Glossary of nautical terms (A-L)

This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship".

Further information on nautical terminology may also be found at Nautical metaphors in English, and additional military terms are listed in the Multiservice tactical brevity code article. Terms used in other fields associated with bodies of water can be found at Glossary of fishery terms, Glossary of underwater diving terminology, Glossary of rowing terms, and Glossary of meteorology.

This glossary is split into two articles:

terms starting with the letters A to L are at Glossary of nautical terms (A–L)
terms starting with the letters M to Z are at Glossary of nautical terms (M–Z).

Contents: Top	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z	References

A

AAW: An acronym for anti-aircraft warfare.
aback: (of a sail) Filled by the wind on the opposite side to the one normally used to move the vessel forward. On a square-rigged ship, any of the square sails can be braced round to be aback, the purpose of which may be to reduce speed (such as when a ship-of-the-line is keeping station with others), to heave to, or to assist moving the ship's head through the eye of the wind when tacking. A sudden shift in the wind can also cause a square-rigged vessel to be unintentionally "caught aback" with all sails aback. This is a dangerous situation that risks serious damage. In a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel, a headsail is backed either by hauling it across with the weather sheet or by tacking without releasing the sheet. It is used to heave to or to assist with tacking.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.^[1] See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|back and fill]].; Toward the stern, relative to some object (e.g. "abaft the cockpit").Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; Farther [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aft]] than the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|beam]]; a relative bearing of greater than 90 degrees from the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]]; e.g. "two points abaft the beam, starboard side" would describe "an object lying 22.5 degrees toward the rear of the ship, as measured clockwise from a perpendicular line from the right side, center, of the ship, toward the horizon".^[2]; An imperative to leave the vessel immediately, usually in the face of some imminent overwhelming danger.^[3] It is an order issued by the master or a delegated person in command, and must be a verbal order. It is usually the last resort after all other mitigating actions have failed or become impossible, when destruction or loss of the ship is imminent, and is customarily followed by a command to "man the lifeboats" or life rafts.^[3]^[4]; On the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|beam]]; a relative bearing at right angles to the ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]]; e.g. describing an object located at a bearing of 90 degrees (starboard) or 270 degrees (port) as measured clockwise from the ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]].^[5]; A merchant seaman qualified to perform all routine duties on a vessel, or a junior rank in some navies.; On or in a vessel. Synonymous with "on board". See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|close aboard]].; To change the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|course]] of a ship by tacking. "Ready about" is the order to prepare for tacking.^[6]; On or above the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]]; in plain view; not hiding anything. Pirates would often hide their crews below decks, thereby creating the false impression that an encounter with another ship was a casual matter of chance rather than a planned assault.; The section of a vessel's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] above the waterline; the visible part of a ship. See also topsides.; A special pennant flown to indicate the absence of a ship's commanding officer, admiral, chief-of-staff, or an officer whose flag is nonetheless flying (a division, squadron, or flotilla commander).; The bearing of an object in relation to north: either true bearing, using the geographical or true north, or magnetic bearing, using magnetic north. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bearing]] and relative bearing.; A portable flight of steps down a ship's side.; A ship or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] used as housing, generally when there is a lack of quarters available ashore. An operational ship can be used, but more commonly a hull modified for accommodation is used.; A letter from a state or power authorising action by a privateer. See also letter of marque.; See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|battle stations]].; A senior naval officer of flag rank. In ascending order of seniority in the Royal Navy: rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral, and (until about 2001, when all British five-star ranks were discontinued) admiral of the fleet. In the U.S. Navy: rear admiral (lower half), rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral, and fleet admiral. The term is derived from the Arabic Amir al-Bahr ("ruler of the sea").; 1. A high naval authority in charge of a state's navy or a major territorial component. In the Royal Navy (UK), the Board of Admiralty, executing the office of the Lord High Admiral, promulgates naval law in the form of Queen's (or king's) Regulations and admiralty instructions.; 2. Another name for admiralty law.; The body of law that deals with maritime cases. In the UK, it is administered by the Admiralty Court, a special court within the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice. The Admiralty Court is now in the Rolls Building.; 1. Afloat and unattached in any way to the shore or seabed, but not underway. When referring to a vessel, it implies that the vessel is not being or able to be controlled and therefore goes where the wind and current take her; a vessel in this condition may also be described as "loose from her moorings" or "out of place".Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; 2. Any gear not fastened down or stored properly.; 3. Any person or thing that is misplaced or missing. When applied to a member of the Navy or Marine Corps, such a person is said to be "absent without leave" (AWOL) or, in U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps terminology, is guilty of an "unauthorized absence" (UA).^[7]; A note for one month's wages issued to a sailor on his signing a ship's articles.; See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aviso]].; 1. (of a vessel) Floating freely (not [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aground]] or sunk). The term may also be used more generally of any floating object or person.; 2. In service, even if not currently underway, but not stranded, crewless, in repair, or under construction (e.g. "the company has 10 ships afloat").; 1. In, on, or toward the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore]] or front of a vessel.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; 2. In front of a vessel.; 1. Toward the stern or rear of a vessel.^[1] Contrast [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore]].; 2. The portion of a vessel behind the middle area of the vessel.; On larger ships, a secondary [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gangway]] rigged in the area [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aft]] of midship. On some military vessels, such as U.S. naval vessels, enlisted personnel below E-7 board the ship at the afterbrow; officers and CPO/SCPO/MCPO board the ship at the brow.^[8]; A stern structure behind the mizzenmast and above the transom on large sailing ships, much larger but less common than a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forecastle]]. The aftercastle houses the captain′s cabin and sometimes other cabins and is topped by the poop deck.; The portion of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] that is [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aft]] of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|amidships]].; The 1200–1600 watch.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; Resting on or touching the ground or land, or the bottom of a body of water (either unintentionally or deliberately, such as in a drying harbour), as opposed to [[#lua error: not enough memory.|afloat]].Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; Forward of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]].; An adjective indicating an un-seamanlike state of disarray. Used to describe something awry, askew, or even round but out of true.^[9] E.g. "What a sad lubberly display is that craft underway! They're still dragging their fenders in the surf, and their sails are all ahoo!".; A cry to draw attention. Used to hail a boat or a ship, e.g. "boat ahoy".Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; 1. Lying [[#lua error: not enough memory.|broadside]] to the sea.; 2. To ride out a storm with no sails and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helm]] held to [[#lua error: not enough memory.|leeward]].; 1. Any device external to a vessel or aircraft specifically intended to assist navigators in determining their position or safe course, or to warn them of dangers or obstructions to navigation.; 2. Any sort of marker that aids a traveler in navigation, especially with regard to nautical or aviation travel. Such aids commonly include lighthouses, buoys, [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fog signals]], and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|day beacons]].; A warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft while at sea, thereby acting as a seagoing airbase. Since 1918, the term generally has been limited to a warship with an extensive flight deck designed to operate conventional fixed-wing aircraft. In U.S. Navy slang, also called a "flat top" or a "bird farm".; maximum vertical extent of any part of the vessel above the water surface. Clearance required for passing under a bridge.^[10]; Structural section of a vessel that joins the hulls of a multihulled vessel together.; 1. On the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lee]] side of a ship.; 2. To [[#lua error: not enough memory.|leeward]].; A ship's entire company, including both officers and enlisted personnel.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; Having no night watches.; Bringing a person or thing up short; i.e. an unforeseen and sudden stop.^[7]; The impact of a moving vessel with a stationary object (not submerged), such as a bridge abutment or dolphin, pier or wharf, or another vessel made fast to a pier or wharf. More than incidental contact is required. The vessel is said to "allide" with the fixed object and is considered at fault. Contrast [[#lua error: not enough memory.|collision]].; 1. In the rigging of a sailing ship.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; 2. Above the ship's uppermost solid structure.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; 3. Overhead or high above.; By the side of a ship or pier.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; A secondary hull or float attached to the primary hull of a vessel for stability, or the hulls of a modern catamaran.; 1. A position half way along the length of a ship or boat.^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}; 2. A position half way between the port and starboard sides of a ship or boat, as in "helm amidships", when the rudder is in line with the keel.^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}; A naval [[#lua error: not enough memory.|auxiliary ship]] specifically configured to carry ammunition, usually for combatant ships and aircraft.; A wide variety of warships designed to land and support marines and ground forces in an amphibious assault. Amphibious warfare ships range in size and capability from large oceangoing ships, some with full-length [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flight deck]]s, to small vessels designed to land personnel and equipment directly onto a beach.; 1. Any object designed to prevent or slow the drift of a ship, attached to the ship by a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|chain]]; usually a metal, hook, or plough-like object designed to grip the solid seabed under the body of water. See also sea anchor.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; 2. To deploy an anchor (e.g. "she anchored offshore").Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; A round, black shape hoisted in the forepart of a vessel to show that it is anchored.; A small [[#lua error: not enough memory.|buoy]] secured to a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] attached to the crown of an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]]. The line allows the anchor to be unhooked from an obstruction, such as a rock or another vessel's anchor cable, so preventing raising the anchor in the normal way.^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}; A chain connecting a ship to an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]].; A group of men who handle ground tackle when the ship is anchoring or getting under way.; When the anchor is secured aboard the ship for sea; i.e. when it is not deployed. Typically rests just outside the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hawsepipe]] on the outer side of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]], at the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] of a vessel.; A white light displayed by a ship to indicate that it is at anchor. Two such lights are displayed by a ship over Lua error: not enough memory. in length.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; The anchor line, rope, or cable connecting the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor chain]] to the vessel.; A separate weight on a separate line that is loosely attached to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor rode]] so that it can slide down it easily. It is made fast at a distance slightly longer than the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|draft]] of the boat. It is used to prevent the anchor rode from becoming fouled on the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] or other underwater structures when the boat is resting at anchor and moving randomly during slack tide.; The crewmen assigned to take care of a ship while it is anchored or moored, and charged with such duties as making sure that the anchor is holding and the vessel is not drifting. Most marine GPS units have an anchor watch alarm capability.; A horizontal [[#lua error: not enough memory.|capstan]] in the bow used for weighing anchor.^[1]; Any place suitable for a ship to anchor, often an area of a port or harbor.; Said of an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]] to indicate that it is just clear of the bottom and that the ship is therefore no longer anchored.; Traditional lower-deck slang term for the Royal Navy.; An instrument used to measure wind speed.; An instrument used to measure air pressure, often with the aim of predicting changes in weather.; The angle between the apparent wind and the chord line of the sail.; A naval submariner's term for the angle between a target's course and the line of sight to the submarine. It is expressed as port or starboard, so never exceeds 180 degrees. This is one of the figures entered into the Torpedo Data Computer that makes all the calculations necessary for a torpedo attack on the target. Not to be confused with [[#lua error: not enough memory.|doubling the angle on the bow]].; The expected response of a vessel to control mechanisms, such as a turn "answering" to the wheel and rudder. "She won't answer" might be the report from a helmsman when turning the wheel under a pilot's order fails to produce the expected change of direction.; A pair of fluid-filled tanks mounted on opposite sides of a ship below the waterline. The tanks are cross-linked by piping or ducts to allow water to flow between them and at the top by vents or air pipes. The piping is sized so that as the fluid flows from side to side it damps the amount of roll.; A heavy underwater net attached to a boom and placed so as to protect a harbor, anchorage, or strait from penetration by submerged submarines.; More or less vertical. Having the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor rode]] or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|chain]] as nearly vertical as possible without freeing the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]].Lua error: not enough memory.; Toward the port side of a vessel.; A piece of wood fitted to the after side of the stem post and the fore side of the sternpost of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|clinker-built]] boat, where the planking is secured.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.; The combination of the true wind and the headwind caused by the boat's forward motion. For example, it causes a light side wind to appear to come from well ahead of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|beam]].; The portion of the horizon over which a lighted [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aid to navigation]] is visible from seaward.; A plank along the stern where the name of a ship is commonly painted.^[12]; A ship's complement of weapons.; See [[Glossary of nautical terms (A-L)#lua error: not enough memory.|belt armor]].; Area on a warship for storage of small arms and ammunition.; Regulations governing the military and naval forces of the UK and US; read to every ship's company on [[#lua error: not enough memory.|commissioning]] and at specified intervals during the commission.; As measured by a straight line between two points (which might cross land), in the way that a crow or other bird would be capable of traveling rather than a ship, which must go around land. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|great circle]].; Purportedly an acronym for Allied Submarine Devices Investigation Committee, and a type of SONAR used by the Allies for detecting submarines during the First and Second World Wars. The term has been generically applied to equipment for "under-water supersonic echo-ranging equipment" of submarines and other vessels.^[13]; 1. On the beach, shore, or land (as opposed to [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aboard]] or on board a vessel).; 2. Towards the shore.; 3. "To run ashore": to collide with the shore (as opposed to "to run [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aground]]", which is to strike a submerged feature such as a reef or sandbar).; See muster station.; Toward the starboard side of a vessel.; 1. Toward the stern or rear of a vessel.; 2. Behind a vessel.; The gear or gears that, when engaged with an engine or motor, result in backwards movement or force. Equivalent to reverse in a manual-transmission automobile.; A harbour used to provide shelter from a storm. See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|harbor of refuge]].; An acronym for anti-submarine warfare.; A raised [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] with noticeable sheer and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flare]] introduced in German warships in the late 1930s to improve seakeeping by keeping the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forecastle]] drier and to allow easier operation of weapons.; At right angles to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore]] and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aft]] or centerline of a ship.; A naval ship designed to operate in any number of roles supporting combatant ships and other naval operations, including a wide range of activities related to replenishment, transport, repair, harbor services and research.; Stop, cease or desist from whatever is being done. From the Dutch hou' vast ("hold on"), the imperative form of vasthouden ("to hold on to") or the Italian word basta.^[7] Compare Ya basta.; A kind of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dispatch boat]] or advice boat, surviving particularly in the French Navy. They are considered equivalent to modern sloops.; So low in the water that the water is constantly washing across the surface.; The position of an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]] that is just clear of making contact with the bottom.; Fire oriented towards the ends of the ship; the opposite of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|broadside]] fire. In the Age of Sail, this was known as "raking fire".; (Lua error: not enough memory.) A reply to an order or command to indicate that it, firstly, is heard; and, secondly, is understood and will be carried out (e.g. "Aye, aye, sir" to officers). Also the proper reply from a hailed boat, to indicate that an officer is on board.; An instrument used to take the bearings of celestial objects.; An instrument employed for ascertaining the position of the Sun with respect to magnetic north. The azimuth of an object is its [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bearing]] from the observer measured as an angle clockwise from true north.; A steerable drive leg fitted through the bottom of a hull, carrying a propeller. Compare stern drive and sail drive.

