that they hang at right angles with the mast or keel; or that they are of greater extent than usual.

Thus, when the yards are so balanced by their lifts, as to hang at right angles with the mast, they are said to be square by the lifts: when they hang perpendicular to the ship’s length, they are called square by the braces: but when they lie in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the keel, they are square by the lifts and braces; or, in other words, they hang directly across the ship, and parallel to the horizon.

The yards are said to be very square, when they are of extraordinary length; and the same epithet is then applied to their sails, which by consequence acquire an additional breadth.

SQUARE-RIGGED, an epithet applied to a ship whose yards are very long. It is also used in contradistinction to all vessels whose sails are extended by stays or lateen-yards; or by booms and gaffs; the usual situation of which is nearly in the plane of the keel; and hence

SQUARE-SAIL, treou, is a sail extended to a yard, which hangs parallel to the horizon, as distinguished from the other sails which are extended by booms and stays, placed obliquely. This sail is only used in fair winds, or to scud under in a tempest. In the former case, it is furnished with a large additional part called the bonnet, which is then attached to its bottom, and removed when it is necessary to scud. See that article.

STAFF, baton, a light pole erected in different parts of a ship, whereon to hoist and display the colours.

The principal of these is reared immediately over the stern, to display the ensign; another is fixed on the bowsprit, to extend the jack; three more are erected at the three mast-heads, or formed by their upper ends, to show the flag or pendant of the respective squadron or division to which the ship is appropriated. See ENSIGN, MAST, JACK, and PENDANT.

STANCHION, a sort of small pillar of wood or iron used for various purposes in a ship; as to support the decks, the quarter-rails, the nettings, the awnings, &c.

The first of these are two ranges of small columns, fixed under the beams, throughout the ship’s length between-decks; one range being on the starboard, and the other on the larboard side of the hatchways. They are chiefly intended to support the weight of the artillery.

STANCHIONS of the nettings, are either slender bars of iron, whose lower ends are fixed in iron sockets at proper distances; or square wooden pillars let into the upper part of the ship’s side. See QUARTER-NETTING.

STANDARD, courbe, in ship-building, is no other than an inverted knee, which is placed above the deck instead of beneath it, and having its vertical branch pointed upwards from that which lies horizontally. The figure and position of one of these standards is expressed by the curve line f, which is dotted through the gun-carriage in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, plate VII. Such also are the standards of the bits and channels.

Royal STANDARD, etendard royale, a flag in which the imperial ensigns of Great Britain, and the arms of France and Ireland, together with the armorial bearings of Hanover, are united and quartered. It is never hoisted unless when the sovereign is personally aboard; at which time it is displayed at the main-top-mast-head.

STANDING, in navigation, the movement by which a ship advances towards a certain object, or departs from it: as the enemy stands in-shore: the English fleet are standing off: at day-break we discovered three sail standing to the northward, &c.

STARBOARD, tribord, the right side of the ship when the eye of the spectator is directed forward. See LARBOARD.

STAY, (etai, Fr.) a large strong rope employed to support the mast on the fore part, by extending from its upper end towards the fore part of the ship, as the shrouds are extended to the right and left, and behind it. See MAST, RIGGING, and SHROUD.

The stay of the fore-mast a, fig. 10. plate IX. which is called the fore-stay, reaches from the mast-head towards the bowsprit-end: the main-stay b, extends over the fore-castle to the ship’s stem; and the mizen-stay c, is stretched down to that part of the main-mast which lies immediately above the quarter-deck: the fore-top-mast-stay d, comes also to the end of the bowsprit, a little beyond the fore-stay: the main-top-mast-stay e, is attached to the head or hounds of the fore-mast; and the mizen-top-mast-stay comes also to the hounds of the main-mast: the fore-top-gallant-stay comes to the outer end of the jib-boom; and the main-top-gallant-stay is extended to the head of the fore-top-mast.

STAY-SAIL, a sort of triangular sail extended upon a stay. See SAIL.

STEDDY, the command given by the pilot, &c. to the helmsman, in a fair wind, to steer the ship according to the line, on which she advances at that instant, without deviating to the right or left. The helmsman accordingly answers, steddy; to shew his attention and obedience to the pilot’s order.

STEERAGE, an apartment without the great cabin of a ship, from which it is separated by a thin partition. In large ships of war it is used as a hall through which it is necessary to pass to, arrive at, or depart from the great cabin. In merchant-ships it is generally the habitation of the inferior officers and ship’s crew. See also BIRTH.

STEERAGE is also used to express the effort of the helm; and hence

STEERAGE-WAY, is that degree of progressive motion communicated to a ship, by which she becomes susceptible of the effects of the helm to govern her course. See HELM and SAILING.

STEERING, gouverner (steoran, Sax.) may be defined the art of directing the ship’s way by the movements of the helm; or of applying its efforts to regulate her course when she advances.

The perfection of steering consists in a vigilant attention to the motion of the ship’s head, so as to check every deviation from the line of her course in the first instant of its motion; and in applying as little of the power of the helm as possible. By this she will run more uniformly in a streight path, as declining less to the right and left: whereas, if a greater effort of the helm is employed, it will produce a greater declination from the course, and not only increase the difficulty of steering, but also make a crooked and irregular tract through the water. See HELM.

The helmsman should diligently watch the movements of the head by the land, clouds, moon, or stars; because although the course is in general regulated by the compass, yet the vibrations of the needle are not so quickly perceived, as the sallies of the ship’s head to the right or left, which, if not immediately restrained, will acquire additional velocity in every instant of their motion, and demand a more powerful impulse of the helm to reduce them; the application of which, will operate to turn her head as far on the contrary side of her course.

The phrases used in steering a ship vary according to the relation of the wind to her course. Thus, if the wind is fair, or large, the phrases used by the pilot, or officer, who superintends the steerage, are port, starboard, and steddy. The first is intended to direct the ship’s course farther to the right; the second is to guide her farther to the left; and the last, as explained under that word, is designed to keep her exactly in the line, whereon she advances, according to the course prescribed. The excess of the first and second movement is called hard-a-port, and hard-a-starboard; the former of which gives her the greatest possible inclination to the right, and the latter an equal tendency to the left.

If, on the contrary, the wind is foul or scant, the phrases are luff, thus, and no nearer; the first of which is the order to keep her close to the wind; the second, to retain her in her present situation; and the third, to keep her sails full. The effects of these movements are farther explained under the several terms; but more particularly under the article FULL AND BY.

In a ship of war, the exercise of steering the ship is usually divided amongst a number of the most expert sailors, who attend the helm in their turns; and are accordingly called timoneers, from the French term timonier, which signifies helmsman. The steerage is constantly supervised by the quarter-masters, who also attend the helm by rotation. In merchant-ships every seaman takes his turn in this service, being directed therein by the mate of the watch, or some other officer.

As the safety of a ship, and all contained therein, depend, in a great measure, on the steerage or effects of the helm, the apparatus by which it is managed should often be diligently examined by the proper officers. Indeed, a negligence in this important duty appears almost unpardonable, when the fatal effects which may result from it are duly considered.

STEEVING, the elevation of a ship’s bowsprit above the stem, or the angle which it makes with the horizon.

STEM, etrave, (stammen, Swed.) a circular piece of timber, into which the two sides of a ship are united at the fore end: the lower end of it is scarfed to the keel, and the bowsprit rests upon its upper end.

The stem is formed of one or two pieces, according to the size of the vessel; and as it terminates the ship forward, the ends of the wales and planks of the sides and bottom are let into a groove or channel, in the middle of its surface, from the top to the bottom: which operation is called rabetting. See that article.

The out side of the stem is usually marked with a scale, or division of feet, according to its perpendicular height from the keel. The intention of this, is to ascertain the draught of water at the fore part, when the ship is in preparation for a sea-voyage, &c.

The stem at its lower end is of equal breadth and thickness with the keel, but it grows proportionally broader and thicker towards its upper extremity. See Naval ARCHITECTURE and Ship-BUILDING.

STEMSON, marsouin, an arching piece of timber fixed within the apron to reinforce the scarf thereof, in the same manner as the apron supports the scarf of the stem. In large ships it is usually formed of two pieces, as represented by I. in plate I. PIECES OF THE HULL.

STEP, carlingue, a block of wood fixed on the decks or bottom of a ship, and having a hole in its upper side fitted to receive the heel of a mast or capstern.

The steps of the main and fore-masts of every ship rest upon the kelson, as appears in fig. 2. and 3. plate VI. to which they are firmly secured by knees, bolts, or spike-nails. The step of the mizen-mast usually rests upon the lower deck. See also the article CAPSTERN.

STERN, arcasse, (steor, Sax.) the posterior face of a ship; or that part which is presented to the view of a spectator, placed on the continuation of the keel behind, as exhibited in plate X. fig. 1, 2, and 3; and in plate XI. fig. 1.

The stern, as represented in plate X. is terminated above by the taffarel, and below by the counters: It is limited on the sides by the quarter-pieces; and the intermediate space comprehends the galleries and windows of the different cabins.

EXPLANATION of fig. 1. plate X. which exhibits the Stern of

a seventy-four gun-ship.

A, the keel, with a the false keel beneath it.

A B, the stern-post.

C, the rail which determines the height of the counters.

D D, the upper and lower quarter-galleries, with their balustrades and windows.

E, the quarter-pieces: and P F P, the taffarel.

K G K, the lower counter, with H H, its gun-ports.

G, the rail which separates the lower counter from the second or upper counter; which last is included between G and C.

K K, the wing-transom.

L L, the deck-transom.

M, N, O, first, second, and third transoms; with l, m, n, o, four intermediate transoms.

O M L K P, the direction of the fashion-piece, whose upper part is expressed by the dotted lines K P.

Q, the cove, a sort of arched canopy, serving as a roof to the stern-gallery.

R Q R, the screen bulk-head, or partition, containing the cabin windows.

R S S R, the balustrade of the stern gallery, with S S, the foot-pace-rail, which determines the height of its floor, or platform.

S C S, the ward-room windows.

T, the lower finishing of the quarter gallery.

Fig. 2. exhibits a stern view of a 60 gun-ship, with the curve of the frame-timbers on one side, and the disposition of all the planks of the bottom on the other side.

Fig. 3. represents a stern view of a French man of war of 70 guns.

Plate XI. fig. 1. is a stern for a first or second rate: accordingly it is furnished with a middle apartment between the ward-room and the captain’s cabin. This apartment is also furnished with galleries on the stern and quarter. The other parts of it are described in the explanation of fig. 1. in plate X. See also the article QUARTER.

STERN-FAST, a rope used to confine the stern of a ship or boat to any wharf or jetty-head, &c.

STERNMOST, usually implies that part of a fleet of ships which is in the rear, or farthest astern, as opposed to head-most.

STERN-POST, etambot, a long straight piece of timber erected on the extremity of the keel, to sustain the rudder, and terminate the ship behind.

This piece, which is expressed by B in the PIECES of the HULL, plate I. ought to be well secured and supported; because the ends of all the lower planks of the ship’s bottom are fixed in a channel, cut on its surface; and the whole weight of the rudder is sustained by it.

The dimensions of the stern-post, or the proportional breadth and thickness, in the different parts of its height, are geometrically delineated in the quarter and stern of a 74 gun-ship, plate VIII. and X. being expressed in both by A B. It is usually marked like the stem, with a scale of feet from the keel upwards, in order to ascertain the draught of water, at that part of the vessel.

The difficulty of procuring a stern-post of sufficient breadth in one piece, has introduced the practice of fixing an additional piece behind it, which is strongly bolted to the former. The hinges, which support the rudder, are accordingly fixed to this latter, which is also tenanted into the keel, and denominated the back of the post, being expressed by E in the pieces of the hull, referred to above. It is half the breadth of the stern-post, at the heel, but diminishes gradually towards the upper end, where it is one third narrower.

The stern-post is strongly attached to the keel by a knee, G, PIECES of the HULL, of which one branch extends along the keel, being scarfed and bolted to the dead-wood, and fore-locked under the keel; whilst the other branch inclines upwards, and corresponds with the inside, or fore part of the stern-post; to which it is also bolted in the same manner.

STERN-SHEETS, that part of a boat which is contained between the stern and the aftmost, or hindmost, seat of the rowers. It is generally furnished with benches, to accommodate the passengers. See the article BOAT.

STERN-WAY, the movement by which a ship retreats, or falls backward, with her stern foremost.

STEWARD, maitre-valet, an officer in a ship of war, appointed by the purser, to distribute the different species of provisions to the officers and crew; for which purpose he is furnished with a mate, and proper assistants.

STIFF, the quality by which a ship is enabled to carry a sufficient quantity of sail, without hazard of oversetting. See the articles BALLAST and TRIM.

STINK-POT, pot à feu, an earthen jar, or shell, charged with powder, grenadoes, and other materials of an offensive and suffocating smell. It is frequently used by privateers, in the western ocean, in the attack of an enemy, whom he designs to board; for which purpose it is furnished with a lighted fuse, at the opening or touch-hole. See BOARDING.

STIRRUPS. See the article HORSE.

STOCKS, a frame erected on the shore of a river, or harbour, whereon to build shipping. It generally consists of a number of wooden blocks, ranged parallel to each other, at convenient distances, and with a gradual declivity towards the water. See LANCHING.

STOPPERS, bosses, certain short pieces of rope, which are usually knotted at one, or both ends, according to the purpose for which they are calculated. They are either used to suspend any weighty body, or to retain a cable, shroud, &c. in a fixed position.

Thus, the anchors, when first hoisted up from the ground, are hung to the cat-head, by a stopper attached to the latter, which passing through the anchor-ring, is afterwards fastened to the timber-head, n, fig. 10. plate IV. and the same rope serves to fasten it on the bow at sea; or to suspend it by the ring when it is to be sunk from the ship to the bottom.

The stoppers of the cables have a large knot, and a laniard, at one end, and are fastened to a ring-bolt in the deck, by the other. They are attached to the cable, by the laniard, which is fastened securely round both by several turns passed behind the knot, or about the neck of the stopper; by which means the cable is restrained from running out of the ship, when she rides at anchor. See also BITS and RING-ROPE.

The stoppers of the shrouds have a knot and a laniard at each end. They are only used when the shrouds are cut asunder in battle, or disabled by tempestuous weather; at which time they are lashed, in the same manner as those of the cables, to the separated parts of the shroud, which are thereby reunited, so as to be fit for immediate service. This, however, is only a temporary expedient, applied when there is not time or opportunity to refit them, by a more complete operation.

STORE-KEEPER, garde-magasin, an officer in the royal dock-yards, invested with the charge of the principal naval stores; as the sails, anchors, cordage, &c.

STORE-ROOM, soute, an apartment, or place of reserve, of which there are several in a ship, to contain the provisions, or stores of a ship, together with those of her officers, during a sea-voyage.

STOWAGE, arrimage, the general disposition of the several materials contained in a ship’s hold, with regard to their figure, magnitude, or solidity.

In the stowage of different articles, as ballast, casks, cases, bales, and boxes, there are several general rules to be observed, according to the circumstances or qualities of those materials. The casks, which contain any liquid, are, according to the sea phrase, to be bung-up and bilge-free, i. e. closely wedged up, in an horizontal position, and resting on their quarters: so that the bilges, where they are thickest, being entirely free all round, cannot rub against each other, by the motion of the vessel. Dry goods, or such as may be damaged by the water, are to be carefully inclosed in casks, bales, cases, or wrappers; and wedged off from the bottom and sides of the ship, as well as from the bows, masts, and pump-well. Due attention must likewise be had to their disposition, with regard to each other, and to the trim and centre of gravity of the ship; so that the heaviest may always be nearest the keel, and the lightest gradually above them. See BALLAST, TRIM, and ROLLING.

STRAIT, etroite, a narrow channel, or arm of the sea, contained between two opposite shores; as the straits of Gibraltar; the straits of Sunda; the straits of Dover, &c.

STRAKES, or STREAKS, the uniform ranges of planks on the bottom and sides of a ship; or the continuation of planks joined to the end of each other, and reaching from the stem, which limits the vessel forward, to the stern-post, and fashion-pieces, which terminate her length abaft. The lowest of these, which is called the garboard-streak, is let into the keel below, and into the stem and stern-post. See those articles.

STRAND, touron, one of the twists, or divisions, of which a rope is composed. See the articles ROPE and CABLE.

STRAND also implies the sea-beach: hence a ship is said to be stranded when she has run a-ground on the sea-shore.

STRETCHER, banquet, a sort of staff fixed athwart the bottom of a boat, for the rower to place his feet against, in order to communicate a greater effort to his oar.

STRETCHING, in navigation, is generally understood to imply the progression of a ship under a great surface of sail, when close-hauled. The difference between this phrase and standing, is apparently in the quantity of sail, which, in the latter, may be very moderate; but in stretching, generally signifies excess: as, we saw the enemy at day-break stretching to the southward, under a crowd of sail, &c.

To STRIKE, in navigation, to run ashore, or to beat upon the ground in passing over a bank or shallow.

To STRIKE also implies to lower or let down any thing; as an ensign, or topsail, in saluting; or, as the yards and topmasts in tempestuous weather. It is, however, more particularly used to express the lowering of the colours, in token of surrender, to a victorious enemy.

STRING in ship-building, the highest range of planks in a ship’s ceiling; or that which lies between the gunnel, and the upper edge of the upper deck-ports, as expressed by T in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, plate VII.

To STRIP the masts, defuner, is to unrig a ship, or deprive the masts of their machinery and furniture; an exercise which is otherwise called dismantling.

STROKE, a single sweep of the oars in rowing. Hence they say, Row a long stroke! longue rime! which is intended to push the vessel forward more steddily. See the article OAR; as also the French term NAGER, and the phrases following it.

STROKESMAN, the person who rows the hindmost oar in a boat, and gives the stroke, which the rest are to follow; so that all the oars may operate together.

STROP, etrope, a piece of rope spliced into a circular wreath, and used to surround the body of a block; so that the latter may be hung to any particular station about the masts, yards, or rigging. Thus, fig. 37. and 38. in plate II. represent two block-strops of different sorts. See BLOCK and EYE.

STROPS are also used occasionally to fasten upon any large rope, for the purpose of hooking a tackle to the eye, or double part of the strop; in order to extend, or pull with redoubled effort, upon the said rope; as in setting-up the rigging, where one hook of the tackle is fixed in a strop applied to the particular shroud, and the other to its laniard. See the article LANIARD.

STUDDING-SAILS, bonettes en etui, certain light sails extended, in moderate and steddy breezes, beyond the skirts of the principal sails, where they appear as wings upon the yard-arms.

The word may be traced from several derivations; as from scud, stead, or steddy. The small sails used by sloops, schooners, and tartanes, when scudding, are nearly of the same size and figure with the lower studding-sails; and the accidental application of the former, to the usual design of the latter, throws a probability on the derivation from scud; especially as being used in the small vessels of our ancestors, who were unacquainted with topmasts; and, of course, had no conception of topmast-studding-sails. An ingenious friend of the author, seems, with greater propriety, to derive it from steddy; because, when the wind is extremely feeble, the fluctuation of the sea, although almost imperceptible, is communicated to the ship, and thence to the principal sails; which, being shaken and slapped against the masts, will, by their weight, prevent, or at least considerably diminish, the operation of the wind. The studding-sails, on the contrary, being of a much lighter and thinner texture, more readily feel the effort of the breeze, and continue inflated, so as to push the ship forward, and give her head-way. By this circumstance, she becomes susceptible of the power of the helm, and is accordingly retained in a steddy course; and hence those sails may originally have been called steddying-sails, afterwards corrupted into studding-sails. The last conjecture, which seems equally favourable, is drawn from the Saxon word sted, to help or assist; in which sense, those sails may be considered as auxiliar, being set occasionally to help the others, or assist the ship’s course; and thence called steading, or stedding-sails. But the expression of steering sails, however adopted by many officers, is a most contemptible conceit, without either authority or reason to support it. The others are implicitly submitted to the reader’s decision.

The topmast studding-sails, or those which are set on the out side of the topsails, are spread below by a boom, which, sliding out from the extremities of the main and fore-yards, as explained in the article SADDLE, pushes out their lower corners: and their upper edges, which are attached to a light pole, are hoisted up to the topsail-yard-arms. See also BOOM-IRON, in the article IRON-WORK.

The lower studding-sails, which are spread beyond the skirts or leech of the main-sail and fore-sail, are fixed nearly in the same manner; only that the boom, which extends their bottoms, is generally hooked to the chains by means of a goose-neck; or else swings off along with the sail, to which it is suspended; being kept steddy behind by a rope called the guy.

STUFF, courrée, any composition, or melted mass, used to smear or daub the masts, sides, or bottom of a ship. That which is chiefly used for the lower masts is simply turpentine, rosin, or varnish of pine: for the topmasts, tallow or butter: for the sides, turpentine, varnish of pine, tar and oil, or tar mixed with oil and red oker: and for the bottom, a mixture of tallow, sulphur, and rosin, or tar: whale-oil and broken glass; or any part of these ingredients: and this application is called giving a new coat of stuff to the masts, sides, &c.

SUPERCARGO, an officer charged with the accounts of the cargo, and all other commercial affairs in a merchant-ship.

SUPPLY, a fresh recruit of provisions or stores sent to a ship or fleet.

SURF, the swell of the sea which breaks upon the shore, or any rock lying near the surface of the sea.

SURGE, the same with a wave; which see.

SURVEY, an examination made by several naval officers into the state or condition of the provisions, or stores, belonging to a ship, or fleet of men of war.

SURVEYORS of the navy, two officers, who sit at the navy-board, being invested with the charge of building and repairing his Majesty’s ships, at the different dock-yards of the kingdom: for which purpose they are trained to the theory and practice of ship-building. It is also their office to know the state of the navy; to audit the accounts of all boatswains and carpenters serving therein; and to enquire into the condition of all naval stores, at home or abroad, in order to supply whatsoever may be deficient.

SWAB, fauber, (swabb, Swed.) a sort of mop formed of a large bunch of old rope-yarns, and used to clean the decks and cabins of a ship: hence the person, who uses it, is called the swabber.

SWEEPING, draguer, the act of dragging the bight, or loose part of a small rope, along the surface of the ground, in a harbour, or road, in order to hook and recover some anchor, wreck, or other material, sunk at the bottom. It is performed by fastening the two ends of this rope to the sides of two boats which are abreast of each other, at some distance. To the middle of the rope are suspended two cannon-shot, or something which weighs heavy, in order to sink it to the ground; so that, as the boats advance, by rowing ahead, the rope drags along the bottom, to hook any anchor, &c. for which they are searching.

SWELL, enflement, generally denotes an heavy and continued agitation of the waves, according to a particular direction: as there is a great swell setting into the bay. It is, however, more particularly applied to the fluctuating motion of the sea, which remains after the expiration of a storm: as also, to that which breaks on the sea-shore; or upon rocks, or shallows.

SWIFTER, a rope used to confine the bars of the capstern in their sockets, whilst the men are heaving it about; for which purpose it is passed through holes in the extremities of the bars, so as to strain them firmly together like the spokes of a wheel; which is accordingly called swifting. See the article CAPSTERN.

SWIFTER is also a strong rope, sometimes used to encircle a boat longitudinally, as well as to strengthen and defend her sides, as to enable her the better to resist the impression of other boats which may run against her occasionally. It is usually fixed about a foot under the boat´s upper edge, or gunnel.

SWIFTERS are likewise two shrouds fixed on the starboard and larboard side of the lower masts, above all the other shrouds, as an additional security to the masts. The hoisters are never confined, like the other shrouds, by Cat-harpings. See that article.

To SWING, to turn round the anchors, or moorings, at the change of the wind, or tide: it is usually expressed of a ship, either when she is moored by the head, or riding at a single anchor.

T.

TABLING, bander, a sort of broad hem formed on the skirts and bottoms of a ship’s sails, to strengthen them in that part which is attached to the bolt-rope.

TACK, couet, a rope used to confine the foremost lower-corners of the courses and stay-sails in a fixed position, when the wind crosses the ship’s course obliquely. The same name is also given to the rope employed to pull out the lower corner of a studding-sail or driver to the extremity of its boom.

The main-sail and fore-sail of a ship are furnished with a tack on each side, which is formed of a thick rope tapering to the end, and having a knot wrought upon the largest end, by which it is firmly retained in the clue of the sail. By this means one tack is always fastened to windward, at the same time that the sheet extends the sail to leeward. See CHESTREE.

TACK is also applied, by analogy, to that part of any sail to which the tack is usually fastened.

A ship is said to be on the starboard or larboard tack, when she is close-hauled, with the wind upon the starboard or larboard side; and in this sense the distance which she sails in that position is considered as the length of the tack; although this is more frequently called a BOARD. See that article.

To TACK, virer vent devant, to change the course from one board to another, or turn the ship about from the starboard to the larboard tack, in a contrary wind. Thus the ship A, fig. 2. plate XI. being close-hauled on the larboard tack, and turning her prow suddenly to windward, receives the impression of the wind on her head-sails a, by which she falls off upon the line of the starboard tack a. Tacking is also used, in a more enlarged sense, to imply that manœuvre, in navigation, by which a ship makes an oblique progression to the windward, in a zigzag direction. This, however, is more usually called beating or turning to windward. See BEATING and TURNING.

Thus, suppose a ship A, fig. 2. plate XI. bound to a port B lying to windward, with the wind northerly, as expressed by the arrow. The sails a, b, c, being braced obliquely with the keel, the wind also falls upon their surfaces in an oblique direction, by which the ship is pushed to leeward, as explained in the article LEE-WAY. Hence, although she apparently sails W. N. W. upon the larboard tack, as expressed in the dotted line A d, and E. N. E. upon the other d f, yet if the lee-way is only one point, (and indeed it is seldom less in the smoothest water), the course will accordingly be W. by N. upon one tack, and E. by N. upon the other, as represented by the lines A e, and e g.

If the port A were directly to windward of the ship, it is evident that both tacks ought to be of equal length; or, in other words, that she ought to run the same distance upon each tack: but as the place of her destination lies obliquely to windward, she must run a greater distance upon one tack than the other; because the extremities of both boards should be equally distant from the line of her true course B A; so the larboard tack A e, crossing the course more obliquely than the other e g, will necessarily be much longer.

As the true course, or the direct distance from B to A, is only 12 leagues, it is evident, that with a favourable wind she could reach it in a few hours. On the contrary, her distance is considerably increased by the length of her boards, in a contrary wind; which, by its obliquity with her sails, operates also to retard her velocity. Thus her first board A e, on a W. by N. course, is equal to 5.7 leagues. The second tack e g is 9.2 leagues E. by N.: the third tack, parallel to A e, is 11.5: the fourth, parallel to e g, is 9.2: and the fifth, parallel to the first, 11.7 leagues. Finally, the sixth board is 4.8 leagues, parallel to the second, which brings her to the port B. By this scheme it appears that she has run more than four times the extent of the line A B, her primitive distance; and this in the most favourable circumstances of a contrary wind, viz. when the sea is smooth, and when she may carry her full topsails. For if the wind blows stronger, to render it necessary to reef the topsails, she will soon make two points of lee-way, and accordingly run east on one board, and west on the other. In this situation she will neither approach, nor recede from the place of her destination: but if the wind increases, the sea will also be enlarged; a circumstance that still farther augments the lee-way. Hence the vessel will gradually fall off from the port, in proportion to the augmentation of the wind and sea, which occasions a proportional increase of lee-way.

In order to explain the theory of tacking a ship, it may be necessary to premise a known axiom in natural philosophy, That every body will persevere in a state of rest, or of moving uniformly in a right line, unless it be compelled to change its state by forces impressed; and that the change of motion is proportional to the moving force impressed, and is made according to the right line in which that force is exerted.

By this principle it is easy to conceive how a ship is compelled to turn into any direction, by the force of the wind acting upon her sails, in horizontal lines. For the sails may be so arranged as to receive the current of air, either directly, or more or less obliquely: hence the motion communicated to the sails must of necessity conspire with that of the wind upon their surfaces. To make the ship tack, or turn round with her head to the windward, it is therefore necessary, after she has received the first impression from the helm, that the head-sails should be so disposed as to diminish the effort of the wind, in the first instant of her motion, and that the whole force of the wind should be exerted on the after-sails, which operating on the ship’s stern, carries it round like a weather-cock. But since the action of the after-sails, to turn the ship, will unavoidably cease when her head points to the windward, it then becomes necessary to use the head-sails, to prevent her from falling-off, and returning to her former situation. These are accordingly laid aback on the lee-side, to push the vessel’s fore-part towards the opposite side, till she has fallen into the line of her course thereon, and fixed her sails to conform with that situation.

It has been observed above, that the first effort to turn the ship in tacking is communicated by the helm, which is then put to the lee-side. This circumstance being announced by the pilot, or commanding-officer, who then calls out, Helm’s a-lee! the head-sails are immediately made to shiver in the wind, by casting loose their sheets, or bowlines. The pilot then calls, Up tacks and sheets! which is executed by loosening all the ropes which confine the corners of the lower sails, in order that they may be more readily shifted to the other side. When the ship has turned her head directly to windward, as in d, fig. 2. plate XI. the pilot gives the order to turn about the sails on the main and mizen masts, by the exclamation, Haul main-sail, haul! the bowlines and braces are then instantly cast off on one side, and as expeditiously drawn in on the other side, so as to wheel the yards about their masts: the lower corner of the main-sail is, by means of its tack, pulled down to its station at the chestree; and all the after-sails are, at the same time, adjusted to stand upon the other board. Finally, when the ship has fallen off five or six points, as h, fig. 2. plate XI. the pilot cries, Haul of all! or, Let go, and haul! the sails on the fore-mast are wheeled about by their braces: and as the ship has then a tendency to fall off, she is checked by the effort of the helm, which for that purpose is put hard a-lee. The fore-tack, or the lower corner of the fore-sail, being fixed in its place, the bowlines are hauled; and the other sails, which have been neglected in the hurry of tacking, are properly arranged to the wind, which exercise is called trimming the sails. See LEE-WAY and SAILING.

TACKLE, palan, pronounced taicle, a machine formed by the communication of a rope with an assemblage of blocks, and known in mechanics by the name of pulley.

Tackles are used in a ship to raise, remove, or secure weighty bodies; to support the masts; or to extend the sails and rigging. They are either moveable, as communicating with a runner; or fixed, as being hooked in an immoveable station; and they are more or less complicated, in proportion to the effects which they are intended to produce.

