The Shining Sea (49 page)

G
LOSSARY

Abaft:
to the rear of.

Aft:
toward, or in, the stern of a vessel.

Astern:
behind a vessel.

Ballast:
any heavy substance used to maintain a vessel at its proper draft or trim, or its stability.

Beam:
the breadth of a ship at its widest part.

Beam Ends:
a ship lying so far over on its side that the ends of her beams are touching the water and she is in danger of capsizing.

Beat to quarters:
a marine drummer calling a crew to its battle stations.

Bilge:
the lowest point of the hull, usually containing foul water.

Binnacle:
box on the quarterdeck near the helm that houses the compass and has drawers where telescopes are kept.

Bomb vessel
: a small ketch used to hold mortars for hurling bombs.

Boom:
a long spar used to extend the foot or bottom of a specific sail.

Bouse:
to pull out.

Bow:
the forward part of a ship.

Bow chasers:
long guns placed on both sides of the bow to allow firing ahead.

Bower:
large anchor placed at the bows of a ship

Bowsprit:
a spar extending forward from the bow or stem of a ship to carry sail forward and to support the masts by stays.

Braces:
ropes attached to the end of yards that allow them to be turned.

Brig:
a two-masted, square-rigged vessel.

Broach to:
to veer a ship's stern suddenly to windward so that her broadside is exposed to the wind and sea, putting her in danger of capsizing.

Bulkhead:
a partition separating compartments on a vessel.

Cable's length:
600 feet.

Capstan:
a vertical, cleated drum used for moving heavy weights powered by capstan bars pushed by hand.

Carronade:
form of cannon used to throw heavy shot at close quarters.

Chasers:
a chase gun.

Chevaux-de-frise:
a piece of timber or an iron barrel traversed with iron-pointed spikes or spears or pointed poles, five or six feet long, hidden under water, and used to defend a passage.

Clew:
a lower corner of a square sail or after lower corner of a fore-and-aft sail.

Clew garnets:
one of the ropes by which the clews of the courses of a square-rigged ship are hauled up to the lower yards.

Clew line:
a rope by which the clew of an upper square sail is hauled up to its yard.

Clew up:
to haul a sail by means of the clew garnets, clew lines, etc., up to a yard or mast.

Close-hauled:
sails pulled tight to allow a ship to sail close to the wind.

Collier:
ship carrying coal.

Con:
steer.

Consolato del mare
:
the right to take enemy goods from neutral ships.

Coppering a warship:
sheathing with rolled copper.

Corvette:
warship with flush deck, slightly smaller than a frigate.

Courses:
the lowest sail on any square-rigged mast.

Cutter:
a broad, square-sterned boat for carrying stores and passengers and either rowed or sailed.

Double:
To pass or sail round, so as to reverse the direction of motion; as to
double
the Horn.

Fall off:
to steer to leeward, or away from the direction of the wind.

Fascines:
a long bundle of wooden sticks bound together.

Fire ship:
a vessel carrying combustibles sent among enemy ships to set them on fire.

Fleches:
a salient outwork of two faces with an open gorge.

Fore-and-aft rig:
having, not square sails attached to yards, but sails bent to gaffs or set on the masts or on stays in the midship line of the vessel.

Forecastle:
that part of the upper deck of a ship forward of the foremast.

Foremast:
the mast closest to the bow.

Forereach:
to gain upon.

Frigate:
a three-masted, square-rigged warship carrying a full battery of from 20 to 50 guns on the main deck and having a raised quarterdeck and forecastle.

Gaff:
the spar upon which the head, or upper edge, of a fore-and-aft sail is extended.

Gallant:
third highest sail on a square-rigged ship above the top sail and course.

Grape-shot:
small iron balls held together by a canvas bag that act like shotgun pellets.

Gunwale to:
tipping until the gunwale, or upper side of a vessel, is level with the water.

Halyards:
a rope or tackle for hoisting and lowering sails, yards, flags, etc.

Hawse:
the bows of a ship.

Hawser:
a large rope for towing, mooring, securing a ship.

Heel:
(noun) the lower end of a mast, a boom, the bowsprit, etc.

Heel:
(verb) to tilt or incline to one side.

Inshore:
near the shore or moving toward it.

Jib boom:
a spar that serves as an extension of the bowsprit.

Jibe:
to shift a fore-and-aft sail or its boom suddenly and with force from one side of a ship to the other until the sails fill on the opposite side. A maneuver done when a vessel is running with the wind and changes direction.