Contents: Top	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z	References

B

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">B & R rig

A style of standing rigging used on sailboats that lacks a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|backstay]]. The mast is said to be supported like a "tripod", with swept-back spreaders and a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forestay]]. Used widely on Hunter brand sailboats, among others. Designed and named by Lars Bergstrom and Sven Ridder.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">back

1. To make a sail fill with wind on the opposite side normally used for sailing forward. A fore and aft headsail is backed by either not moving the sail across when tacking, or by hauling it to windward with the weather sheet. A square sail is backed by hauling the yards round with the braces. The sail is then [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aback]].Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. (With oars) to push against the water with the oar in the opposite direction than normally used for moving the boat forward. This is used to slow the speed of the boat, or to move astern when manoeuvring.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">back and fillLua error: not enough memory.

A method of keeping a square-rigged vessel under control while drifting with the tide along a narrow channel. The ship lies [[#lua error: not enough memory.|broadside]] to the current, with the main topsail backed and the fore and mizzen topsail full: essentially a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hove-to]] position. Selective backing and filling of these sails moves the ship [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ahead]] or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|astern]], so allowing it to be kept in the best part of the channel. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jib]] and the spanker are used to help balance the sail plan. This method cannot be used if the wind is going in the same direction and at the same speed as the tide.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">backstay

A stay or cable, reaching from the mast heads, of the topmast, the topgallant-mast the royal-mast, the skysail-mast to the ship's side abaft the lower rigging; used to support the mast.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">back wash

Water forced [[#lua error: not enough memory.|astern]] by the action of the propeller. Also, the receding of waves.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">baggywrinkle

A soft covering for standing rigging (such as shrouds and stays) that reduces sail chafing.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bailer

Any device for removing water that has entered a vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bail out

Tacking away from other boats to obtain clear air. Often used for starting situations.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">baldie

A type of Scottish sailboat introduced in 1860, used for fishing. A baldie is carvel-built, with her mast far forward and rigged with a lug sail and sometimes a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jib]]. Some historians believe "Baldie" is a contraction of "Garibaldi", a reference to the Italian general and nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose name was a household word at the time the baldie was introduced.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">balance rudder

Not usually a single rudder, but a set of three or four rudders operating together to maneuver a sternwheel steamboat. Placed just forward of the paddlewheels, the effectiveness of the balance rudder is increased by the flow of water generated by the paddles, giving such steamboats a high degree of maneuverability.^[14]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">balanced rudder

A rudder with a significant amount of area ahead of the rorational axis, which moves the hydrodynamic centre of the rudder nearer to the rotation axis and reduces the torque required to steer.^[15]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ballast

Heavy material that is placed in a position low in the hull to provide stability. It can be moveable material, such as gravel or stones, permanently or semi-permanently installed, or integral to the hull, such as the (typically) lead or cast-iron ballast keel of a sailing yacht. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|in ballast]].Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ballast tank

A compartment which can be filled or partly filled with water, used on ships, submarines and other submersibles to control buoyancy and stability.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Baltimore Clipper

A fast sailing ship – an early form of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|clipper]] – built on the Mid-Atlantic seaboard of the United States, especially at Baltimore, Maryland. Popular as merchant ships in both the United States and the United Kingdom by the late 18th century, Baltimore Clippers usually were two-masted schooners or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|brigantines]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">balls to four watch

U.S. Navy slang for the 0000–0400 watch.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bank

A large area of elevated sea floor, deep enough to allow navigation.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">banyan

A traditional Royal Navy term for a day or less of rest and relaxation.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bar

Mass of sand or earth raised above the general seabed depth by the motion of water. Bars are often found at the mouth of rivers or entrances to harbours and can make navigation over them extremely dangerous at some states of tide and current flow, but can also confer tranquility in the inshore waters by acting as a barrier to large waves. See also touch and go and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|grounding]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bar pilot

A navigator who guides a ship over dangerous sandbars at the mouths of rivers and bays.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barber hauler

A technique of temporarily rigging a sailboat lazy sheet so as to allow the boat to sail closer to the wind; i.e. using the lazy jib sheet to pull the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jib]] closer to the mid line, allowing a point of sail that would otherwise not be achievable.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barbette

1. A fixed armored enclosure protecting a ship's guns aboard warships without gun turrets, generally taking the form of a ring of armor over which guns mounted on an open-topped rotating turntable could fire, particularly on ships built during the second half of the 19th century.

2. The inside fixed trunk of a warship's turreted gun-mounting, on which the turret revolves, containing the hoists for shells and cordite from the shell-room and magazine, particularly on ships built after the late 19th century.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barca-longa

A two- or three-masted [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lugger]] used for fishing on the coasts of Spain and Portugal and more widely in the Mediterranean Sea in the late 17th and 18th centuries. The British Royal Navy also used them for shore raids and as [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dispatch boats]] in the Mediterranean.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bareboat charter

An arrangement for the chartering or hiring of a vessel, whereby the vessel's owner provides no crew or provisions as part of the agreement; instead, the people who rent the vessel are responsible for crewing and provisioning her.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bare poles

Sailing without any [[#lua error: not enough memory.|canvas]] raised, usually in a strong wind.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barge

1. A towed or self-propelled flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river, canal or coastal transport of heavy goods.