If a b d e, fig. 3. plate XI be a single block, upon which are suspended the weights f g, then since the nearest distance of the ropes f g, from the center of motion c, are a c equal to d c, the block will be reduced to the lever or balance a d with respect to its power: Since a c is then equal to d c, it is apparent that f g will always be in equilibrium. As no advantage therefore can be acquired, in raising a weight by an immoveable single block, it is only rendered useful by changing the direction of the moving power. This circumstance is extremely convenient to the labourers, and often absolutely necessary; particularly in raising bodies to a higher station; as from the hold to the upper decks, or from the deck to the masts or yards, &c. which would otherwise be difficult or impracticable to perform. See also the articles BLOCK and WHIP.

When a single block is moveable along with the body to which it is attached, fig. 4. plate XI. as the blocks of the brace-pendants, reef-tackle pendants, jiggers, &c. the momentum of the power is doubled; because it moves twice as fast as the weight, or body to which it is attached. For in the same time that any part of the rope f, moves upward from f to g, equal in length to the two equal ropes d and c, the block, and consequently the weight annexed, will be drawn through the space e h, whose length is equal to one of the ropes only.

When a tackle consists of two or more fixed and moveable blocks, wherein one rope communicates with the whole; if one end of the rope be fixed, as in fig. 5. 6. and 7. in order to proportion the weight to the resistance, the power applied must be to the weight, as one, to twice the number of sheaves in the moveable blocks: because, in the efforts of a tackle, the velocity of the moving power is, to the velocity of the rising or moving body, as twice the number of moveable sheaves to unity, as appears in fig. 5. which consists of one fixed block a, and another moveable as e. For since one rope operates on all the sheaves from g to f, the part at f, lying beyond the fixed block, and called the fall, cannot be drawn down and lengthened, unless the two parts d and c, on each side of the moveable block, be at the same time equally drawn up and shortened. Hence it is evident, that the part a f will be lengthened twice as much as either d or c is shortened, because whatever is taken from each of those parts is added to the length of a f; but the point f, to which the power is applied, descends as fast as a f is lengthened and the point e, to which the weight is fastened, ascends as fast as d or c is shortened. If therefore, a weight suspended at f, be to a weight suspended at e, as one to two, they will balance each other, as being in the reciprocal ratio of their velocities.

Whatever has been observed with regard to the tackles above mentioned, is equally applicable to all others, and is in the same manner demonstrable, viz. that the velocity with which the mechanical force moves, in raising a weight, is to the velocity wherewith the weight rises, as twice the number of moveable sheaves to unity.

A tackle wherein both the blocks are moveable, and communicate with a runner, is represented by fig. 10. plate VIII. That part of the tackle which is fixed to one of the blocks, &c. is called the standing part; all the rest are called running parts; and that whereon the men pull when employing the tackle, is called the fall. The application of the tackle to mechanical purposes is termed hoisting or bowssing. See those articles.

Ground TACKLE. See GROUND TACKLE.

TACK-TACKLE, a small tackle used occasionally to pull down the tack of the principal sails of a ship to their respective stations. There is also a tackle of this kind constantly fixed to the tacks of the main-sail in brigs, sloops, and schooners, for the same purpose. See the French term PALAN, and the phrases annexed thereto.

TAFFAREL, couronnement, the upper part of a ship’s stern, being a curved piece of wood, expressed by F F, in fig. 1. plate X. and usually ornamented with sculpture.

TAIL, a name given by sailors to the extremities of a hurricane, wherein the violence is considerably exhausted.

TAIL-BLOCK, a small single block, having a short piece of rope attached to it, by which it may be fastened to any object at pleasure; either for convenience, or to increase the force applied to the said object, as explained in the first part of the article TACKLE.

TAKING-IN, the act of brailing-up and furling the sails at sea, particularly when the wind increases. It is generally used in opposition to setting. See also FURL and SHORTEN.

TALLYING, border, a phrase used by the common sailors, implying the act of pulling aft the sheets, or lower corners of the main-sail and fore-sail.

TAR, a sort of liquid gum, of a blackish hue, which distils from pines or fir-trees, either naturally or by incision; and being prepared by boiling, is used to pay the sides of ships and boats, and their rigging, in order to preserve them from the effects of the weather, by which they would otherwise soon become cracked, split, or rotten.

TAR is also a figurative expression for a sailor of any kind.

TAR-PAWLING, prélart, a broad piece of canvas well daubed with tar, and used to cover the hatchways of a ship at sea, to prevent the penetration of the rain, or sea-water, which may occasionally rush over the decks. See BATTENS.

TARTAN, (tartana, Ital.) a small coasting vessel navigated in the Mediterranean sea, and having only one mast and a bowsprit, the principal sail, which is extremely large, being extended by a lateen-yard. See VESSEL.

TAUGHT, roide, (dicht, Dutch) the state of being extended or stretched out. It is usually applied to a rope or sail, in opposition to slack.

TAUNT, foit, an epithet used, in the sea-language, to signify high or tall. It is peculiarly expressed of the masts when they are of an extraordinary length, as square is applied to the yards on the same occasion.

TENDER, patache, a small vessel employed in the King’s service, on various occasions; as, to receive volunteers and impressed men, and convey them to a distant place; to attend on ships of war or squadrons; and to carry intelligence or orders from one place to another, &c.

TENDING, the movement by which a ship turns or swings round her anchor in a tide-way, at the beginning of the flood or ebb. Thus, if the flood sets northerly, it is evident that the ship, unless when moored head and stern, will fall into the line of the current, turning her head to the southward. But as the reflux will for the same reason set to the southward, the ship will of necessity turn about at the change of the tide, and carry her head to the northward; and the transition from one situation to the other is called tending or swinging.

TENON, the end of a piece of timber cut smaller to enter into a mortise.

THIMBLE, cosse, a sort of iron ring, whose outer surface is hollowed throughout its whole circumference, in order to contain, in the channel or cavity, a rope which is spliced about it, and by which it may be hung in any particular station. See plate XII. fig. 1. It is used to guide the direction of some running rope, which passes through it, from one place to another. See Span.

THOLES, (tholet, Fr.) certain small pins driven perpendicularly into the upper edge of a boat, as expressed by e, fig. 1, plate III. In the exercise of rowing, the oar is contained between the two tholes, in the space which is called the row-lock. Sometimes there is only one pin to each oar, as in the boats navigated on the Mediterranean sea. In that case the oar is hung upon the pin by means of a strop; and indeed this method is much more ancient than the former. See the article ROWING.

THROAT, a name given to the inner end of a gaff, or to that part which is next to the mast. It is opposed to peek, which implies the outer extremity of the said gaff, or that part of it which extends the sail behind. Hence the ropes employed to hoist up, and lower a gaff, being applied to those parts of it, are called the throat and peek haliards. See Haliards.

THUS! the order by which the pilot directs the helmsman to keep the ship in her present situation when sailing with a scant wind; so that she may not approach too near the direction of the wind, and thereby shiver her sails, nor fall to leeward, and run farther out of her course. See STEERING.

THWART, banc, the seat or bench of a boat whereon the rowers sit to manage the oars.

THWART-SHIPS, across the ship. See the article ATHWART.

TIDE, marée, (tyd, Sax.) a regular periodical current of the water, setting alternately in a flux and reflux, produced by the influence of the moon.

If the ocean were equally deep in every place, the ebbing and flowing of the tide would be universally regular and equal; but the shallowness of the water in many places, and the streightness of the channels, by which the tides may be considerably interrupted in some parts, and propagated in others, occasion a great diversity in their force and quantity. Hence, without an exact knowledge of all the circumstances of the several places where they happen to run, as of the position of the land, the breadth and depth of channels; it is impossible to account for this diversity.

The theory of the tides is concisely described by a great author, in these words: “That motion of the water called tides is a rising and falling of the sea: the cause of this is the attraction of the moon, whereby the part of water in the great ocean which is nearest the moon, being most strongly attracted, is raised higher than the rest; and the part opposite to it being least attracted, is also higher than the rest; and these two opposite elevations of the surface of the water in the great ocean, following the motion of the moon from est to west, and striking against the large coasts of the continents, from thence rebounds back again, and so makes floods and ebbs in narrows, seas, and rivers.” Locke.

With regard to the relative force of the tide on a ship floating therein, it is already explained in the article CURRENT.

TIER, batterie, a name given to the range of cannon mounted on one side of a ship’s deck. See the articles DECK and CANNON.

TIER of the cable, is a range of the fakes or windings of the cable, which are laid within one another in an horizontal position, so as that the last becomes the innermost. See COILING.

Cable-TIER is the hollow space in the middle of a cable, when it is coiled.

TIGHT, (dicht, Dutch) the quality whereby a vessel resists the penetration of any fluid, whether compressing its surface, or contained within it. Hence a ship is said to be tight, when her planks are so compact and solid as to prevent the entrance of the water in which she is immersed: and a cask is called tight, when the staves are so close that none of the liquid contained therein can issue through or between them. In both senses it is opposed to leaky, which see.

TILLER, timon, or barre de gouvernail, the bar or lever employed to turn the rudder in steering. See the article HELM.

TILT, tendelet, (tyld, Sax.) a small canopy or awning of canvas, or other cloth, extended over the stern-sheets of a boat, and supported by small pillars, or broad laths of flexible wood incurvated into arches. It is used to cover the passengers from the rain or sunshine. See BOAT.

TIMBERS, couples, the ribs of a ship, or the incurvated pieces of wood, branching outward from the keel in a vertical direction, so as to give strength, figure, and solidity to the whole fabric.

It has been observed in the article Naval ARCHITECTURE, that one timber is composed of several pieces united into one frame, which is accordingly called a frame of timbers by the artificers. These different pieces are exhibited in plate I. PIECES of the HULL, by U, V, and W. The head of the lower piece, called the floor-timber, being cut square, to join the heel of the next above it. To support the connection of the timber in that place, another assemblage of pieces are formed, and joined in the same manner; so that when both the sets are fastened together, the joinings in one set will be nearly opposite to the middle of the pieces in the other. Hence it is evident, that the mould which serves for the lowest piece will conform to the under part of the corresponding piece above it: and thus the mould, appropriated to every division of a timber, will determine, or answer to the figure of the next adjoining thereto.

The timbers whose areas or planes are perpendicular to the keel, are called square timbers; and those which are placed obliquely on the keel, as at the extremities of a ship, are called cant-timbers. The foremost of those pieces on the ship’s bow, are called the knuckle-timbers; and the hindmost on the quarter are called the fashion-pieces.

The outlines, or bends of the principal timbers of the ship are geometrically delineated in the plane of projection, plate I. as also in plate IV. fig. 11. and plate X. fig. 2.: and their particular stations in the ship’s length are represented in the horizontal plane, and that of the elevation, plate I. In order to give a more comprehensive idea of their figures and dimensions, we have exhibited a perspective view of the carcase of a small vessel, in plate XII. fig. 2. consisting only of the keel A, the stern-post B, the stem C, the transoms K L M, and the ribbands F F.

TIMBER AND ROOM, or room and space, is the alliance betwixt the moulding edge of two adjoining timbers, which must always contain the breadth of two timbers; and sometimes two or three inches between them. It must be observed, that one mould serves for two timbers; the fore side of the one being supposed to unite with the after side of the other, and so make only one line; which is actually the case in all the frames, which in some ships are every third, and in others every fourth timber. The frames are first put up, and fastened to the ribbands, and afterwards the others are put up, which are called fitting-timbers. Murray’s ship-building.

TIMONEER, (timonier, Fr.) the helmsman, or person who manages the helm to direct the ship’s course. See the article STEERING.

In a ship of war the quarter-masters and timoneers are usually chosen by the master, to cun and steer the ship; as also, to stow the provisions in the hold, coil the cables, regulate the watch, &c. See QUARTER-MASTER.

TOGETHER! accord, the order given to the men in the exercises of heaving, rowing, holding, &c. to act all in concert, or at the same instant.

TOGGEL, cabillot, a small wooden pin, about five or six inches in length, and usually tapering from the middle towards the extremities. It is used to fix transversely in the lower part of a tackle, in which it serves as an hook whereby to attach the tackle to a strop, slings, or any body whereon the effort of the tackle is to be employed.

There are also toggels of another kind, employed to fasten the top-gallant sheets to the span, which is knotted round the cap at the top-mast-head. For as the lifts of the topsail-yard are out of use when the topsail is hoisted, they are always converted into top-gallant sheets, to render the rigging at the mast-heads as light and simple as possible. Before the topsail-yards can be lowered so as to be sustained by their lifts, it therefore becomes necessary to transfer that part of the lift to the top-mast-head, that so the whole weight of the yard may be sustained by its mast-head, and no part thereof by the top-gallant-yard, which would otherwise be the case. This is performed by fixing the double part, or bight of the lift, within the eye of the span above mentioned, and inserting the toggel through the former, so as to confine it to the latter, which operation is amongst sailors called putting the sheets in the beckets.

TOMPION, (tampon, Fr.) a sort of bung or cork used to stop the mouth of a cannon. At sea this is carefully encircled with tallow or putty, to prevent the penetration of the water into the bore, whereby the powder contained in the chamber might be damaged or rendered incapable of service.

TONNAGE. See the article BURTHEN.

TOP, hune, a sort of platform, surrounding the lower mast-head, from which it projects on all sides like a scaffold.

The principal intention of the top is to extend the top-mast shrouds, so as to form a greater angle with the mast, and thereby give additional support to the latter. It is sustained by certain timbers fixed across the hounds or shoulders of the mast, and called the tressel-trees and cross-trees, the former of which are expressed by k, fig. 1. plate VI. and the latter by l, l, fig. 2. The plan of the top is represented in fig. 6. where g g represents the holes through which the top-mast shrouds communicate with those of the lower mast, as explained in the article SHROUD.

Besides the use above mentioned, the top is otherwise extremely convenient to contain the materials necessary for extending the small sails, and for fixing or repairing the rigging and machinery, with more facility and expedition. In ships of war it is used as a kind of redoubt, and is accordingly fortified for attack or defence, being furnished with swivels, musketry, and other fire-arms; and guarded by a thick fence of corded hammocs. Finally, it is employed as a place for looking out, either in the day or night.

The frame of the top is either close-planked like a platform, or open like a grating. The former kind, which is exhibited in fig. 6. plate VI. is generally stronger and more convenient; but the latter is much better in tempestuous weather, as presenting a smaller surface to the wind when the ship leans over to one side, and by consequence being less exposed to its efforts.

In all ships of war, and in the largest merchantmen, the top is fenced on the aft-side by a rail of about three feet high, stretching across, and supported by stanchions, between which a netting is usually constructed, as appears by fig. 2. plate VI. The outside of this netting is generally covered with red bayze or red painted canvas, which is extended from the rail down to the edge of the top, and called the top-armour. By this name it seems to have been considered as a sort of blind, behind which the men may conceal themselves from the aims of the enemy’s fire-arms in time of action, whilst they are charging their own muskets, carabines, or swivels.

The dimensions of tops in the royal navy are as follow. The breadth of the top athwart-ships, q q, fig. 6. is one third of the length of its corresponding top-mast. The length of all tops, from the foremost to the after edge p p, is equal to three fourths of their breadth athwart; and the square hole in the middle is five inches to a foot of those dimensions. The tressel-trees and cross-trees extend nearly to the edge of the tops. See those articles.

TOP-BLOCK. See BLOCK and MAST.

TOP-CHAIN. See the article CHAIN.

TOP-LANTHORN, fanal de hune, a large lanthorn placed in the after part of the top, in any ship where an admiral or commodore is personally aboard. It is supported on each side by iron braces r, as expressed in fig. 3. plate VI.

TOP-MAST, mât de hune, the second division of a mast; or that part which stands between the upper and lower pieces. See the article MAST.

TOP-ROPE, guinderesse, a rope employed to sway-up a top-mast or top-gallant mast, in order to fix it in its place; or to lower it in tempestuous weather, or when it is no longer necessary. The rope used on this occasion for the top-masts is, on account of their great weight, furnished with an assemblage of pullies, at its lower end, called the top-tackle, to hoist or lower the mast with greater facility. The whole of this is particularly explained in the article MAST, and the plate therein referred to.

TOP-SAILS, certain large sails extended across the top-masts, by the top-sail-yard above, and by the yard attached to the lower mast beneath; being fastened to the former by robands, and to the latter by means of two great blocks fixed on its extremities, through which the topsail-sheets are inserted, passing from thence to two other blocks fixed on the inner part of the yard close by the mast: and from these latter the sheets lead downwards to the deck, where they may be slackened or extended at pleasure. See the article SAIL. N. B. The top-gallant sails are expanded above the topsail-yard, in the same manner as the latter are extended above the lower yard.

The several parts of the machinery by which the top-sails are managed, as the bowlines, braces, haliards, lifts, and sheets, being copiously defined in their proper places, it would be superfluous to repeat their explanations.

TOPPING, apiquer, the act of pulling one of the extremities of a yard higher than the other, by slackening one of the lifts, and pulling upon the opposite one, so as to place the yard at a greater or lesser obliquity with the mast.

TOPPING-LIFT, balancine de gui, a large and strong tackle, employed to suspend or top the outer end of a gaff, or of the boom of a main-sail and fore-sail; such as are used in brigs, sloops, or schooners. See SQUARE.

TORNADO, travade, a violent squall or gust of wind rising suddenly from the shore, and afterwards veering round the compass like a hurricane. These are very frequent on the coasts of Guinea and South Barbary. See WIND.

TOUCHING, the state of a ship’s sails when they first begin to shiver, with their edges in the direction of the wind. It is either occasioned by a sudden alteration of the ship’s course, or by a change of the wind, in which it blows more obliquely along the surface of the sails, instead of falling into their cavities from behind, according to its usual direction. See FULL AND BY.

TOUCHING-AT, implies the circumstance of stopping, or anchoring occasionally, at some intermediate port, in the course of a voyage.

To TOW, remorquer, (teon, teohan, Sax.) to draw a ship forward in the water, by means of a rope attached to another vessel or boat, which advances by the effort of rowing or sailing.

Towing is either practised when a ship is disabled, and rendered incapable of carrying sail at sea; or when her sails are not fixed upon the masts, as in a harbour: or when they are deprived of their force of action by a cessation of the wind.

When a ship of war is dismasted, or otherwise disabled from carrying sail at sea, she is usually towed by a cable reaching from her bow to another ship a-head. In a harbour towing is practised by one or more boats, wherein all the force of the oars are exerted to make her advance.

TOW-LINE, a small hauser generally used to remove a ship from one part of an harbour or road to another, by means of anchors, capsterns, &c. as explained in the article WARPING. It is also employed occasionally to moor a small vessel in a harbour, conveniently sheltered from the wind and sea.

TOW-ROPE, a name given to any cable or other rope used in the exercise of towing.

TRACING-LINE, martinet, a small cord generally passing through a block or thimble, and used to hoist up any object to a higher station, in order to render it less inconvenient. Such are the tracing-lines of the awnings, and those of the yard-tackles, which, by hanging down in a cavity or bight, would be aukward and incommodious.

TRACK of a ship. See the article WAKE.

TRACKING, the act of pulling any vessel or floating body along the stream of a canal or river, by means of a rope extending from the vessel, &c. to the adjacent shore, and drawn along the banks of the river, by men or horses. Whence,

TRACK-SCOUT, a vessel employed to carry goods or passengers up and down the rivers or canals in Holland, and the countries bordering on the Baltic sea. It is usually tracked by a horse, who trots along the margin to a limited distance, after which he is relieved by another.

TRADE-WINDS, certain regular winds blowing within or near the tropics, and being either periodical or perpetual. Thus, in the Indian ocean, they blow alternately from different points of the compass, during a limited season; and, in the Atlantic ocean, continue almost without intermission in the same direction. They are accordingly called trade-winds, from their great utility in navigation and commerce. See MONSOON and WIND.

TRAIN. See the articles CANNON and FIRE-SHIP.

TRANSOMS, barres d’arcasse, (transenna, Lat.) certain beams or timbers extended across the stern-post of a ship, to fortify her after-part, and give it the figure most suitable to the service for which she is calculated.

Transoms are here defined beams or timbers, because they partake equally of the form and purpose of those pieces. Thus the deck-transom is the aftmost or hindmost beam of the lower deck, whereon all the deck-planks are rabetted: and all the transoms are fixed athwart the stern-post, in the same manner as the floor-timbers are laid upon the keel. As the floor-timbers also, with regard to their general form and arrangement, have a rising, by which, the bottom becomes narrower as it ascends towards the extremities; so the arms of the transoms, being gradually closer in proportion to their distance from the wing-transom downwards, give a similar figure to that part of the ship, which accordingly becomes extremely narrow, from the counter towards the keel; and this general figure or curve is called the flight of the transoms.

Although these pieces are therefore extremely different in their figures, according to the extent of the angles formed by their branches or horns, each of them has nevertheless a double curve, which is partly vertical, and partly horizontal, with regard to its situation in the ship. The former of these is called, by the artificers, the round-up, and the latter the round-aft.

As the transoms fill up the whole space comprehended between the head of the stern-post above, and the aftmost floor-timbers below, it is necessary to distinguish them by particular names. Thus the highest is called the wing-transom: the next, the deck-transom; and afterwards follow the first, second, and third transoms; together with the intermediate ones, as represented in fig. 1. plate X. and described in the explanation thereof.

The vertical direction of the arms or angles of the transoms, with regard to the ship’s length, are expressed in the plane of ELEVATION; and their horizontal curves are also delineated on the plane of Projection; both of which are represented under those terms in plate I. and described in the general explanation of the planes in the article Naval ARCHITECTURE.

The highest transoms are connected to the ship’s quarter by knees, which are bolted to those pieces, and to the after-timbers. See the article SLEEPERS.

TRANSPORT. See the article SHIP.

TRANSPORTING, the act of removing a ship from one place to another, by the help of anchors and ropes. See WARPING.

TRAVELLER, racambeau, a sort of thimble, whose diameter is much longer, in proportion to the breadth of its surface, than the common ones, fig. 3. plate XII. It is furnished with a tail formed of a piece of rope, about three feet in length, one end of which encircles the ring, to which it is spliced. These machines are principally intended to facilitate the hoisting or lowering of the top-gallant-yards at sea: for which purpose two of them are fixed on each back-stay, whereon they slide upwards and downwards, like the ring of a curtain upon its rod: being thus attached to the extremities of the top-gallant-yard, they prevent it from swinging backwards and forwards, by the agitation of the ship, whilst the yard is hoisting or lowering at sea.

TRAVERSE, in navigation, implies a compound course, or an assemblage of various courses, lying at different angles with the meridian. Thus fig. 2. plate XI. exhibits the traverses formed by a ship, when making an oblique progression against the direction of the wind, as explained in the article TACKING.

The true course and distance resulting from this diversity of courses is discovered by collecting the difference of latitude and departure of each course, and reducing the whole into one departure and one difference of latitude, according to the known rules of trigonometry. This reduction will immediately ascertain the base and perpendicular; or, in other words, will give the difference of latitude and departure to discover the course and distance. See NAVIGATION.

TRAVERSE-BOARD, a thin circular piece of board, marked with all the points of the compass, and having eight holes bored in each, and eight small pegs hanging from the center of the board. It is used to determine the different courses run by a ship during the period of the watch; and to ascertain the distance of each course. This implement is particularly useful in light and variable winds, at which time the helmsman marks the course every half hour, by fixing a peg in that point of the compass whereon the ship had advanced. Thus, if the wind is northerly at the beginning of the watch, the ship, being close-hauled on the larboard tack, will steer W. N. W. If, after the first half hour, the wind changes to N. by W. the ship will fall off to W. by N. both of these courses are marked by the helmsman upon the traverse-board, by putting in one peg for every half hour on which she steers the same course; as, one peg into W. N. W. and two pegs into W. by N. if she sails an hour on the latter course; and so on. The lee-way and variation of the compass are afterwards allowed by the pilot, on summing up the whole.

TREE-NAILS, gournables, certain long cylindrical wooden pins, employed to connect the planks of a ship’s side and bottom to the corresponding timbers.

The tree-nails are justly esteemed superior to spike-nails or bolts, which are liable to rust, and loosen, as well as to rot the timber; but it is necessary that the oak of which they are formed should be solid, close, and replete with gum, to prevent them from breaking and rotting in the ship’s frame. They ought also to be well dried, so as to fill their holes when they are swelled with moisture. They have usually one inch in thickness to 100 feet in the vessel’s length; so that the tree-nails of a ship of 100 feet long, are one inch in diameter; and one inch and a half for a ship of 150 feet.

TRESTLE-TREES, tesseaux, two strong bars of timber fixed horizontally on the opposite sides of the lower mast-head, to support the frame of the top, and the weight of the top-mast. See MAST and TOP.

TRIM, manege du navire, (trimman, Sax. to build) implies, in general, the state or disposition by which a ship is best calculated for the several purposes of navigation.

Thus the trim of the hold denotes the most convenient and proper arrangement of the various materials contained therein, relatively to the ships motion or stability at sea. The trim of the masts and sails is also their most apposite situation, with regard to the construction of the ship, and the effort of the wind upon her sails.

As the stowage of the hold, or the disposition of the several articles of the cargo, considerably affects the ship’s motion and stability, it will be necessary to give a general idea of the action of a heavy body upon the fluid that supports it, and the re-action of the fluid on the floating body.

The whole weight of any body, then, may be considered as united in its center of gravity; so that, if it were suspended by a line fastened to this center, the line would hang in a perpendicular position, as directed through the center of gravity to the center of the earth. A body which floats in a fluid is not, however, supported by its center of gravity, but by the compression of the surrounding filaments of water: and each of these, being considered as infinitely small, will act upon a very minute portion of the surface of the floating body, with regard to the specific gravity, and conform to a principle applicable to all fluids, in proportion to the height of these filaments, viz. That the weight of a column of any fluid will be in proportion to the specific gravity of the fluid and the height of the column multiplied by its base.

But as heavy bodies endeavour, by their gravity, to approach the center of the earth, in a vertical line passing through their centers; so the pressure of fluids endeavours to carry bodies in a vertical, tending from the center of the earth towards their surface, and passing through the center of gravity of the submerged part, which forces them towards the surface. So, in any submerged body at rest, these two opposite forces coincide in the same vertical, acting in a direction quite contrary to each other. Bouguer’s Traité du navire.

From this theory it results, that the stability or trim of a ship chiefly depends upon her construction, as considering the bottom to be homogeneous. This, however, can only happen when her cargo consists of the same materials throughout, as with corn, salt, or any species stowed in bulk, and when her hold is entirely filled. For if the ship has not sufficient breadth to resist the effort of the wind upon her sails; or if she is built too high, or too sharp in the floor, her center of gravity will be too high, and she will be very crank, i. e. apt to overturn.

But as the stiffness of a ship, or quality to carry sail without danger of overturning, depends very much on the stowage of the hold, the center of gravity may thereby be considerably lowered, by which her stability will be increased in proportion. It is a general maxim amongst mariners, that a ship will not carry sufficient sail till she is laden so deep that the surface of the water may glance on her extreme breadth amidships. She must therefore have a great deal of weight, as ballast, &c. to bring her to this situation, which is called a good sailing trim.

Several circumstances are also to be particularly considered with regard to the quality, weight, and stowage of the ballast. The center of gravity being placed too high, will render the ship incapable of carrying a sufficient quantity of sail; and by having it too low, she will be in danger of rolling away her masts. When it is placed too far forward, the ship will pitch, and labour heavily; and when too far aft, she will occasionally be exposed to the dangerous circumstance of a pooping sea. These extremes being carefully avoided, it remains to proportion the contents of every part of the hold to its capacity, and to place the lightest materials uppermost. See STOWAGE.

TRIM, when applied to the sails, denotes the general arrangement which is best calculated to accelerate the ship’s course, according to the direction of the wind. See the article SAILING.

If the ship were always to sail before the wind, it would be a very simple operation to trim the sails; because nothing else could be required than to dispose them so as to receive the greatest possible effort of the wind, which is evidently performed by arranging them at right angles with its direction. But, when the current of wind acts more directly upon the ship’s side, it necessarily falls more obliquely on the surface of the sails, so as to diminish their effort to push the ship forward; and to augment their tendency to make her incline to one side. Hence we may conclude, that an increase of the wind, when accompanied with a variation unfavourable to the ship’s course, will by no means augment her velocity; because the force previously employed to push her forward, will afterwards operate to overturn her; and because this impression renders it necessary to reduce the quantity of sail; the effort of which is farther diminished by the obliquity of the action of the wind upon its surface.

By this theory it appears, that the effect of the wind to advance the ship decreases in proportion to its obliquity with any sail upon which it operates.

The mechanical disposition of the sails, according to every direction of the wind upon their surfaces, is copiously described in the articles CLOSE-HAULED, LARGE, SAILING, and TACKING.

TRIM, when expressed of the masts, denotes their position with regard to the ship and to each other. Thus, in the latter sense, they should neither be too near nor too far apart; and, in the former, they should not be too far forward or aft; and, according to the situation or quality which communicates a greater velocity to the vessel, they should either be upright, or inclining aft, or forward.

TRIM the boat. See BOAT, and the phrases succeeding it.

Sharp-TRIMMED, the situation of a ship’s sails in a scant wind.

TRIMONEER, a barbarous corruption of TIMONEER. See that article.

TRIP, a cant phrase, implying an outward-bound voyage, particularly in the coasting navigation. It also denotes a single board in plying to windward.

TRIPPING, the movement by which an anchor is loosened from the bottom by its cable or buoy-ropes. See ATRIP.

TROUGH, a name given to the hollow, or interval between two high waves, which resembles a broad and deep trench perpetually fluctuating. As the setting of the sea is always produced by the wind, it is evident that the waves, and consequently the trough or hollow space between them, will be at right angles with the direction of the wind. Hence a ship rolls heaviest when she lies in the trough of the sea.

TROWSERS, a sort of loose breeches of canvas worn by common sailors.

TRUCK, a piece of wood, which is either conical, cylindrical, spherical, or spheroidical.

Thus the trucks fixed on the spindle of a mast-head, and which are otherwise called acorns, are in the form of a cone: and those which are employed as wheels to the gun-carriages are cylinders. The trucks of the parrels assume the figure of a globe; and, lastly, those of the flag-staffs resemble an oblate spheroid. See the articles ACORN, CANNON, PARREL, and FLAG-STAFF.

Trucks of the shrouds are nearly similar to those of the parrels: they are fastened to the shrouds about twelve or fourteen feet above the deck, the hole in the middle being placed perpendicularly to contain some rope which passes through it. The intention of these is to guide the sailors to the particular rope, which might otherwise be easily mistaken for some other of the same size, especially in the night.

