How Dark the Night (38 page)

brig
   A two-masted square-rigged vessel having an additional fore-and-aft sail on the gaff and a boom on her mainmast.

Bristol-fashion
   Shipshape.

broach-to
   To veer or inadvertently to cause the ship to veer to windward, bringing her broadside to meet the wind and sea, a potentially dangerous situation, often the result of a ship being driven too hard.

buntline
   A line for restraining the loose center of a sail when it is furled.

by the wind
   As close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing.

cable
   A strong, thick rope to which the ship's anchor is fastened. Also a unit of measure equaling approximately one-tenth of a sea mile, or two hundred yards.

cable-tier
   A place in a hold where cables are stored.

camboose
   A term of Dutch origin adopted by the early U.S. Navy to describe the wood-burning stove used in food preparation on a warship. Also, the general area of food preparation, now referred to as the galley.

canister shot
or
case shot
   Many small iron balls packed in a cylindrical tin case that is fired from a cannon.

capstan
   A broad, revolving cylinder with a vertical axis used for winding a rope or cable.

caravel-built
   Describing a vessel whose outer planks are flush and smooth, as opposed to a clinker-built vessel, whose outer planks overlap.

cartridge
   A case made of paper, flannel, or metal that contains the charge of powder for a firearm.

catharpings
   Small ropes that brace the shrouds of the lower masts.

cathead
or
cat
   A horizontal beam at each side of a ship's bow used for raising and carrying an anchor.

chains
or
chain-wale
or
channel
   A structure projecting horizontally from a ship's sides abreast of the masts that is used to widen the basis for the shrouds.

clap on
   To add on, as in more sail or more hands on a line.

clewgarnet
   Tackle used to clew up the courses or lower square sails when they are bring furled.

close-hauled
   Sailing with sails hauled in as tight as possible, which allows the vessel to lie as close to the wind as possible.

commodore
   A captain appointed as commander in chief of a squadron of ships or a station.

companion
   An opening in a ship's deck leading below to a cabin via a companionway.

cordage
   Cords or ropes, especially those in the rigging of a ship.

corvette
or
corsair
   A warship with a flush deck and a single tier of guns.

course
   The sail that hangs on the lowest yard of a square-rigged vessel.

crosstrees
   A pair of horizontal struts attached to a ship's mast to spread the rigging, especially at the head of a topmast.

cutwater
   The forward edge of the stem or prow that divides the water before it reaches the bow.

daisy-cutter
   Another name for a swivel gun.

deadlight
   A protective cover fitted over a porthole or window on a ship.

dead reckoning
   The process of calculating position at sea by estimating the direction and distance traveled.

dogwatch
   Either of two short watches on a ship (1600–1800 hours and 1800–2000 hours).

East Indiaman
   A large and heavily armed merchant ship built by the various East India companies. Considered the ultimate sea vessels of their day in comfort and ornamentation.

ensign
   The flag carried by a ship to indicate her nationality.

fathom
   Six feet in depth or length.

fife rail
   A rail around the mainmast of a ship that holds belaying pins.

flag lieutenant
   An officer acting as an aide-de-camp to an admiral.

footrope
   A rope beneath a yard for sailors to stand on while reefing or furling.

forecastle
   The forward part of a ship below the deck, traditionally where the crew was quartered.

furl
   To roll up and bind a sail neatly to its yard or boom.

gangway
   On deep-waisted ships, a narrow platform from the quarterdeck to the forecastle. Also, a movable bridge linking a ship to the shore.

gig
   A light, narrow ship's boat normally used by the commander.

grape
or
grapeshot
   Small cast-iron balls, bound together by a canvas bag, that scatter like shotgun pellets when fired.

grapnel
or
grappling hook
   A device with iron claws that is attached to a rope and used for dragging or grasping, such as holding two ships together.

grating
   The open woodwork cover for the hatchway.

half-seas over
   Drunk.

halyard
   A rope or tackle used to raise or lower a sail.

hawser
   A large rope used in warping and mooring.

heave to
   To halt a ship by setting the sails to counteract each other, a tactic often employed to ride out a storm.

hull-down
   Referring to another ship being so far away that only her masts and sails are visible above the horizon.

impress
   To force to serve in the navy.

jack
   The small flag flown from the jack-staff on the bowsprit of a vessel, such as the British Union Jack and Dutch Jack.

jolly boat
   A clinker-built ship's boat, smaller than a cutter, used for small work.

keelhaul
   To punish by dragging someone through the water from one side of the boat to the other, under the keel.

langrage
   Case shot with jagged pieces of iron, useful in damaging rigging and sails and killing men on deck.

larboard
   The left side of a ship, now called the port side.

lateen sail
   A triangular sail set on a long yard at a forty-five-degree angle to the mast.

laudanum
   An alcoholic solution of opium.