2. Admiral's barge: A boat at the disposal of an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|admiral]] for his or her use as transportation between a larger vessel and the shore, or within a harbor.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barge slip

A specialized docking facility designed to receive a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barge]] or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|car float]] that is used to carry wheeled vehicles across a body of water.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bark

An alternate spelling of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barque]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barkentine

An alternate spelling of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barquentine]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barque

Lua error: not enough memory.

A sailing vessel of three or more masts, with all masts square-rigged except the sternmost, which is [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barquentine

Lua error: not enough memory.

A sailing vessel with three or more masts, with all masts [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] except the foremast, which is square-rigged.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barrack ship

A ship or craft designed to function as a floating barracks for housing military personnel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barratry

In [[#lua error: not enough memory.|admiralty law]], an act of gross misconduct against a shipowner or a ship's demise charterer by a ship′s master or crew that damages the ship or its cargo. Acts of barratry can include desertion, illegal scuttling, theft of the ship or cargo and committing any actions that may not be in the shipowner's or demise charterer′s best interests.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barometer

An instrument for measuring air pressure. Used in weather forecasting.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">barrelman

A sailor stationed in the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|crow's nest]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">batten

1. A stiff strip used to support the roach of a sail, increasing the sail area.

2. Any thin strip of material (wood, plastic, etc.).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">batten down the hatches

To prepare for inclement weather by securing the closed cargo hatch covers with wooden [[#lua error: not enough memory.|battens]] so as to prevent water from entering from any angle.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">battle stations

Lua error: not enough memory.

1. An announcement made aboard a naval warship to signal the crew to prepare for battle, imminent damage, or any other emergency (such as a fire).

2. Specific positions in a naval warship to which one or more crew members are assigned when battle stations is called.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">battlecruiser

A type of large [[#lua error: not enough memory.|capital ship]] of the first half of the 20th century, similar in size, appearance, and cost to a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|battleship]] and typically armed with the same kind of heavy guns, but much more lightly armored (on the scale of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cruiser]]) and therefore faster than a battleship but more vulnerable to damage.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">battleship

A type of large, heavily armored warship of the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, armed with heavy-caliber guns and designed to fight other battleships in a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line of battle]]. It was the successor to the ship-of-the-line used during the Age of Sail.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beach

Lua error: not enough memory.

A term used broadly to refer to land or the shore, and not necessarily literally to a beach. For example, a ship which turns toward the shore can be said to have turned toward the beach, and a person or object on land can be said to be on the beach. See also on the beach.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beaching

Deliberately running a vessel [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aground]] so as to load or unload it (as with landing craft), or sometimes to prevent a damaged vessel from sinking or to facilitate repairs below the waterline.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beacon

A lighted or unlighted fixed [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aid to navigation]] attached directly to the Earth's surface. Examples include lighthouses and daybeacons.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beakhead

1. The ram on the prow of a fighting [[#lua error: not enough memory.|galley]] of ancient and medieval times.

2. The protruding part of the foremost section of a sailing ship of the 16th to the 18th centuries, usually ornate, which was used as a working platform by sailors handling the sails of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bowsprit]]. It also housed the crew's heads (toilets).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beam

The width of a vessel at its widest point, or a point alongside the ship at the midpoint of its length.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beam ends

The sides of a ship. To describe a ship as "on her beam ends" may mean the vessel is literally on her side and possibly about to capsize; more often, the phrase means the vessel is listing 45 degrees or more.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beam reach

Sailing with the wind coming across the vessel's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|beam]]. This is normally the fastest point of sail for a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beam sea

A sea in which waves are moving perpendicular to a vessel's course.^[16]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beam wind

A wind blowing perpendicular to a vessel's course.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bear

A large, squared-off stone used with sand for scraping wooden decks clean.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bear downLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

To turn or steer a vessel away from the wind, often with reference to a transit.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bear up

To turn or steer a vessel into the wind.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bearing

The horizontal direction of a line of sight between two objects on the surface of the Earth. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|absolute bearing]] and relative bearing.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beat to quarters

Prepare for battle (in reference to beating a drum to signal the need for battle preparation).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">beating or beat toLua error: not enough memory.

Sailing as close as possible towards the wind (perhaps only about 60°) in a zig-zag course so as to attain an upwind direction into which it is otherwise impossible to sail directly. See also tacking.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Beaufort scale

A scale describing wind speed, devised by Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort in 1808, in which winds are graded by the effects of their force on the surface of the sea or on a vessel (originally, the amount of sail that a fully rigged frigate could carry).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">becalm

To cut off the wind from a sailing vessel, either by the proximity of land or by another vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">becalmed

Unable to move due to a lack of wind, said of a sailing vessel; resigned merely to drift with the current rather to move by controlled management of sails.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">becket

A short piece of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] usually spliced into a circle or with an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|eye]] on either end.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">before the mast

Literally, the area of a ship before the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foremast]] (the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forecastle]]). Most often used to refer to men whose living quarters are located here: officers were typically quartered in the sternmost areas of the ship (near the quarterdeck), while officer-trainees lived between the two ends of the ship and become known as "midshipmen". Crew members who started out as seamen and then became midshipmen, and later, officers, were said to have gone from "one end of the ship to the other". See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hawsepiper]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">belay

1. To make fast a line around a fitting, usually a cleat or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|belaying pin]].

2. To secure a climbing person in a similar manner.

3. An order to halt a current activity or countermand an order prior to execution.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">belaying pin

A short movable bar of iron or hard wood to which running rigging may be secured, or "belayed". Belaying pins are inserted in holes in a pin-rail.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bell

See ship's bell.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bell rope

A short length of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] made fast to the clapper of the ship's bell.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bell buoy

A type of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|buoy]] with a large bell and hanging hammers that sound by wave action.^[17]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">below

On or into a lower deck.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">below decks

In or into any of the spaces below the main deck of a vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">belt armor

Lua error: not enough memory.

A layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] of a warship, typically on [[#lua error: not enough memory.|battleships]], [[#lua error: not enough memory.|battlecruisers]], [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cruisers]] and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aircraft carriers]], usually covering the warship from her main deck down to some distance below the waterline. If built within the hull, rather than forming the outer hull, the belt would be installed at an inclined angle to improve the warship's protection from shells striking the hull.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bend

1. A knot used to join two ropes or lines. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hitch]].^[1]

2. To attach a rope to an object.^[1]

3. Fastening a sail to a yard.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Bermuda rig or Bermudan rig

A triangular mainsail, without any upper spar, which is hoisted up the mast by a single [[#lua error: not enough memory.|halyard]] attached to the head of the sail. This configuration, introduced to Europe about 1920, allows the use of a tall mast, enabling sails to be set higher where wind speed is greater.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Bermuda sloop

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] sailing vessel with a single mast setting a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|Bermuda rig]] mainsail and a single [[#lua error: not enough memory.|headsail]]. The Bermuda sloop is a very common type of modern sailing yacht.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">berth

1. A location in a port or harbor used specifically for mooring vessels while not at sea.

2. A safe margin of distance to be kept by a vessel from another vessel or from an obstruction, hence the phrase "to give a wide berth".^[18]

3. A bed or sleeping accommodation on a boat or ship.

4. A job or position of employment on a boat or ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">best bower (anchor)

The larger of two [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchors]] carried in the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]]; so named as it was the last, "best" hope for anchoring a vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">between the devil and the deep blue sea

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|devil seam]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">between wind and water

The part of a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] that is sometimes submerged and sometimes brought above water by the rolling of the vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bight

1. A loop in a rope or line – a hitch or knot tied "on the bight" is one tied in the middle of a rope, without access to the ends.^[1]

2. An indentation in a coastline.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bilanderLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A small European merchant sailing ship with two masts, the mainmast [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lateen-rigged]] with a trapezoidal mainsail, and the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foremast]] carrying the conventional square course and square topsail. Used in the Netherlands for coast and canal traffic and occasionally in the North Sea, but more frequently used in the Mediterranean Sea.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bilge

1. The part of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] that the ship rests on if it takes the ground; the outer end of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|floors]]. The "turn of the bilge" is the part of the hull that changes from the (approximately) vertical sides of the hull to the more horizontal bottom of the ship.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. (Usually in the plural: "bilges") The compartment at the bottom of the hull of a ship or boat where water collects and must be pumped out of the vessel; the space between the bottom hull planking and the ceiling of the hold.^[1]

3. To damage the hull in the area of the bilge, usually by [[#lua error: not enough memory.|grounding]] or hitting an obstruction.

4. To fail an academic course ("bilge") or curriculum ("bilge out").

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bilge keel

One of a pair of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keels]] on either side of the hull, usually slanted outwards. In yachts, they allow the use of a drying mooring, the boat standing upright on the keels (and often a skeg) when the tide is out.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bilged on her anchor

A ship that has run upon her own [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]] such that the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor cable]] runs under the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bill

The extremity of the arm of an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]]; the point of or beyond the fluke.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">billethead

1. On smaller vessels, a smaller, non-figural carving, most often a curl of foliage, might be substituted for a figurehead.