Speaking-TRUMPET, trompette marine, a trumpet of brass or tin used at sea, to propagate the voice to a great distance, or to convey the orders from one part of the ship to another, in tempestuous weather, &c. when they cannot otherwise be distinctly heard by the persons to whom they are directed.

Fire-TRUNK. See the article FIRE-SHIP.

TRUNNIONS, tourillons, the two knobs or arms which project from the opposite sides of a piece of artillery, and serve to support it in the carriage. See CANNON and MORTAR.

TRUSS, (trousse, Fr.) a machine employed to pull a yard home to its respective mast, and retain it firmly in that position.

As the truss is generally used instead of a parrel, it is rarely employed, except in flying top-gallant-sails, which are never furnished with parrels. It is no other than a ring or traveller, which encircles the mast, and has a rope fastened to its after-part, leading downward to the top or decks; by means of which the truss may be straitened or slackened at pleasure. The haliards of the top-gallant-sail being passed through this ring; and the sail being hoisted up to its utmost extent; it is evident, that the yard will be drawn close to the mast, by pulling down the truss close to the upper part of the sail. For, without the truss, the sail and its yard would be blown from the mast, so as to swing about, by the action of the wind, and the rocking of the vessel; unless the yard were hoisted close up to the pulley wherein the haliards run; which seldom is the case in flying top-gallant-sails, because they are usually much shallower than those which are fixed or standing.

TRUSS-PARREL. See PARREL.

TRYING, à la cape, the situation in which a ship lies nearly in the trough or hollow of the sea in a tempest, particularly when it blows contrary to her course.

In trying, as well as in scudding, the sails are always reduced in proportion to the increase of the storm. Thus, in the former state, a ship may lie by the wind under a whole main-sail, a whole fore-sail, or a whole mizen; or under any of those sails, when diminished by the reef or balance. As the least possible quantity of sail used in scudding are the goose-wings of the foresail; so in trying, the smallest portion is generally the mizen-staysail or main-staysail: and in either state, if the storm is excessive, she may lie with all the sails furled, or, according to the sea-phrase, under bare poles.

The intent of spreading a sail at this time is to keep the ship more steddy, and, by pressing her side down in the water, to prevent her from rolling violently; and also to turn her bow towards the direction of the wind, so that the shock of the waves may fall more obliquely on her flank, than when she lies along the trough of the sea. While she remains in this situation, the helm is fastened close to the lee-side, or, in the sea-language, hard a-lee, to prevent her as much as possible from falling-off. But as the ship is not then kept in equilibrio by the effort of her sails, which at other times counterbalance each other at the head and stern, she is moved by a slow but continual vibration, which turns her head alternately to windward and to leeward, forming an angle of three or four points in the interval. That part where she stops, in approaching the direction of the wind, is called her coming-to, and the contrary excess of the angle to leeward is termed her falling-off.

Thus, suppose the wind northerly, and a ship trying with her starboard side to windward: if, in turning her head towards the source of the wind, she arrives at N. W. ½ N. or N. 39° W. and then declines to the leeward as far W. ½ S. or S. 84° W, the former will be called her coming-to, and the latter her falling-off. In this position she advances very little according to the line of her length, but is driven considerably to leeward, as described in the articles DRIFT and LEE-WAY.

TUCK, a name given to that part of the ship where the ends of the bottom-planks are collected together immediately under the stern or counter.

When this part, instead of being incurvated, and forming a convex surface, assumes the shape of a vertical or oblique plane, it is said to be square, as represented in fig. 8. plate IX. A square tuck is accordingly terminated above by the wing-transom, and below and on each side by the fashion-pieces.

TUMBLING-HOME, encabanement, that part of a ship’s side which falls inward above the extreme breadth, so as to make the ship gradually narrower from the lower deck upwards. This angle is represented in general throughout all the timbers in the plane of projection, plate I. It is also more particularly expressed by Q T in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, plate VII. where it is evident, that the ship grows narrower from Q towards T. N. B. In all our old sea-books, this narrowing of a ship from the extreme breadth upwards is called housing-in. See UPPER-WORK.

TURNING-to-windward, chicaner le vent, that operation in sailing wherein a ship endeavours to make a progress against the direction of the wind, by a compound course, inclined to the place of her destination. This method of navigation is otherwise called plying. See also BEATING and TACKING.

TYE, itague, a sort of runner or thick rope, used to transmit the effort of a tackle to any yard or gaff, which extends the upper part of a sail.

The tye is either passed through a block fixed to the mast-head, and afterwards through another block moveable upon the yard or gaff intended to be hoisted; or the end of it is simply fastened to the said yard or gaff, after communicating with the block at the mast-head. See also the article JEARS.

V.

VAN, avante-garde, the foremost division of any naval armament, or that part which usually leads the way to battle; or advances first in the order of sailing. See CENTER, FLEET, and REAR.

VANE, a thin slip of bunting hung to the mast-head, or some other conspicuous place in the ship, to show the direction of the wind. See b, fig. 1. plate I. It is commonly sewed upon a wooden frame called the stock, which contains two holes whereby to slip over the spindle, upon which it turns about as the wind changes.

Dog-VANE, panon, a small light vane, formed of a piece of packthread about two feet in length, upon which are fixed five or six thin slices of cork stuck full of light feathers. It is usually fastened to the top of a staff two yards high, which is placed on the top of the ship’s side on the quarter-deck, in order to shew the direction of the wind to the helmsman, particularly in a dark night, or when the wind is extremely feeble.

VANGS, a sort of braces to support the mizen gaff, and keep it steddy. They are fixed on the outer-end or peek, and reach downwards to the aftmost part of the ship’s side, where they are hooked and drawn tight, so as to be slackened when the wind is fair; and drawn in to windward when it becomes unfavourable to the ship’s course.

VARIATION, the angle contained between the true meridian and the magnetic meridian.

‘After the discovery of that most useful property of the magnet, or loadstone, namely, the giving hardened iron and steel a polarity, the compass was for many years used without knowing that its direction in any wise deviated from the poles of the world: and about the middle of the 16th century, so certain were some of its inflexibly pointing to the north, that they treated with contempt the notion of the variation, which about that time began to be suspected[55]. However, careful observations soon discovered, that in England, and its neighbourhood, the needle pointed to the eastward of the true north: but the quantity of this deviation being known, mariners became as well satisfied as if the compass had none; because they imagined that the true course could be obtained by making allowance for the true variation.

‘From successive observations made afterwards, it was found, that the deviation of the needle from the north was not a constant quantity; but that it gradually diminished, and at last, about the year 1660, it was found at London that the needle pointed due north, and has ever since been getting to the westward, and now the variation is more than 20 degrees to the westward of the north: so that in any one place it may be suspected the variation has a kind of libratory motion, traversing through the north to unknown limits eastward and westward. But the settling of this point must be left to time.

‘During the time of the said observations it was also discovered, that the variation of the needle was different in different parts of the world, it being west in some places when it was east in others; and in places where the variation was of the same name, yet the quantity of it greatly differed. It was therefore found necessary, that mariners should every day, or as often as they had opportunity, make, during their voyage, proper observations for an amplitude or azimuth; whereby they might be enabled to find the variation of the compass in their present place, and thence correct their courses.’ Robertson’s Elements of navigation.

Dr. Halley published, in the last century, a theory of the variations of the compass. In this work he supposes there are four magnetic poles in the earth, two of which are fixed and two moveable, by which he explains the different variation of the compass, at different times, in the same place. But it is impossible to apply exact calculations to so complicated an hypothesis. M. Euler, son of the celebrated geometrician of that name, has however shewn, that two magnetic poles placed on the surface of the earth will sufficiently account for the singular figure assumed by the lines which pass through all the points of equal variation in the chart of Dr. Halley.

M. Euler first examines the case, wherein the two magnetic poles are diametrically opposite; 2d. he places them in the two opposite meridians, but at unequal distances from the poles of the world; 3d. he places them in the same meridian. Finally, he considers them situated in two different meridians. These four cases may become equally important; because, if it is determined that there are only two magnetic poles, and that these poles change their situations, it may some time hereafter be discovered that they pass through all the different positions.

Since the needle of the compass ought always to be in the plane which passes through the place of observation and the two magnetic poles, the problem is reduced to the discovery of the angle contained between this plane and the plane of the meridian. M. Euler, after having examined the different cases, finds, that they also express the earth’s magnetism, represented in the chart published by Mess. Mountaine and Dodson in 1744, particularly throughout Europe and North America, if the following principles are established.

Between the Arctic pole and the magnetic pole 14° 53´.

Between the Antarctic pole and the other magnetic pole 29° 23´.

53° 18´ The angle at the north pole, formed by the meridians passing through the two magnetic poles.

250° The longitude of the meridian, which passes over the northern magnetic pole.

As the observations which have been collected with regard to the variation are, for the most part, loose and inaccurate, it is impossible to represent them all with precision; and the great variations observed in the Indian ocean, seem to require, says M. Euler, that the three first quantities should be 14, 35, and 63 degrees. In the mean time, the general agreement is sufficiently satisfactory.

The high reputation of Dr. Halley’s magnetical chart renders it more particularly necessary to point out the errors contained therein[56]. There is evidently too little distance between the lines of no variation, of which one crosses the equator 17° westward of London, and the other 119° to the eastward. This makes 136 degrees only; whereas it should necessarily exceed 180 and even 200, inasmuch as the pole of the world is supposed farther distant from the magnetic pole towards the south than in the north, as is required by the other phænomena. Again, upon the coasts discovered by Diemen, there was no variation in 1642; and Dr. Halley also supposes there was none in 1700. Meanwhile, by the alteration observed at Paris, the line of no variation should be advanced 60° towards the south, which will agree better with the calculations, and prove that the distance of the two intersections was really greater than Dr. Halley had established.

The table of variation of Mess. Mountaine and Dodson is accompanied with several interesting particulars, which equally deserve to be inserted here.

At Barbadoes, (says Capt. Snow) the variation seems very nearly at a stand; for in the road I observed 5° east; and by Dr. Halley’s draught, in the year 1701, 5½ degrees. In 1747, at Port Royal keys, Jamaica, I observed the variation 7° 20´ E.; and on the coast of Carthagena, the same week, off the high land of Santa Martha, 7° 45´ nearly south of Port Royal. Therefore these curves are not much altered: the curve at Jamaica is nearly at a stand, as though tied, and the south part of them with the rest dropping to the westward.

Under the equator, in longitude 40° E. from London, the highest variation during the whole fifty-six years appears to be 17°¼ W. and the least 16°½ W.: and in latitude 15° N. longitude 60° W. from London, the variation has been constantly 5° E.: but in other places the case has been widely different. For in the latitude of 10° S. longitude 60° E. from London, the variation has decreased from 17° W. to 7°¼ W.; and in latitude 10° S. longitude 5° W. from London, from 2°¼ W. to 12°¾ W.; and in latitude 15° N. longitude 20°, it has increased from 1° W. to 9° W.

But there is still a more extraordinary appearance in the Indian seas. For instance, under the equator:

LONGITUDE│ MAGNETICAL VARIATION East from│ in 1700. in 1756. London. │ Degrees. │ Degrees. Degrees. 40│ 16¾ West. 16¼ West. 45│ 17¾ W. 14½ W. 50│ 17½ W. 11¾ W. 55│ 16½ W. 8¾ W. 60│ 15¼ W. 6 W. 65│ 13½ W. 4½ W. 70│ 11½ W. 3¼ W. 75│ 9¾ W. 1 W. 80│ 7¾ W. 0¼ East. 85│ 5½ W. 1¼ E. 90│ 4¼ W. 1 E. 95│ 3¼ W. 0½ West. 100│ 2½ W. 1 W.

Where the west variation, in the longitude 40° E. is the same in both the above years; and in 1700 the west variation seemed to be regularly decreasing from longitude 50° E. to the longitude 100° E.; but in 1756, we find the west variation decreasing so fast, that we have east variation in the longitude 80°, 85°, and 90° E.; and yet in the longitude 95° and 100° E. we have west variation again. Philosophical Transactions for the year 1757.

To these remarks may be subjoined the following extracts from the Exposition du calcul astronomique, by M. de la Lande.

At the royal observatory in Paris, a magnetical needle of four inches deviated from the N. 18° 10´ towards the west, on the 15th of February 1759: and on the 22d of April 1760, the same needle varied 18° 20´. It is indeed natural to conceive, that nothing can be precisely ascertained by ten minutes upon a circle whose diameter is only four inches. It is nevertheless sufficiently evident, that this variation continues to increase at Paris. In 1610 the needle declined 8° towards the east, so that the variation has changed 26° 20´ in the space of 150 years; and this appears particularly since 1740: for the same needle, which has always been used by M. Maraldi, is more than 3° advanced towards the west, beyond what it was at that period; and this makes 9´ in one year.

To VEER and haul, to pull a rope tight, by drawing it in and slackening it alternately, till the body to which it is applied acquires an additional motion, like the increased vibrations of a pendulum, so that the rope is straitened to a greater tension with more facility and dispatch. This method is particularly used in hauling the bowlines.

The wind is said to veer and haul when it alters its direction, and becomes more or less fair. Thus it is said to veer aft and to haul forward.

To VEER away the cable. See CABLE.

VEERING, virer vent arriere, the operation by which a ship, in changing her course from one board to the other, turns her stern to windward. Hence it is used in opposition to tacking, wherein the head is turned to the wind, and the stern to leeward.

Thus the ship A, fig. 8. plate XI. having made the necessary dispositions to veer, bears away gradually before the wind, till it blows obliquely upon the opposite side, which was formerly to leeward, as at a; and as the stern necessarily yields to this impression of the wind, assisted by the force of the helm, and the action of the waves upon the same quarter, the side which was formerly to leeward soon becomes to windward, as in the point a.

Since, by this movement, a ship loses ground considerably more than by tacking, it is rarely practised except in cases of necessity or delay: as, when the violence of the wind and sea renders tacking impracticable; or when her course is slackened to wait for a pilot, or some other ship in company, &c.

It has been observed in the article TACKING, that the change of motion in any body, will be in proportion to the moving force impressed, and made according to the right line in which that force operates. Hence it is evident, that veering as well as tacking is a necessary consequence of the same invariable principle; for as, in the latter, almost the whole force of the wind and of the helm are exerted on the hind part of the ship, to turn the prow to windward; so, in the former, the same impression, assisted by the efforts of the helm, falls upon the prow, to push it to leeward; and the motion communicated to the ship must in both cases necessarily conspire with the action of the wind.

Thus, when it becomes necessary to veer the ship, the sails towards the stern are either furled, or brailed up, and made to shiver in the wind; whilst those near the head are spread abroad, so as to collect the whole current of air which their surfaces can contain. Hence, while the whole force of the wind is exerted on the fore part of the ship to turn her about, its effect is considerably diminished, or altogether destroyed, on the surfaces of the after-sails. The fore part accordingly yields to the above impulse, and is put in motion; and this movement, conspiring with that of the wind, pushes the ship about as much as is necessary to produce the effect required. When she is turned so that the wind will act upon that quarter which was formerly to leeward, as at the point a, fig. 8. her circular motion will be accelerated by extending some of the sails near the stern, as the mizen, and by placing those at the prow more obliquely, which will wheel the vessel round with her bow to the windward; in the same situation, with regard to the wind, as when close-hauled, or tacking.

When the tempest is so violent as to prevent the use of sails, the effort of the wind operates almost equally on the opposite ends of the ship, so that the masts and yards situated at the head and stern counterbalance each other. The effect of the helm is also considerably diminished, because the head-way, which gives life and vigour to all its operations, is at this time feeble and ineffectual. Hence it is necessary to defray this equilibrium which subsists between the masts and yards afore and abaft, and to throw the balance forward, in order to prepare for veering. This is accordingly performed by bracing the foremost yards across the direction of the wind, and arranging those on the main-mast and mizen mast directly in the line of the wind. If this expedient proves unsuccessful, and it is absolutely necessary to veer, in order to save the ship from destruction, by oversetting or running ashore, the mizen-mast must instantly be cut away, and even the main-mast, if she yet remains incapable of answering the helm by bearing away before the wind.

VENT. See the articles Cannon and Windage.

VESSEL, batiment, a general name given to the different sorts of ships which are navigated on the ocean, or in canals and rivers. It is, however, more particularly applied to those of the smaller kind, furnished with one or two masts.

It has already been remarked in the article SHIP, that the views of utility, which ought always to be considered in a work of this kind, seemed to limit our general account of shipping to those which are most frequently employed in European navigation. We have therefore collected into one point of view the principal of these in plate XII.; so that the reader who is unacquainted with marine affairs, may the more easily perceive their distinguishing characters, which are also more particularly described under the reflective articles.

Thus fig. 4. plate XII. exhibits a snow under sail; fig. 5. represents a ketch at anchor; fig. 6. a brig or brigantine; fig. 7. a bilander; fig. 8. a xebec; fig. 9. a schooner; fig. 10. a galliot; fig. 11. a dogger; all of which are under sail; fig. 12. & 13. two galleys, one of which is under sail, and the other rowing; and fig. 14. a sloop.

The ketch, whose sails are furled, is furnished with a try-sail, like the snow; and it has a fore-sail, fore-staysail, and jib, nearly similar to those of a sloop; but the sails on the main-mast and mizen-mast are like those of a ship. The main-sail and main-topsail of the brig are like those of the schooner; and the fore-mast is rigged and equipped with sails in the same manner as the ship and snow. The sails, masts, and yards of the xebec, being extremely different from these, are described at large under the article. In the schooner both the mainsail and foresail are extended by a boom and gaff, as likewise is the sloop’s mainsail; the sails of the dogger and galliot are sufficiently expressed in the plate; and, finally, the galleys are navigated with lateen-sails, which are extremely different from those of the vessels above described.

Agent VICTUALLER. See AGENT VICTUALLER.

To UNBALLAST, delester, to discharge the ballast of a ship.

UNBENDING, désamarrer, generally implies the act of taking off the sails from their yards and stays; of casting loose the anchors from their cables, or of untying one rope from another. See also Bend.

UNBITTING, débitter, the operation of removing the turns of a cable from off the bits. See BITS and CABLE.

To UNDER-RUN, parcourir, to pass under or examine any part of a cable or other rope, in order to discover whether it is damaged or intangled.

It is usual to under-run the cables in particular harbours, as well to cleanse them with brooms and brushes from any filth, ooze, shells, &c. collected in the stream; as to examine whether they have sustained any injury under the surface of the water; as, from rocky ground, or by the friction against other cables or anchors.

To UNDER-RUN a tackle, is to separate the several parts of which it is composed, and range them in order, from one block to the other; so that the general effort may not be interrupted, when it is put in motion.

UNDER SAIL, the state of a ship when she is loosened from her moorings, and under the government of her sails and rudder. See HELM and SAIL.

UNLACING, déboutonner, the act of loosening and taking off the bonnet of a sail from its principal part.

To UNMOOR, desafourcher, is to reduce a ship to the state of riding by a single anchor and cable, after she has been moored or fastened by two or more cables. See the articles ANCHOR and MOORING.

UNREEVING, the act of withdrawing or taking out a rope from any channel through which it had formerly passed; as in a block, thimble, dead-eye, &c. See REEVE.

To UNRIG a ship, défuner, is to deprive her of the standing and running rigging.

VOYAL, tournevire, a large rope used to unmoor, or heave up the anchors of a ship, by transmitting the effort of the capstern to the cables.

This is performed by fastening one part of the voyal to the cable in several places, and by winding another part thereof three or four times about the capstern, which answers the same purpose as if the cable itself were in that manner wound about the capstern; and the voyal being much lighter and more pliant, is infinitely more convenient in this exercise. See the articles CAPSTERN and NIPPER.

If the cable is drawn into the ship by the main capstern, the voyal is used without any block: but if the capstern in the fore-part of the ship be employed for this purpose, the voyal usually passes through a large block attached to the main-mast; and thence communicates with the jear-capstern.

UPPER-DECK, the highest of those decks which are continued throughout the whole of a ship of war, or merchantman, without any interruption, of steps or irregular ascents. See DECK and WAIST.

UPPER-WORK, oeuvres mortes, a general name given to all that part of a ship which is above the surface of the water when she is properly balanced for a sea-voyage: hence it may be considered as separated from the bottom by the main wale, as explained particularly in the article Naval ARCHITECTURE.

UPRIGHT, the situation wherein the opposite sides of a ship are equally elevated above the surface of the water, as in fig. 2. plate VI.; or when she neither inclines to the right nor left, with regard to the vertical position of her stem and stern-post.

USES AND CUSTOMS of the sea; certain general principles which compose the basis of marine jurisprudence, and regulate the affairs of commerce and navigation.

W.

WAD, bourrelet, a quantity of old rope-yarns rolled firmly together into the form of a ball, and used to confine the shot or shell, together with its charge of powder, in the breech of a piece of artillery.

M. Le Blond observes, in his Elements of war, that the wad is necessary to retain the charge closely in the chamber of the cannon, so that it may not, when fired, be dilated around the sides of the ball, by its windage as it passes through the chace; a circumstance which would considerably diminish the effort of the powder. But as the wad cannot be fastened to the sides of the bore, it is carried away in the same instant when the charge is inflamed, and that with so little resistance, that it cannot in any degree retard the explosion, or give time for the entire inflammation of the powder.

This reasoning may with equal propriety be applied to the wad that covers the bullet; which, nevertheless, is absolutely requisite, to prevent it from rolling out when the piece is fired horizontally or pointed downwards. Both are therefore peculiarly necessary in naval engagements, because, without being thus retained in its chamber, the shot would instantly roll out of the chace by the agitation of the vessel.

WAFT, berne, a signal displayed from the stern of a ship for some particular purpose, by hoisting the ensign, furled up together into a long roll, to the head of its staff. It is particularly used to summon the boats off from the shore to the ship whereto they belong; or as a signal for a pilot to repair aboard. See SIGNAL.

WAIST, that part of a ship which is contained between the quarter-deck and fore-castle, being usually a hollow space, with an ascent of several steps to either of those places.

When the waist of a merchant-ship is only one or two steps of descent from the quarter-deck and fore-castle, she is said to be galley-built; but when it is considerably deeper, as with six or seven steps, she is called frigate-built. See the articles DECK, DEEP-WAISTED, and FRIGATE.

WAKE, houaiche, the print or track impressed by the course of a ship on the surface of the water. It is formed by the re-union of the body of water, which was separated by the ship’s bottom whilst moving through it and may be seen to a considerable distance behind the stern, as smoother than the rest of the sea. Hence it is usually observed by the compass, to discover the angle of LEE-WAY.

A ship is said to be in the wake, dans l’eau, of another, when she follows her on the same track, or on a line supposed to be formed on the continuation of her keel. Thus the ships a b, fig. 11. and a b, fig. 7. plate V. are all in the wake of the foremost b. See the article LINE.

Two distant objects observed at sea are called in the wake of each other, when the view of the farthest is intercepted by the nearest; so that the observer’s eye and the two objects are all placed upon the same right line.

WALE-KNOT, or WALL-KNOT, a particular sort of large knot raised upon the end of a rope, by untwisting the strands, and interweaving them amongst each other. See the article KNOT.

WALE-REARED, an obsolete phrase, implying wall-sided, which see.

WALES, preceintes, an assemblage of strong planks extending along a ship’s side, throughout her whole length, at different heights, and serving to reinforce the decks, and form the curves by which the vessel appears light and graceful on the water.

As the wales are framed of planks broader and thicker than the rest, they resemble ranges of hoops encircling the sides and bows. They are usually distinguished into the main-wale and the channel-wale; the breadth and thickness of which are expressed by Q and R in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, plate VII. and their length is exhibited in the ELEVATION, plate I. where L Q Z is the main-wale, and D R X the channel-wale, parallel to the former.

The situation of the wales, being ascertained by no invariable rule, is generally submitted to the fancy and judgment of the builder. The position of the gun-ports and scuppers ought, however, to be particularly considered on this occasion, that the wales may not be wounded by too many breaches.

WALL-SIDED, the figure of a ship’s side, when, instead of being incurvated so as to become gradually narrower towards the upper part, it is nearly perpendicular to the surface of the water, like a wall; and hence the derivation of the phrase.

WALT, an obsolete or spurious term signifying crank. See that article.

WARP, a small rope employed occasionally to remove a ship from one place to another, in a port, road, or river. And hence,

To WARP, remorquer, is to change the situation of a ship, by pulling her from one part of a harbour, &c. to some other, by means of warps, which are attached to buoys; to anchors sunk in the bottom; or to certain stations upon the shore, as posts, rings, trees, &c. The ship is accordingly drawn forwards to those stations, either by pulling on the warps by hand, or by the application of some purchase, as a tackle, windlass, or capstern, upon her deck. See those articles.

When this operation is performed by the ship’s lesser anchors, these machines, together with their warps, are carried out in the boats alternately towards the place where the ship is endeavouring to arrive: so that when she is drawn up close to one anchor, the other is carried out to a competent distance before her, and being sunk, serves to fix the other warp by which she is farther advanced.

Warping is generally used when the sails are unbent, or when they cannot be successfully employed, which may either arise from the unfavourable state of the wind, the opposition of the tide, or the narrow limits of the channel.

WASH. See the article OAR.

WASH-BOARD, a broad thin plank fixed occasionally on the top of a boat’s side, so as to continue the height thereof, and be removed at pleasure. It is used to prevent the sea from breaking into the vessel, particularly when the surface is rough, as in tempestuous weather.

WATCH, quart, the space of time wherein one division of a ship’s crew remains upon deck, to perform the necessary services, whilst the rest are relieved from duty, either when the vessel is under sail, or at anchor.

The length of the sea-watch is not equal in the shipping of different nations. It is always kept four hours by our British seamen, if we except the dog-watch between four and eight in the evening, that contains two reliefs, each of which are only two hours on deck. The intent of this is to change the period of the night-watch every twenty-four hours; so that the party watching from eight till twelve in one night, shall watch from midnight till four in the morning on the succeeding one. In France the duration of the watch is extremely different, being in some places six hours, and in others seven or eight; and in Turky and Barbary it is usually five or six hours.

A ship’s company is usually classed into two parties; one of which is called the starboard and the other the larboard watch. It is, however, occasionally separated into three divisions, as in a road or in particular voyages.

In a ship of war the watch is generally commanded by a lieutenant, and in merchant-ships by one of the mates; so that if there are four mates in the latter, there are two in each watch; the first and third being in the larboard, and the second and fourth in the starboard watch: but in the navy the officers who command the watch usually divide themselves into three parts, in order to lighten their duty.

WATCH-GLASSES, horloge, a name given to the glasses employed to measure the period of the watch, or to divide it into any number of equal parts, as hours, half-hours, &c. so that the several stations therein may be regularly kept and relieved; as at the helm, pump, look-out. &c.

To set the WATCH, is to appoint one division of the crew to enter upon the duty of the watch; as at eight o’clock in the evening. Hence it is equivalent to mounting the guard in the army. See the French term BORDÉE.

WATER-BORNE, the state of a ship, with regard to the water surrounding her bottom, when there is barely a sufficient depth of it to float her off from the ground; particularly when she had for some time rested thereon.

For Dead-WATER, Foul WATER, and High-WATER, see DEAD, FOUL, and HIGH.

WATER-LINES, lignes d’eau, certain horizontal lines supposed to be drawn about the outside of a ship’s bottom, close to the surface of the water in which she floats. They are accordingly higher or lower upon the bottom, in proportion to the depth of the column of water required to float her. See a particular account of these in the article Naval ARCHITECTURE.

In order to conceive a clearer idea of the curves of those lines when represented on a plane, let us suppose a ship laid upright on a level ground; so that the keel shall lie in the same position, with respect to the horizon, as when she is laden. We may then describe several black horizontal lines about her bottom, which may be whitened for that purpose.

If a spectator is supposed to be placed, at a competent depth, under the middle of her bottom, in a line perpendicular to the plane of the ground; he will then, viewing the bottom upwards, discover the horizontal curves of all the water-lines.

These curves are all delineated on a plane, supposed to be formed by an horizontal section of the bottom, at the height of the load-water-line, ligne d’eau du vaisseau chargé.

WATER-LOGGED, the state of a ship when, by receiving a great quantity of water into her hold, by leaking, &c. she has become heavy and inactive upon the sea, so as to yield without resistance to the efforts of every wave rushing over her decks. As, in this dangerous situation, the center of gravity is no longer fixed, but fluctuating from place to place, the stability of the ship is utterly lost: she is therefore almost totally deprived of the use of her sails, which would operate to overset her, or press the head under water. Hence there is no resource for the crew, except to free her by the pumps, or to abandon her by the boats as soon as possible.

WATER-SAIL, a small sail spread occasionally under the lower studding-sail, or driver-boom, in a fair wind, and smooth sea.

WATER-SHOT. See the article MOORING.

WATER-SPOUT, an extraordinary and dangerous meteor, consisting of a large mass of water, collected into a sort of column by the force of a whirlwind, and moved with rapidity along the surface of the sea.

A variety of authors have written on the cause and effects of these meteors, with different degrees of accuracy and probability. As it would be superfluous to enter minutely into their various conjectures, which are frequently grounded on erroneous principles, we shall content ourselves with selecting a few of the latest remarks; and which are apparently supported by philosophical reasoning.

Dr. Franklin, in his physical and meteorological observations, supposes a water-spout and a whirlwind to proceed from the same cause, their only difference being, that the latter passes over the land, and the former over the water. This opinion is corroborated by M. de la Pryme, in the Philosophical Transactions; where he describes two spouts observed at different times in Yorkshire, whose appearances in the air were exactly like those of the spouts at sea; and their effects the same as those of real whirlwinds.

Whirlwinds have generally a progressive as well as a circular motion; so had what is called the spout at Topsham, described in the Transactions; and this also by its effects appears to have been a real whirlwind. Water-spouts have also a progressive motion, which is more or less rapid; being in some violent, and in others barely perceptible.

Whirlwinds generally rise after calms and great heats: the same is observed of water-spouts, which are therefore most frequent in the warm latitudes.

The wind blows every way from a large surrounding space to a whirlwind. Three vessels employed in the whale-fishery, happening to be becalmed, lay in sight of each other, at about a league distance, and in the form of a triangle. After some time a water-spout appeared near the middle of the triangle; when a brisk gale arose, and every vessel made sail. It then appeared to them all by the trimming of their sails, and the course of each vessel, that the spout was to leeward of every one of them; and this observation was farther confirmed by the comparing of accounts, when the different observers afterwards conferred about the subject. Hence whirlwinds and water-spouts agree in this particular likewise.