lee
   The side of a ship, land mass, or rock that is sheltered from the wind.

leech
   The free edges of a sail, such as the vertical edges of a square sail and the aft edge of a fore-and-aft sail.

lighter
   A boat or barge used to ferry cargo to and from ships at anchor.

loblolly boy
   An assistant who helps a ship's surgeon and his mates.

manger
   A small triangular area in the bow of a warship in which animals are kept.

muster-book
   The official log of a ship's company.

ordnance
   Mounted guns, mortars, munitions, and the like.

orlop
   The lowest deck on a sailing ship having at least three decks.

parole
   Word of honor, especially the pledge made by a prisoner of war, agreeing not to try to escape or, if released, to abide by certain conditions.

petty officer
   A naval officer with rank corresponding to that of a noncommissioned officer in the Army.

pig
   An oblong mass of metal, usually of iron, often used as ballast in a ship.

poop
   A short, raised aftermost deck found only on very large sailing ships. Also, a vessel is said to be “pooped” when a heavy sea breaks over her stern, as in a gale.

post captain
   A rank in the Royal Navy indicating the receipt of a commission as officer in command of a post ship; that is, a rated ship having no less than 20 guns.

privateer
   A privately owned armed ship with a government commission authorizing it to act as a warship.

prize
   An enemy vessel and its cargo captured at sea by a warship or a privateer.

purser
   An officer responsible for keeping the ship's accounts and issuing food and clothing.

quadrant
   An instrument that measures the angle of heavenly bodies for use in navigation.

quarterdeck
   That part of a ship's upper deck near the stern traditionally reserved for the ship's officers.

quay
   A dock or landing place, usually built of stone.

queue
   A plait of hair; a pigtail.

quoin
   A wooden wedge with a handle at the thick end used to adjust the elevation of a gun.

ratlines
   Small lines fastened horizontally to the shrouds of a vessels for climbing up and down the rigging.

reef
   A horizontal portion of a sail that can be rolled or folded up to reduce the amount of canvas exposed to the wind; the act of so rolling a sail.

rig
   The arrangement of a vessel's masts and sails. The two main categories are square-rigged and fore-and-aft rigged.

rode
   A rope securing an anchor.

round shot
   Balls of cast iron fired from smooth-bore cannon.

royal
   A small sail hoisted above the topgallant that is used in light and favorable winds.

scupper
   An opening in a ship's side that allows water to run from the deck into the sea.

sheet
   A rope used to extend the sail or to alter its direction. To
sheet home
is to haul in a sheet until the foot of the sail is as straight and as taut as possible.

ship-rigged
   Carrying square sails on all three masts.

shipwright
   A person employed in the construction of ships.

shrouds
   A set of ropes forming part of the standing rigging and supporting the mast and topmast.

slops
   Ready-made clothing from the ship's stores, or slop-chests.

slow-match
   A very slow burning fuse used to ignite the charge in a large gun.

stay
   Part of the standing rigging, a rope that supports a mast.

staysail
   A triangular fore-and-aft sail hoisted upon a stay.

stem
   The curved upright bow timber of a vessel.

stern sheets
   The rear of an open boat and the seats there.

studdingsail
or
stunsail
   An extra sail set outside the square sails during a fair wind.

swivel-gun
   A small cannon mounted on a swivel so that it can be fired in any direction.

tack
   A sailing vessel's course relative to the direction of the wind and the position of her sails. On a “starboard tack,” the wind is coming across the starboard side. Also, the corner to which a rope is fastened to secure the sail.

taffrail
   The rail at the upper end of a ship's stern.

tampion
   A wooden stopper for the muzzle of a gun.

tholepin
or
thole
   One of a pair of pegs set in a gunwale of a boat to hold an oar in place.

three sheets to the wind
   Very drunk.

top
   A platform constructed at the head of each of the lower masts of a ship to extend the topmast shrouds. Also used as a lookout and fighting platform.

topgallant
   The third mast, sail, or yard above the deck.

top-hamper
   A ship's masts, sails, and rigging.

topsail
   The second sail above the deck, set above the course or mainsail.

touchhole
   A vent in the breech of a firearm through which the charge is ignited.

tumblehome
   The inward inclination of a ship's upper sides that causes the upper deck to be narrower than the lower decks.

waist
   The middle part of a ship's upper deck between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.

wardroom
   The messroom on board ship for the commissioned officers and senior warrant officers.

watch
   A fixed period of duty on a ship. Watches are traditionally four hours long except for the two dogwatches, which are two hours long.

wherry
   A rowboat used to carry passengers.

windward
   Facing the wind or on the side facing the wind. Contrast
leeward
.

xebec
   A three-masted Arab corsair equipped with lateen sails. Larger xebecs had a square sail on the foremast.

yard
   A cylindrical spar slung across a ship's mast from which a sail hangs.