2. A round piece of timber at the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] or stern of a whaleboat, around which the harpoon line is run out when the whale darts off.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Bimini top

An open-front canvas top for the cockpit of a boat, usually supported by a metal frame.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bimmy

A punitive instrument.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">binnacle

The stand on which the ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|compass]] is mounted, usually near the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helm]], permitting ready reference by the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helmsman]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">binnacle list

A ship's sick list. The list of men unable to report for duty was given to the officer or mate of the watch by the ship's surgeon. The list was kept at the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|binnacle]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bird farm

United States Navy slang for an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aircraft carrier]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bite

Verb used in reference to a rudder, as in "the rudder begins to bite". When a vessel has steerageway the rudder will act to steer the vessel, i.e. it has enough water flow past it to steer with. Physically this is noticeable with tiller or unassisted wheel steering by the rudder exhibiting resistance to being turned from the straight ahead – this resistance is the rudder "biting" and is how a helmsman first senses that a vessel has acquired steerageway.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bitt

1. A post or pair of posts mounted on the ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] for fastening ropes or cables.

2. A strong vertical timber or iron fastened through the deck beams that is used for securing ropes or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hawsers]].^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bitt heads

The tops of two massive timbers that support the windlass on a sailing barge.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bitter end

The last part or loose end of a rope or cable. The [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor cable]] is tied to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bitts]]; when the cable is fully paid out, the bitter end has been reached.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">black gang

The engineering crew of the vessel, i.e. crew members who work in the vessel's engine room, fire room and/or boiler room, so called because they would typically be covered in coal dust during the days of coal-fired steamships.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">blinker

A search light, used for signaling by code. Usually fitted with a spring controlled shutter.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">block

A pulley with one or more sheaves or grooves over which a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] is roved. It can be used to change the direction of the line, or in pairs used to form a tackle.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">block, fiddle

A block with two sheaves in the same plane, one being smaller than the other, giving the block a somewhat violin appearance.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">block, snatch

A single sheave block with one end of the frame hinged and able to be opened, so as to admit a line other than by forcing an end through the opening.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">blockship

A vessel sunk deliberately to block a waterway to prevent the waterway′s use by an enemy.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Blue Ensign

A flag flown as an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ensign]] by certain British ships. Prior to 1864, ships of the Royal Navy′s Blue Squadron flew it; since the reorganisation of the Royal Navy in 1864 eliminated its naval use, it has been flown instead by British merchant vessels whose officers and crew include a certain prescribed number (which has varied over the years) of retired Royal Navy or Royal Naval Reserve personnel or are commanded by an officer of the Royal Naval Reserve in possession of a government warrant; Royal Research Ships by warrant, regardless of their manning by naval, naval reserve and Merchant Navy personnel; or British-registered yachts belonging to members of certain yacht clubs, although yachts were prohibited from flying the Blue Ensign during World War I and World War II.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Blue Peter

A blue and white flag (the flag for the letter P) hoisted at the foretrucks of ships about to sail. Formerly a white ship on a blue ground, but later a white square on a blue ground.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">blue water

1. That part of the ocean lying more than a few hundred nautical miles from shore, and thus beyond the outer boundary of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|green water]].

2. More generally, the open ocean or deep sea.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">blue-water navy

1. A navy capable of sustained operations in the open ocean, beyond a few hundred nautical miles from shore.

2. That portion of a navy capable of sustained operations in the open ocean, beyond a few hundred nautical miles from shore.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bluejacket

Lua error: not enough memory.

1. A sailor or enlisted person of the Royal Navy, Commonwealth navies, the United States Navy, or the United States Coast Guard. Bluejacket derives from a blue jacket naval enlisted personnel once wore while ashore. In the Royal Navy and Commonwealth navies, the term generally is synonymous with rating and often includes petty officers and chief petty officers. In the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, the term excludes chief petty officers.

2. More loosely, a sailor or enlisted person of any navy.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Bluejacket's Manual

A basic handbook for U.S. Navy personnel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">board

1. To step onto, climb onto or otherwise enter a vessel.

2. The side of a vessel.

3. The distance a sailing vessel runs between tacks when working to windward.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boat

1. Any small craft or vessel designed to float on and provide transport over or under water.

2. Naval slang for a submarine of any size.

3. A term used in Canada and the United States for a ship of any size used on the Great Lakes.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boat hook

A pole with a blunt tip and a hook on the end, sometimes with a ring on its opposite end to which a line may be attached. Typically used to assist in docking and undocking a boat, with its hook used to pull a boat towards a dock and the blunt end to push it away from a dock, as well as to reach into the water to help people catch [[#lua error: not enough memory.|buoys]] or other floating objects or to reach people in the water.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boat keeper

A boatkeeper was a sailor that knew the harbor thoroughly and was able to act as a pilot. He was in command after the last pilot had left to board a ship and brought the pilot boat back to harbor. He was required to know how to use a sextant as he could be 300 miles from port.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boathouse

A building especially designed for the storage of boats, typically located on open water such as a lake or river. Boathouses are normally used to store smaller sports or leisure craft, often rowing boats but sometimes craft such as punts or small motor boats.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boatsteerer

A member of the crew of a 19th-century whaling ship responsible for pulling the forward oar of a whaleboat and for harpooning whales.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boatswainLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A non-commissioned officer responsible for the sails, ropes, rigging and boats on a ship who issues "piped" commands to seamen.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boatswain's call

Lua error: not enough memory.

A high-pitched pipe or a non-diaphragm-type whistle used on naval ships by a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boatswain]], historically to pass commands to the crew but in modern times limited to ceremonial use.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boatswain's chair or bosun's chair

1. A short board or swatch of heavy canvas, secured in a bridle of ropes, used to hoist a man aloft or over the ship's side for painting and similar work. Modern boatswain's chairs incorporate safety harnesses to prevent the occupant from falling.

2. A metal chair used for ship-to-ship personnel transfers at sea while underway.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boatswain's pipe

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boatswain's call]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boatswain's whistle

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boatswain's call]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boatwright

A maker of boats, especially of traditional wooden construction.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bob or bobfly

A pennant or flag bearing the owner's colors and mounted on the topsail trunk.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bobstay

A stay that holds the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bowsprit]] downwards, counteracting the effect of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forestay]] and the lift of sails. Usually made of wire or chain to eliminate stretching.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">body plan

In shipbuilding, an end elevation showing the contour of the sides of a ship at certain points of her length.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boiler

A power generation system component that produces steam.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boilerman

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fireman]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boiler room

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fire room]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bolt rope

A rope, sewn on to reinforce the edges of a sail.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bollard

From "bol" or "bole", the round trunk of a tree. A substantial vertical pillar to which lines may be made fast. Generally on the quayside rather than the ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bomb vessel

Lua error: not enough memory.

A type of specialized naval wooden sailing vessel of the late 17th through mid-19th centuries designed for bombarding fixed positions on land, armed for this purpose with mortars mounted forward near the bow.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bombard

Lua error: not enough memory.

1. A small, two-masted vessel common in the Mediterranean in the 18th and 19th centuries, similar in design to an English [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ketch]].

2. An alternative name used in the 18th and 19th centuries for a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bomb vessel]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Bombay runner

A large cockroach.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bonded jacky

A type of tobacco or sweet cake.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bone in her teeth

A phrase describing the appearance of a vessel throwing up a prominent [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow wave]] while travelling at high speed. From a vantage point in front of the vessel, the wave rising in either side of the bow evokes the image of a dog carrying a bone in its mouth, and the vessel is said to have a bone in her teeth.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bonnet

An additional strip of canvas laced to the foot of a sail to increase its area in light winds.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">booby

A type of bird that has little fear and therefore is particularly easy to catch.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">booby hatch

A raised framework or hood like covering over a small [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hatchway]] on a ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boom

1. A floating barrier to control navigation into and out of rivers and harbors.

2. A spar attached to the foot of a fore-and-aft sail.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

3. A spar to extend the foot of gaffsail, trysail or jib.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

3. A spar to extend the yards of square-rigged masts to allow the carrying of studding sails.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boom defence vessel

An alternative term for a net laying ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boomer

Slang term in the U.S. Navy for a ballistic missile submarine.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boom crutch

A frame in which the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boom]] rests when the sail is not [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hoisted]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boom gallows

A raised crossmember that supports a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boom]] when the sail is lowered (and which obviates the need for a topping lift).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boomie or booms'l rig

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ketch]]-rigged barge with [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gaff]] (instead of spritsail) and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boom]] on main and mizzen. Booms'l rig could also refer to cutter-rigged early barges.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boom vang or vang

A sail control that lets one apply downward tension on a boom, countering the upward tension provided by the sail. The boom vang adds an element of control to sail shape when the sheet is let out enough that it no longer pulls the boom down. Boom vang tension helps control leech twist, a primary component of sail power.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boomkin

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bumpkin or boomkin]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">booms

Masts or yards, lying on board in reserve.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boot-top

The area on the ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] along the waterline, usually painted a contrasting color.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bore, as in bore up or bore away

To assume a position to engage, or disengage, the enemy ships.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bosun

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boatswain]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bosun's call

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boatswain's call]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bosun's chair

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boatswain's chair]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bosun's pipe

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boatswain's call]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bosun's whistle

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boatswain's call]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bottlescrew

A device for adjusting tension in stays, shrouds and similar lines.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bottom

1. The underside of a vessel; the portion of a vessel that is always underwater.

2. A ship, most often a cargo ship.

3. A cargo hold.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bottomry

Pledging a ship as security in a financial transaction.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bow

1. The front of a vessel.

2. Either side of the front (or bow) of the vessel, i.e. the port bow and starboard bow. Something ahead and to the left of the vessel is "off the port bow", while something ahead and to the right of the vessel is "off the starboard bow". When "bow" is used in this way, the front of the vessel sometimes is called her bows (plural), a collective reference to her port and starboard bows synonymous with bow (singular).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bow chaser

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|chase gun]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bowline

1. A type of knot producing a strong loop of a fixed size, topologically similar to a sheet bend.^[1]

2. A rope attached to the side of a sail to pull it towards the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] (for keeping the windward edge of the sail steady).^[1]

3. A rope attached to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foresail]] to hold it [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aback]] when tacking.^[1]

4. "Sailing on a bowline" means sailing to weather close-hauled.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bowman

The person, in a team or among oarsmen, positioned nearest the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bowpicker

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gillnetter]] that fishes by deploying a gillnet from her [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bowse

To pull or hoist.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bow sea

Seas approaching a vessel from between 15° and 75° to port or starboard.^[16]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bows on

Said of a vessel directly approaching an observer, e.g., "The ship approached us bows on."