But if the same meteor which appears a water-spout at sea, should, in its progressive motion, encounter and pass over land, and there produce all the phenomena and effects of a whirlwind, it would afford a stronger conviction that a whirlwind and a water-spout are the same thing. An ingenious correspondent of Dr. Franklin gives one instance of this that fell within his own observation[57].

A fluid moving from all points horizontally towards a center, must, at that center, either mount or descend. If a hole be opened in the middle of the bottom of a tub filled with water, the water will flow from all sides to the center, and there descend in a whirl. But air flowing on or near the surface of land or water, from all sides towards a center, must at that center ascend; because the land or water will hinder its descent.

If these concentring currents of air be in the upper region, they may indeed descend in the spout or whirlwind; but then, when the united current reached the earth or water, it would spread, and probably blow every way from the center. There may be whirlwinds of both kinds; but from the effects commonly observed, Dr. Franklin suspects the rising one to be most frequent: when the upper air descends, it is perhaps in a greater body extending wider, as in thunder-gusts, and without much whirling; and when air descends in a spout or whirlwind, he conceives that it would rather press the roof of a house inwards, or force in the tiles, shingles, or thatch, and force a boat down into the water, or a piece of timber into the earth, than snatch them upwards, and carry them away.

The whirlwinds and spouts are not always, though most frequently, in the day-time. The terrible whirlwind which damaged a great part of Rome, June 11. 1749. happened in the night; and was supposed to have been previously a water-spout, it being asserted as an undoubted fact, that it gathered in the neighbouring sea, because it could be traced from Ostia to Rome.

The whirlwind is said to have appeared as a very black, long, and lofty cloud, discoverable, notwithstanding the darkness of the night, by its continually lightening, or emitting flashes on all sides, pushing along with a surprising swiftness, and within three or four feet of the ground. Its general effects on houses were, stripping off the roofs, blowing away chimnies, breaking doors and windows, forcing up the floors, and unpaving the rooms, (some of these effects seem to agree well with a supposed vacuum in the center of the whirlwind) and the very rafters of the houses were broke and dispersed, and even hurled against houses at a considerable distance, &c.

The Doctor, in proceeding to explain his conceptions, begs to be allowed two or three positions, as a foundation for his hypothesis. 1. That the lower region of air is often more heated, and so more rarified, than the upper; and by consequence specifically lighter. The coldness of the upper region is manifested by the hail, which sometimes falls from it in warm weather. 2. That heated air may be very moist, and yet the moisture so equally diffused and rarified as not to be visible till colder air mixes with it, at which time it condenses and becomes visible. Thus our breath, although invisible in summer, becomes visible in winter.

These circumstances being granted, he presupposes a tract of land or sea, of about sixty miles in extent, unsheltered by clouds and unrefreshed by the wind, during a summer’s day, or perhaps for several days without intermission, till it becomes violently heated, together with the lower region of the air in contact with it, so that the latter becomes specifically lighter than the superincumbent higher region of the atmosphere, wherein the clouds are usually floated: he supposes also that the air surrounding this tract has not been so much heated during those days, and therefore remains heavier. The consequence of this, he conceives, should be, that the heated lighter air should ascend, and the heavier descend; and as this rising cannot operate throughout the whole tract at once, because that would leave too extensive a vacuum, the rising will begin precisely in that column which happens to be lighted, or most rarified; and the warm air will flow horizontally from all parts to this column, where the several currents meeting, and joining to rise, a whirl is naturally formed, in the same manner as a whirl is formed in a tub of water, by the descending fluid receding from all sides of the tub towards the hole in the center.

And as the several currents arrive at this central rising column, with a considerable degree of horizontal motion, they cannot suddenly change it to a vertical motion; therefore, as they gradually, in approaching the whirl, decline from right to curve or circular lines, so, having joined the whirl, they ascend by a spiral motion; in the same manner as the water descends spirally through the hole in the tub before mentioned.

Lastly, as the lower air nearest the surface is more rarified by the heat of the sun, it is more impressed by the current of the surrounding cold and heavy air which is to assume its place, and consequently its motion towards the whirl is swiftest, and so the force of the lower part of the whirl strongest, and the centrifugal force of its particles greatest. Hence the vacuum which encloses the axis of the whirl should be greatest near the earth or sea, and diminish gradually as it approaches the region of the clouds, till it ends in a point.

This circle is of various diameters, sometimes very large.

If the vacuum passes over water, the water may rise in a body or column therein to the height of about thirty-two feet. This whirl of air may be as invisible as the air itself, though reaching in reality from the water to the region of cool air, in which our low summer thunder-clouds commonly float; but it will soon become visible at its extremities. The agitation of the water under the whirling of the circle, and the swelling and rising of the water in the commencement of the vacuum, renders it visible below. It is perceived above by the warm air being brought up to the cooler region, where its moisture begins to be condensed by the cold into thick vapour; and is then first discovered at the highest part; which being now cooled, condenses what rises behind it, and this latter acts in the same manner on the succeeding body; where, by the contact of the vapours, the cold operates faster in a right line downwards, than the vapours themselves can climb in a spiral line upwards; they climb, however, and as by continual addition they grow denser, and by consequence increase their centrifugal force, and being risen above the concentrating currents that compose the whirl, they fly off, and form a cloud.

It seems easy to conceive, how, by this successive condensation from above, the spout appears to drop or descend from the cloud, although the materials of which it is composed are all the while ascending. The condensation of the moisture contained in so great a quantity of warm air as may be supposed to rise in a short time in this prodigiously rapid whirl, is perhaps sufficient to form a great extent of cloud: and the friction of the whirling air on the sides of the column may detach great quantities of its water, disperse them into drops, and carry them up in the spiral whirl mixed with the air. The heavier drops may indeed fly off, and fall into a shower about the spout; but much of it will be broken into vapour, and yet remain visible.

As the whirl weakens, the tube may apparently separate in the middle; the column of water subsiding, the superior condensed part drawing up to the cloud. The tube or whirl of air may nevertheless remain entire, the middle only becoming invisible, as not containing any visible matter.

Dr. Stuart, in the Philosophical Transactions, says, “It was observable of all the spouts he saw, but more perceptible of a large one, that towards the end it began to appear like a hollow canal, only black in the borders, but white in the middle; and though it was at first altogether black and opaque, yet the sea-water could very soon after be perceived to fly up along the middle of this canal like smoke in a chimney.”

When Dr. Stuart’s spouts were full charged, that is, when the whirling pipe of air was filled with quantities of drops and vapour torn off from the column, the whole was rendered so dark that it could not be seen through, nor the spiral ascending motion discovered; but when the quantity ascending lessened, the pipe became more transparent, and the ascending motion visible. The spiral motion of the vapours, whose lines intersect each other on the nearest and farthest side of this transparent part, appeared therefore to Stuart like smoke ascending in a chimney; for the quantity being still too great in the line of sight through the sides of the tube, the motion could not be discovered there, and so they represented the solid sides of the chimney.

Dr. Franklin concludes by supposing a whirlwind or spout to be stationary, when the concurring winds are equal but if unequal, the whirl acquires a progressive motion in the direction of the strongest pressure. When the wind that communicates this progression becomes stronger above than below, or below than above, the spout will be bent or inclined. Hence the horizontal process and obliquity of water-spouts are derived.

WATER-WAY, gouttiere, a long piece of timber serving to connect the sides of a ship to her decks, and form a sort of channel to carry off the water from the latter by means of scuppers. See that article.

The convexity of the decks, represented by N, M, N, in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, plate VII. necessarily carries the water towards the sides, where this piece is fixed, which is principally designed to prevent the water from lodging in the seams, so as to rot the wood and oakum contained therein. The water-ways N N are therefore hollowed in the middle lengthways, so as to form a kind of gutter or channel, one side of which lies almost horizontally, making part of the deck, whilst the other rises upwards, and corresponds with the side, of which it likewise makes a part. They are scored down about an inch and a half, or two inches, upon the beams, and rest upon lodging-knees or carlings. They are secured by bolts driven from without through the planks, timbers, and water-ways, and clinched upon rings on the inside of the latter.

The scuppers, which are holes by which the water escapes from off the deck, are accordingly cut through the water-ways.

WAVE, a volume of water elevated by the action of the wind upon its surface, into a state of fluctuation.

Mr. Boyle has proved, by a variety of experiments, that the utmost force of the wind never penetrates deeper than six feet into the water; and it should seem a natural consequence of this, that the water put in motion by it can only be elevated to the same height of six feet from the level of the surface in a calm. This six feet of elevation being then added to the six of excavation, in the part whence that water was raised, should give twelve feet for the greatest elevation of a wave, when the height of it is not increased by whirlwinds, or the interruption of rocks or shoals, which always gives an additional elevation to the natural swell of the waves.

We are not to suppose, from this calculation, that no wave of the sea can rise more than six feet above its natural level in open and deep water; for some immensely higher than these are formed in violent tempests, in the great seas. These, however, are not to be accounted waves in their natural state; but they are single waves composed of many others: for in these wide plains of water, when one wave is raised by the wind, and would elevate itself up to the exact height of six feet, and no more, the motion of the water is so great, and the succession of the waves so quick, that during the time wherein this rises, it receives into it several other waves, each of which would have been of the same height with itself. These accordingly run into the first wave, one after another as it rises: by this means its rise is continued much longer than it would naturally have been, and it becomes accumulated to an enormous size. A number of these complicated waves arising together, and being continued in a long succession by the duration of the storm, make the waves so dangerous to shipping, which the sailors, in their phrase, call mountains high.

WAY of a ship, the course or progress which she makes on the water under sail. Thus, when she begins her motion, she is said to be under way; and when that motion increases, she is said to have fresh way through the water. Hence also she is said to have head-way or stern-way. See those articles.

WEARING. See the article VEERING.

WEATHER is known to be the particular state of the air with regard to the degree of the wind, to heat or cold, or to driness and moisture.

WEATHER is also used as an adjective, applied by mariners to every thing lying to-windward of a particular situation. Thus a ship is said to have the weather-gage of another, when she is farther to-windward. Thus also, when, a ship under sail presents either of her sides to the wind, it is then called the weather-side; and all the rigging and furniture situated thereon are distinguished by the same epithet; as, the weather-shrouds, the weather-lifts, the weather-braces, &c. See the article LEE.

To WEATHER, is to sail to-windward of some ship, bank, or head-land.

WEATHER-BIT, a turn of the cable of a ship about the end of the windlass, without the knight-heads. It is used to check the cable, in order to slacken it gradually out of the ship, in tempestuous weather, or when the ship rides in a strong current. See also RING-ROPE.

WEATHER-SHORE, a name given by seamen to the shore lying to the windward.

To WEIGH, denotes in general to heave up the anchor of a ship from the ground, in order to prepare her for sailing. See also AWEIGH.

WELL, an apartment formed in the middle of a ship’s hold to inclose the pumps, from the bottom to the lower deck. It is used as a barrier to preserve those machines from being damaged by the friction or compression of the materials contained in the hold, and particularly to prevent the entrance of ballast, &c. by which the tubes would presently be choaked, and the pumps rendered incapable of service. By means of this inclosure, the artificers may likewise more readily descend into the hold, in order to examine the state of the pumps, and repair them, as occasion requires.

WELL of a fishing-vessel, an apartment in the middle of the hold, which is entirely detached from the rest, being lined with lead on every side, and having the bottom thereof penetrated with a competent number of small holes, passing also through the ship’s floor, so that the salt-water running into the well is always kept as fresh as that in the sea, and yet prevented from communicating itself to the other parts of the hold.

WELL-ROOM of a boat, the place in the bottom where the water lies, between the ceiling and the platform of the stern-sheets, from whence it is thrown out into the sea with a scoop.

WHARF, a perpendicular building of wood or stone raised on the shore of a road or harbour, for the convenience of lading or discharging a vessel by means of cranes, tackles, capsterns, &c.

A wharf is built stronger or slighter, in proportion to the effort of the tide or sea which it is to resist, and to the weight which it is intended to support.

WHARFINGER, the person who has the charge of a wharf, and takes account of all the articles landed thereon, or removed from it, into any vessel lying alongside thereof; for which he receives a certain fee called wharfage, which becomes due to the proprietor for the use of his machines and furniture.

WHEEL of the helm. See HELM.

WHELPS. See the article CAPSTERN.

WHIP, a sort of small tackle, either formed by the communication of a rope with a single immoveable block, as fig. 3. plate XI. or with two blocks, one of which is fixed, and the other moveable, as fig. 5. It is generally used to hoist up light bodies, as empty casks, &c. out of a ship’s hold, which is accordingly called whipping them up. See TACKLE.

To WHIP, is also to tie a piece of packthread, spun-yarn, &c. about the end of a rope, to prevent it from being untwisted and loosened.

Boatswain’s WHISTLE. See CALL.

WHOODING. See the article RABBIT.

WINCH, a cylindrical piece of timber, furnished with an axis, whose extremities rest in two channels placed horizontally or perpendicularly. It is turned about by means of an handle resembling that of a draw-well, grind-stone, &c. and is generally employed as a purchase, by which a rope may be more conveniently or more powerfully applied to any object, than when used singly, or without the assistance of mechanical powers.

WIND, vent, a stream or current of air which may be felt; and usually blows from one part of the horizon to its opposite part.

The horizon, besides being divided into 360 degrees, like all other circles, is by mariners supposed to be divided into four quadrants, called the north-east, north-west, south-east, and south-west quarters. Each of these quarters they divided into eight equal parts, called points, and each point into four equal parts, called quarter-points. So that the horizon is divided into 32 points, which are called rhumbs or winds; to each wind is assigned a name, which shews from what point of the horizon the wind blows. The points of north, south, east, and west, are called cardinal points and are at the distance of 90 degrees, or eight points from one another.

Winds are either constant or variable, general or particular. Constant winds are such as blow the same way, at least for one or more days; and variable winds are such as frequently shift within a day. A general or reigning wind is that which blows the same way, over a large tract of the earth, almost the whole year. A particular wind is what blows, in any place, sometimes one way, and sometimes another, indifferently. If the wind blows gently, it is called a breeze; if it blows harder, it is called a gale, or a stiff gale; and if it blows with violence, it is called a storm or hard gale[58].

The following observations on the wind have been made by skilful seamen: and particularly the great Dr. Halley.

1st. Between the limits of 60 degrees, namely, from 30° of north latitude to 30° of south latitude, there is a constant east wind throughout the year, blowing on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; and this is called the trade-wind.

For as the sun, in moving from east to west, heats the air more immediately under him, and thereby expands it; the air to the eastward is constantly rushing towards the west to restore the equilibrium, or natural state of the atmosphere; and this occasions a perpetual east wind in those limits.

2d. The trade-winds near their northern limits blow between the north and east, and near the southern limits they blow between the south and east.

For as the air is expanded by the heat of the sun near the equator; therefore the air from the northward and southward will both tend towards the equator to restore the equilibrium. Now these motions from the north and south, joined with the foregoing easterly motion, will produce the motions observed near the said limits between the north and east, and between the south and west.

3d. These general motions of the wind are disturbed on the continents, and near their coasts.

For the nature of the soil may either cause the air to be heated or cooled; and hence will arise motions that may be contrary to the foregoing general one.

4th. In some parts of the Indian ocean there are periodical winds, which are called Monsoons; that is, such as blow half the year one way, and the other half-year the contrary way.

For air that is cool and dense, will force the warm and rarefied air in a continual stream upwards, where it must spread itself to preserve the equilibrium: so that the upper course or current of the air shall be contrary to the under current; for the upper air must move from those parts where the greatest heat is; and so, by a kind of circulation, the N. E. trade-wind below will be attended with a S. W. above; and a S. E. below with a N. W. above: And this is confirmed by the experience of seamen, who, as soon as they get out of the trade-winds, generally find a wind blowing from the opposite quarter.

5th. In the Atlantic ocean, near the coasts of Africa, at about 100 leagues from shore between the latitudes of 28° and 10° north, seamen constantly meet with a fresh gale of wind blowing from the N. E.

6th. Those bound to the Caribbee islands, across the Atlantic ocean, find, as they approach the American side, that the said N. E. wind becomes easterly; or seldom blows more than a point from the east, either to the northward or southward.

These trade-winds, on the American side, are extended to 30, 31, or even to 32° of N. latitude; which is about 4° farther than what they extend to on the African side: Also, to the southward of the equator, the trade-winds extend three or four degrees farther towards the coast of Brasil on the American side, than they do near the Cape of Good Hope on the African side.

7th. Between the latitudes of 4° and 4° south, the wind always blows between south and east. On the African side the winds are nearest the south; and on the American side nearest the east. In these seas Dr. Halley observed, that when the wind was eastward, the weather was gloomy, dark, and rainy, with hard gales of wind; but when the wind veered to the southward, the weather generally became serene, with gentle breezes next to a calm.

These winds are somewhat changed by the seasons of the year; for when the sun is far northward, the Brasil S. E. wind gets to the south, and the N. E. wind to the east; and when the sun is far south, the S. E. wind gets to the east, and the N. E. winds on this side of the equator veer more to the north.

8th. Along the coast of Guinea, from Sierra Leone to the island of St. Thomas, (under the equator) which is above 500 leagues, the southerly and south-west winds blow perpetually: for the S. E. trade-wind having passed the equator, and approaching the Guinea coast within 80 or 100 leagues, inclines towards the shore, and becomes south, then S. E. and by degrees, as it approaches the land, it veers about to south, S. S. W. and when very near the land it is S. W. and sometimes W. S. W. This tract is troubled with frequent calms, violent sudden gusts of wind, called tornadoes, blowing from all points of the horizon.

The reason of the wind setting in west on the coast of Guinea, is in all probability owing to the nature of the coast, which being greatly heated by the sun, rarefies the air exceedingly, and consequently the cool air from off the sea will keep rushing in to restore the equilibrium.

9th. Between the 4th and 10th degrees of north latitude, and between the longitude of Cape Verd, and the eastermost of the Cape Verd isles, there is a track of sea which seems to be condemned to perpetual calms, attended with terrible thunder and lightnings, and such frequent rains, that this part of the sea is called the rains. In sailing through these six degrees, ships are said to have been sometimes detained whole months.

The cause of this is apparently, that the westerly winds setting in on this coast, and meeting the general easterly wind in this track, balance each other, and so produce the calms; and the vapours carried thither by each wind meeting and condensing, occasion the almost constant rains.

The last three observations shew the reason of two things which mariners experience in sailing from Europe to India, and in the Guinea trade.

And first. The difficulty which ships in going to the southward, especially in the months of July and August, find in passing between the coast of Guinea and Brasil, notwithstanding the width of this sea is more than 500 leagues. This happens, because the S. E. winds at that time of the year commonly extend some degrees beyond the ordinary limits of 4° N. latitude; and besides coming so much southerly, as to be sometimes south, sometimes a point or two to the west; it then only remains to ply to windward: And if, on the one side, they steer W. S. W. they get a wind more and more easterly; but then there is danger of falling in with the Brasilian coast, or shoals: and if they steer E. S. E. they fall into the neighbourhood of the coast of Guinea, from whence they cannot depart without running easterly as far as the island of St. Thomas; and this is the constant practice of all the Guinea ships.

Secondly. All ships departing from Guinea for Europe, their direct course is northward; but on this course they cannot proceed, because the coast bending nearly east and west, the land is to the northward. Therefore, as the winds on this coast are generally between the S. and W. S. W. they are obliged to steer S. S. E. or south, and with these courses they run off the shore; but in so doing they always find the winds more and more contrary; so that when near the shore, they can lie south; but at a greater distance they can make no better than S. E. and afterwards E. S. E.; with which courses they commonly fetch the island of St. Thomas and Cape Lopez, where finding the winds to the eastward of the south, they sail westerly with it, till coming to the latitude of four degrees south, where they find the S. E. wind blowing perpetually.

On account of these general winds, all those that use the West India trade, and even those bound to Virginia, reckon it their best course to get as soon as they can to the southward, that so they may be certain of a fair and fresh gale to run before it to the westward: And for the same reason those homeward-bound from America endeavour to gain the latitude of 30 degrees, where they first find the winds begin to be variable; though the most ordinary winds in the north Atlantic ocean come from between the south and west.

10th. Between the southern latitudes of 10 and 30 degrees in the Indian ocean, the general trade-wind about the S. E. by S. is found to blow all the year long in the same manner as in the like latitudes in the Ethiopic ocean: and during the six months from May to December, these winds reach to within two degrees of the equator; but during the other six months, from November to June, a N. W. wind blows in the tract lying between the 3d and 10th degrees of southern latitude, in the meridian of the north-end of Madagascar; and between the 2d and 12th degree of south latitude, near the longitude of Sumatra and Java.

11th. In the tract between Sumatra and the African coast, and from three degrees of south latitude quite northward to the Asiatic coasts, including the Arabian sea and the Gulf of Bengal, the Monsoons blow from September to April on the N. E.; and from March to October on the S. W. In the former half-year the wind is more steddy and gentle, and the weather clearer, than in the latter six months: and the wind is more strong and steddy in the Arabian sea than in the Gulf of Bengal.

12th. Between the island of Madagascar and the coast of Africa, and thence northward as far as the equator, there is a tract, wherein from April to October there is a constant fresh S. S. W. wind; which to the northward changes into the W. S. W. wind, blowing at times in the Arabian sea.

13th. To the eastward of Sumatra and Malacca on the north of the equator, and along the coasts of Cambodia and China, quite through the Philippines as far as Japan, the Monsoons blow northerly and southerly; the northern one setting in about October or November, and the southern about May. The winds are not quite so certain as those in the Arabian seas.

14th. Between Sumatra and Java to the west, and New Guinea to the east, the same northerly and southerly winds are observed; but the first half year Monsoon inclines to the N. W. and the latter to the S. E. These winds begin a month or six weeks after those in the Chinese seas set in, and are quite as variable.

15th. These contrary winds do not shift from one point to its opposite all at once; and in some places the time of the change is attended with calms, in others by variable winds: and it often happens on the shores of Coromandel and China, towards the end of the Monsoons, that there are most violent storms, greatly resembling the hurricanes in the West Indies; wherein the wind is so excessively strong, that hardly any thing can resist its force.

All navigation in the Indian ocean must necessarily be regulated by these winds; for if mariners should delay their voyages till the contrary Monsoon begins, they must either sail back, or go into harbour, and wait for the return of the trade-wind.

The relative force of the wind upon a ship’s sails, and the epithets by which it is distinguished, as fair, large, &c. according to the angle which it makes with her course, are explained in the article SAILING.

Reigning WIND. See REIGNING WIND.

To WIND a ship or boat, is to change her position, by bringing the stern to lie in the situation of the head; or directly opposite to its former situation.

To WINDWARD, towards that part of the horizon from whence the wind bloweth.

WINDAGE, the difference between the diameter of a piece of artillery, and the diameter of the shot or shell corresponding thereto. See CANNON and MORTAR.

WINDING a Call, the act of blowing or piping upon a boatswain’s whistle, so as to communicate the necessary orders of hoisting, heaving, belaying, slackening, &c. See the article CALL.

WINDING-TACKLE, a name usually given to a tackle formed of three fixed and two or three moveable sheaves. It is principally employed to hoist up any weighty materials into or out of a ship, in the exercises of lading and delivering. See TACKLE.

WINDLASS, vindas, a machine used in merchant-ships to heave up the anchors from the bottom, &c.

The windlass is a large cylindrical piece of timber, fig. 15. plate XII. formed on the principles of the axis in peritrochio. It is supported at the two ends by two frames of wood, a, b, placed on the opposite sides of the deck near the fore-mast, called knight-heads, and is turned about in this position as upon an axis, by levers called handspecs, which are for this purpose thrust into holes bored through the body of the machine. See the article HEAVING.

The lower part of the windlass is usually about a foot above the deck. It is, like the capstern, furnished with strong pauls, c, d, to prevent it from turning backwards by the effort of the cable, when charged with the weight of the anchor, or strained by the violent jerking of the ship in a tempestuous sea. The pauls, which are formed of wood or iron, fall into notches, cut in the surface of the windlass, and lined with plates of iron. Each of the pauls being accordingly hung over a particular part of the windlass, falls eight times into the notches at every revolution of the machine, because there are eight notches placed on its circumference under the pauls. So if the windlass is twenty inches in diameter, and purchases five feet of the cable at every revolution, it will be prevented from turning back, or losing any part thereof, at every seven inches nearly, which is heaved in upon its surface.

As this machine is heaved about in a vertical direction, it is evident that the effort of an equal number of men acting upon it will be much more powerful than on the capstern; because their whole weight and strength are applied more readily to the end of the lever employed to turn it about. Whereas, in the horizontal movement of the capstern, the exertion of their force is considerably diminished. It requires, however, some dexterity and address to manage the handspec to the greatest advantage; and to perform this the sailors must all rise at once upon the windlass, and, fixing their bars therein, give a sudden jerk at the same instant, in which movement they are regulated by a sort of song or howl pronounced by one of their number.

The most dextrous managers of the handspec in heaving at the windlass are generally supposed the colliers of Northumberland: and of all European mariners, the Dutch are certainly the most aukward and sluggish in this manœuvre.

WINDSAIL, a sort of wide tube or funnel of canvas, employed to convey a stream of fresh air downward into the lower apartments of a ship.

This machine is usually extended by large hoops situated in different parts of its height. It is let down perpendicularly through the hatches, being expanded at the lower end like the base of a cone; and having its upper part open on the side which is placed to windward, so as to receive the full current of the wind; which, entering the cavity, fills the tube, and rushes downwards into the lower regions of the ship. There are generally three or four of these in our capital ships of war, which, together with the ventilators, contribute greatly to preserve the health of the crew.

WINGS, a name given to those parts of a ship’s hold which are nearest to the sides, or farthest removed from the middle of her breadth.

This term is particularly used in the stowage of the several materials contained in the hold; as, Stow the large casks amidships, and the smaller barrels in the wings. See TRIM and STOWAGE.

WINGS are also the skirts or extremities of a fleet when it is ranged into a line a-breast, or when bearing away upon two sides of an angle. Thus the ships a, b. fig. 10. & 11. plate V. are in the wings of their fleet or squadron.

It is usual to extend the wings of a fleet in the day-time, in order to discover any enemy which may fall into their track. To prevent separation, however, they are commonly summoned to draw nearer to the center of the squadron before night, by a signal from the commander in chief, which is afterwards repeated by ships in the intervals.

WOOLDING, surlier, (woelen, Dut.) the act of winding a piece of rope about a mast or yard, to support it in a place where it may have been fished or scarfed; or when it is composed of several pieces united into one solid. See MAST.

WOOLDING is also the rope employed in this service. Those which are fixed on the lower masts, are represented in a, fig. 1, 2, & 3. plate VI.

TO WORK, manœuvrer, to direct the movements of a ship, by adapting the sails to the force and direction of the wind.

A ship is also said to work, when she strains and labours heavily in a tempestuous sea, so as to loosen her joints or timbers. See PITCHING and ROLLING.

WORKING to windward, the operation by which a ship endeavours to make a progress against the wind. See BEATING, PLYING, TURNING, and TACKING.

WORMING, emieller, the act of winding a rope spirally about a cable, so as to lie close along the interval between every two strands. It is generally designed to support and strengthen the cable, that it may be enabled to sustain a greater effort when the ship rides at anchor; and also to preserve the surface of the cable, where it lies flat upon the ground, near the station of the anchor: particularly in moderate weather.

WRECK, the ruins of a ship which has been stranded or dashed to pieces on a shelf, rock, or lee-shore, by tempestuous weather.

Conclusion of the article PUMP.

As we wish to pay all possible attention in this work to every improvement in the marine, we have exhibited in plate VIII. a section of this machine at large, as fixed in a frigate of war, fig. 2. wherein A is the keel, and V the floor timbers, and X the kelson, a a a the several links of the chain, b b the valves, C the upper wheels, D the lower wheels, c c the cavities upon the surface of the wheels to receive the valves as they pass round thereon, d d the bolts fixed across the surface of the wheels, to fall in the interval between every two links, to prevent the chain from sliding back.

The links of the chain, which are no other than two long plates of iron with a hole at each end, and fixed together by two bolts serving as axles, are represented on a larger scale as a a. The valves are two circular plates of iron with a piece of leather between them: these are also exhibited at large by b b.

Upon a trial of this machine with the old chain-pump aboard the seaford frigate, it appears, in a report signed by rear admiral Sir John Moore, 12 captains, and 11 lieutenants of his majesty’s navy, that its effects, when compared with the latter, were as follow.

┌───────────────────────┬───────────────────────┐ │ New Pump. │ Old Pump. │ ├───────┬───────┬───────┼───────┬───────┬───────┤ │Number │Tuns of│Seconds│Number │Tuns of│Seconds│ │of Men.│Water. │ of │of Men.│Water. │ of │ │ │ │ Time. │ │ │ Time. │ ├───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤ │ 4 │ 1 │ 43½ │ 7 │ 1 │ 76 │ │ 2 │ 1 │ 55 │ 4 │ 1 │ 81 │ └───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘

The subscribers further certify, that the chain of the new pump was dropped into the well, and afterwards taken up and repaired and set at work again in two minutes and a half; and that they have seen the lower wheel of the said pump taken up to show how readily it might be cleared and refitted for action, after being choaked with sand or gravel; which they are of opinion may be performed in four or five minutes.

X.

XEBEC, a small three-masted vessel, navigated in the Mediterranean sea, and on the coasts of Spain, Portugal, and Barbary. See fig. 8. plate XII.

The sails of the xebec are in general similar to those of the polacre, but the hull is extremely different from that and almost every other vessel. It is furnished with a strong prow, and the extremity of the stern, which is nothing more than a sort of railed platform or gallery, projects farther behind the counter and buttock than that of any European ship.

Being generally equipped as a corsair, the xebec is constructed with a narrow floor, to be more swift in pursuit of the enemy; and of a great breadth, to enable her to carry a great force of sail for this purpose, without danger of overturning. As these vessels are usually very low-built, their decks are formed with a great convexity from the middle of their breadth towards the sides, in order to carry off the water, which falls aboard, more readily by their scuppers. But as this extreme convexity would render it very difficult to walk thereon at sea, particularly when the vessel rocks by the agitation of the waves, there is a platform of grating extending along the deck from the sides of the vessel towards the middle, whereon the crew may walk dry-footed, whilst the water is conveyed through the grating to the scuppers.

When a xebec is equipped for war, she is occasionally navigated in three different methods, according to the force or direction of the wind.

Thus, when the wind is fair, and nearly astern, it is usual to extend square sails upon the main-mast; and indeed frequently on the fore-mast: and as those sails are rarely used in a scant wind, they are of an extraordinary breadth.

