JOLC: The sailor's hammock was first introduced to the Old World by Christopher Columbus, who
had discovered it in the West Indies in 1493. The recent name comes from the Spanish hamaca. The original
English word was hamaco. The British first saw these at the Armada (1588) and they appeared in the
English Navy in 1597. Hammocks were issued initially on a basis of one for every two sailors and for foreign service
only. In 1693, they were noted as supplementary stores items for flagships only: 400 for the Admiral of the
Red, 300 for the Blue and 200 for other flagships. They were listed under Boatswain's Stores as Hamacoes, swinging.
Until well into the 19th century, bothe these and the sailors'
trousers were made of heavy brown canvas
from damaged sails. On clearing a ship for action, the lashed hammocks were placed in the netting along the
upperdecdk bulwarks to protect exposed gun crews from musket fire.
TFD: a length of canvas, net, etc., suspended at the ends and used as a bed
F: a piece of canvas, six feet long and three feet wide, gathered or drawn together at the two
ends, and hung horizontally under the
deck, lengthways, for the sailors to sleep therein. There are usually
from fourteen to twenty inches in breadth allowed between decks for every hammock in a ship of war; this
space however must in some measure depend on the number of the crew, &c. in proportion to the room of the vessel. See hamaco above.
F: the situation of the helm when it is pushed close to the lee side of the ship, either to
tack or keep her
head to the wind, when lying by or trying; also the order to put the helm in this position.
F: the order to put the
helm close to the weather or windward side of the ship, in order to
bear away.
It is likewise the position of the helm, in consequence of that order; being in both senses opposed to hard alee.
W: The front part of the
wales of a vessel, around the
bow and fastened to the
stem; used to provide protection from the seas.
D: any of several horizontal members at the ends of a vessel for holding cant frames in
position until the shell planking or plating is attached.
F: (harpins) the fore parts of the wales which encompass the bow of a ship, and are fastened to the
stem, being thicker than the after part of the wales, in order to reinforce the ship in this place, where she
sustains the reatest shock of resistance in plunging into the sea, or dividing it, under great pressure of sail.
TFD: an opening in the
deck of a vessel to provide access below
F: a square or oblong opening in the deck of a ship, of which there are several, forming the passages
from one deck to another, and into the
hold, or lower apartments. There are likewise hatches of a smaller kind, called
scuttles. Hatch is also, although improperly, a name applied by sailors to the covers or lids of the hatchways.
F: an expression peculiar to seamen, implying to pull a single rope, without the assistance of
blocks,
or other mechanical powers; when a rope is otherwise pulled, as by the application of
tackles, or the connection
with blocks, &c. the term is changed into bowsing. See also
bowse,
hoist, and
rowse.
TFD: 1. The part of a ship where the hawseholes are located. 2. A hawsehole. 3. The space between the
bows and
anchors of an anchored ship. 4. The arrangement of a ship's anchor
cables when both
starboard and
port anchors are secured.
F: is generally understood to imply the situation of the cables before the ship's
stem, when she is
moored with two anchors out from forward, viz. one on the starboard, and the other on the
larboard bow. Hence it
is usual to say, she has a clear hawse, or a foul hawse. It also denotes any small distance ahead of a ship,
or between her
head and the anchors employed to
ride her; as, "He has anchored in our hawse; the
brig fell
athwart our hawse," &c.
A ship is said to ride with a clear hawse, when the cables are directed to their anchors, without lying
athwart the stem; or crossing, or being twisted round each other, by the ship's winding about, according to the
change of the wind, tide, or
current. A foul hawse, on the contrary, implies that the cables lie across the stem,
or bear upon each other, so as to be rubbed and chafed by the motion of the vessel. The hawse accordingly is foul,
by having either a cross, an elbow, or a round turn. If the larboard cable, lying across the stem, points out
on the starboard side, while the starboard cable at the same time grows out on the larboard side, there is a
cross in the hawse. If, after this, the ship, without returning to her former position, continues to wind about
the same way, so as to perform an entire revolution, each of the cables will be twisted round the other, and
then directed out from the opposite bow, forming what is called a round turn. An elbow is produced when the
ship stops in the middle of that revolution, after having had a cross; or, in other words, if the rides with
her head northward with a clear hawse, and afterwards turns quite round so as to direct her head northward
again, she will have an elbow. athwart hawse open hawse
TFD: An opening in the
bow of a ship through which a
cable or hawser is passed.