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bowsprit

A spar projecting from the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] that is used as an anchor for the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forestay]] and other rigging. On a barge it may be pivoted so it may be steeved up in harbor.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bows under

Said of a vessel shipping water over her [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]], e.g., "The ship was bows under during the storm."

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bow thruster

A small propeller or water-jet at the bow, used for manoeuvring larger vessels at slow speed. May be mounted externally, or in a tunnel running through the bow from side to side.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bow visor

A feature of some ships, particularly ferries and roll-on/roll-off ships, that allows a vessel's bow to articulate up and down to provide access to her cargo ramp and storage deck near the waterline.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bow wave

The wave created on either side of a vessel's bow as she moves through the water.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boxing the compass

To state all 32 points of the compass, starting at north and proceeding clockwise. Sometimes applied to a wind that is constantly shifting.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">boy seaman

A young sailor, still in training.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brace

On square rigged ships, a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] attached to the end of ayard to rotate it around a vertical axis, for trimming the sail. Braces are fitted in pairs to each yard, one at each end.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brace abox

To bring the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foreyards]] flat [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aback]] to stop the ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brail

1. To furl a sail by pulling it in towards the mast and/or to the yard or gaff on which it is set . Where the brailing action is mostly moving towards the mast, it is termed "brailing in". If the sail is generally moving up to a spar, that is called "brailing up".Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. A line used to haul the edges or corners of a sail up or in, either preparatory to furling or as the act of furling the sail. Some brails do not have a more specific name, especially on a fore and aft sail. In other cases, [[#lua error: not enough memory.|clewlines]], buntlines and leechlines may be considered types of brails.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brail net

A type of net incorporating [[#lua error: not enough memory.|brail]] lines on a small fishing net on a boat.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brailer

A device consisting of a net of small-mesh webbing attached to a frame, used aboard fishing vessels for unloading large quantities of fish.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brake

The handle of the pump, by which it is worked.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brass monkey or brass monkey weather

Used in the expression "it is cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". Apocryphally, it is often claimed that a brass monkey was a frame used to hold cannon balls, and low temperature would cause the frame to contract to a greater degree than the iron balls and thus allow them to roll off. The probable actual etymology is given here

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brass pounder

Early 20th-century slang term for a vessel's radio operator, so-called because he repeatedly struck a brass key on his transmitter to broadcast in Morse code.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">breachway

1. The shore along a channel.

2. The whole area around the place where a channel meets the ocean.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">break bulk cargo

Lua error: not enough memory.

Goods that must be loaded aboard a ship individually and not in intermodal containers or in bulk, carried by a general cargo ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">breaker

1. A shallow portion of a reef over which waves break.

2. A breaking wave that breaks into foam against the shore, a shoal, a rock or a reef. Sailors use breakers to warn themselves of their vessel's proximity to an underwater hazard to navigation or, at night or during periods of poor visibility, of their vessel's proximity to shore.

3. A ship breaker, often used in the plural, e.g. "The old ship went to the breakers".

4. A small cask of liquid kept permanently in a ship's boat in case of becoming separated from the ship or if used as a lifeboat.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">breakwater

1. A structure constructed on a coast as part of a coastal defense system or to protect an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchorage]] from the effects of weather and longshore drift.

2. A structure built on the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forecastle]] of a ship intended to divert water away from the forward superstructure or gun mounts.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">breeches buoy

A ring lifebuoy fitted with canvas breeches, functionally similar to a zip line, used to transfer people from one ship to another or to rescue people from a wrecked or sinking ship by moving them to another ship or to the shore.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">breastrope

A mooring rope fastened anywhere on a ship's side that goes directly to the quay, so that it is roughly at right angles to both.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bridge

A structure above the weather deck, extending the full width of the vessel, which houses a command center, itself called by association the bridge.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bridge wing

A narrow walkway extending outward from both sides of a pilothouse to the full width of a ship or slightly beyond, to allow [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bridge]] personnel a full view to aid in the maneuvering of the ship, such as when docking.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brig

1. A vessel with two square-rigged masts.

2. An American term foe an interior area of a ship that is used to detain prisoners (possibly prisoners-of-war, in wartime) or stowaways, and to punish delinquent crew members. Usually resembles a prison cell with bars and a locked, hinged door.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brig sloop

A type of sloop-of-war introduced in the 1770s that had two square-rigged masts like a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|brig]] (in contrast to ship sloops of the time, which had three masts).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brigantineLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A two-masted vessel, square-rigged on the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foremast]] but [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] on the mainmast.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brightwork

Exposed varnished wood on a boat or ship.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bring to

To cause a ship to be stationary by arranging the sails.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">broach

1. When a sailing or power vessel loses directional control when travelling with a following sea. The vessel turns sideways to the wind and waves and in more serious cases may [[#lua error: not enough memory.|capsize]] or pitchpole. Advice on dealing with heavy weather includes various strategies for avoiding this happening.^[11]^[19]

2. An unintentional appearance above the surface of all or part of a submerged submarine, a dangerous event when the submarine is in proximity to enemy forces or near any ship which might collide with her.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">broad

Wide in appearance from the vantage point of a lookout or other person viewing activity in the vicinity of a ship, e.g. another ship off the starboard [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] with her side facing the viewer's ship could be described as "broad on the starboard bow" of the viewer's ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Broad Fourteens

An area of the southern North Sea which is fairly consistently 14 fathoms (84 feet; 26 metres) deep. On a nautical chart with depths indicated in fathoms, it appears as a broad area with many "14" notations.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">broadhorn

An alternate term for a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flatboat]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">broadside

1. One side of a vessel above the waterline.

2. All the guns on one side of a warship or mounted (in rotating turrets or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barbettes]]) so as to be able to fire on the same side of a warship.

3. The simultaneous firing of all the guns on one side of a warship or able to fire on the same side of a warship.

4. Weight of broadside: the combined weight of all projectiles a ship can fire in a broadside engagement, or the combined weight of all the shells which a group of ships that have formed a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line of battle]] can collectively fire on the same side.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Brouwer Route

A route used by ships in the 17th century while sailing east from the Cape of Good Hope to the Netherlands East Indies which took advantage of the strong westerly winds in the southern Indian Ocean known as the "Roaring Forties" to speed the trip but required ships to turn north in the eastern Indian Ocean to reach the East Indies. With no accurate means of determining longitude at the time, ships which missed the northward turn ran the risk of being wrecked on the west coast of Australia.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brow

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gangplank]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brown water

1. A collective term for rivers and coastal waters.

2. Maritime waters which lie over the continental shelf.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">brown-water navy

1. A navy capable of operating on rivers and/or in coastal environments.

2. That portion of a navy designed and intended to operate on rivers and/or in coastal environments.

3. A navy whose capabilities limit it to operating on rivers and/or in coastal environments.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bucket

Alternative name for a paddle on a paddlewheel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">buffer

The chief [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bosun]]'s mate (in the Royal Navy), responsible for discipline.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bug shoe

A length of hardened material placed on a skeg to protect the skeg from damage by shipworms.^[20]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bugeye

A type of sailboat developed in the Chesapeake Bay by the early 1880s for oyster dredging, superseded as the chief oystering boat in the bay by the skipjack at the end of the 19th century.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bulbous bow

A protruding bulb at the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] of a ship just below the waterline which modifies the way water flows around the hull, reducing drag and thus increasing speed, range, fuel efficiency and stability.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bulk cargo

Commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bulk carrier

Lua error: not enough memory.

A merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bulk cargo]] in its cargo holds.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bulkhead

An upright wall within the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] of a ship, particularly a watertight, load-bearing wall.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bulwarkLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

The extension of a ship's side above the level of the weather deck.

File:Bulwark2 (PSF).png

Bulwark (or bulward)

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bull ensign

Lua error: not enough memory.

The senior ensign of a U.S. Navy command (i.e., a ship, squadron or shore activity).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bullseye

A glass window above the captain's cabin to allow viewing of the sails above deck.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bumboat

A private boat selling goods.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bumpkin or boomkin

1. A spar, similar to a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bowsprit]], but which projects from the stern rather than the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]]. May be used to attach the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|backstay]] or mizzen sheets Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. An iron bar projecting outboard from a ship's side to which the lower and topsail brace blocks are sometimes hooked.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bunk

A built-in bed on board ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bunker

A container for storing coal or fuel oil for a ship's engine.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bunker fuelLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

Fuel oil for a ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bunt

1. Middle cloths of a square sail. Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. Centre of a furled square sail. Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bunt-gasket

Canvas apron used to fasten the bunt of a square sail to the yard when furled. Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">bunting tosser

A signalman who prepares and flies flag hoists. Also known in the United States Navy as a skivvy waver.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">buntline

One of the lines leading from the foot of a square sail over a block at the head and down to the deck; and used to haul it up to the yard when furling.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">buoy

A floating object, usually anchored at a given position and fulfilling one of a number of uses, recognised by a defined shape and color for each, including [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aids to navigation]], warnings of danger such as submerged wrecks or divers, or for attaching mooring lines, lobster pots, etc.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">buoyed up

Lifted by a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|buoy]], especially a cable that has been lifted to prevent it from trailing on the bottom.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">burthen

The Builder's Old Measurement, expressed in "tons bm" or "tons BOM", a volumetric measurement of cubic cargo capacity, not of weight. This is the tonnage of a ship, based on the number of tuns of wine that it could carry in its holds. One 252-gallon tun of wine takes up approximately 100 cubic feet, and weighs 2,240 lbs (1 long ton, or Imperial ton).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">burgee

A small flag, typically triangular, flown from the masthead of a yacht to indicate yacht-club membership.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">burgoo

A dish of ships biscuit crumbs and minced salt pork, usually a meal of last resort for officers when other food stores are exhausted.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">butt

Where the butt of one plank joins with the butt of another.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">by and large

By means into the wind, while large means with the wind. "By and large" is therefore used to indicate all possible situations, e.g. "the ship handles well both by and large".Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">by the board

Anything that has gone overboard.