Kedge anchor:
a small iron anchor used to hold a ship fast during changes of tide and to tow a ship forward during a calm by dropping the anchor forward and pulling the ship toward it.

Knot:
a unit of speed equivalent to one nautical mile or 6,080.20 feet an hour.

Larboard:
the left-hand side of a ship when facing toward the bow. The opposite of starboard. Also called “port.”

Lateen sail:
a triangular sail, extended by a long yard slung to the mast and usually low.

Lee:
the quarter toward which the wind blows.

Lee shore:
a shore on the lee side of a vessel, potentially dangerous in a storm.

Letter of marque:
a license granted by a government to a private person to fit out an armed vessel to cruise as a privateer.

Lifts:
chains or ropes used to hold yards to masts.

Line-of-battle ship:
see “sail of the line.”

Luff:
to turn the head of a vessel toward the wind.

Mainmast:
the large center mast of a three-masted ship.

Maintop:
the platform above the head of the mainmast in a square-rigged ship.

Main topmast:
a mast next above the mainmast.

Merlon:
one of the solid intervals between embrasures or openings of a battlement or parapet.

Mizzenmast:
the aftermost mast in a two-masted or three-masted ship.

Offing:
Position of a ship at a distance from the shore.

Pay her head offshore:
to cause a ship to sail to leeward or away from the wind.

Play upon:
fire at.

Port:
the left-hand side of a ship when facing toward the bow. The opposite of starboard. Also called “larboard.”

Pounders:
refers to the weight of a cannonball.

Powder monkey:
a ship's boy.

Privateer:
an armed private vessel operating under the commission of a government.

Prow:
the bow of a vessel.

Quarter deck:
that part of the upper deck abaft the mainmast reserved for officers.

Ratlines:
one of the small traverse ropes attached to the shrouds and forming the steps of a rope ladder.

Razee:
a sail of the line that has had one of its decks removed to transform it into a heavy frigate.

Redoubt:
small enclosed work of varying size used to fortify hills and passes.

Reef:
that part of a sail which is taken in or let out by means of the reef points, in order to regulate the size of a sail.

Reef point:
one of the pieces of small rope used in reefing a sail.

Royal:
a small sail immediately above the topgallant sail.

Sail of the line:
largest of the warships, carrying from 50 to 120 guns, large
enough to have a place in the line of battle. Most often a 74-gun ship with three decks. Also called ship of the line.

Scow:
a large flat-bottomed boat, having broad, square ends.

Sheet:
a rope that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind.

Slow-match:
a slow-burning fuse used to ignite the powder charge in a cannon.

Spring on her cable:
a line leading from a vessel's quarter to her cable so that by hauling in or slackening it she can be made to lie in any position.

Spring tide:
a tide greater than usual, occurring at full moon and new moon.

Starboard:
the right-hand side of a ship when facing toward the bow. The opposite or larboard or port.

Starboard tack:
the course of a ship when the wind is coming over the starboard side.

Stern:
the rear end of a vessel.

Stern Sheets:
the space at the stern not occupied by the thwarts of an open boat.

Stream anchor:
a small spare anchor.

Strike the colors:
surrender.

Studding sail:
used in a fair wind to extend the sails on a square-rigged ship.

Swivel:
a small gun fixed on a swivel on a stanchion so that it can be rotated. Usually shoots a one-pound ball.

Tack:
to change direction by bringing the head of a vessel into the wind and then shifting the sails so that she will come up into the wind and then fall off on the other side until she is sailing at about the same angle to the wind as before but on the opposite tack.

Taffrail:
the rail around a ship's stern.

Tender:
a vessel employed to attend larger ships, to supply them with provisions etc.

Topgallant:
a mast or sail situated above the topmast and below the royal mast.

Topmast:
the second mast above the deck.

Topsail:
the sail above the course.

Trim:
to adjust sails and yards to get the best effect from the wind. Also, to arrange ballast, cargo or passengers so that the ship will sail well.

Veer:
to alter the course of ship by turning away from the direction of the wind.

Warp:
to move a ship by hauling on a line, or warp.

Wear:
to go about or change direction by turning the head of a vessel away from the wind.

Weather gauge:
the position of a ship to the windward of another, giving an advantage in maneuvering.

Wherry:
a long light rowboat, sharp at both ends.

Windward:
the point or side from which the wind blows.

Yard:
a long, narrow, cylindrical, tapered, wooden spar that supports and extends a sail.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
: The majority of the above definitions are based on
Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language
, edited by William Neilson, 2nd ed. (Springfield,
MA
: Merriam, 1938).

N
OTES