When the wind is unfavourable to the course, and yet continues moderate, the square yards and sails are removed from the masts, and laid by, in order to make way for the large lateen yards and sails, which soon after assume their place: but if the foul wind increases to a storm, these latter are also lowered down and displaced; and small lateen yards with proportional sails are extended on all the masts.

The xebecs, which are generally armed as vessels of war by the Algerines, mount from sixteen to twenty-four cannon, and carry from 300 to 450 men, two thirds of whom are generally soldiers.

By the very complicated and inconvenient method of working these vessels, it will be readily believed, what one of their captains of Algiers acquainted the author, viz. That the crew of every xebec has at least the labour of three square-rigged ships, wherein the standing sails are calculated to answer every situation of the wind.

Y.

YACHT, a vessel of state, usually employed to convey princes, ambassadors, or other great personages from one kingdom to another.

As the principal design of a yacht is to accommodate the passengers, it is usually fitted with a variety of convenient apartments, with suitable furniture, according to the quality or number of the persons contained therein.

The royal yachts are commonly rigged as ketches, except the principal one reserved for the sovereign, which is equipped with three masts like a ship. They are in general elegantly furnished, and richly ornamented with sculpture; and always commanded by captains in his majesty’s navy.

Besides these, there are many other yachts of a smaller kind, employed by the commissioners of the excise, navy, and customs; or used as pleasure-boats by private gentlemen.

YARD, vergue, a long piece of timber suspended upon the masts of a ship, to extend the sails to the wind. See MAST and SAIL.

All yards are either square or lateen; the former of which are suspended across the mast at right angles, and the latter obliquely.

The square-yards, fig. 1. plate IX. are nearly of a cylindrical surface. They taper from the middle, which is called the slings, towards the extremities which are termed the yard-arms; and the distance between the slings and the yard-arms on each side, is, by the artificers, divided into quarters, which are distinguished into the first, second, third quarters, and yard-arms. The middle quarters are formed into eight squares, and each of the end parts is figured like the frustrum of a cone. All the yards of a ship are square except that of the mizen.

The proportions for the length of yards, according to the different classes of ships in the British navy, are as follows:

│ │ │ Guns. │ │main yard expressed by │ │ │ d, fig. 1. plate IX. │ 1000 : gun-deck :: │560 :│ Note, the figure │100 │ │ represents the yards │ │ │ and sails of a ship of │ │ │ 74 guns. │ │559 :│ │90 80 │570 :│ │70 │576 :│ │60 │575 :│ │50 │561 :│ │44

1000 : main-yard :: │880 :│ fore-yard │100 90 80 │874 :│ │all the rest.

To apply this rule to practice, suppose the gun-deck 144 feet. The proportion for this length is as 1000 is to 575, so is 144 to 83; which will be the length of the main-yard in feet, and so of all the rest.

1000 : main-yard :: │820 :│ mizen-yard │100 90 80 60 │ │ │ 44 │847 :│ │70 │840 :│ │24

1000 : main-yard :: │726 :│main topsail-yard e, │24 │ │ fig. 1. plate IX │ │720 :│ │all the rest.

1000 : fore-yard :: │719 :│fore topsail-yard │70 │726 :│ │24 │715 :│ │all the rest.

1000 : main topsail-y^d.│690 :│main top-gall. yard │all the :: │ │ │ rates.

1000 : fore topsail-y^d. │696 :│fore top-gall. yard f, │70 :: │ │ fig. 1. plate IX. │ │690 :│ │all the rest.

1000 : fore topsail-y^d. │768 :│mizen topsail-yard │70 :: │ │ │ │750 :│ │all the rest.

Cross-jack and sprit-sail yards equal to the fore topsail yard.

Sprit topsail yard equal to the fore top-gallant-yard.

The diameters of yards are in the following proportions to their length.

The main and fore yard five sevenths of an inch to a yard. The topsail, cross-jack, and sprit-sail yards, nine fourteenths of an inch to one yard. The top-gallant, mizen topsail, and sprit-sail topsail yards eight thirteenths of an inch to one yard.

The mizen yard five ninths of an inch to one yard.

All studding-sail booms and yards half an inch to one yard in length.

The lifts of the main-yard are exhibited in the above figure, by g; the horses and their stirrups, by h, i; the reef-tackles and their pendants, by k, l; and the braces and brace-pendants, by m, n.

The lateen-yards evidently derive their names from having been peculiar to the ancient Romans. They are usually composed of several pieces fastened together by wooldings, which also serve as steps whereby the sailors climb to the peek, or upper extremity, in order to furl or cast loose the sail.

The mizen-yard of a ship, and the main-yard of a bilander, are hung obliquely on the mast, almost in the same manner as the lateen-yard of a xebec, settee, or polacre. See those articles.

To brace the YARDS, brasser, is to traverse them about the masts, so as to form greater or lesser angles with the ship’s length. See BRACE.

To square the YARDS. See LIFT and SQUARE.

Dock-YARD. See the article DOCK-YARD.

YAW, a name given by seamen to the movement by which a ship deviates from the line of her course towards the right or left in steering.

YAWL, a small ship’s boat, usually rowed by four or six oars. See BOAT.

YEOMAN, an officer under the boatswain or gunner of a ship of war, usually charged with the stowage, account, and distribution of their respective stores.

YOKE, a name formerly given to the tiller, when communicating with two blocks or sheaves affixed to the inner end of the tiller. It is now applied to a small board or bar which crosses the upper end of a boat’s rudder at right angles, and having two small cords extending from its opposite extremities to the stern-sheets of the boat, whereby she is steered as with a tiller.

THE END.

-----

Footnote 1:

In regno Saracenorum quatuor prætores statuit, qui admiralii vocabantur. SIGEBERT.

Footnote 2:

Mr. Bigot de Morogues says from 4000 to 4500, and Mr. Hauksbee 5000.

Footnote 3:

“The change proposed here, of reducing the quantity of powder in all ship guns to one-third of the weight of the bullet, has for some time past been practised by the French in a much severer service, where the encreasing the velocity of the bullet could not at any time diminish its effect; the service I mean is battering in breach. For I learn, that of late years all their breaches, in the different sieges they have undertaken, have been made with this very charge, that is, their twenty four-pounders have been loaded with eight pounds of powder, and they have found, that though the penetration of the bullet is less with this charge than with a larger one, yet the other conveniences attending this smaller charge, are more than, sufficient to balance that particular.

“And here I must observe, that there have not been wanting persons of considerable name, who have asserted that the velocity of a twenty-four pound bullet was really greater with eight pounds of powder than with any large quantity, founding their opinion on the ridiculous persuasion, that whatever quantity was put in, no more than eight pounds of it took fire; but this supposition is destroyed by their own experiments, and their own reasonings and later experiments, with greater attention, put it beyond all doubt, that to the larger charge (at least as far as twenty pounds of powder) there corresponds a greater velocity.

Footnote 4:

It is necessary to observe in this place, that Mr. Muller, whose opinion herein has been confirmed by various experiments, has, with little variation, adopted the sentiments of the above proposal, and strongly recommended them as a scheme of public utility.

Footnote 5:

——Yon tall anchoring bark Diminish’d to her cock; her cock a buoy, &c. SHAKESPEARE.

Footnote 6:

The wires of which the needle has hitherto been generally composed, were only hardened at their ends; now if those ends are not equally hard, or if one end be hardened up higher than the other, when they come to be put together, in fixing them to the card, that end which is hardest will destroy much of the virtue of the other; by which means the hardest end will have the greatest power in directing the card, and consequently make it vary towards its own direction; and, as the wires are disposed in the form of a lozenge, these cards can have but little force; so that they will often, when drawn aside, stand at the distance of several degrees on either side the point from whence they are drawn; for all magnetical bodies receive an additional strength by being placed in the direction of the earth’s magnetism, and act proportionably less vigorously when turned out of it. Therefore when these kind of needles are drawn aside from their true point, two of the parallel sides of the lozenge will conspire more directly than before with the earth’s magnetism, and the other two will be less in that direction: by this means the two former sides will very much impede its return, and the two latter will have that impediment to overcome, as well as the friction, by their own force alone.

Footnote 7:

It is necessary to observe here, that the principal, and indeed the only circumstance in which Knight’s compasses are superior to those which have hitherto obtained, is, that their needles being tempered much higher than usual, are thereby enabled to contain a much greater quantity of the magnetical stream, which is certainly a real advantage. But, on the other hand, experience sufficiently proves, and truth obliges us to remark, that the methods he has taken to ballance the card with more accuracy than had been formerly attempted, have rendered it by far too delicate to encounter the shocks of a tempestuous sea.

Footnote 8:

“At Java, in the streights of Sunda, when the monsoons blow from the west, viz. in the month of May, the currents set to the eastward, contrary to the general motion.

“Also between the island of Celebes and Madura, when the western monsoons set, viz. in December, January, and February, or when the winds blow from the N W. or between the north and west, the currents set to the S E. or between the south and east.

“At Ceylon, from the middle of March to October, the currents set to the southward, and in the other parts of the year to the northward; because at this time the southern monsoons blow, and at the other, the northern.

“Between Cochin-China and Malacca, when the western monsoons blow, viz. from April to August, the currents set eastward against the general motion, but the rest of the year set westward; the monsoon conspiring with the general motion. They run so wrongly in these seas, that unexperienced sailors mistake them for waves that beat upon the rocks known by the name of breakers.

“So for some months after the fifteenth of February the currents set from the Maldivies towards India on the east, against the general motion of the sea.

“On the shore of China and Cambodia, in the months of October, November, and December, the currents set to the N W. and from January to the S W. when they run with such a rapidity of motion about the shoals of Parcel, that it seems swifter than that of an arrow.

“At Pulo Condore, upon the coast of Cambodia, though the monsoons are shifting, yet the currents set strongly towards the east, even when they blow to a contrary point.

“Along the coasts of the bay of Bengal, as far as the cape Romania, at the extreme point of Malacca the current runs southward in November and December.

“When the monsoons blow from China to Malacca, the sea runs swiftly from Pulo Cambi to Pulo Condore, on the coast of Cambodia.

“In the bay of Sans Bras, not far from the Cape of Good Hope, there is a current particularly remarkable, where the sea runs from east to west to the landward; and this more vehemently as it becomes opposed by the winds from a contrary direction. The cause is undoubtedly owing to some adjacent shore, which is higher than this.” Varenius.

These currents constantly follow the winds, and set to the same point with the monsoon, or trade-wind, at sea. See MONSOON.

Footnote 9:

Lucan.

Footnote 10:

Vegetius.

Footnote 11:

A ponderous mace, with studs of iron crown’d, Full twenty cubits long he swings around. POPE.

Footnote 12:

See the note on the following page.

Footnote 13:

Potter’s Archaeologia Graeca. De Morogues Tactique Navale.

Footnote 14:

_Ut primum rostris crepuerunt obvia rostra, In puppim rediere rates, emissaque tela Aera texerant, vacuumque cadentia pontum._ LUCAN.

Which we may thus translate:

The beaks encounter with a thundering sound, Then reeling, from the mutual shock rebound. The javelins fly! an iron tempest sweeps The darken’d air, and covers all the deeps!

Footnote 15:

_Seque tenent remis toto stetit æquore bellum. Jam non excussis torquentur tela lacertis Nec longinqua cadunt jaculato vulnera ferro; Miscenturque manus, navali plurima bello; Ensis agit; stat quisque suæ de robore puppis Pronus in adversos ictus._—— LUCAN.

Thus translated by ROWE.

——Others by the tangling oars are held. The seas are hid beneath the closing war, Nor need they cast the javelins now from far; With hardy strokes the combatants engage, And with keen faulchions deal their deadly rage: Man against man, and board by board, they lie.

“The famous machine called the Corvus, was framed after the following manner: They erected on the prow of their vessels a round piece of timber, of about a foot and a half diameter, and about twelve foot long; on the top whereof they had a block or pulley. Round this piece of timber, they laid a stage or platform of boards, four foot broad, and about eighteen foot long, which was well framed, and fastened with iron. The entrance was long-ways, and it moved about the aforesaid upright piece of timber, as on a spindle, and could be hoisted up within six foot of the top: about this was a sort of a parapet, knee high, which was defended with upright bars of iron, sharpened at the end; towards the top whereof there was a ring: through this ring, fastening a rope, by the help of the pulley, they hoisted or lowered the engine at pleasure; and so with it attacked the enemy’s vessels, sometimes on their bow, and sometimes on their broad-side, as occasion best served. When they had grappled the enemy with those iron spikes, if they happen’d to swing broad-side to broad-side, then they entered from all parts; but in case they attacked them on the bow, they entered two and two by the help of this machine, the foremost defending the fore-part, and those that followed the flanks, keeping the boss of their bucklers level with the top of the parapet.

“To this purpose Polybius gives us an account of the first warlike preparations which the Romans made by sea. We may add, in short, the order, which they observed in drawing up their fleet for battle, taken from the same author. The two consuls were in the two admiral galleys, in the front of their two distinct squadrons, each of them just a-head of their own divisions, and a-breast of each other; the first fleet being posted on the right, the second on the left, making two long files or lines of battle. And, whereas it was necessary to give a due space between each galley, to ply their oars, and keep clear one of another, and to have their heads or prows looking somewhat outwards; this manner of drawing up did therefore naturally form an angle, the point whereof was at the two admiral galleys, which were near together; and as their two lines were prolonged, so the distance grew consequently wider and wider towards the rear. But, because the naval as well as the land army consisted of four legions, and accordingly the ships made four divisions; two of these were yet behind: Of which the third fleet, or the third legion, was drawn up front-ways in the rear of the first and second, and so stretching along from point to point composed a triangle, whereof the third line was the base. Their vessels of burden, that carried their horses and baggage, were in the rear of these; and were, by the help of small boats provided for that purpose, towed or drawn after them. In the rear of all, was the fourth fleet, called the Triarians, drawn up likewise in rank or front-ways, parallel to the third: but these made a longer line, by which means the extremities stretched out, and extended beyond the two angles at the base. The several divisions of the army, being thus disposed, formed, as is said, a triangle; the area within was void, but the base was thick and solid, and the whole body quick, active, and very difficult to be broken.” Kennett Antiq. Rome.

Footnote 16:

De Morogues Tact. Navale.

Footnote 17:

“The use of powder was not established in battle, till the long wars of Francis I. and Charles V. From its invention to this period, both the machines in use before that discovery, and those which that discovery introduced, were used in war at the same time; and even some time after this period, both sorts of machines were continued in use.” Le Blond’s Elements of War.

Footnote 18:

De Morogues Tact. Navale.

Footnote 19:

“The carabine is a sort of musketoon, the barrel of which is riffled spirally from the breech, so that when the ball, which is forced into it, is again driven out by the strength of the powder, it is lengthened about the breadth of a finger, and marked with the riffle of the bore. This piece has an iron rammer.

“The barrel of the carabine is three foot long, including the stock. It has a much greater range than the fusil or musket, because the riffle of the barrel impedes the ball, which thereby makes the greater resistance at the first inflammation of the powder, and, giving time for the whole charge to take fire before it goes out of the bore, it is at length thrown out with greater force than from the common musket.” Le Blond’s Elements of War.

The coehorn is a sort of small mortar, fixed on a swivel, and particularly used to discharge grenadoes, or cast bullets from close quarters in merchant vessels when boarded.

The fire-arrow, dard à feu, is a small iron dart furnished with springs and bars, together with a match, impregnated with powder and sulphur, which is wound about its shaft. It is intended to fire the sails of the enemy, and is for this purpose discharged from a musketoon or swivel-gun. The match being kindled by the explosion, communicates the flame to the sail against which it is directed, where the arrow is fastened by means of its bars and springs. As this is peculiar to hot climates, particularly the West-Indies, the sails being extremely dry, are instantly inflamed, and of course convey the fire to the masts and rigging, and finally to the vessel itself.

The powder-flask and stink pot are described in the article BOARDING: and the organ is no other than a machine consisting of six or seven musket barrels fixed upon one stock, so as to be fired all at once.

Footnote 20:

M. De Morogues.

Footnote 21:

The Gauls, says Vegetius, had the advantage of the Romans in their numbers: The Germans have their stature; the Spaniards their strength and numbers united; the Africans their artifice and opulence; the Greeks their policy and prudence; but the Romans have triumphed over all by their discipline.

Footnote 22:

M. De Morogues.

Footnote 23:

As a number of technical terms are introduced in these instructions, the land-reader who wishes to understand the subject, should refer to the several articles, all of which are inserted in this work.

Footnote 24:

The iron chambers are ten inches long, and 3.5 in diameter. They are breeched against a piece of wood fixed across the ports, and let into another a little higher. When loaded, they are almost filled with corn-powder, and have a wooden tompion well driven into their muzzles. They are primed with a small piece of quick-match thrust through their vents into the powder, with a part of it hanging out. When the ports are blown open by means of the iron chambers, the port-lids either fall downward, or are carried away by the explosion.

Footnote 25:

The fire-barrels ought to be of a cylindrical form, as most suitable to contain the reeds with which they are filled, and more convenient for stowing them between the troughs in the fire-room. Their inside diameters should not be less than twenty-one inches, and thirty inches is sufficient for their length. The bottom parts are first well stored with short double dipped reeds placed upright; and the remaining vacancy is filled with fire-barrel composition, well mixed and melted, and then poured over them. The composition used for this purpose is a mass of sulphur, pitch, tar, and tallow.

There are five holes of ¾ inch in diameter, and three inches deep, formed in the top of the composition while it is yet warm; one being in the center, and the other four at equal distances round the sides of the barrel. When the composition is cold and hard, the barrel is primed by filling those holes with fuse-composition, which is firmly driven into them, so as to leave a little vacancy at the top to admit a strand of quick match twice doubled. The center hole contains two strands at their whole length, and every strand must be driven home with mealed powder. The loose ends of the quick-match being then laid within the barrel, the whole is covered with a dipped curtain, fastened on with a hoop that slips over the head of the barrel, to which it is nailed.

The barrels should be made very strong, not only to support the weight of the composition before firing, when they are moved or carried from place to place, but to keep them together whilst burning: for if the staves are too light and thin, so as to burn very soon, the remaining composition will tumble out and be dissipated, and the intention of the barrels, to carry the flame aloft, will accordingly be frustrated.

The curtain is a piece of coarse canvas, nearly a yard in breadth and length, thickened with melted composition, and covered with saw-dust on both sides.

Footnote 26:

The reeds are made up in small bundles of about a foot in circumference, cut even at both ends, and tied together in two places. They are distinguished into two kinds, viz. the long and short; the former of which are four feet, and the latter two feet five inches in length. One part of them are singly dipped, i. e. at one end; the rest are dipped at both ends in a kettle of melted composition. After being immersed about seven or eight inches in this preparation, and then drained, they are sprinkled over with pulverised sulphur upon a tanned hide.

Footnote 27:

The bavins are made of birch, heath, or other brush-wood, which is tough and readily kindled. They are usually two or three feet in length, and have all their bush-ends lying one way, the other ends being tied together with small cords. They are dipped in composition at the bush-ends, whose branches are afterwards confined by the hand, to prevent them from breaking off by moving about; and also to make them burn more fiercely. After being dipped, in the same manner as the reeds, they also are sprinkled with sulphur.

Footnote 28:

Quick match is formed of three cotton strands drawn into length, and dipped in a boiling composition of white-wine vinegar, salt-petre, and mealed powder. After this immersion it is taken out hot, and laid in a trough where some mealed powder, moistened with spirits of wine, is thoroughly incorporated into the twists of the cotton, by rolling it about therein. Thus prepared they are taken out separately, and drawn through mealed powder, then hung upon a line till dried, by which they are fit for immediate service.

Footnote 29:

Port-fires are frequently used by the artillery people in preference to matches, to set fire to the powder or compositions. They are distinguished into wet and dry port-fires. The composition of the former is salt-petre four, sulphur one, and mealed powder four. When these materials are thoroughly mixed and sifted, the whole is to be moistened with a little linseed oil, and rubbed between the hands till all the oil is imbibed by the composition. The preparation for dry port fires is salt-petre four, sulphur one, mealed powder two, and antimony one. These compositions are driven into small paper cases, to be used whenever necessary.

Footnote 30:

De Morogues Tact. Navale,

Footnote 31:

Bourdé. Manœuvrier.

Footnote 32:

Bourdé. Manœuvrier.

Footnote 33:

Beugner, Traité de la Manœuvre de Vaisseaux. Bourdé. Manœuvrier.

Footnote 34:

Saverien Dict. Marine.

Footnote 35:

Aubin. Saverien.

Footnote 36:

The cut-water is called taille-mer by the French.

Footnote 37:

Milton alludes to this situation, in his second book of Paradise Lost: where,

“The pilot of some small night-founder’d skiff, “With fixed anchor—— “Moors by his side, under the lee.”——

Footnote 38:

De Morogues. Tactique Navale.

Footnote 39:

Muller’s Artillery.

Footnote 40:

Le Blond’s Elements of War.

Extract of a letter from the commanding-officer of the artillery at Gibraltar, May 10, 1756.

“Happening to mention, before the governor and commodore Edgecumbe, that, in case of Gibraltar being attacked by sea, howitzers would be of great service, as I did not imagine any ship’s side proof against a 10 inch shell, fired point-blank, or at a small elevation, with a full charge of powder; which being thought impossible by most present, it was agreed to try the experiment: accordingly a target, of about 6 feet square, of an equal strength and resistance with the strongest part of our largest men of war’s sides, was made, and was just 3 feet thick of solid fir-timber: we fired at it out of a sea-service 10 inch howitzer, at 150 yards distance, and with 10 lb. of powder.”

“The first shell just touched the top of the object, and lodged in the bank of sand behind it; the second grazed short three yards, and went through the lower corner of the object; but the third shell gave full satisfaction, going through the very centre of the object, and entering 5 feet into a solid bank of sand behind it.”

Footnote 41:

The regulations, with regard to pilots in the royal navy, are as follow: The commanders of the king’s ships, in order to give all reasonable encouragement to so useful a body of men as pilots, and to remove all their objections to his majesty’s service, are strictly charged to treat them with good usage, and in equal respect with warrant-officers.

“The purser of the ship is always to have a set of bedding provided on board for the pilots, and the captain is to order the boatswain to supply them with hammocs, and a convenient place to lie in, near their duty, and apart from the common men; which bedding and hammocs are to be returned when the pilots leave the ship.

“A pilot, when conducting one of his majesty’s ship’s in pilot-water, shall have the sole charge and command of the ship, and may give orders for steering; setting, trimming, or furling the sails; tacking the ship; or whatever concerns the navigation: and the captain is to take care that all the officers and crew obey his orders. But the captain is diligently to observe the conduct of the pilot, and if he judges him to behave so ill as to bring the ship into danger, he may remove him from the command and charge of the ship, and take such methods for her preservation as shall be judged necessary; remarking upon the log-book the exact hour and time when the pilot was removed from his office, and the reasons assigned for it.

“Captains of the king’s ships, employing pilots in foreign parts of his majesty’s dominions, shall, after performance of the service, give a certificate thereof to the pilot, which being produced to the proper naval-officer, he shall cause the same to be immediately paid; but if there be no naval-officer there, the captain of his majesty’s ship shall pay him, and send the proper vouchers, with his bill, to the navy-board, in order to be paid as bills of exchange.

“Captains of his majesty’s ships, employing foreign pilots, to carry the ships they command into, or out of foreign ports, shall pay them the rates due by the establishment or custom of the country, before they discharge them; whose receipts being duly vouched, and sent with a certificate of the service performed, to the navy-board, they shall cause them to be paid with the same exactness as they do bills of exchange.” Regulations and Instructions of the Sea-service, &c.

Footnote 42:

Hist. Denmark, by Saxo Grammaticus.

Footnote 43:

Saverien Dict. Marine.

Footnote 44:

The regulations with regard to prizes in the royal navy are as follow:

“I. When any ship or vessel is taken from the enemy, the hatches are to be immediately spiked up, and her lading and furniture secured from embezzlement, till sentence is passed upon her in some court of admiralty, empowered to take cognizance of causes of that nature.

“II. The captain is to cause the officers of the prize to be examined; three or more of the company, who can give best evidence, to be brought to the said court of admiralty, together with the charter-parties, bills of lading, and other ship’s papers found on board.

“V. When a privateer is taken, great care is to be had to secure all the ship’s papers, especially the commission; but if there be no legal commission found on board, then all the prisoners are to be carried before some magistrate, in order to their being examined and committed as pirates.”

N. B. The third and fourth articles relate to the finding any of the king’s subjects in the prizes; and appear unnecessary in this place.

Footnote 45:

Ricoche signifies duck and drake, a name given to the bounding of a flat stone thrown almost horizontally into the water.

Footnote 46:

Muller’s Artillery.

Footnote 47:

Le Blond’s Elements of War.

Footnote 48:

Belidor. Bigot de Morogues.

Footnote 49:

Weight, or gravity, always operates equally on a falling body; for as it always subsists in an equal degree, it must perpetually act with equal force, or produce always the same effect in the same time. So if, in the first instant of falling, it communicates to a body a certain force sufficient to move a certain space, it must, in every following instant, communicate a force capable of moving it the like space, and by this means the velocity of a falling body is every moment accelerated; for if it has one degree the first instant, it will have two the second, three the third, and so on. Hence it must move different spaces every instant, and by that means describe the curve-line above mentioned.

Footnote 50:

Le Blond’s Elements of War.

Footnote 51:

The same gentleman observes, that a ship of two decks, such as are generally all those of the third and fourth rates, cannot be so strongly connected as one that is furnished with three: a vessel pierced for 15 guns on one side of her deck must necessarily be very long, and is sometimes apt to droop at the two ends; or, in the sea-phrase, to break her back under the enormous weight of her artillery.

Footnote 52:

The reader, who wishes to be expert in this manœuvre, will find it copiously described by several ingenious French writers, particularly L’Hôte, Saverien, Morogues, Bourdé, and Ozane; who have given accurate instructions, deduced from experience, for putting it in practice when occasion requires. As it is not properly a term of the British marine, a more circumstantial account of it might be considered foreign to our plan. It has been observed in another part of this work[53], that the French have generally exhibited greater proofs of taste and judgment in the sculpture, with which their ships are decorated, than the English; the same candour and impartiality obliges us to confess their superior dexterity in this movement.

Footnote 53:

See the article HEAD.

Footnote 54:

Le Blond’s Elements of War.

Footnote 55:

Mr. Robertson, librarian of the Royal Society, favoured the author with an inspection of several curious remarks concerning the history of modern navigation; in which it appears, that the most early discoveries with regard to the magnetical variation were made about the year 1570. Mr. Robert Norman, from a variety of observations made by him nearly at that time, ascertains it to have been 11° 15´ easterly, or one point of the compass.

Footnote 56:

Euler. De la Lande.

Footnote 57:

I had often seen water-spouts at a distance, and heard many strange stories of them, but never knew any thing satisfactory of their nature or cause, until that which I saw at Antigua; which convinced me that a water-spout is a whirlwind, which becomes visible in all its dimensions by the water it carries up with it.

There appeared, not far from the mouth of the harbour of St. John’s, two or three water-spouts, one of which took its course up the harbour. Its progressive motion was slow and unequal, not in a strait line, but as it were by jerks or starts. When just by the wharf, I stood about 100 yards from it. There appeared in the water a circle of about twenty yards diameter, which to me had a dreadful though pleasing appearance. The water in this circle was violently agitated, being whisked about, and carried up into the air with great rapidity and noise, and reflected a lustre, as if the sun shined bright on that spot, which was more conspicuous, as there appeared a dark circle around it. When it made the shore, it carried up with the same violence shingles, staves, large pieces of the roofs of houses, &c. and one small wooden house it lifted entirely from the foundation on which it stood, and carried it to the distance of fourteen feet, where it settled without breaking or oversetting; and, what is remarkable, tho’ the whirlwind moved from west to east, the house moved from east to west. Two or three negroes and a white woman were killed by the fall of timber, which it carried up into the air, and dropt again. After passing through the town, I believe it was soon dissipated; for, except tearing a large limb from a tree, and part of the cover of a sugar-work near the town, I do not remember any farther damage done by it. I conclude, wishing you success in your enquiry, and am, &c.

W. M.

Footnote 58:

The swiftness of the wind in a great storm is not more than 50 or 60 miles in an hour; and a common brisk gale is about 15 miles an hour. Robertson’s Navigation.

SUPPLEMENT and ERRATA.

A.

In the article ABACK, line 19. for fig. 1. read fig. 14. and in line 22, read fig. 13.

After the ANCHOR is a cock bill, read à la veille.

AN-END, debout, the situation of any mast or boom, when erected perpendicularly on the plane of the deck, tops, &c. The top-masts are also said to be an-end when they are hoisted up to their usual station, at the head of the lower masts, as in fig. 3. plate VI.

In line 24. page 2. of Naval ARCHITECTURE, dele see the article Elevation, and line 21. under this in the same page, for plate V. fig. 4. read plate IV. fig. 11.

In the explanation of the pieces of the Hull, page 6. of Naval ARCHITECTURE, line 31. for sternpost, read dead-wood, and two lines lower, for sleepers, read knees.

In line 34. page 9. of the same article, for O K, read O k.

Top-ARMOUR. See the article TOP.

AVAST, the order to stop, or pause in any exercise.

In the article AWEIGH, after the words perpendicular direction, read as in fig. 6. plate 1.

B.

To BAGPIPE the Mizen, is to lay it aback, by bringing the sheet to the mizen shrouds.

BILL, the point or extremity of the fluke of an anchor.

BLOCK AND BLOCK, the situation of a tackle when the two opposite blocks are drawn close together, so that the mechanical power becomes destroyed, till the tackle is again over-hauled by drawing the blocks asunder.

In the 2d page of the article BOAT, line 13. from the bottom, for of framed iron, read framed of iron.

BOLD, an epithet applied to the sea coast, signifying steep, or abrupt, so as to admit the approach of shipping without exposing them to the danger of being run a-ground, or stranded.

For the articles BOLT and BOOM-IRON, see IRON-WORK, as corrected below.

BONNET, an additional part laced to the bottom of the main sail and fore sail of some small vessels, in moderate winds.

In the article BREAM, the last line except one, read or by docking.

In-BULK, see LADEN.

BUM-BOAT, a small boat used to sell vegetables, &c. to ships lying at a distance from the shore.

C.

In the article Can-BUOYS, for fig. 8. read fig. 6. and in Nun-BUOYS, for fig. 9. read fig. 7.

In Can-HOOKS, dele and 9.

In the 4th page of the article CANNON, line 22. for fig. 17. read fig. 10. and in the 5th page of the same article, line 11. read the figures 8. and 10.