Contents: Top	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z	References

C

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cabin

An enclosed structure with at least one room on a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] or flat, especially one used as living quarters.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cabin boy

An attendant to passengers and crew, often a young man.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cabin cruiser

A type of powered pleasure craft that provides accommodation for its crew and passengers inside the structure of the craft. A cabin cruiser usually is Lua error: not enough memory. in length, with a powered pleasure craft larger than that considered a motor yacht.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cable

1. An especially large or thick rope.

2. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cable length]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cable length

Lua error: not enough memory.

A measure of length or distance equivalent to Lua error: not enough memory. in the United Kingdom and Lua error: not enough memory. in the United States; other countries use different equivalents.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">caboose

A small ship's kitchen or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|galley]] on deck.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cabotage

The transport of goods or passengers between two points within the same country, alongside coastal waters, by a vessel or an aircraft registered in another country.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cage mast

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lattice mast]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">camels

1. Loaded vessels lashed tightly, one on each side of another vessel, and then emptied to provide additional buoyancy that reduces the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|draft]] of the ship in the middle.

2. Floating platforms brought alongside for use by yard workers or crew.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">can

A type of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|navigational]] [[#lua error: not enough memory.|buoy]], often a vertical drum, but otherwise always square in silhouette, colored red in IALA region A (Europe, Africa, Greenland, and most of Asia and Oceania) or green in IALA region B (the Americas, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines). In channel marking its use is opposite that of a nun buoy.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">canal boat

A specialized watercraft designed for operation on a canal. During the Age of Sail, canal boats typically lacked sails and masts and relied on towboats and mules to move from place to place.^[21]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">canal schooner

Lua error: not enough memory.

A specialized type of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|canal boat]] developed in North America in the early 19th century and used on the Great Lakes and in Lake Champlain. Unlike conventional canal boats of the era, which lacked a means of propulsion, canal schooners had a schooner rig which allowed them to sail from place to place, but could lower their masts and raise their [[#lua error: not enough memory.|centreboard]]s, allowing mules to tow them through canals. The design allowed their operators to save money by reducing their reliance on towing and paying fewer towing charges.^[21]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">canaller

A ship designed to transit the locks of the Welland Canal.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">canister shot

Lua error: not enough memory.

A type of antipersonnel cannon load in which lead balls or other loose metallic items were enclosed in a tin or iron shell. On firing, the shell would disintegrate, releasing the smaller metal objects with a shotgun-like effect.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">canoe stern

A design for the stern of a yacht such that it is pointed like a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]], rather than squared off as a transom.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">canvas

A collective term for all of the sails on a vessel; the total area of all sails aboard her may be expressed as the area of her canvas. Care needs to be taken in understanding what may appear to be an area of canvas for a sail; a stated number may be the length of canvas that is needed off the roll, and it was made several different standard widths.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cap

A fitting or band used to connect the head of one mast to the lower portion of the mast above.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Cape Horn fever

A feigned illness from which a malingerer is pretending to suffer.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Cape Horn roller

Lua error: not enough memory.

A type of large ocean wave commonly encountered in the stormy seas of the Southern Ocean south of South America′s Cape Horn, often exceeding Lua error: not enough memory. in height. The geography of the Southern Ocean, uninterrupted by continents, creates an endless [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fetch]] that is favorable for the propagation of such waves.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cap-stay

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|backstay]] leading from a mast [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cap]] to the ship's side.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">capital ship

One of a set of ships considered a navy's most important warships, generally possessing the heaviest firepower and armor and traditionally much larger than other naval vessels, but not formally defined. During the Age of Sail, capital ships were generally understood to be ships of the line; during the second half of the 19th century and the 20th century, they were typically battleships and battlecruisers; and since the mid-20th century, the term may also include aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">capsize

(of a vessel) To [[#lua error: not enough memory.|list]] so severely that the vessel rolls over, exposing the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]]. On large vessels, this often results in the sinking of the ship. Compare turtling.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">capstan

A large winch with a vertical axis used to wind in [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchors]] or to hoist other heavy objects, and sometimes to administer flogging over. A full-sized human-powered capstan is a waist-high cylindrical machine, operated by a number of hands who each insert a horizontal capstan bar in holes in the capstan and walk in a circle.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">captain

1. The person lawfully in command of a vessel. "Captain" is an informal title of respect given to the commander of a naval vessel regardless of his or her formal rank; aboard a merchant ship, the ship's captain is called her master.

2. A naval officer with a rank between commander and commodore.

3. In the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Public Health Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a commissioned officer of a grade superior to a commander and junior to a rear admiral (lower half), equal in grade or rank to a U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, or U.S. Air Force, or U.S. Space Force colonel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Captain of the Port

1. In the United Kingdom, a Royal Navy officer, usually a captain, responsible for the day-to-day operation of a naval [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dockyard]].

2. In the United States, a U.S. Coast Guard officer, usually a captain, responsible for enforcement of safety, security, and marine environmental protection regulations in a commercial port.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">captain's daughter

Another name for the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cat o' nine tails]], which in principle is only used on board on the captain's (or a court martial's) personal orders.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">car carrier

A cargo ship specially designed or fitted to carry large numbers of automobiles. Modern pure car carriers have a fully enclosed, box-like superstructure that extends along the entire length and across the entire breadth of the ship, enclosing the automobiles. The similar pure car/truck carrier can also accommodate trucks.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">car float

Lua error: not enough memory.

An unpowered [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barge]] with railroad tracks mounted on its deck, used to move railroad cars across water obstacles.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">caravelLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A small, highly maneuverable sailing ship with a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lateen rig]], used by the Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cardinal

Referring to the four main points of the compass: north, south, east, and west. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bearing]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">careening

Lua error: not enough memory.

Tilting a ship on its side, usually when [[#lua error: not enough memory.|beached]], to clean or repair the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] below the waterline.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cargo liner

Lua error: not enough memory.

A type of merchant ship that became common just after the middle of the 19th century, configured primarily for the transportation of general cargo but also for the transportation of at least some passengers. Almost completely replaced by more specialized cargo ships during the second half of the 20th century.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cargo ship

Any ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another, including general cargo ships (designed to carry [[#lua error: not enough memory.|break bulk cargo]]), [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bulk carriers]], [[#lua error: not enough memory.|container ships]], multipurpose vessels, and tankers. Tankers, however, although technically cargo ships, are routinely thought of as constituting a completely separate category.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cargoman

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cargo ship]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">carpenter

1. In the Age of Sail, a warrant officer responsible for the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]], masts, spars, and boats of a vessel, and also for sounding the well to see if the vessel was making water.

2. A senior rating responsible for all of the woodwork aboard a vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">carpenter's walk

On a tall ship, a is a narrow unlit passageway or bulkhead often with a low (four-foot) ceiling that is fitted around the hull at its waterline. The carpenter's walk allowed the ship's carpenter to tour the entire waterline area of a ship to inspect it for water leaks.^[22]^[23] Because of its dark and seldom-visited nature and location far below decks, it was also sometimes used by mutinous sailors as a secluded place to plan a rebellion against the ship's officers.^[24]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">carrack

Lua error: not enough memory.

A three- or four-masted oceangoing sailing ship used by Western Europeans in the Atlantic Ocean from the 15th through the early 17th centuries.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">carrier

An [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aircraft carrier]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">carronade

A short, smoothbore, cast-iron naval cannon, used from the 1770s to the 1850s as a powerful, short-range, anti-ship and anti-crew weapon.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">carry on

Resume work or assigned duties.^[25]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cartel

A ship employed on humanitarian voyages, in particular to carry communications or prisoners between belligerents during wartime. A cartel flies distinctive flags, including a flag of truce, traditionally is unarmed except for a lone signaling gun, and under international law is not subject to seizure or capture during her outbound and return voyages as long as she engages in no warlike acts.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">carvel-built

A method of constructing a wooden [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] in which planks are butted edge-to-edge on a robust frame, so giving a smooth hull surface; traditionally the planks are not attached to each other, only to the frame, and have only a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|caulking]] sealant between them to make them watertight.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory. Contrast [[#lua error: not enough memory.|clinker-built]].

File:Clinker-carvel.svg

carvel]] styles of boat construction

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">casing

A light metal structure, usually incorporating a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]], built over the upper surface of a submarine's pressure hull to create a flat surface on which crew members can walk. A feature of submarines built prior to the mid-20th century, but not of more modern submarines.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cat

1. To prepare an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]] after raising it by lifting it with a tackle to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cathead]], prior to securing (fishing) it alongside for sea. An anchor raised to the cathead is said to be catted.

2. The [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cat o' nine tails]].

3. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cat-rigged]] boat or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|catboat]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cat o' nine tails

Lua error: not enough memory.

A short, multi-tailed whip or flail kept by the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bosun]]'s mate to flog sailors (and soldiers in the army) who had committed infractions while at sea. When not in use, the cat was often kept in a baize bag, a possible origin for the term "cat out of the bag".^[26] "Not enough room to swing a cat" also derives from this.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">catamaran

Any vessel with two [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hulls]]. Compare trimaran.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">catboat

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cat-rigged]] vessel with a single mast mounted close to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] and only one sail, usually on a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gaff]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">catenary

Lua error: not enough memory.