F: certain cylindrical holes cut through the bows of a ship on each side of the
stem, through which
the cables pass in order to be drawn into, or let out of the vessel, as occasion requires.
W: a
cable or heavy rope used to
tow or
moor a ship
F: a large rope which holds the middle degree between the cable and
towline, in any ship whereto
it belongs, being a size smaller than the former, and as much larger than the latter.
W: The direction into which a seagoing or airborne vessel's
bow is pointing (apparent heading)
and/or the direction into which it is actually moving relative to the ground (true heading)
W: That part of older sailing ships forward of the
forecastle and around the
beakhead, used by the
crew as their lavatory; still used as the word for toilets on a ship.
W: Any
sail (of a sailing vessel) set forward of the foremost
mast.
F: a general name for all those sails which are extended on the
foremast and
bowsprit, and employed
to command the fore part of the ship; such are the
foresail, fore
topsail, fore
topgallant sail,
jib, fore
staysail, and the
spritsail with it's topsail. This term is used in opposition to
aftersails.
TFD: Forward movement or the rate of forward movement, especially of a ship.
B: The motion of advancing, used in opposition to
sternway.
F: the motion of advancing at sea. It is generally used when a ship first begins to advance; or in
calm weather, when it is doubtful whether she is in a state of rest or motion. It is in both senses opposed
to retreating, or moving with the
stern foremost.
GB: to get (a ship) in such a position, by putting the helm down or hauling
in the weather-braces, or both, that the wind acts on the forward surface of the sails.
(Used at least once by Peter Heywood, in reference to the old family servant, Birket, tell her not to heave aback
till God grants me the Pleasure of seeing her, i.e., not to die.
W13: To force from, or into, any position; to cause to move; also, to throw off; -- mostly used in
certain nautical phrases; as, to heave the ship ahead.
B: to advance the ship by heaving in the
cable or other rope fastened to an
anchor at some distance before her.
F: is advancing the ship by heaving in the cable, or other rope, which is fastened to an anchor at
some distance before her. To heave
astern is therefore to draw the ship backwards by the same operation.
B: to unfurl or loosen a sail; more particularly applied to the
staysails; thus we say, loose the
topsails and heave out the staysails.
F: the act of unfurling and throwing loose a sail from the place where it had been rolled and fastened.
This phrase is more particularly applied to the staysails; thus we say, "Loose the topsails, and heave out the
staysails!" which is accordingly done, either to set or dry them.
W13: to haul in
cable till the ship is almost perpendicularly above the
anchor.
B: to draw so much of the cable into the ship, as that she will be almost perpendicularly over her anchor.
F: is the drawing so much of the cable into the ship, by means of the
capstan or
windlass, as
that by advancing, she will be almost perpendicularly above the anchor, and in a proper situation to set sail.
The
lead was cast out in the direction of the ship's
course and when it became perpendicular the depth
would be read from the markings on the line. The nature of the bottom would be determined from bits that
adhered to the tallow which was applied to the lead.
W13: to take soundings with lead and line.
B: to throw the lead overboard, in order to find the depth of water
TFD: 1. The lower end of a
mast. 2. The
after end of a ship's
keel.
F: the lower end, which is diminished into the frustum of a pyramid, so as to sink immoveably into
a hole of the same shape, cut in the
step, which is attached to the ship's keel.
B: She heels to port, that is, inclines or lays down upon her
larboard or left side.
F: to stoop or incline to either side. It is usually applied to a ship when she is forced into this
position by the wind acting upon her sails, while braced obliquely across her; or by being ballasted so as to
lean more to one side than the other.
W: The steering apparatus of a ship, especially the
tiller or
wheel.
F: a long and flat piece of timber, or an assemblage of several pieces, suspended along the hind part
of a ship's
sternpost, where it turns upon hinges to the right or left, serving to direct the
course of the vessel,
as the tail of a fish guides the body. The helm is usually composed of three parts, viz. the
rudder, the tiller,
and the wheel, except in small vessels, where the wheel is unnecessary.