Line 14. of CAPSTERN, for fig. 10. read fig. 11. and 12.

CAST-AWAY, the state of a ship which is lost or wrecked on a lee-shore, bank, or shallow.

COMING-TO. See the article TRYING.

COMPLEMENT, the limited number of men employed in any ship, either for navigation or battle.

CROWFOOT, line 3. for 27. read 28.

D.

DAVIT, line 2. for 28. read 29.

In the explanation of DECK, plate III. for L the deck-transom, read L the wing-transom, and nine lines lower, read Q the wing-transom-knee.

In DIVISION, line 7. after cannon, read each.

DOUBLE-BANKED, the situation of the oars of a boat when two opposite ones are managed by rowers seated on the same bench, or thwart. The oars are also said to be double-banked when two men row upon every single one.

DRAWING, the state of a sail when it is inflated by the wind, so as to advance the vessel in her course.

E.

In the 12th page of the article ENGAGEMENT, line 18. for have as many, read save as many.

F.

FIRE-SHIP, line 10. after bulk-head, for I, read L.

FLAW, a sudden breeze, or gust of wind.

FLUSH. See the article DECK.

G.

GAMMONING, line 4. for fig. 7. read fig. 6, 8, and 9.

GRIPE, the same with FORE-FOOT. See that article.

GUY, line 1. read to keep steddy.

H.

HAUSER, a large rope which holds the middle degree between the cable and tow-line, in any ship whereto it belongs, being a size smaller than the former, and as much larger than the latter.

In the 3d page of the article HEAD, line 26. after beams, read or; and six lines lower, read the head, and part, &c.

I.

In the article IRON-WORK, line 14. dele as in fig. 1. and 2. plate II. and two lines lower, for fig. 4. read fig. 1. plate II. and in the next line, for fig. 5, 6, and 39. read fig. 3, and 39. Seven lines below this, after barbs, read fig. 2. and in the 2d line from the bottom, for fig. 7. read fig. 5.

K.

To KEEP-OFF for alargeer, read alarguer.

In line 9. of the article KETCH, after war, read see fig. 5. plate VII.

L.

LANCH, the order to let go the top-rope, after any top mast is fidded.

LEDGES, certain small pieces of timber placed athwart-ships, under the decks of a ship, in the intervals between the beams, as exhibited in the representation of the deck, plate III.

LEDGE, is also a long ridge of rocks, near the surface of the sea.

Line 10. of the article LINE, for fig. 5. read fig. 6.

M.

MIDSHIPMAN, line 4. for all other, read several other.

In page 2d of the article MORTAR, line 9. after distance, read from the object, &c. and in page 3. of the same article, line 2. for fig. 14. plate VII. read fig. 5. and 20. plate VII. the former of which exhibits the transverse section of a bomb-vessel, with the mortar fixed in its place, at an elevation of forty-five degrees. See RANGE.

Q.

QUARTERING-WIND. See the article SAILING.

R.

RACK, rasteau, a frame of timber, containing several sheaves, and usually fixed on the opposite sides of a ship’s bow-sprit, to direct the sailors to the respective ropes passing through it, all of which are attached to the sails on the bowsprit.

In page 4. of the article RATE, line 14. for without, read to avoid.

After the article RIDING, read, a rope is said to ride, when one of the turns by which it is wound about the capstern or windlass lies over another, so as to interrupt the operation of heaving.

S.

SALLY-PORT. See the article FIRE-SHIP.

SCUD, a name given by seamen to the lowest and lightest clouds, which are most swiftly wafted along the atmosphere by the winds.

SHALLOP, a sort of large boat with two masts, and usually rigged like a schooner.

SHIVERING, the state of a sail when it shakes or flutters in the wind, as being neither full nor aback, but in a middle degree, between both, as well with regard to its absolute position, as to its relative effect on the vessel.

In line 9. of the article STERN, for fig. 1. read fig 3. and thirteen lines lower, after third transoms, dele with l, m, n, o, four intermediate transoms, and read the 4th, 5th, and 6th transoms are placed immediately under these: and that which lies between the wing and deck-transoms, is called the filling-transom.

T.

THICK-STUFF. See the articles Ship-BUILDING and MIDSHIP-FRAME.

In page 2. of the article TOP, line 19. for fig. 2. plate VI. read fig. 1. plate IX.

A TRANSLATION OF THE PHRASES AND TERMS OF ART IN THE FRENCH MARINE.

ERRATA.

In the Article

ALLER en course, read, in search of an enemy.

AMURÉ, r. larboard or starboard-tacks.

BARRES de panneaux, &c. r. under the covers of the hatchways.

CHEVILLE œillets, &c. r. CHEVILLE à œillets, &c.

CLEF des etains, for cheek, r. chock.

CORDE de retenue (art. 2d.) r. also the pendant, &c.

COUP de partance, r. as a signal, &c.

For DEPLOER, r. DEPLOIER.

FAIRE honneur, for a quelqu’ r. à quelqu’, &c.

FAIRE le petit, r. FAIRE la petit, &c.

FERS, r. de boute-dehors.

FILET, &c. for merlin, a marling, r. merlin, marline, &c.

For La lune à MANGÉ, r. la lune a MANGÉ, &c.

MARCHE-PIED, for draw their boats, r. drawboats, &c.

OLOFÉE, for spring, r. springing, &c.

PACFI, after PAFI, r. a course, as le grand &c.

PIECE de charpente, for pieces, r. piece.

POMPE, for Vénitienne, r. Vénetienne.

Longue RIME, for along stroke, r. a long stroke.

After SOU-BARBE, r. the bob-stay; also a bracket, &c.

SOULIE, for on shore, r. or shore.

TIERS point, for LATEEN, r. LATINE.

TREMUE, for comeings, r. coamings.

A

TRANSLATION

OF

FRENCH SEA TERMS and PHRASES.

A.

ABATÉE, or ABBATÉE, fallen off to a certain point; expressed of a ship when she lies by, with some of her sails aback.

ABATTRE, to bear away, to drive, to edge farther to leeward.

ABATTRE un vaisseau, to heave down or careen a ship.

_Le vaisseau s’_ABAT, the ship drives or falls to leeward. This phrase is more peculiar to the motion of a ship when her anchor is loosened from the ground.

ABORDAGE, the shock or concussion produced by two vessels striking each other in battle or otherwise; also the assault of boarding.

_Aller à l’_ABORDAGE, _sauter à l’_ABORDAGE, to board or enter an enemy’s ship in an hostile manner.

ABORDER, to fall or drive aboard a ship, by accident, or neglect of the steersman; spoken of two vessels when one or both are under sail, or otherwise in motion.

ABORDER un vaisseau de bout au corps, to lay a ship aboard by running the bowsprit over her waist.

ABOUGRI, or RABOUGRI, cross-grained, or knotty; a term applied by shipwrights to timber which is, by this quality, rendered unfit for ship-building.

ABOUT, the butt or end of any plank: also the place where the ends of two planks are joined on the ship’s side, &c.

ABRI, a place of anchorage under shelter of the weather-shore. Hence

ABRIÉ, becalmed, sheltered from the wind.

ACASTILLAGE, or rather ENCASTILLAGE, a general name for the quarter-deck, poop, and fore-castle. Hence accastillé answers to deep-waisted.

ACCLAMPER, to fortify a piece of wood by attaching another piece thereto; as the fishes which are fixed on the masts.

ACCON, a small flat-bottomed boat, for fishing of cockles.

ACCORD, the order to pull together on a rope or tackle; also to row together, or pull uniformly with the oars.

ACCORDS, or ACCORES, props or shoars fixed under a ship’s wales, to keep her upright, before she is launched, or when she is brought into dock, or laid aground.

ACCORD droit, an upright shoar or prop.

ACCORER, to prop or sustain any weighty body, as a ship on the ground.

ACCOSTE, come aboard, or come along-side; the order given to a small vessel or boat, to approach a ship.

ACCOSTER, or ACCOTER, to pull or thrust any thing near or close to some other, as the two blocks of a tackle, &c.

ACCOSTER les huniers ou les perroquets, to haul home the top-sail sheets, or top-gallant sheets.

ACCOTAR, the gunnel-plank of a ship. See PLAT-BORD.

ACCOURSIE, a passage formed in a ship’s hold, by a separation of her stores, cargo, or provisions, when she is laden, to go fore and aft, as occasion requires.

ACCROCHER, the act of boarding and grappling an enemy’s ship.

ACCUL, the depth of a bay, or small road,

ACCULEMENT, the concavity and figure of those timbers which are placed upon the keel, towards the extremities of a ship.

ACROTERE, a cape, head-land, or promontory.

ACTE de delai, an act by which a debtor loses all his effects by shipwreck.

ADIEU-VA, an expression of command, used by the master or pilot, to bid the ship’s crew prepare for tacking, or veering, when the course is to be changed.

ADDONER, to scant, or veer forward; expressed of the wind when it becomes unfavourable.

AFFALE, the order to lower or let down any thing.

AFFALÉ, to be embayed, or forced, by the violence of the wind, or current, near to a lee shore.

AFFALER, to lower any thing by a tackle, as a yard, sail, cask, &c.

AFFINE, it clears away, or becomes fair: understood of the weather, after having been cloudy or over-cast for some time.

AFFOLÉE, erroneous or defective; spoken of a magnetical needle which has lost its virtue.

AFFOURCHER, to moor, or let go a second anchor, so that a ship may ride between the two, which will bear an equal strain.

AFFRANCHIR, to free the ship, or clear her hold of water by the pumps.

AFFRÉTEMENT, the freight of a merchant-ship. Hence

AFFRETER, to freight.

AFFUT de mer, the carriage of a cannon used at sea.

AGITER, to swell, or run high; expressed of a turbulent sea.

AGRÉER, to rig a ship, or equip her with yards, sails, rigging, &c.

AGREILS, or AGRÈS. There is no sea-term in English which answers to this expression, in its full extent; unless we adopt the obsolete word Tackling, which is now entirely disused by our mariners. The French term comprehends the rigging, yards, sails, blocks, cables, and anchors; and is probably better translated, machinery or furniture.

AIDE major, an officer whose duty resembles that of our adjutant of marines.

AIDE de canonnier. See CANONNIER.

AIGU, sharp or narrow towards the two ends, afore and abaft.

AIGUADE, a watering-place for shipping; also the provision or quantity of fresh water necessary for a sea-voyage.

AIGUILLE, part of a ship’s cut-water. See EPERON. This term appears to be obsolete, as it is not once mentioned by M. Du Hamel, who is very minute in describing the several pieces of the cut-water.

AIGUILLE also implies a top-mast, or such like piece of timber employed to support a lower-mast, in the act of careening.

AIGUILLE de fanal, an iron crank or brace, used to sustain the poop-lanthern.

AIGUILLE aimantée, the magnetical needle.

AIGUILLES de tré or de trevier, sail-needles, bolt-rope-needles.

AIGUILLETES. See PORQUES.

AILURES. See ILLOIRES.

AIMANT, the magnet or loadstone.

AIR de vent, the point of the compass in which the wind fits.

AISEMENT, a place of convenience in the gallery or head of a ship.

AISSADE, that part of the poop where the ship’s breadth begins to diminish as it approaches the stern.

A LA BOULINE, close hauled. See ALLER à la bouline.

ALARGUER, to sheer off; to sail aloof from the shore or some contiguous object.

A L’AUTRE, an exclamation pronounced by the sailors of the watch, at the striking of the watch-bell, every half hour to signify to the pilot that they keep a good look-out. See LOOK-OUT AFORE.

ALIDADE, the index of a nocturnal or sea-quadrant. See OCTANT.

ALIZÉ, the reigning wind of a particular season or region.

ALLEGE, a lighter or pram.

ALLÉGER un vaisseau, to lighten a ship by taking out part of her lading.

Alléger le cable, to buoy up the cable by attaching barrels, or pieces of timber, to it lengthwise, to float it up from a rocky or foul ground: also to veer away the cable.

ALLER à la bouline, to sail close by the wind, or close hauled.

ALLER à grasse bouline, to sail with the wind upon the beam, or large.

ALLER à la derive, to try under bare poles, or to try a hull. See DÉRIVE.

ALLER au plus près du vent, to sail as near the wind as possible.

ALLER de bout au vent, to go head to wind, to sail right in the wind’s eye.

ALLER en course, to cruise against, or in search of, an enemy.

ALLER entre deux écoutes, to sail right afore the wind, or with both sheets aft.

ALLER vent largue, to sail large, or with a large wind.

ALLER terre à terre, to coast, or sail along shore.

ALLONGE, a futtock, or top-timber. See COUPLE and VARANGUE.

ALMADIE, a small African canoe, formed of the bark of a tree.

ALONGER un vaisseau, to lay a ship along-side of another.

ALONGER le cable, to haul up a range of the cable upon deck.

ALONGER la vergue de civadiere, to get the sprit-sail yard fore and aft under the bowsprit.

ALONGER la terre, to sail along shore.

AMARQUE, the beacon, or buoy, of a shoal, flat, or sand-bank.

AMARRAGE, the ground-tackling, or furniture for mooring a ship.

_Ligne d’_AMARRAGE, a seising or lashing.

AMARRE, the order to fasten or belay a rope.

AMARRE de bout, the head-fast, the head-cable, or hawser with its anchor.

AMARRER, to make fast, seise, or belay.

AMATELOTER, to mess together, to associate as comrades or mess-mates.

AME d’un gross cordage, the middle strand of a four stranded rope.

AMENER, to lower or strike. Hence AMENE, lower away, or strike.

AMENER une terre, to make the land, &c.

AMIRAL, Admiral. Hence

AMIRAUTÉ, the admiralty.

AMOLETTES or AMELOTES, the bar-holes of the capstern or windlass.

AMORCER, to prime a cannon or other fire-arm.

AMPOULETTE, the watch-glass, kept in the binacle.

AMURÉ à babord, or à stribord, to have the larboard tacks aboard.

AMURER, to haul aboard the main or fore-tack.

AMURER la grand voile, to bring aboard the main tack. Hence

AMURER tout bas implies to get the tacks close aboard, or down as close as possible.

AMURES. See DOGUE d’Amure.

AMURES d’une voile, the tacks of boom-sails and stay-sails.

ANCETTES, the bow-line cringles in the bolt-rope of a sail.

ANCRE, an anchor. Hence ANCRAGE, the duty of anchorage. See MOUILLAGE.

ANCRE à demeure, a large anchor sunk in a road or harbour, to warp ships in and out, or ride them a short time.

ANCRE à la veille, an anchor which is ready to be sunk from the ship.

ANCRE de flot, & ANCRE de jussant, the flood-anchor and ebb-anchor.

ANCRE de terre, the shore-anchor, or that which lies towards the shore.

ANCRE du large, the sea-anchor, or that which lies towards the offing.

_L’_ANCRE a quitté, _l’_ANCRE est dérangée, the anchor is a-trip, or a-weigh.

_L’_ANCRE est au bossoir, the anchor is at the cat-head.

_A l’_ANCRE, see VAISSEAU à l’ancre. _Bosser l’_ANCRE, see BOSSER. _Caponner l’_ANCRE, see CAPON.

_Faire venir l’_ANCRE à pic, or à pique, virer à pic, to heave a-peek upon the anchor.

_Gouverner sur l’_ANCRE, to sheer the ship to her anchor, when heaving a-head.

_Lever l’_ANCRE, to heave up the anchor, to weigh.

Chasser sur les ANCRES, to drag the anchors, to drive at anchor.

Filer sur les ANCRES. See FILER.

Leve l’ANCRE avec la chaloupe, go and weigh the anchor with the long-boat.

_Leve l’_ANCRE d’affourché, the order to veer away one cable, and heave upon the other.

ANCRER, or Jetter l’ancre, Mouiller l’ancre, or simply Mouiller, Donner fond, Mettre, or Avoir le vaisseau sur le fer, Toucher, Laisser tomber l’ancre. All these terms are synonimous, and signify to bring up, to anchor, to come to anchor, or to let go the anchor.

ANGE, chain-shot.

ANGUILLERES, ANGUILLES, or ANGUILLÉES, Lumieres, Vitonnieres, synonimous terms, which signify the limber-holes.

ANNEAU pour attacher les vaisseaux, a mooring-ring on a wharf, buoy, &c.

ANNEAU de corde, a slipping-noose, a running bowline-knot.

ANNEAUX d’écoutilles, or boucles, ring-bolts of the deck, &c.

ANNEAUX d’étai, the hanks of a stay-sail. See DAILLOTS.

ANNEAUX de sabords, ring-bolts of the gun-ports.

ANORDIE, a northerly storm peculiar to the gulph of Mexico, and the adjacent coasts, at certain seasons of the year, called by the English Creoles, a North.

ANSE, a bight or small bay.

ANSPECT, a handspike or lever.

ANTENNE, a lateen sail-yard. See VERGUE.

ANTOIT, a crooked instrument of iron, used to bind the side-planks round the timbers in ship-building. English artificers perform this operation by wraining-bolts and staffs.

A PIC, a-peek, perpendicularly above the anchor, with a tight cable.

APIQUER une vergue, to top a sail-yard, or peek it up.

APLESTER, or APLESTRER, to unfurl and set the sails, ready for putting to sea.

APOSTIS, the row-locks of a galley.

APOTRES, the hawse-pieces of a ship.

APPARAUX, or APARAUX, the whole furniture of a ship, as the sails, yards, blocks, anchors, cables, helm, and artillery. This term is therefore more comprehensive than Agrès, and less so than Equippement, which, besides the above, includes the seamen, soldiers, and their provision.

APPARCELADO, a flat, equal and uniform bottom of the sea.

APPAREIL de carene, the careening-purchases; also the necessary implements and materials employed in careening.

APPAREIL de pompe, the pump-gear, as the boxes, brake, spear, &c.

APPAREILER, to make ready for sailing, to get under sail.

APPARTEMENT, a birth, cabin, or store room, in a ship.

APPOINTÉ, a mariner whose passage is paid by the state, and who is not obliged to work in the ship that carries him.

APPROCHER du vent. See ALLER à la bouline.

AQUE, or ACQUE, a sort of flat bottomed lighter employed on the Rhine.

ARAIGNÉES, the crow-feet of the tops.

ARAMBER, to close in with a ship and grapple her.

ARBALETE, a cross-staff or fore-staff.

ARBALETRIERE, a platform, or gangway, on which the soldiers stand to fire their musquetry in a row-galley.

ARBORER un mât, to step or set up a mast, to get the mast an end.

ARBORER un pavillon, to hoist and display a flag or ensign.

ARBRE, a mast, in the dialect of Provence. See MAT.

ARC, or ligne courbe de l’éperon, the curve of the prow or cutwater.

ARCANNE, a sort of red chalk used by shipwrights in France, to mark the timber in hewing or forming it.

ARCASSE, the stern of a ship; also the shell of a block.

ARCBOUTANT, a spar or small mast; more particularly, a boom to extend the bottom of a studding-sail, square-sail, or driver.

ARCBOUTANT d’échafaud, the prop or shoar of a scaffold used in ship-building.

ARCEAUX, a name formerly given to the rails of the head. See LISSE de poulaine.

ARCENAL de marine, a royal dock-yard, with its warren or gun-wharf.

ARCHE, a thin covering of lath or shingle, and sometimes of rope, which cases the ship’s pump like a sheath, to preserve and keep it tight.

ARCHIPOMPE, the pump-well.

ARCHITECTURE navale, the art of ship-building.

ARDENT, a corposant, or meteor, often seen at sea in a storm. See FEU St. Elme.

ARDENT, the quality of griping in the steerage, or carrying a weatherly helm.

ARER, or CHASSER, to chase. See CHASSER.

ARGANEAU, or ORGANEAU, a ring-bolt of the deck or sides of a ship.

ARGANEAU d’ancre, the anchor-ring.

ARGOUSIN, a petty officer in the gallies, whose duty it is to fix on, or take off the shackles of the slaves, and to prevent them from escaping. It answers nearly to the corporal of a ship of war. See PREVÔT.

ARISER les vergues, to strike the lower yards down upon the gunnel.

ARMADILLE, a small squadron of Spanish frigates of War, usually employed to guard the coast of New Spain, and prevent illicit trade.

ARMATEUR, a privateer or cruiser. See CORSAIRE.

Vaisseau ARMÉ en guerre, a merchant-vessel fitted for war, and furnished with a letter of marque to cruise against the enemy.

ARMÉE navale, a naval armament, a fleet of ships of war.

ARMEMENT, the equipment or fitting out of a ship of war, or merchantman, for a cruise, or voyage.

_Etat d’_ARMEMENT, a list of the officers intended to serve in a squadron of men of war.

ARMER les avirons, to ship the oars ready for rowing.

ARMER un vaisseau, to arm a ship for war, or equip her for a voyage.

ARMURIER, the armourer of a vessel of war.

ARONDELLES de mer, a general name for small vessels, as brigs, settees, tartans, &c.

ARQUÉ, broken-backed or hogged, drooping at the stem and stern.

ARRET de vaisseaux & fermetures de port, an embargo laid on shipping,

ARRIERE, abaft; the hind part of a ship.

Faire vent ARRIERE, to bring the wind aft, or astern.

ARRIERE-GARDE d’une armée navale, the rear-division of a fleet of vessels of war.

ARRIMAGE, the stowage or disposition of the cargo in the hold.

ARRIMER, to stow the hold, to trim the ship by her stowage. Whence

ARRIMEUR, a stower.

ARRISER, or AMENER. See AMENER.

ARRIVAGE, an arrival of merchandise in a port or haven.

ARRIVE, the order to put the helm a-weather, bear away, or edge farther to leeward.

ARRIVE tout, hard a-weather. The order to put the helm close to windward.

_N’_ARRIVE pas, don’t fall off; loft.

ARRIVÉE, the movement of veering or bearing away.

ARRIVER, to bear away before the wind. Hence

ARRIVER sur un vaisseau, to bear down on a ship.

ARRIVER beaucoup, to veer apace.

ARTILLÉ, or ARTILLIÉ, mounted with cannon: as, vaisseau ARTILLIÉ de trents pieces, a ship mounting thirty guns.

ARTIMON, the mizen-mast, also the mizen itself.

ASPECT, the looming or perspective view of the land from the sea.

ASSECHER, etre à sec, to appear dry, as a rock or shore when the tide of ebb has retreated from it.

ASSEMBLER, to unite the several pieces of a ship, as by rabbiting, scarfing, scoring, tenanting, &c.

ASSUJETTIR, to fix a piece of timber firmly in its place, in shipbuilding.

ASSURANCE, a contract or policy of insurance.

_Pavillon d’_ASSURANCE, a flag or signal of peace.

ASSURER, to insure a vessel against the dangers of the sea, &c.

ASTROLABE, a nocturnal.

A TRAIT & à rame, to go with sails and oars.

ATTEINDRE, to join a ship at sea, either by accident or pursuit.

ATTELIER de Construction, a shed or store-house to contain shipwrights tools; a loft or work-house near the dock; a wharf, or place for building sea-vessels.

ATTÉRAGE, a land-fall. Whence

ATTERIR, to make the land.

ATTERRISSEMENT, a mound or bank of earth thrown up near the margin of a river, by violent freshes or storms.

ATTOLONS, a cluster of keys or small islands, a chain of rocks.

ATTRAPE, the pendant or guy of the relieving tackle used in careening a ship. See CORDE de retenue.

AVAL. See AVAU l’eau.

AVANT, forward, afore, ahead.

_Etre de l’_AVANT, _se mettre de l’_AVANT, to be in the van of, or ahead in, a fleet.

_Le vaisseau est trop sur l’_AVANT, the vessel is too much by the head.

AVANTAGE, the head, with its cutwater or prow. See EPERON.

AVANTAGE du vent, to be to windward of some other ship.

AVANT-GARDE, the van of a fleet of vessels of war.

AVARIE, the damage or loss which a ship may have sustained, by accidents or bad weather, in her voyage; also the duty paid for anchoring in a port.

AVASTE, avast.

AVAU l’eau, to sail with the tide, to tide it up or down a river.

AUBALÉTRIERES, a sort of stanchions or pillars erected on the sides of a row-galley, to support the rails of the gang-way, and form the bed-place of a soldier.

AUBIER, the sap of timber.

AUBINET, or Saint AUBINET, no man’s land.

AUGE à goudron, a tar-bucket.

AVIRON, an oar. See RAME.

AVITAILLEMENT, or AVICTUAILLEMENT, the sea-victualling or provision of a ship.

AVITAILLEUR, or AVICTUAILLEUR, an agent-victualler, or contractor for supplying a ship with sea-provisions.

AU LOF, luff. The order from the pilot to steer nearer the wind. See OLOFÉE.

AUMONIER, the sea-chaplain.

AVOCAT Fiscal. See FISCAL.

AVOIER, to rise, to freshen; expressed of the wind when it has changed.

AVOIR gagné, to have fore-reached, or gained upon; spoken of a vessel, relatively to some other in sight.

AVOIR le pied marin, to have good sea-shoes aboard, to walk firm in a ship like a sailor.

AVOIR pratique, to have pratic, or free intercourse with the natives, after having performed quarantine.

AVOIR vent arriere, to have the wind aft.

AVOIR vent de bout, to have the wind right an end, or a head. See ALLER de bout, &c.

AU plus pres de vent, close upon a wind. See ALLER au plus pres, &c.

AUSSIERE, or HAUSIERE, a hawser or small cable.

AUTAN, a gust or squall of wind from the south.

AUTARELLES, the thoules or rowlock-pins of a galley.

AVUSTE, or AJUSTE, a bend, or knot, by which the ends of two ropes are fastened together.

AVUSTER, to bend or tie two ends of ropes together.

B.

BABORD. See BAS-BORD.

BAC, a large flat-bottomed ferry-boat, for horses, carriages, &c.

BAC a naviger, a punt, or small boat, used by the shipwrights to carry tar, pitch, &c.

BACALAS, cleats of various kinds.

BACALIAU, a name given to dried salt cod-fish.

BACASSAS, a sort of lighter, somewhat resembling an American periagua.

BACHE, or BACHOT, a yawl or wherry.

BACLAGE, a tier of boats, moored along-side of each other.

BACLER les ports, to fortify harbours by fixing chains or booms athwart their entrances; also to bar in the gun ports of a ship.

BAGUE, a small grommet, or wreath of an eye-let hole in a sail.

BAIE. See BAYE.

BAILLE, an half-tub used to contain shot, grenades, matches, &c. also to hold water for cooling the guns in time of action, or to freshen the salt provisions.

BAJOU, or BAJON, a sort of tiller.

BAISSER, to fall down with the tide, to drive or be carried along, according to the course of the stream.

BAISSER le pavillon. See AMENER.

BAISSER les voiles, to lower the sails.

BALAI du ciel, the sweeper of the sky; a name given by sailors to the north-west winds of America, which always bring clear weather.

BALANCIER de lampe, the rings by which the lamp is slung in the binacle.

BALANCIERS de compas, or de boussole, the gimbals of a sea-compass, by which it is hung in equilibrio.

BALANCINES, or VALANCINES, lifts of the yards.

BALANCINE de chaloupe, the topping-lift of a boat.

BALANT, the bight or slack part of a rope, also the part which is unemployed.

BALAST. See LEST.

BALAYEUR d’un navire, the swabber or sweeper of a ship, usually called captain-swabber.

BALCONS, the galleries framed in the stern or quarter of a great ship.

BALISE, a sea-mark, the beacon or buoy of a shoal or dangerous channel.

BALOIRES, a name sometimes given to water-lines, and to horizontal ribbands. See LIGNE d’eau.

BALON, a sort of galley or barge of Siam.

BANC, a sand-bank; also the bench, thwart, or beam of a boat.

BANC à s’asseoir, the seats or benches placed in the stern-sheets of a boat or small vessel.

BANC à coucher, a sort of folding bed-stead, or settee-bed.

BANCS de rameurs, the thwarts or seats of the rowers in a galley or row-boat.

BANCHE, a ridge or reef of rocks, under the surface of the water.

BANDE, the side of a ship; also a coast, or the side of a river. Hence

BANDE du nord, the northern shore, &c.

Avoir son vaisseau à la BANDE, to have his ship laid on the careen.

BANDE de sabords, a tier of gun-ports on one side of a ship.

BANDER une voile, to line a sail at the edges in order to strengthen it.

BANDIERES, the flag or colours: this term is peculiar to the gallies.

BANDINS, a sort of stancheons or small pillars, ornamented with sculpture, and used to support the after-canopy or awning of a row-galley.

BANDOULIERE, a cartridge-box for musquetry, used by the marines or others who fight with small arms.

BANNEAU. See BOUÉE.

BANNIERE, a Levantine term for the colours. See BANDIERE.

BANQUE, a banker, or vessel which fishes on the banks of Newfoundland, &c.

BANQUETTES, the stretchers of a galley or row-boat.

BAPTEME, the ceremony of ducking a sailor the first time he passes the line, or tropics, from which he may be redeemed by paying a certain forfeit. Hence

BAPTISER, to duck, &c.

BAPTISER un vaisseau, to give a ship her name at the time of launching.

BARAT, or BARATERIE, the forfeiture or fine paid by the master of a ship and his crew, for embezzling part of the cargo, or suffering it to be damaged by neglect of stowage, &c.

BARBE. See SAINTE-BARBE.

BARBES d’un vaisseau, the entrance or fore-foot of a ship.

BARBEYER, to touch or shiver; expressed of a sail when shaking in the wind.

BARCES, a short cannon, resembling a falconet, formerly used at sea.

BARCO-LONGO, a Spanish coasting-boat.

BARDIS, water-boards or weather-boards.

BARDIS also implies the partitions occasionally formed in the hold to separate different species of grain, when the ship is laden therewith, &c.

BARGE, an old word for skiff or yawl.

BARIL, BARILLAGE, BARIQUE, small casks of different sizes.

BARIL de poudre, a powder cask, containing an hundred pounds of gun-powder.

BARILLARD, the steward, or officer who has charge of the wine and water on board of a vessel. This term is peculiar to the galleys.

BARIQUES a feu, or foudroyantes, thundering-barrels, or casks which contain the fire-pots in a fire ship.

BARQUE, a settee, or three-masted vessel with lateen sails.

BARQUE à eau, a watering-boat, or vessel employed for carrying water.

BARQUE d’avis, an advice-boat.

BARQUE de descente, a sort of lighter.

BARQUE de vivandier, a provision-boat, a bumboat.

BARQUE droite, the order to trim the boat upright, when she heels.