The curve of a deployed anchor chain.^[27]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">catharpin

A short rope or iron clamp used to brace in the shrouds toward the masts so as to give a freer sweep to the yards.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cathead

A beam extending out from the hull used to support an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]] when raised in order to secure or "fish" it.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cat's paws

Light, variable winds on calm waters producing scattered areas of small waves.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">caulk

To create a watertight seal between structures. In traditional [[#lua error: not enough memory.|carvel]] construction, this involved hammering oakum (recycled rope fibres) or caulking cotton into the slightly tapered fine gaps between the hull or deck planks and, in older methods, covering with tar. The expansion of the fibres in water tightens up the hull, making it less prone to racking movement, as well as making the joint watertight.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">celestial navigation

Navigation by the position of celestial objects, including the stars, Sun, and Moon, using tools aboard ship such as a sextant, chronometer, and compass, as well as published tables of the expected positions of celestial objects on specific dates. Celestial navigation was the primary method of navigation until the development of electronic global positioning systems such as LORAN and GPS.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ceiling

Planking attached to the inside of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|frames]] or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|floors]] of a wooden hull. It serves to separate the cargo from the hull planking itself, but also has a structural role, contributing to the strength of the hull.. The ceiling has different names in different places; e.g. [[#lua error: not enough memory.|limber boards]], spirketting, quickwork, etc. The lower part of the ceiling is, confusingly to a landsman, what you are standing on at the bottom of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hold]] of a wooden ship.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.^[28]^{: Lua error: not enough memory., glossary}

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">center of effortLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

The point of origin of net aerodynamic force upon a sail, roughly located in the geometric center of the sail, though the actual position of the center of effort will vary with sail plan, sail trim, or airfoil profile, boat trim, and point of sail.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">center of lateral resistanceLua error: not enough memory.

The point of origin of net hydrodynamic resistance on the submerged structure of a boat, especially a sailboat. This is the pivot point the boat turns about when unbalanced external forces are applied, similar to the center of gravity. On a perfectly balanced sailboat, the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|center of effort]] will align vertically with the center of lateral resistance. If this is not the case, the boat will be unbalanced and will exhibit either [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lee helm]] or weather helm and will be difficult to control.

Lua error: not enough memory.<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">centerline

An imaginary line down the center of a vessel lengthwise. Any structure or anything mounted or carried on a vessel that straddles this line and is equidistant from either side of the vessel is said to be "on the centerline".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">centreboardLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A wooden board or metal plate which can be pivoted through a fore-and-aft slot along the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|centerline]] in the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] of a sailing vessel, functioning as a retractable [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] to help the boat resist [[#lua error: not enough memory.|leeway]] by moving its [[#lua error: not enough memory.|center of lateral resistance]]. Very common in [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dinghies]], but also found in some larger boats. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|daggerboard]] serves the same purpose but slides vertically rather than pivoting.

File:Centerboard (PSF).svg

centerboard]] on a boat

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chafing

Wear on a line or sail caused by constant rubbing against another surface.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chafing gear

Material applied to a line or spar to prevent or reduce [[#lua error: not enough memory.|chafing]]. See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|baggywrinkle]] and puddening.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chain locker

A space in the forward part of a ship, typically beneath the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] in front of the foremost collision [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bulkhead]], that contains the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor chain]] when the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]] is secured for sea.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chain-shot

Cannonballs linked with short lengths of chain, designed to be especially damaging to rigging and masts.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chain plates

Iron bars bolted to a ship's side to which the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deadeyes]] or rigging screws of the lower figging and the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|back-stays]] are bolted.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chain-wale

Lua error: not enough memory.

A broad, thick plank that projects horizontally from each of a ship's sides abreast a mast (distinguished as the fore, main, or mizzen channel accordingly), serving to extend the base for the shrouds, which support the mast.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chains

Small platforms built into the sides of a ship to spread the shrouds to a more advantageous angle. Also used as a platform for manual [[#lua error: not enough memory.|depth sounding]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chalupa

1. A small boat that functions as a shallop, water taxi, or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gondola]].

2. In Portuguese, a small boat used for [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cabotage]], propelled by either oars or sails. Those equipped with sails have a single mast.

3. A type of whaling boat used by the Basques in the mid-16th century in what is now Newfoundland and Labrador.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">channel fever

1. The impatient excitement in a ship's crew as the end of a voyage becomes imminent. Characteristics include crew members working harder to get the ship sailing faster, off-watch personnel being on deck to keep track of progress, and everyone being packed and in their shore-going clothes (ready to be paid off) the moment the vessel arrives in port.^[29]

2. (obsolete usage) A crew member avoiding duties with a feigned illness, usually after leaving port.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Charlie/Charley Noble

The metal stovepipe chimney from a cook shack on the deck of a ship or from a stove in a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|galley]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chartered ship

Lua error: not enough memory.

A term used by the British East India Company from the 17th to the 19th centuries for a merchant ship it chartered to make a single, often one-way, voyage between England (later the United Kingdom) and ports east of the Cape of Good Hope, a trade over which the company held a strict monopoly. A charter ship during its single voyage was employed in much the same way as what the company called an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|extra ship]], though the company usually hired charter ships on special terms and for much shorter periods.^[30]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">charthouse

A compartment from which the ship was navigated, especially in the Royal Navy.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chartplotter

An electronic instrument that places the position of the ship (from a GPS receiver) onto a digital nautical chart displayed on a monitor, thereby replacing all manual navigation functions. Chartplotters also display information collected from all shipboard electronic instruments and often directly control autopilots.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chase gunLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A cannon pointing forward or aft, often of longer range than other guns. Those on the bow ([[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow chasers]]) were used to fire upon a ship ahead, while those on the rear (stern chasers) were used to ward off pursuing vessels. Unlike guns pointing to the side, chasers could be brought to bear in a chase without slowing down the vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chasse-marée

A decked commercial sailing vessel engaged in the transportation of fresh fish directly from fishing grounds to ports in Brittany between the 18th century and around the third quarter of the 19th century. Three-masted luggers replaced the vessels originally serving in this role; the luggers then were replaced successively by [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dundees]], [[#lua error: not enough memory.|brigs]], and schooners.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cheeks

1. Wooden blocks at the side of a spar.

2. Flat plates of iron or wood bolted to the masthead to form angle supports for the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cross-trees]].Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

3. The sides of a block or gun-carriage.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chief engineer

The senior engineering officer (abbreviated ChEng).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chine

1. An angle in the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]].

2. A line formed where the sides of a boat meet the bottom.^[1] Soft chine is when the two sides join at a shallow angle, and hard chine is when they join at a steep angle.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chock

A hole or ring attached to the hull to guide a line via that point; an opening in a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bulwark]], normally oval in shape, designed to allow mooring lines to be fastened to [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cleats]] or bits mounted to the ship's deck. See also Panama chock and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|Dutchman's chock]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chock-a-block

Rigging [[#lua error: not enough memory.|blocks]] that are so tight against one another that they cannot be further tightened.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chop

Waves, usually created by the wind, which are smaller and shorter-lived than swell.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">chronometer

A timekeeping device accurate enough to be used aboard a ship to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation. The invention of the marine chronometer in the 18th century was a major technical achievement for maritime navigation.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cigarette boat

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|go-fast boat]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">citadel

A fortified safe room on a vessel to take shelter in the event of pirate attack. Previously, a fortified room to protect ammunition and machinery from damage.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">civil Red Ensign

The British Naval Ensign or flag of the British Merchant Navy, a red flag with the Union Flag in the upper left corner. Colloquially called the "red duster".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">class

1. Strictly, a group of government ships, especially naval ships, of the same or similar design.

2. Informally, a group of private or commercial ships of the same or similar design.

3. A standard of construction for merchant vessels, including standards for specific types or specialized capabilities of some types of merchant vessels (see, for example, ice class). A ship meeting the standard is in class, while one not meeting it is out of class.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">class leader

Synonym for lead ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">classification society

Lua error: not enough memory.

See ship classification society.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">clean bill of health

A certificate issued by a port indicating that a ship carries no infectious diseases. Also called a pratique.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">clean slate

At the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helm]], the watchkeeper would record details of speed, distances, headings, etc. on a slate. At the beginning of a new watch the slate would be wiped clean.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">clear

1. To perform customs and immigration legalities prior to leaving port.

2. More loosely, to leave port.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cleat

A stationary device used to secure a rope aboard a vessel.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">clench

A method of fixing together two pieces of wood, usually overlapping planks, by driving a nail through both planks as well as a washer-like rove. The nail is then burred or riveted over to complete the fastening.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">clew

One of the lower corners of a square sail, or, on a triangular sail, the corner at the end of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boom]].^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">clewlinesLua error: not enough memory.

[[#lua error: not enough memory.|Lines]] used to truss up the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|clews]], the lower corners of square sails. Used to reduce and stow a barge's topsail.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">clinker-built

A method of constructing [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hulls]] that involves overlapping planks and/or plates, much like Viking longships, resulting in speed and flexibility in small boat hulls. Contrast [[#lua error: not enough memory.|carvel-built]].

File:Clinker-carvel.svg

carvel]] styles of boat construction

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">clipper

1. A sailing vessel designed primarily for speed. While the square-rigged clipper [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ships]] of the middle of the 19th century are well known, others, such as Baltimore Clippers and opium clippers could be rigged differently, often as schooners, and a small number of 19th-century clippers were built as barques.

2. A tuna clipper.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">close aboard

Very near (the ship).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">close-hauled

(of a vessel) [[#lua error: not enough memory.|Beating]] as close to the wind direction as possible.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">clove hitch

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bend]] used to attach a rope to a post or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bollard]]. Also used to finish tying off the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foresail]].^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">club hauling

A maneuver by which a ship drops one of its [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchors]] at high speed in order to turn abruptly. This was sometimes used as a means of obtaining a good firing angle on a pursuing vessel. See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|kedge]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">C.O. (or CO)Lua error: not enough memory.