F: a sort of knot or noose, by which one rope is fastened to another, or to some other object, as a post,
ring, timberhead,
mast, &c. Hence we say an half hitch, a clove hitch, a rolling hitch, &c.
a hogshead was 63 wine gallons, or 54 gallons of ale or beer
(Note: In many definitions, you will see references to Imperial gallons, however,
at the time of the Bounty both the United States and Great Britain used U. S.
customary units, as the Imperial system was enacted in 1824.)
F: (hoisting) the operation of drawing up any body by the assistance of one or more
tackles, according
to the weight intended to be raised. The act of pulling up any body, by the help of a single
block only, is never expressed by the term hoisting, if we except the exercise of
extending the sails, by drawing them upwards along the
masts or
stays, to which it is invariably applied.
B: is the space between the lower
deck and the bottom of the ship, where her
stores, &c. lie.
F: the whole interior cavity or belly of a ship, or all that part of her inside, which is comprehended
between the floor and the lower deck, throughout her whole length. This capacious apartment usually contains the
ballast, provisions, and stores of a ship of war, and the principal part of the cargo
in a merchantman. ... that the places where the ballast, water, provisions,
and liquors are stowed, are known by the general name of the hold. The several storerooms are separated from
each other by
bulkheads, and are denominated according to the articles which they contain, the
sailroom, the
breadroom, the fishroom, the
spiritroom, &c.
Gin. In fact the English word Gin comes from the first syllable of the second word
and is often capitalized because it was assumed Geneva referred to the city in Switzerland.
Not so. It comes from the Dutch jenever or genever, from Old French genevre, from Latin
iuniperus, juniper tree, because the brew was flavored with juniper berries.
F: when spoken of the
anchor, seems to imply the station of the ship with regard to her anchor;
which is accordingly said to come home when it loosens from the ground, by the effort of the
cable, and
approaches the place where the ship floated, at the length of her
moorings.
'Evil be to him who evil thinks' is the motto of the English chivalric Order of the Garter. According
to Bligh, James Morrison had it tattooed around his left leg, along with a garter.
F: a rope reaching from the middle of a
yard to it's extremity, or what is called the
yardarm, and depending about two or three feet under the yard, for the sailors to
tread upon, whilst they are
loofing [luffing],
reefing or
furling the
sails,
rigging out the
studding sailbooms, &c. In order therefore to keep the horse more parallel to the yard,
it is usually suspended thereto, at proper distances, by certain ropes called stirrups, which hang about
two feet under the yard, having an eye in their lower ends through which the horse passes. Horse is also a
thick rope, extended in a perpendicular direction near the fore or after side of a
mast, for the purpose of hoisting or extending some sail thereon. When it is fixed
before a mast, it is calculated for the use of a sail called the
square sail, whose yard being attached to the horse, by means of a
traveller, or bull's-eye, which slides up and down occasionally, is retained in
a steady position, either when the sail is set, or whilst it is hoisting or lowering. When the horse is placed
abaft or behind a mast, it is intended for the
trysail of a
snow, and is accordingly very rarely fixed in this position, except in those
sloops of war which occasionally assume the form of snows, in order to deceive
the enemy.
E: wooden shoulders bolted below the
masthead to either side of a wooden
mast of a sailing vessel
which originally supported the
trestle-trees. In smaller vessels without trestle-trees hounds were used to
support the
shrouds by which the mast was stayed laterally. In the days of large sailing ships the hounds
of the lower masts were more properly known as
cheeks.
F: a name given to those parts of a masthead, which gradually project on the right and left side,
beyond the cylindrical or conical surface, which it preserves from the
partners upwards. The hounds, whole
upper parts are also called cheeks, are used as shoulders to support the frame of the
top, together with the
topmast and the
rigging of the lower mast.
TFD: 1. A small
sloop-rigged coasting ship. 2. A heavy barge used for freight.
F: a small vessel, chiefly used in coasting, or carrying goods to or from a ship, in a
road or bay,
where the ordinary
lighters cannot be managed with safety or convenience.
a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. They were used for many purposes: as cranes, for
hoisting masts in other ships; for accommodation, to house sailors when there was a lack of accommodation
ashore; for receiving, to house newly recruited sailors until they were assigned to a crew; for storage,
holding a ship's
stores while it was being refitted, and as prisons.
G Home Glossary I
W: 1. The top of a sail, 2. The bow of a nautical vessel