BARQUE en fagot, a boat in frame, an assemblage of all the pieces of a boat, ready formed and put on board a ship, in order to build her at the place where she may be required.

BARQUE longue, or double chaloupe, a sort of pinnace, or large long-boat.

BARQUEROLES, BARQUETTE, or BARCANETTE, a sort of passage boats.

BARRE, the bar of a harbour; also a chain of rocks.

BARRE à bord, hard over; the order to put the helm close to the ship’s side.

BARRE d’arcasse, a transom. See LISSE de hourdi.

BARRE de gouvernail, the tiller of the helm.

BARRE de gouvernail toute à bord, the whole force of the helm when the tiller is hard a-starboard, or hard a-port.

Change la BARRE, the order to the steersman to shift the helm.

Pousse la BARRE à arriver, no nearer, put the helm a-weather.

Pousse la BARRE à venir au vent, luff, or keep your luff.

BARRE de pompe, the pump-spear.

BARRE de pont, the deck-transom, parallel to the wing-transom.

BARRER, to secure; as, BARRER un port, to secure or defend a harbour, by fixing a boom across the mouth of it.

BARRES, the booms or chains fixed across a harbour, to secure it from the assaults of an enemy.

BARRES de cabestan, the bars of the crab or capstern.

BARRES de contre-arcasse, or sous-barres d’arcasse, the lower transoms.

BARRES d’écoutille, the hatch-bars.

BARRES de hune, barreaux, or tesseaux, the frames of the cross-trees and tressel-trees.

BARRES de panneaux d’écoutille, the carlings, or ledges placed athwart under the hatchways.

BARRES de porte, the gun-port bars, by which their covers are fastened in.

BARRES de virevaut, the hand-spikes, or bars of the windlass.

BARRILLARD. See BARILLARD.

BARROTE, full to the beams; an epithet given to a vessel which is laden up to the beams of her deck. Whence

BARROTER, to lade a ship, &c.

BARROTS, the beams of the higher decks.

BARROTINS, ledges, or small spars, placed between the beams.

BARROTINS de caillebotis, ledges of the gratings.

BARROTINS d’écoutilles, the spurs of the beams, or the pieces which are joined to the beams to fortify the deck a-breast of the hatchways.

BAS de soie, iron-garters; a cant term applied to bilboes or fetters.

BAS du vaisseau, the lower parts of a ship.

BAS le pavillon, haul down the colours.

BASBORD, the larboard or left side of a ship.

Vaisseau de BASBORD, a low-built vessel, whose deck extends not to her whole length.

BASBORD tout, hard a-port; the order to put the helm close to the larboard side.

BASBORDES or BASBORDUIS, the larboard-watch.

BASE des sabords, the plank between the lower edges of the gun-ports and the wale.

BAS-FOND, a shoal or shallow.

BASSE, or BATURE, a ridge of rocks, sand-banks, &c. with breakers.

BASSE eau, low-water, the last of the ebb.

BASSES voiles, the courses, or principal lower sails, of a ship.

BASSIN, a basin or bason; also a small harbour within a larger one.

BASTARD de racage, the parrel-rope.

BASTARDE, the largest sail of a galley, which is only carried in fair weather and light winds.

BASTARDES, or BATARDELLES, square-sterned row-gallies.

BASTINGUAGE, painted quarter-cloths, or waist-cloths; also the quarter-nettings, &c.

BASTUDE, a peculiar sort of fishing-net.

BATAILLE navale, a general or particular sea fight.

BATARDEAU, a sort of dam.

BATAYOLLES, the quarter-stanchions, or the stanchions which support the rails of the waist and quarter.

BATAYOLETTES, small stanchions, used to sustain the awnings.

BATEAU, a general name for several kinds of boats; as

BATEAU délesteur, a ballast-boat, or lighter.

BATEAU pêcheur, a fishing-boat, &c.

BATELÉE, the lading, or number of passengers, to be carried in a boat.

BATELIERS, the boat-men, the wherry-men.

BATIMENT, a vessel or small ship of any kind.

BATON astronomique, Jacob’s staff; an instrument formerly used for taking altitudes at sea.

BATON à meche, a lint-stock. See Boute-feu.

BATON de flamme, the stick which spreads the inner part of a pendant.

BATON de giroüette, the spindle upon which the vane turns, at the mast-head.

BATON de justice, a cobbing-board.

BATON de pavillon, or d’enseigne, the flag-staff, or ensign-staff.

BATON de vadel, or de guispon, the handle of a long tar-brush, or pitch-mop.

BATONNÉE d’eau, the quantity of water thrown out by the pump at each stroke of the brake or handle.

BATTANT de pavillon, the fluttering or waving of an ensign, as it flies in the wind.

BATTERIE, the whole range of cannon placed on both sides of any one deck in a vessel of war,

BATTERIE & demie, a deck and a half of cannon; spoken of a frigate which carries cannon on her upper-deck and quarter-deck only.

Mettez la BATTERIE de hors, run the guns out.

Mettez la BATTERIE dedans, run in the guns.

BATTRE aux champs, to found a march or chase at sea.

BATTRE à Diane, to beat a reveille on the drum, as at day-break.

BATTRE la marche, to give the signal for sailing.

BATTU, weather-beaten, shattered by a storm, or disabled in battle.

BATTURE. See BASSE.

BAU, abeam of the lower-decks.

BAU de dale, the hindermost or aftmost beam.

BAU de lof, the foremost beam in a ship.

BAU-maître, or Maître-BAU, the midship-beam, or the beam which is placed at the extreme breadth.

BAUX-faux, or Faux-BAUX, beams of the orlop.

BAUDET, a sawyer’s frame, horse, or tresle.

BAUQUIERES, the clamps, or inner planks, by which the beams of a ship rest upon her sides.

BAYE, a bay, or bight.

BAYES, or BAIES, d’un vaisseaux, the holes in the deck through which the masts are let down, called also the partners.

BEAUPRÉ, the bowsprit. Whence

Petit Beaupré, the jib-boom, or sprit-sail top-mast.

BEAUPRÉ sur pouppe, close behind; spoken of one ship which is so near to the stern of another, in chase or otherwise, that the bowsprit of the former hangs over the stern of the latter.

BEC de corbin, a caulker’s sharp iron, or instrument, with which he cuts the old oakum out of a seam.

BÉLANDRE, a small vessel, carrying about eighty tons, and usually navigated by three or four men. This is nowise like the English bilander.

BELLE, the main-deck, or waist. See EMBELLE.

BERCEAUX. See BIGOT.

BERCHE. See BARCES.

BERGE, a bold shore; also an artificial mound, or rampire, on the banks of a river, to prevent it from overflowing.

BERNE, a waft of the ensign.

Mettre le pavillon en BERNE, to hoist the ensign with a waft.

BESSON, the arching or convexity of the beams and decks. See TONTURE.

BESTION, the head, or ornamental figure, on the prow of a ship.

BIDON, or CANETTE, a cann.

BIGOTS, the ribs of a parrel. See RACAGE.

BIGUES, certain props, or shoars, let into the ports of a ship, to bear her up when she rests upon the ground; also the masts of a sheer-hulk.

BILLE, the beckets of the tacks and sheets.

BILLER, to fasten a rope to a boom, in order to ride or tow a boat.

BILLOTS, dead-wood, or short pieces of timber laid upon the keel, between the crotches, afore and abaft. See CONTRE-QUILLE.

BISCUIT, biscuit, sea-bread.

BISE, vent de nord-nord-est, the north-north-east wind.

BISTORD, spun-yarn.

BISTORD de trois fils, three-yarn spun-yarn.

BITTES, the bits. Whence

BITTER le cable, to bit the cable.

BITTON, a post fixed on a wharf, or pier, whereon to fasten a cable.

BITTONS, or TAQUETS, the top sail-sheet bits.

BITTURE, a range of the cable drawn upon the deck, ready for bitting.

BLEU, a temporary or acting officer, who performs the duty of another while sick or absent.

BLIN, a machine used to drive the wedges under a ship’s bottom, when she is to be launched.

BLOCQUER, or BLOQUER. See PLOCQUER.

BOIS, wood or timber.

BOITE du gouvernail, the rudder-case, or the box placed above the rudder-head, upon deck, through which the tiller passes.

BOMBARDE, a bomb-vessel, a ketch.

BOMBÉ, incurvated; an epithet given by shipwrights to crooked timber, fit for knees, crotches, or standards.

BOMERIE, bottomry.

BON-FRAIS, a fresh of wind, or fresh gale.

BONNACE, calm weather, with a smooth sea.

BONNE de nage, swift of rowing, a fine rower.

BONNE-VOGLIE, a volunteer-rower in the gallies.

BONNEAU, a buoy. See BOUÉE and ORIN.

BONNETTE, the bonnet of a sail.

BONNETTE lardée. a bag or basket charged with cinders, ashes, and chopped oakum, to be used in the act of FOTHERING, which see.

Lasser la BONNETTE, to fasten the bonnet of a sail to its principal part.

BONNETTES, en étui, a general name for all studding-sails.

BON-TOUR, a favourable swing or turn; expressed of a ship when she keeps her hawse clear by winding the right way.

BORD, board, or aboard.

Renverser, tourner, changer le BORD, to veer or tack.

Rendre le BORD, to anchor, to come to an anchor.

BORD à bord, along-side; spoken of two ships lying near to each other.

BORD allongé, or qui allonge, a-long board; understood of a vessel plying to windward.

BORD à terre, BORD au large, standing in, or off, shore.

BORD de la mer, the sea-coast or shore.

BORD sur bord, tack for tack, hank for hank.

Faire un BORD, to make a tack.

Bon BORD, a good board.

Courir même BORD que l’ennemi, to stand on the same tack with the enemy.

BORDAGE, the planks of a ship’s side. Hence

Franc BORDAGE, the outside planks.

BORDAGES de fond, the planks of the bottom or floor.

BORDAGES pour recouvrir les ponts, the planks of the decks.

BORDAYER, to advance to windward by boards, or by tacking.

BORDE au vent, & BORDE sous le vent, haul aft the sheets.

BORDÉE, a board or tack; also a watch of part of the crew.

Faire la grande BORDÉE, to set a watch of half the ship’s crew, when in any dangerous road, usually called the sea-watch.

Faire la petite BORDÉE, to set the quarter-watch.

BORDÉE de canon, all the guns on one side of a ship, usually called a broadside.

Envoyer une BORDÉE, donner la BORDÉE, to fire the broadside into an enemy.

BORDER, to plank a ship, or lay on her outside planks; also to stand towards, examine, or observe the motions of an enemy at sea.

BORDER & brasser au vent, to trim the sails by the wind.

BORDER à quein, to plank a ship with clench-work, or plank over plank.

BORDER en louvelle, to lay on the planks level, or with their surfaces even.

BORDER l’artimon, to haul the mizen-sheet flat aft, or close aft.

BORDER les avirons, to ship the oars ready for rowing.

BORDER les écoutes arrieres, to haul aft both sheets of a sail, for going afore the wind.

BORDER les écoutes tout plat, to tally the sheets flat aft.

BORDER un vaisseau, to board or enter a ship, either in a hostile or friendly manner.

BORDER une voile, to trim a sail by the tacks and sheets.

BORDIER, lap-sided; expressed of a ship stronger on one side than the other.

BORÉAL, vent BOREAL, the northern wind.

BORNAGER, a method of shoving a great boat off from the shore, in a river, by fixing one end of the setting-pole against her side, whilst the other bears upon the ground.

BOSPHORE, a streight, or narrow channel; as the Thracian Bosphorus.

BOSSAGE, a name given by shipwrights to crooked timber, fit for knees, &c.

BOSSE, a powder-flask, used by privateers, in naval engagements.

Serre-BOSSE, the shank-painter.

BOSSEMAN, second contre maître, the boatswain’s mate.

BOSSER l’ancre, to cat the anchor; also to stow the anchor. See CAPONNER.

BOSSER le cable, to stopper the cable. From

BOSSES à aiguilettes, or à rubans, stoppers of the cable.

BOSSES, stoppers of the shrouds or stays.

BOSSES de chaloupe, or de canot, the boat’s painter or mooring-rope.

BOSSE du bossoir, or de lout, the anchor-stoppers at the cat-head.

BOSSOIRS, the cat heads of a ship.

BOT, a boat, of several kinds. Whence

Paque-BOT, pacquet-boat, the packet, or packet-boat.

BOUCHE, the mouth of a river. Bouchaut is also sometimes used in this sense.

BOUCHE de canon, the bore or calibre of a piece of ordnance.

BOUCHIN, the extreme breadth of a ship, from outside to outside.

BOUCHON d’etoupe, de foin, ou de paille, the wad of a cannon, formed of oakum, hay, &c.

BOUCHOTS, a penn, or place enclosed by hurdles, for fishing on the sea-coast.

BOUCLE, shackles or bilboes.

Mettre un matelot sous BOUCLE, to confine a sailor, or put him in irons.

Un port BOUCLÉ, a harbour which is land-locked.

BOUDINURE de l’arganeau, the puddening of the anchor. See EMBODINURE.

BOUÉE, a buoy.

BOUÉE de bout de mât, a wooden buoy, formed of an end of a mast.

BOUÉE de barril, a cann-buoy, or nun-buoy.

BOUGE, incurvated; spoken of a piece of timber; also of the rounding or convexity of the decks and beams. See TONTURE.

BOUILLAR, a squall, a cloud charged with wind and rain.

BOUILLONEMENT, the rippling of a river, as it is discharged into the ocean.

BOULETS, balls or bullets of a cannon. Whence

BOULETS rouge, red-hot bullets. BOULETS à chaîne, chain-shot. BOULETS à branches, or à deux têtes, bar or double-headed shot.

BOULIER, a sort of fishing-net.

BOULINE, the bowline. BOULINE de la grand voile, the main bowline.

BOULINE de revers, the lee bowline.

Faire courir la BOULINE, to run the gauntlope.

BOULINER. See ALLER à la bouline.

BOULINGUE, the royal-sail.

BOULINIER, a ship that sails close-hauled. Hence bon BOULINIER signifies a ship that plies well to windward.

BOULON, an iron bolt. See CHEVILLE.

BOULONS d’afut, the bolts of the gun-carriages.

BOUQUE, an entrance or channel between islands or in narrow seas.

BOUQUETS, the fore-thwarts or fore-sheets of a boat.

BOURCER un voile, to carry a sail clewed up, or hauled up in the brails. See CARGUER.

BOURCET, a name given to the fore-sail and fore-mast of small vessels in the English Channel.

BOURGEOIS, the proprietor or owner of a ship.

BOURGEOIS is also the person who bargains with a shipwright to build a ship, called the contractor or ship’s husband.

BOURGUIGNON, an island of ice.

BOURRASQUE, a violent squall of wind.

BOURRE, the wadding of a charge in artillery.

BOURRELET, or BOURLET, the puddenings of the yards.

BOURRELET de canon, the muzzle-ring of a piece of cannon.

BOURSE, or BOURCE, the exchange, or place of resort for merchants, mariners, &c. in a commercial sea-port.

BOUSSOLE, COMPAS de route, or CADRAN de mer, the sea compass.

BOUSSOLE affolée, an erroneous or defective compass. See AFFOLÉE.

BOUSSOLE de cadran, an horizontal dial, with a magnetical needle.

BOUT de beaupré, a boom used for a bowsprit in small vessels.

BOUT de corde, a rope’s end, a short piece of rope.

BOUTS de cable, pieces of junk, or old cable.

BOUTS de corde, a cat of nine tails, scourge, or rope’s end for punishment.

BOUT de vergue, the yard-arm, but more particularly that part of it which reaches beyond the upper corners of its respective sail, to extend the reef.

BOUTE-DEHORS, the studding-sail booms: this name is also given to a small mast erected in the tops, to hoist up and fix the caps on the mast-heads.

BOUTE-DEHORS is likewise a boom to push off some ship which is near, or which approaches for any hostile purpose, as to board, &c.

BOUTE de lof, or BOUTE-LOF, the bumkin, or boom of the fore tack.

BOUTE-FEU, a lint-stock; also the name of an officer who is appointed to fire the cannon.

BOUTE-LOF. See BOUTE de lof.

BOUTE le cable au cabestan & vire l’ancre, bring the cable to the capstern, or bring-to the cable, and heave to the anchor.

BOUTEILLES, the quarter-badges of a ship. See BALCON.

BOUTEILLES de callebasse, bundles of buoyant rushes, used in the exercise of learning to swim.

BOUTER, to bear off, to push, to join, &c.

BOUTER à l’eau, to launch into the water, to put to sea.

BOUTER au large, to stand out into the offing.

BOUTER de lof, to haul the wind, to trim sharp.

BOUTES, large casks, which hold fresh water for the use of a sea-voyage.

BOUTEUX, or BOUT de quevre, a sort of fishing rod.

BOUTONNER la bonette, to lash on the bonnets. See BONNETTE.

BOUVET, a sort of plane used by shipwrights to form a small groove.

BOYE, See BOUÉE or BALISE.

BOYER, a kind of Dutch sloop.

BRAGUE, the breeching of a cannon used at sea.

BRAI, pitch. Hence braier un vaisseau, to pay the seams of a ship with hot melted pitch, after they are caulked with oakum. It is sometimes mixed with other compositions, to nourish the timber, and is then called BRAI gras.

BRANCHE de ciprès, beaconage; a small duty paid by shipping in France, for keeping the beacons in repair.

BRANCHE superieure d’une courbe, the upper part of a knee.

BRANCHE d’embas, the lower arm of a knee or standard.

BRANLE, a hammock.

Tendre les BRANLES, to sling the hammocks.

BRANLE bas, or fort BRANLE, the order to lash and take down all the hammocks between decks, in order to prepare for engagement, or otherwise to clear the ship.

BRAS, the brace of a yard.

Tenir un BRAS, to haul in and fasten the brace.

Bon BRAS, braced to a large wind, braced in.

BRAS de revers, the lee brace.

BRAS, or BRANCHES d’ancre, the anchor-arms.

BRASSE, a fathom, or measure of six feet.

BRASSEIAGE, the quarters of a yard.

BRASSER à faire porter, or à faire servir to fill the sails after they have been braced a back.

BRASSER au vent, to brace the sails in, to haul in the weather braces.

BRASSER les voiles sur le mât, to brace the sails a-back, or lay the sails to the mast. This is also called BRASSER à contre. See COEFFER.

BRASSER sous le vent, to brace to leeward, to brace up.

BRAYES, the tarred canvas coats of the mast.

BREDINDIN, a small stay-tackle, or burton, affixed to the main-stay.

BREF, a sort of warrant or commission from the state, allowing a ship to purchase provisions, conducting her safe on the coast, and exempting her from other duties.

BREGIN, a sort of fishing-net, with very small meshes, used in the Mediterranean.

BREQUIN, or Ville-BREQUIN, a shipwright’s wimble to bore wood.

BRESSIN, the jears or haliards of a yard or sail; also a tackle-hook. See PALAN.

BREVET, CONNOISSEMENT, POLICE de chargement, a bill of lading.

BREVET d’officier, the commission or warrant of an officer.

BREUILLER. See CARGUER.

BREUILS. See CARGUES, MARTINETS, and GARCETTES.

BRIDER l´ancre, to bridle the anchor[59].

BRIEUX, a term used in Brittany to express the salutation of striking the flag, or topsails, to an admiral, &c. Also a duty paid for entering a harbour.

BRIGANTIN, a small light vessel, navigated by oars and sails; but differing extremely from the vessel known in England by the name of brig or brigantine.

BRIMBALE, the brake or handle of a ship’s pump.

BRION, the fore-foot, placed at the extremity of the keel forward.

BRIS, a duty formerly paid to the lord of the coast, by those who suffered shipwreck thereon. This unjust exaction is now totally abolished. See DEBRIS.

BRISANT, or BRISANS, a shelf or ridge of rocks nearly level with the surface of the water, and distinguished by the breakers, or waves that burst over it; also the breakers themselves.

BRISE, a fresh gale or breeze; the trade-winds, or sea-breezes between the tropics.

BRISE carabinée, a violent wind or squall.

BRISER, to split, or dash forcibly against a rock or shelf; expressed of a ship when she is stranded.

BRISES, the land-winds which blow during the night in the West Indies, &c.

BROCHETER, to give the scantlings of the several members or pieces of a ship’s frame.

BROU, the bark of the cocoa, of which the Indians form the cordage used in their shipping,

BRUINE, small drizzling rain.

BRULOT, a fire ship.

BRUME, a mist or fog at sea.

Tems EMBRUMÉ, or couvert de brouillard, thick misty weather.

BUCENTAURE, a sort of galley used by the state of Venice, when the doge performs the annual ceremony of espousing the sea.

BUCHE, a herring-buss, or small fly-boat used in the herring-fishery.

BULLETIN, a certificate given to sea-officers and sailors, when they are registered in a port, to testify their qualities, age, privileges, and time of service.

BURINS. See TAPPES.

BUTIN, the pillage or plunder of a prize taken from an enemy.

C.

CABANE, a flat-bottomed passage-boat, with a deck, navigated on the river Loire.

CABANES, the cabins or apartments wherein the officers and sailors sleep or mess aboard a ship. See TEUGUE.

CABESTAN, the capstern or crab of a ship.

Virer au CABESTAN, to heave the capstern round with bars.

CABILLOT, a toggel; also a wooden pin for belaying ropes.

CABLE, the cable; also a measure of 120 fathoms, called by the English seamen a cable’s length.

CABLE à pic, the situation of the cable when the ship is close a-peek on her anchor.

CABLE de touei, a stream-cable, or large hauser.

CABLE tourné, or qui à un tour, or demi-tour, a foul hause, a cross or elbow in the hause.

Bitter le CABLE, to bit the cable, or clap it on the bits. See BITTER.

Couper, or tailler le CABLE, to cut the cable in the hause.

Donner le CABLE à un vaisseau, to give a cable’s end to another ship; to take a ship in tow at sea.

Filer du CABLE, to slack out or veer away the cable. See FILER.

Laisser trainer un CABLE sur le sillage du vaisseau, to drag a cable in the ship’s wake in order to prevent her sailing swiftly, when she is chased by a vessel of inferior force, which is decoyed by this stratagem within reach of her cannon.

Lover un CABLE, to coil a cable.

CABLEAU, the painter, or mooring-rope of a boat.

CABLER, to make large ropes or cables.

CABOTAGE, the art of a coasting-pilot; as the knowledge of the shore, the tides, ports, rivers, capes, soundings, &c. on any particular coast.

CABOTER, to coast, or sail along the shore between cape and cape.

CABOTIERE, a large flat-bottomed lighter, with a long rudder.

CABRE, sheers, a machine resembling the sheers of a ship, used to heave up pieces of timber on the wharf of a river.

CABRIONS, certain wedges fixed under the train of a gun-carriage, to secure the cannon when the sea is very high.

CADENE, a chain by which a galley-slave is confined to his oar.

CADENES de hauban, the chains of the shrouds, the chain-plates.

CADRE, a bed frame, resembling the frame of a cott, wherein the sea-officers sleep: these are usually bottomed with small cords by the French, and slung by the corners without a cott.

CAGE. See HUNE.

CAGOUILLE, a sort of volute or ornament on the extremity of the prow of polacres, xebecs, tartans, &c.

CAIC, the yawl or skiff of a galley; also a small Polish vessel, navigated in the Black Sea.

CAIES, a ridge of rocks, or sand-banks; called in the West indies, keys.

CAILLEBOTIS, the gratings of the hatches.

CAJOLER, to ply to windward with the tide, to work by short tacks.

CAISSE de poulie. See ARCASSE and MOUFFLE.

CAJUTES, the cabins which are ranged along the inside of a ship, to sleep in.

CALANGE, or CALE, a small harbour behind a hill, or rising ground, on the sea-coast.

CALCETS, the cheeks or hounds of the mast, which support the brazen blocks in a galley.

CALE, the hold of a ship; also a sloping or shelving on the sea-coast; likewise the lead of a fishing-line used to sink the bait.

Donner la CALE, to duck or plunge an offender from the yard-arm into the sea, by way of punishment.

Donner la grand CALE, to keel-haul; a punishment peculiar to the Dutch.

CALE-BAS, a down-haul, or down-haul tackle.

CALE-HAUBAN, a breast back-stay for the top-mast or top-gallant-mast.

CALER, to sink down in the water; also to founder at sea.

CALER les voiles. See AMENER.

CALER also signifies to quoin or wedge up any thing.

CALE-TOUT, let go amain, or at once.

CALFAS, or rather CALFAT, caulking.

CALFAT, or CALFATEUR, a caulker.

CALFAT also signifies a caulking-iron. CALFAT double, a making-iron.

CALFATER, to caulk a ship or boat.

CALFATIN, a caulker’s boy, who spins or twists his oakum.

CALIBRE, the bore of a cannon or other fire-arm, or the diameter of a cannon-ball.

CALIBRE de vaisseau, the model of a ship.

CALIORNE, a winding-tackle; a tackle formed by a rope passing through two three-fold blocks.

CALME, calm, a cessation of wind.

CALME tout plat, a dead calm, or a flat calm. Whence

CALMER, to become calm.

CAMBRER, to bend the planks or boards of a ship to their proper curve, by stoves, &c.

CAMPAGNE sur mer, a voyage, a cruise at sea for a season, or limited space of time.

CANAL, a canal, streight, or channel.

CANAL de l’étrave, the concavity in the top of the stem, wherein the bowsprit rests.

CANAL, or CREUX autour d’un poulie, the hole in a block between the shell and the sheave, through which the rope passes.

CANDELETTE, or BOSSE de bossoir, the cat tackle and hook. See CAPION.

CANEFAS, or CANEVAS, canvas or sail-cloth. See TOILE.

CANON, a cannon or piece of ordnance.

CANON à la serre, a gun housed athwart, with the top of its muzzle bearing against the upper edge of the port.

CANON alongé contre le bord, a gun housed lengthways, close to the ship’s side, abreast of its own port.

CANON aux sabords, a gun levelled to the point-blank range.

CANON de coursier, the bow-chase of a row-galley.

CANON demare, a cannon drawn in to be charged.

CANON détape, a cannon with its tompion taken out.

CANON moindre, a cannon whose calibre is not proportioned to the thickness of the metal.

CANON renforcé, a cannon whose breech is reinforced, i. e. thicker than the calibre, which is the usual dimension.

CANONNER, to cannonade, to fire a broadside.

CANONNIER de vaisseau, the gunner of a ship.

Second maître CANONNIER, the gunner’s mate.

CANONNIERS, the quarter-gunners or artillery-men of a ship.

CANOT, a ship’s boat, cutter, or yawl.

CANOT de bois, a canoe.

CANOT jaloux, a crank boat.

CANOTS, Indian canoes of various kinds.

CANTANETTES, the light-ports in the stern of a galley.

CANTIBAI, a name given by shipwrights to timber which is full of cracks, &c.

CANTIMORON. See CATIMORON.

CAP, the head or prow of a ship.

Porter le CAP sur l’ennemi, to bear towards the enemy.

Ou as-tu le CAP? how is the head? how does the ship wind?

CAP, a cape, head-land, or promontory.

Doubler le CAP, to double, or sail round, a cape.

CAP de more. See CHOUQUET.

CAP de mouton, the dead-eye of a shroud or stay.

CAP de mouton à croc, an iron-bound dead-eye, with a hook.

CAP de mouton de martinet, the dead-eye of a crow-foot. See TRELINGAGE.

CAPACITÉ d’un vaisseau, the burthen of a ship.

CAPE, or GRAND PACFI, the mainsail.

Etre à la CAPE, to lie-by under the main-sail, or some other of the courses.

CAPÉER, CAPIER, or CAPEYER, aller à la cape, mettre le vaisseau à la cape, to lie under the mainsail when all the other sails are furled.

CAPELER les haubans, to fix the shrouds on the mast-head.

CAPION, the stern-post of a galley. See RODE.

CAPION de proue, the stem of a galley.

CAPION à capion, from stem to stern.

CAPITAINE d’un vaisseau de guerre, the captain of a ship of war.

CAPITAINE d’armes, a captain of marines.

CAPITAINE de frégate legére, de brulot, de galiote, a master and commander.

CAPITAINE du hautbord, the captain of a ship of the line.

CAPITAINE de ports, the commandant of a detachment of marines, appointed to guard a dock-yard, and the shipping in the harbour.

CAPITAINE des matelots, an officer resembling our captain of the fore-castle.

CAPITAINE en second, the second captain, or first lieutenant, of a ship of war.

CAPITAINE garde-côte, a captain of the militia appointed to guard the coasts.

CAPITANE, or CAPITAINESSE, a name formerly given to the principal galley of France.

CAPLANIER, a cod-fisher, a vessel appointed to fish and cure cod; also the men employed in this service.

CAPON, the cat-tackle.

CAPONNE, the order to cat the anchor.

CAPONNER l’ancre, to cat or draw up the anchor to the cat-head.

CAPOSER, to bring a ship to, with her helm a-lee.

Faire CAPOT, to cant, over-set, or turn topsy-turvy.

CAPRE, a vessel of war, or armed ship.

CAQUE de poudre, a powder-cask; also a herring-barrel, whence

CAQUEURS, sailors appointed to cure and barrel the herring.

CARACORE, an Indian vessel, peculiar to the island of Borneo.

CARAMOUSSAL, or CARAMOUSSAIL, a merchant-ship of Turky, constructed with a very high stern.

CARAQUE, a name given by the Portuguese to ships employed in the Brazil and the East Indian trade.

CARAVELLE, a small square-sterned Portuguese vessel, navigated with lateen sails; and esteemed very expeditious, and therefore used in business that requires dispatch.

CARCASSE, the carcase or ribs of a ship before the planks are laid on, or after they are ripped off.

CARENAGE, a careening wharf.

CARENE, the outside of a ship’s bottom. This word is sometimes used for the keel.

CARENE entier, to heave down a ship keel-out.

Demie CARENE, a parliament-heel, or boot-topping.

CARENER, donner la carene à un vaisseau, to careen or heave down a ship with careening tackles to a wharf or pontoon.

CARGADOR, the person who procures a freight or voyage for a merchant-ship.

CARGAISON, the cargo, or articles of a ship’s lading.

CARGUE à veu, a slab-line.

CARGUER, to clue up a sail, or haul it up in the brails.

CARGUER l’artimon, to brail up the mizen.

CARGUER le point de la voile qui est sous le vent, to haul up the lee-clue-garnet, or goose-wing of a sail.

CARGUES, a general name for the brails of a sail, comprehending the clue-lines, bunt-lines, leech-lines, &c.

CARGUES d’artimon, the brails of the mizen.

Mettre les basses voiles sur les CARGUES, to haul up the courses, or haul the courses up in the brails.

Mettre les huniers sur les CARGUES, to clue up the top-sails.

CARGUES bouline, the leech-lines.

CARGUES de fond, the bunt-lines.

CARGUES de hune. See RETRAITE de hune.

CARGUES dessous le vent, the lee-brails, &c.

CARGUES du vent, the brails to windward, or weather-brails.

CARGUES point, the clue-garnets, or clue-lines.

CARGUEUR, the top-block of a top-gallant-mast.

CARLINGUE, contre-quille, the kelson.

CARLINGUE de cabestan, the step of the capstern.

CARLINGUE de pied de mât, the step of the mast, with its block.

CARNAU, the lateen fore-sail of a settee or polacre.

CARREAU. See LISSE de platbord.

CARTAHU, girt-line, or gurt-line.

CARTE marine, a chart or map of the sea, representing its banks, rocks, shoals, bays, havens, &c.

CARTE plate, or au point commun, the plain chart.

CARTON, a book containing a collection of charts in folio.

CARTOUCHE, a cartridge to contain a charge of powder for a cannon or other fire-arm.

CATARACTES, water-falls.

CATIMARON, a catamaran, or Indian raft.

CATURS, armed vessels of Bantam.

CAYES, keys, or chains of rocks, nearly even with the surface of the sea.

CEDRE, bois de CEDRE, cedar-wood, which is excellent for ship-building.

CEINTES, a name formerly given to the wales. See PERCEINTES and LISSES.

CENTRE de pesanteur, the center of gravity.

CERCLE d’étambraie, or de cabestan, an iron hoop that lines the hole of the deck, within which the capstern turns upon its spindle.

CERCLES de boute-hors, the studding-sail boom-irons.

CERCLES de hune, the top-rails, which formerly surrounded the tops, when circular.

CERCLES de pompe, the iron hoops fixed on the top of the pump, to strengthen it.

CHABLEAU, a tow-line, a large warp.

CHABLEUR, a water-officer, who has the care of the wherries.

CHAINES de chaudiere, the chains of the copper, or kettle, which boils victuals in the cobose, for the ship’s crew.

CHAÎNES de port, the boom or chain of a harbour. See BARRE.

CHAÎNES de vergues, the top-chains.

CHALAND, or BAC, a sort of lighter used on the Loire.

CHALINGUE, a light high-built Indian vessel, formed without nails.

CHANDELIER de fanal, the iron brace, or crank, with its stool, which supports the poop-lanthorn.

CHANDELIER de pierrier, the iron crutch of a swivel gun; also the wooden stock, hooped with iron, in whose socket it rests, and is turned.

CHANDELIERS de chaloupe, the crutches of a boat, which sustain the main-boom, or the mast and sail, when they are lowered, for the conveniency of rowing.

CHANDELIERS d’écbelle, the stancheons which support the entering ropes at the gangway.

CHANDELIERS de lisses, the iron crutches, or double stanchions, of the quarters, &c. fixed in a vessel of war, to extend the double nettings. See FILARET.

CHANDELIERS, de petite batiments, the crutches on the stern or quarter of a boom-sail vessel. See CHANDELIERS de chaloupe.

CHANGER, in a naval sense, generally implies to tack, shift, or relieve.

CHANGER de bord, to tack or veer. See VIRER de bord.

CHANGER l’artimon, to shift over the mizen to the other side.

CHANGER le quart, to change or relieve the watch.

CHANGER les voiles, to shift the sails, to brace about, to jibe.

CHANGER les voiles d’avant, & les mettre sur le mât, to brace the head-sails to the wind, to lay the head-sails to the mast.

CHANTIER, the stocks upon which a ship is laid down to be built.

CHANTIER, or ATTELIER, also signifies a shipwright’s yard or wharf.

CHANVRE, hemp employed to make the sails and cordage of a ship.

CHAPE, the inner box of a sea-compass.

CHAPEAU de maître, a gratuity or due, required by the master of a ship for each ton of goods which his vessel carries.

CHAPELLE, the chapelling of a ship, or suffering her to be taken aback, so that she cannot recover her course till she has gone quite round. This seldom happens, unless when the vessel is close-hauled in light winds, and is usually occasioned by the negligence of the steersman.

Faire, or prendre CHAPELLE, to build a chapel at sea, or chapel a ship.

CHARGE, the cargo, burthen, or lading of a ship. This is also called chargement.

Etre CHARGÉ â la côte, to be upon, or near a lee-shore.

CHARGEOIR, or lanterne à charger, a gunner’s ladle.

CHARGER, to load a ship, or take in her cargo.

CHARGER en grenier, to load a ship in bulk.

CHARGER la pompe, to fetch the pump.

CHARGEUR-MARCHAND, or MARCHAND-CHARGEUR, the merchant who loads a ship, or freights her to convey a cargo to some distant place.

CHARNIER, a scuttled cask, to contain water for the ship’s crew to drink on the deck.

CHAROI. See CHARROI.

CHARPENTIER de navire, a shipwright; also the carpenter of a ship.

CHARTE-PARTIE, a charter-party, or compact made between the owner of a ship and the merchant, or contractor, who hires her for a limited time; also a convention made by a company of merchants who trade together.

CHASSE, a chase at sea, or flight of one vessel from another who pursues her.

Prendre CHASSE, to stand away from, to fly from.

Donner CHASSE, or CHASSER, to give chase, to pursue.

Soutenir CHASSE, to make a running fight, to fight in retreat.

CHASSE de proue, the head-chase, or bow-chase. See PIECE de chasse.

CHASSER sur son ancre, to drag the anchor, to bring the anchor home.

CHAT, a cat; a ship so called.

CHATEAU, a general name for the fore-castle and quarter-deck of a deep-waisted vessel.

CHATEAU d’arriere, or de pouppe, the quarter-deck and poop.

CHATEAU d’avant, or de proue, the forecastle.

CHATTE, a small two-masted vessel, formed like a cat or Norwegian pink.

CHAUDERON de pompe, a plate of lead or copper, perforated with holes, to cover the bottom of a pump.

CHAUDIERE, the great copper, or kettle, in which the provisions for the sailors are boiled.

CHAUDIERE à brai, or à goudron, a pitch-kettle.

CHAUFFAGE, breaming-fuel, furze, or faggots, to burn the dirt from off a ship’s bottom at the time of breaming.

CHAUFFER, to bream a ship, or burn the filth from off her bottom.

CHAUFFER les soutes, to dry or season the bread-room, in order the better to preserve the biscuit during a sea-voyage.

CHAUFFER un bordage, to bend a plank, or make it pliant by heating it.

CHAVIRER, or TREVIRER, to over-set, capsize, or turn any thing topsy turvy.

CHAUSSE, a present of money, or wine, given by the merchant to the master of a trading vessel, partly for himself, and partly to be distributed amongst the ship’s crew on a proper occasion.

CHEBEC, or CHABEK, a xebeck.

CHEF, the stem or head of a boat.

CHEF is also a junk, or end of a cable, used as an headfast to a ship, when she is ready to be launched, and which is to retain her after she floats, till her anchor is carried out, or let fall from the bow.

CHEF d’eau, high-water. See HAUTE marée.

CHEF d’escadre, a commodore.

CHEMIN, a range of skeeds laid by seamen, to roll full casks upon, either on shore or aboard.

CHEMIN du halage, a path on the side of a river, or canal, for horses to track boats and vessels along the stream.

CHEMISE à feu, or SOUFRÉE, a tarpawling, or a piece of old canvas, dipped in a composition of oil, petrol, camphire, and other combustible materials, and nailed to the planks of an enemy’s ship, when it is intended to set her on fire.

CHENALER, to find out a channel by the help of buoys, or of sounding, where the water is shallow.

CHENETS, a sort of iron claws used to bend the planks of a ship by fire.

CHERSONESE, a peninsula.

CHEVALET, a roller for passing the cables from one place to another.

CHEVAUCHER, to ride, or be fayed upon; a term in ship-building.

CHEVET de traversin de bittes, the lining or doubling of the bitts, which is employed to prevent the cable from galling them when the ships ride with a great strain.

CHEVILLE, an iron bolt, of which there are several sorts used in the construction of a ship: as,

CHEVILLE à boucle, a ring-bolt.

CHEVILLE à boucles & à goupilles, a ring which is fastened with a forelock.

CHEVILLE à croc, a hook-bolt for the gun ports.

CHEVILLE à goupilles, a forelock-bolt, or bolt fitted to receive a forelock.

CHEVILLE à grille & à boucles. See GOUJON.

CHEVILLE æilettes d’affut, the eye-bolts of the gun-carriages.

CHEVILLE à tête de diamant, or à tête ronde, a round-headed bolt.

CHEVILLE à tête perdue, a bolt whose head is sunk into the timber wherein it is driven.

CHEVILLE d’offut, a gun-carriage bolt.

CHEVILLE de fer à charger le canon, langrage-shot.

CHEVILLE de pompe, the short pump-bolt, or bolt to connect the brake with the spear.

CHEVILLE de potence de pompe, a long pump-bolt, or bolt which fastens the brake to the cheeks or ears of the pump.

CHEVILLER, to bolt a ship, or drive the bolts which fasten one part to another.

CHEVILLOTS, belaying-pins, fixed in the rails fore and aft.

CHEVRE, a gin, or triangle with pullies.

CHICAMBAUT, or CHICABAUT, a bumkin. See BOUTE-LOF.

CHICANER le vent, to ply or beat to windward. See LOUVIER.

CHIORME, or rather CHIOURME, the troop or crew of slaves belonging to one row-galley, together with the volunteers who row at the oars.

CHIRURGIEN major, the surgeon of a ship.

CHOPINE, or CHOPINETTE de pompe, the lower pump-box.

CHOQUER la tournevire, to surge the capstern; to lift up the rope passing round the body of the capstern, that it may not ride while the capstern turns.

CHOSES de la mer, or du flot, wreck, or whatever is found floating at sea, or within certain limits of the sea-coast.

CHOUQUET, a cap of the mast-head.

CHUTE de voiles, the depth of the sails.

CIEL embrumé, a cloudy, heavy, or dark sky.

CIEL fin, fine weather, a clear sky.

CINGLAGE, or SINGLAGE, the run of a ship for twenty-four hours, or the course and distance she has made between noon and noon.

CINGLAGE also imports the pay or wages of mariners.

CINGLER, or SINGLER, to sail with a favourable wind on a particular course.

CINQUENELLE, or CINCENELLE, a general name for the tackling of the great guns, by which they are fastened to the ship’s sides, &c.

CINTRAGE, or CEINTRAGE, a name given to any kind of lashing, or frapping, which surrounds the object it is intended to secure.

CINTRER, or CEINTRER un vaisseau quand il largue, to frap a ship.

CIVADIERE, the sprit-sail.

CLAIRON, a clear spot in a cloudy sky.

CLAMP, a sheave, or small wheel, placed in a mortise, as in the foot of a top mast, to pass a rope through.

CLAN, a mortise or hole cut in a plank, mast, &c. lengthwise, to admit a sheave.

CLAN, or CLAMP de beaupré. See COUSSIN.

CLAN, a sort of breast-hook in a large lighter.

CLAPET de pompe, the clapper of a pump-box.

CLAPETS, leathern flaps nailed on the outside of the scuppers, instead of scupperhoses.

CLASSE, a division of pilots, gunners, seamen, &c. engaged to serve in any naval armament for a limited time, after which they are relieved by another division sent from the shore.

CLAVETTE, or GOUPILLE, a forelock.

CLEF. See CHEF.

CLEF de beaupré, or BARROT de coltis, the collar-beam, which is raised a little above the second deck, to fortify the bowsprit.

CLEF de pierrier, the forelock of a pedrero or swivel-gun.

CLEF de pompe, a sort of wooden pump-bolt, to confine the brake within the cheeks or ears of the pump. See CHEVILLE de potence.

CLEF des étains, or contre-port, a triangular cheek of timber, formerly used to connect the fashion-pieces with the stern-post.

CLEF de ton du mât, or CLEF de mât de hune, the iron or wooden fid of a top-mast.

CLEFS des guindas, the cheeks of the windlas.

CLERC du guet, the clerk who assembles and musters the militia appointed to guard the sea-coast.

CLERCS de la secretaire, or du gresse de l’amirauté, the messengers of the admiralty.

CLINCAR, a sort of flat-bottomed clinker-built pram, or lighter, of Sweden and Denmark.

CLOCHE de plongeurs, a diving-bell.

CLOISSON, a range of stanchions to support the bulk-heads, or partitions, which separate one cabin from another.

CLOPOTEUSE, turbulent or agitated; an epithet given to the sea when it runs high.

CLOU, an iron spike, or nail, of any size.

CLOUS à river, a rivet, or riveting-nail to be clenched at both ends.

CLOUS des sabords, doubling-nails, to line the gun ports.

CO-BOURGEOIS, a co-partner in, or part-owner of, a ship.

COCHES d’assut de bord, the notches or steps of a sea-carriage.

COEFFÉ, aback. Un vaisseau COEFFÉ, a ship laid aback.

COEFFER, to back a sail, to lay aback, or to the mast.

COFFRE à feu, a powder-chest, fixed on the deck or side of a ship, to-be discharged upon a boarding enemy.

COFFRE à gargousses, a cartridge-chest, which contains the filled cartridges in a ship’s magazine.

COFFRE de bord, a sea-chest, a sailor’s chest.

COINS d’arrimage, the quoins or coins used in the stowage of a ship’s hold, &c.

COINS de chantier, the wedges driven between the blocks and the keel, when a ship is building.

COINS de mât, the wedges of a mast, by which it is confined in the partners, or in the cap.

COITES, the ways, or cradles, upon which a ship gradually descends, when she is launched into the water.

COITES de guindas, the cheeks or bits of the windlas. See CLEF de guindas.

COLLET d’étai, the eye of a stay placed over a mast-head.

COLLIER d’étai, the collar or lower part of a stay.

COLLIER du ton, or du chouquet, the iron clamp of a French cap. As the caps of English vessels are formed wholly of wood, this clamp is not in use amongst our shipping.

COLLIERS de défense, the puddening of a boat’s stem.

COLOMBIERS, two shoars employed to launch a ship into the water.

COLONNE, a line of ships, a line of battle.

COLTIS, the breast or front of a ship’s fore-castle, comprehended between the two cat-heads athwart, and descending from the top of the fore-castle to the platform of the head.

COMBAT naval, a general or particular sea-fight.

COMBUGER les sutailles, to fill the water-casks of a ship with fresh water.

COMITE, an under-officer of a galley, who commands the slaves.

COMMANDANT, a commodore. See CHEF d’escadre.

COMMANDE, holloa! the answer given by the sailors to the master, boatswain, or other officer, when he calls to them by the name of the place where they are; as, “Fore-castle, there! main-top, there! main-top, hoay!” &c.

COMMANDEMENT, the order or command to do any thing relative to the working of a ship.

COMMANDER à la route, to order or direct the course of a ship.

COMMANDES, knittles or seizings.

COMMANDEUR, the master or commander of a ship.

COMMIS, the supercargo of a merchant-vessel.

COMMIS des bureaux des douanes, the surveyors of the customs who visit shipping.

COMMIS du munitionnaire, or COMMIS à la distribution des vivres, a clerk or steward to the commissary or purser of a ship of war.

COMMIS général des convois & congés, an overseer or inspector of the customs with regard to shipping.

COMMISSAIRE de la marine imports in general a civil officer, or commissioner of the marine, of which there are several: as,

COMMISSAIRE général à la suite des armées navales, an officer who receives the orders and instructions of the intendant of a fleet of men of war, and performs his duty when he is absent. See INTENDANT des armées navales.

COMMISSAIRE général de la marine, the principal officer under the intendant de marine, in his department. It is his duty, 1. To execute the orders of the admiral, or commissioners of the admiralty, with regard to the number of ships which are ordered to be taken into the service of the state; to provide for their being equipped, manned, and victualled, for the expedition to which they are destined; to press the masters and mates who refuse to serve, and to break, or disband and return, those who will not do their duty. 2. To measure the ships which attend a fleet; to give them orders, either to sail with the fleet, or to join it according to the regulations which have been made; to keep account of those who have been discharged from duty, and send them back in due time to the appointed place. 3. To attend the affairs of the dock-yards and harbours, and controul the clerks, artificers, and ordinary-men; to administer the oath of allegiance to them; to review the shipping, and take an inventory of the prizes. 4. To take care that the oldest and best seasoned timber is first used; and that the bolts, nails, and other iron-works, have their due proportions, and conform to their dimensions. 5. To examine, once every fortnight, the muster-roll of the artificers, signed by the clerks. 6. To observe that the master-shipwrights do in nowise depart from the draught which has been established by the council of construction, of which he is always possessed of a copy. 7. To inspect whatever concerns the port, and to take care that the ordonnances relative thereto are faithfully executed; and to see that the ships are properly situated, and each one moored in the birth assigned.

It is also the office of the commissaire général to keep a list of the sea-officers and sailors, able and ordinary; and to minute the ships in which they have served, and upon what footing they have been paid. With respect to the youths, officers servants, and other boys, their names, privileges, and time of service, are enrolled in a particular list; and each of them is furnished with a certificate, representing these articles.

The commissaire général is not, however, always charged with these several employments himself. There are under his department, in different places, or according to the times, other commissaries, who share such services with him: as, COMMISSAIRE ordinaires de la marine; COMMISSAIRES ayant inspection sur les vivres d’un port, an agent victualler; COMMISSAIRE préposé pour l’enrôlement des matelots, clerk of the cheque; COMMISSAIRE pour les constructions des vaisseaux; and COMMISSAIRE des ports, master-attendant.

COMMISSAIRE général de la marine ambulant, an officer whose duty resembles that of the former, but who has no particular residence, being intended to visit any one port or harbour occasionally.

COMMISSAIRE de l’artillerie de la marine, an officer who, under the orders of the intendant, has the charge of the foundery, the proof of cannon and mortars, and of all other arms, gunpowder, ammunition, instruments, and implements of war. He has also the command of the gunners, matrosses, and bombardiers, maintained in a royal port, who are divided into squads, commanded by lieutenants de marine, or lieutenants of bomb-ketches. There are two of these COMMISSAIRES généraux, one for the western ports of France, and the other for Provence, or the eastern ports.

COMMISSAIRE ordinaire de la marine, an officer whose duty it is to superintend the ordinary, the several clerks in a dock-yard, the store-keepers accounts in a port, and the out-fits and return of stores of a fleet.

COMMISSAIRE ordînaire de l’artillerie de la marine, an officer who performs the duty of the COMMISSAIRE général de l’artillerie de la marine, when he is absent. He keeps the keys of the naval magazine and artillery store rooms jointly with the garde-magazin. He has also a key of the arsenal, wherein the fire-arms are disposed according to their length and calibre; and he keeps a register of all the artillery within the warren where he resides. This register contains principally the matter and fabric of such artillery.

COMMISSION, an order given by the king to an admiral, vice-admiral, or other superior officer, to cruise against, and seize, the enemy’s ships, &c.

COMPAGNE, the cabin of the steward of a row-galley.

COMPAGNIE de navires, or CONSERVE, a convoy or fleet of vessels.

COMPAGNONS, a general name for sailors, mariners, or whoever forms a part of a ship’s crew.

COMPAS azimutal, an azimuth-compass.

COMPAS, de carte, or COMPAS marin, a pair of compasses, or dividers, used to prick a chart, or discover courses and distances thereon.

COMPAS de route, or de mer, a common sea-compass.

COMPAS de variation, an amplitude-compass.

COMPAS mort, a compass whose needle has lost its magnetical virtue.

COMPAS renversé, a swinging compass whose face is downwards; it is usually hung over-head in the great cabin, to shew the ship’s course to the captain.

COMPASSER. See POINTER la carte.

COMPOST, a tide-duty, or revenue; arising from shipping.

CONFLUENT, the place where two rivers are united.

CONGÉ, a pass, or permission, granted to the master of a merchant-ship, by the office of admiralty, when he is ready to sail.

CONNOISSANCE, the skill and intelligence of a pilot; also a prospect of the land and sea-coasts.

CONNOISSEMENT, a ship´s bill of lading, or the manifest of her cargo.

CONSEIL de construction, a council held in any of the king’s ports, consisting of the intendant (or commissioner), le commissaire général, and the principal officers, for the construction or repairing of ships of war. These last are usually styled the builders, and sometimes les charpentiers-constructeurs, the shipwrights.

CONSEIL de guerre, a council of war.

CONSEIL de l’amirauté a jurisdiction exercised under the name and authority of the lord-admiral, who has certain claims called the dues of the admiralty. The officers of the admiralty have their patents from the king, but they are nominated by the lord-admiral. The admiralty of France consists of a lieutenant-general, who is president, a lieutenant particulier, three counsellors, an advocate, and a royal proctor; of a register in chief, and two serjeants or bailiffs.

CONSEIL de marine, a secret council held by the king and his ministers, to which he usually summons the princes and the chief officers of his fleet, to deliberate with them about the affairs of naval war.

CONSERVE, a fleet or convoy of ships, associated for their mutual defence and safety. See COMPAGNIE.

CONSOLE, a bracket, or part where two pieces of timber are united by a bracket.

CONSOMMATION, the consumption of a ship during a sea-voyage, comprehending whatever has been expended, as cordage, canvas, ammunition, &c.

CONSTRUCTION des vaisseaux, the art of ship-building, or the practical part of naval architecture.

CONSUL, a consul established in foreign parts, for the protection of the commerce of his country.

CONTINENT, a continent, or vast tract of land.

CONTRAT à la grosse. See BOMERIE.

CONTRE-AMIRAL, the rear-admiral of France.

CONTRE-BANDE, prohibited goods.

CONTRE-BITTES, the standards which support the cable-bits.

CONTRE-BRASSER, to brace about the yards.

CONTRE-CAPION de pouppe, the upper part of the salse=post of a row-galley, which is a crooked piece of timber placed on the fore-side of the stern-post to support it. See CONTRE-RODE de pouppe.

CONTRE-CAPION de proue, the upper part of the stemson of a galley. See CONTRE-RODE de proue.

CONTRE-CARENE, the kelson of a galley. See CARLINGUE.

CONTRE-ÉTAMBOT, the knee of the stern-post, by which it is attached to the keel.

CONTRE-ÉTAMBOT, or FAUX-ÉTAMBOT, is also the false stern-post.

CONTRE-ÉTRAVE, the apron; a piece of timber which supports the scarf of the stem.

CONTRE-MAITRE, the boatswain of a ship.

CONTRE-MARCHE, the general tacking of a division of ships, arranged on the same line, so as to preserve the line in its former disposition on the other tack.

CONTRE-MARÉE, a spring-tide.

CONTRE-QUILLE, the dead-wood placed on the keel fore and aft. See FAUSSE-QUILLE.

CONTRE-RODE de pouppe, the lower part of the false-post, or counter-stern-post of a row-galley. See CONTRE-CAPION de pouppe.

CONTRE-RODE de proue, the lower part of the stemson of a galley. See CONTRE-CAPION de proue.

CONTRE-SABORDS. See MANTELETS.

CONTRE-SALUT, the return of a salute at Sea.

CONTROLEUR de la marine, an officer of the marine, who attends and controuls all the purchases and sales held in a royal dock-yard, assists at the general musters, reviews the artificers, and keeps a register of their names.

CONVERSO, the waist, or main-deck, of a ship.

CONVOI, the convoy or escort of ships of war, used to guard a fleet of merchantmen.

CONVOYER, to convoy or accompany a fleet of merchant-men as their escort.

COQ, the cook of a ship.

COQUE, a kink, or round twist, in a new rope.

COQUERON, the cook-room, fore-castle, or cuddy, of a lighter or hoy.

COQUET, a cock-boat, a sort of small boat which passes between Normandy and Paris.

COQUETER, to navigate or manage a boat by paddling, or rowing in the boat’s stern with a paddle.

CORADOUX. See COURADOUX.

CORALINE, a light small long-boat, or lanch, employed in the Levant, to fish coral.

CORBEAU, a sort of sheer-hook or fire-grappling.

CORBEILLON, or CORBILLON, a small kid, or tub, to contain the biscuit or sea-bread daily distributed to the several messes.

CORDAGE, cordage, a general name for all the ropes employed to rig or work a ship: the cables, or ground-tackling, are sometimes comprehended in this term. See CABLE, MANOEUVRES.

CORDAGE blanc, white, or untarred cordage.

CORDAGE étuvé, cordage which has passed through a stove, to discharge its moisture or watery humour.

CORDAGE goudronné, tarred cordage.

CORDAGE raque, or raqué, cordage which has been well rubbed, in order to take off the hulks, straw, or roughness of the hemp from the surface.

CORDAGE refait, twice-laid cordage.

CORDAGES de rechange, spare-ropes, spare-cordage.

CORDE, a rope of any kind.

CORDE de retenue, a guy, used to steady a heavy bale, cask, &c. when hoisted into a ship.

CORDE de retenue is also pendant of a relieving tackle, employed to prevent a ship from over-setting, or falling down more than is necessary in the careen; and to right her, or pull her upright, when the careen is finished. See ATTRAPE.

CORDE de retenue likewise implies a stern-fast, or large rope used to ease a ship gradually off the stocks, or to prevent her from launching too quick. This is meant of vessels launched head foremost, a method never practised in England.

CORDES de défense, fenders of junk or old cable.

CORDELLE, a warp or tow-line.

CORDERIE, a ropery or rope-walk, the rope-yard of a dock.

CORDIER, a rope-maker, or roper.

CORDON, a strand of rope-yarns. See TORON.

CORNE de vergue, the crutch or cheeks at the inner end of a gaff, or boom which embraces and slides along the mast of a small vessel, as the sail is hoisted or lowered.

CORNET de mât, a step and partners peculiar to the masts of some small vessels, being open at the after-part, so that the mast may occasionally be lowered over the stern. See CARLINGUE.

CORNETTE, a broad pendant, displayed at the mast-head of a commodore.

CORPS de bataille, the center division of a fleet of ships of war.

CORPS de garde d’un vaisseau, the half-deck; that part of a ship which is under the quarter-deck and before the bulk-head of the steerage.

CORPS de pompe, the chamber of a pump.

CORPS d’un vaisseau, the hull of a ship, without her rigging.

CORRECTIONS, the methods of correcting the errors of a dead reckoning, by observations and allowances, as prescribed by the rules of navigation.

CORSAIRE, a privateer, also a pirate.

CORVETTE, a sloop of war.

COSSE, a thimble; also a bull’s eye, or traveller. See MARGOUILLET.

COTE, the sea-coast, the shore.

CÔTE en écore, a bluff or bold shore.

CÔTE qui court nord-sud ou est-ouest, a coast which lies north and south, or east and west.

CÔTE saine, a safe coast, where there is neither rocks or sand-banks, that may render the access dangerous to shipping.

Donner à la CÔTE, ranger la CÔTE. See DONNER and RANGER.

CÔTÉ du vaisseau, the side of a ship.

Presenter le CÔTÉ, mettre le CÔTÉ, du vaisseau en travers, to bring the broad-side to bear upon. See EFFACER.

Mettre un vaisseau sur le CÔTÉ, to lay a ship on the careen. See ABATTRE.

Faux-CÔTÉ, lap-sided.

CÔTÉ du vent, the weather-side, to windward.

CÔTÉ sous le vent, to leeward, the lee-side.

COTES, or MEMBRES, d’un vaisseau, the timbers, or ribs of a ship, from the keel, upwards.

COTIER, a coaster, or coasting vessel.

COTONNINE, a species of thick sail-cloth, used in galleys and vessels of the Levant: it is formed by a mixture of hemp and cotton, the woof being of the former, and the warp of the latter.

COTONS, fishes of the mast. See JUMELLE.

COTTIMO, a duty or exaction of so much per cent. which the consuls, by order of their courts, or by the consent of merchants, demand of the shipping of their nation, when they enter a port where such consuls are established.

COUBAIS, a barge or galley of Japan, greatly ornamented, and rowed with forty oars.

COUCHE, the pillow of a stay, or the piece of wood upon which it rests.

COUDRAN, a mixture of tar and some other ingredients, used to prevent ropes from rotting. See GOUDRON.

COUETS, the tacks of the main-sail and fore-sail. See AMURER.

COUETS à queue de rat, tacks which taper to the point.

COUILLARD, an old term signifying the clue of a sail.

COULADOUX, shroud-tackles, which are used in the galleys, and some other vessels of the Mediterranean, in the place of dead-eyes and laniards.

COULANTES, or COURANTES, the running rigging. See MANOEUVRES courantes.

COULÉE, that part of a ship’s bottom which lies between the floor-heads and the keel, which is somewhat concave on the outside.

COULER à fond, to sink at sea. See also SANCER.

COULER bas d’eau, to sink deeper in the water; expressed of a ship when her leaks gain upon the pump, or when she receives more water than the pumps can discharge.

COULOIRS, certain gangways fixed on the sides of undecked vessels; also the grating-gangways on the sides of such vessels as have their decks arched very high in the middle, as xebecks, &c.

COULOIRS likewise imports the passages that lead to the several cabins or store-rooms of a ship.

COUP d’assurance, a gun fired by a ship on her entrance into a port, when she displays her colours, as a sign of peace. See ASSURANCE.

COUP de gouvernail, the whole force of the helm.

COUP de mer, the shock of a wave of the sea, striking a ship violently, and rushing over her deck.

COUP de partance, a farewel-gun, a gun fired as signal for sailing.

COUP de vent, a sudden squall or gust of wind.

COUPS de canon à l’eau, shot received under water, or between wind and water.

COUPS de canon en bois, shot received in the upper works of a ship.

COUPER la lame, to cut the sea, to divide the waves.

COUPER le cable, ou le mâts, to cut the cable, or cut away the masts.

COUPER, l’ennemi, to thwart or cross the enemy’s course, in giving chase to him.

COUPLE de haubans, a pair of shrouds.

COUPLE du lof, or du balancement, the loof-frame or loof-timbers.

COUPLES, the timbers of a ship, or the frames. See GABARI.

COURADOUX, between decks, the space between any two decks of a ship; also the place where the soldiers sleep in a galley. See ENTRE-PONT.

COURANT, a current or stream at sea.

COURBATONS, small knees used, in the upper part of a ship, for the same purposes as the courbes are, in the lower parts.

COURATONS de l’éperon. See HERPES de poulains and MONTANS.

COURBE capucine, the standard which fastens the cut-water to the stem.

COURBES, a general name for the larger knees of a ship.

COURBES d’arcasse, the transom-knees, or sleepers.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us