An abbreviation for [[#lua error: not enough memory.|commanding officer]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">coal hulk

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hulk]] used to store coal.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">coal trimmerLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A person responsible for ensuring that a coal-fired vessel remains in "trim" (evenly balanced) as coal is consumed on a voyage.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">coaling

Loading coal for use as fuel aboard a steamship. A time-consuming, laborious, and dirty process often undertaken by the entire crew, coaling was a necessity from the early days of steam in the 19th century until the early 20th century, when oil supplanted coal as the fuel of choice for steamships.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">coaming

The raised edge of a hatch, cockpit, or skylight, designed to help keep out water that pools on the surface above.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">coaster

Lua error: not enough memory.

A coastal trading vessel; a shallow-hulled ship used for trade between locations on the same island or continent.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">coble

A type of open traditional fishing boat with a flat bottom and high bow which developed on the northeast coast of England.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cockbill

To angle a square-rigged yard away from the horizontal so that it is out of the way for loading or unloading, or so that the ship may lie alongside another ship without the yards touching.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cockpit

A seating area (not to be confused with the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]]) towards the stern of a small-decked vessel that houses the rudder controls.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cofferdam

An insulating space between two watertight bulkheads or decks within a ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cog

A type of sailing ship, with a single mast and a single square-rigged sail first developed in the 10th century and widely used, particularly in the Baltic Sea region, in seagoing trade from the 12th through the 14th centuries. It had a distinctive hull design: the flat bottom was [[#lua error: not enough memory.|carvel-built]] and the sides were [[#lua error: not enough memory.|clinker-built]].^[31]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">coign

A wedge used to assist in the aiming of a cannon; an older form of "quoin".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">collier

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bulk cargo ship]] designed to carry coal, especially such a ship in naval use to supply coal to coal-fired warships.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">combat loading

A way of loading a vessel that gives military forces embarked aboard her immediate access to weapons, ammunition, and supplies needed when conducting an amphibious landing. In combat loading, cargo is stowed in such a way that unloading of equipment will match up with the personnel that are landing and in the order they land, so that they have immediate access to the gear they need for combat as soon as they land. Combat loading gives primary consideration to the ease and sequence with which troops, equipment, and supplies can be made ready for combat, sacrificing the more efficient use of cargo space that ship operators seek when loading a ship for the routine transportation of personnel and cargo.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">comber

A long, curving wave breaking on the shore.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">come about

1. To tack.

2. To change tack.

3. To manoeuvre the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] of a sailing vessel across the wind so that the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other.

4. To position a vessel with respect to the wind after tacking.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">come to

To stop a sailing vessel, especially by turning into the wind.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">commanding officer

The officer in command of a warship. Also called "CO", "captain" (regardless of rank), "skipper", or "the old man".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">commission

To formally place (a naval vessel) into active service, after which the vessel is said to be in commission. Sometimes used less formally to mean placing a commercial ship into service.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">commissioning pennant

A pennant flown from the masthead of a warship. Also called a masthead pennant.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">commodore

1. (rank) Prior to 1997, the title used in the Royal Navy for an officer of the rank of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|captain]] who was given temporary command of a squadron. At the end of the deployment of the squadron, or in the presence of an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|admiral]], he would revert to his de facto rank of captain.

2. (rank) A military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy [[#lua error: not enough memory.|captain]] but below a rear admiral. Often equivalent to the rank of "flotilla admiral" or sometimes "counter admiral" in non-English-speaking navies.

3. (convoy commodore) A civilian put in charge of the good order of the merchant ships in British convoys during World War II, but with no authority over naval ships escorting the convoy.

4. (commodore (yacht club)) An officer of a yacht club.

5. (Commodore (Sea Scouts)) A position in the Boy Scouts of America's Sea Scouts program.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">communication tubeLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

An air-filled tube, usually armored, allowing speech between the conning tower and the below-decks control spaces on a warship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">companionway

A raised and windowed hatchway in a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]], with a ladder leading below and the hooded entrance-hatch to the main [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cabins]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">complement

1. The number of persons in a ship′s [[#lua error: not enough memory.|crew]], including officers.

2. A collective term for all of the persons in a ship′s crew, including officers.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">comprise

To include or contain. As applied to a naval task force, the listing of all assigned units for a single transient purpose or mission (e.g. "The task force comprises Ship A, Ship B, and Ship C"). "Comprise" means exhaustive inclusion – there are not any other parts to the task force, and each ship has a permanent squadron existence, independent of the task force.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">concrete ship

A vessel constructed of steel and ferrocement (a type of reinforced concrete) rather than of more traditional materials, such as steel, iron, or wood.^[32]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">confined waters

Waters where there is little space to maneuver

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">conn

Lua error: not enough memory.

To direct a ship or submarine from a position of command. While performing this duty, an officer is said to have the conn.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">conning officer

An officer on a naval vessel responsible for instructing the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helmsman]] on the course to steer. While performing this duty, the officer is said to have the conn.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">conning tower

1. An armored control tower of an iron or steel warship built between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries from which the ship was navigated in battle.

2. A tower-like structure on the dorsal (topside) surface of a submarine, serving in submarines built before the mid-20th century as a connecting structure between the bridge and pressure hull and housing instruments and controls from which the periscopes were used to direct the submarine and launch torpedo attacks. Since the mid-20th century, it has been replaced by the sail (United States usage) or fin (European and Commonwealth usage), a structure similar in appearance that no longer plays a role in directing the submarine.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">consort

Unpowered Great Lakes vessels, usually a fully loaded schooner, [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barge]], or steamer barge, towed by a larger steamer that would often tow more than one barge. The consort system was used in the Great Lakes from the 1860s to around 1920.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">constant bearing, decreasing range (CBDR)Lua error: not enough memory.

When two boats are approaching each other from any angle and this angle remains the same over time (constant [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bearing]]) they are on a collision course. Because of the implication of collision, "constant bearing, decreasing range" has come to mean a problem or an obstacle which is incoming.^[33]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">container ship

A cargo ship that carries all of her cargo in truck-size intermodal containers.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">convoy

A group of ships traveling together for mutual support and protection.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">corinthian

An amateur yachter.^[34]^[35]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">corrector

A device used to correct the ship's compass, e.g. by counteracting errors due to the magnetic effects of a steel hull.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">corsair

1. A French privateer, especially one from the port of St-Malo.

2. Any privateer or pirate.

3. A ship used by privateers or pirates, especially of French nationality.

4. (corsair (dinghy)) A class of Lua error: not enough memory. three-handed sailing [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dinghy]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">corvette

Lua error: not enough memory.

1. A flush-decked sailing warship of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries having a single tier of guns, ranked next below a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|frigate]]. In the U.S. Navy, it is referred to as a sloop-of-war.

2. A lightly armed and armored warship of the 20th and 21st centuries, smaller than a frigate and capable of transoceanic duty.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cotchel

A partial load.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cottonclad

A steam-powered wooden warship protected from enemy fire by bales of cotton lining its sides, most commonly associated with some of the warships employed by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861–1865).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">counter

The part of the stern above the waterline that extends beyond the rudder stock culminating in a small transom. A long counter increases the waterline length when the boat is [[#lua error: not enough memory.|heeled]], so increasing hull speed. See also truncated counter.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">counterflood

To deliberately flood compartments on the opposite side from already flooded ones. Usually done to reduce a list.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">country ship

A term used by the British East India Company from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century for a merchant ship owned by local owners east of the Cape of Good Hope which traded within that area and gathered cargoes for shipment west of the Cape to England (later the United Kingdom) by the company's "[[#lua error: not enough memory.|chartered ships]]", "[[#lua error: not enough memory.|extra ships]]", and "regular ships". "Country ships" were strictly prohibited from trading west of the Cape, which would violate the company's strict monopoly on that trade.^[30] Country ships were also important in the opium trade from India into China until supplanted by the faster opium clipper.^[36]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">course

1. The direction in which a vessel is being steered, usually given in degrees.

2. The lowest square sail on a square rigged mast, except where that mast is the mizzen – in which case the name [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cro'jack]] (cross-jack) or mizzen-sail is used.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cowl

1. A ship's ventilator with a bell-shaped top that can be swiveled to catch the wind and force it below.

2. A vertical projection of a ship's funnel that directs the smoke away from the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bridge]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">coxswainLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

The [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helmsman]] or crew member in command of a boat.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">CPO country

The part of a naval vessel containing the residential quarters and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|wardroom]] for [[#lua error: not enough memory.|chief petty officer]]s. CPO country is off-limits to more junior enlisted personnel unless they are there on official business.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">crab

A winch used for raising the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|leeboard]], with a barrel for pulling in the staysail sheets.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">crabber

A fishing vessel rigged for crab fishing.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">crane vessel or crane ship

A ship with a crane and specialized for lifting heavy loads.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cranse iron

Lua error: not enough memory.

The metal fitting mounted at the end of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bowsprit]] to which the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forestay]] (or jibstay), [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bobstay]], and bowsprit shrouds are attached. It is also where the tack of the outermost [[#lua error: not enough memory.|headsail]] is fastened.^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">crash rescue boat or crash boat

A term used in the United States to describe military high-speed offshore rescue boats, similar in size and performance to motor torpedo boats, used to rescue pilots and aircrews of crashed aircraft.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Crazy Ivan

U.S. Navy slang for a maneuver in which a submerged Soviet or Russian submarine suddenly turns 180 degrees or through 360 degrees to detect submarines following it.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">crew

1. On warships and merchant ships, all of those members of a ship's company who are not officers.

2. On leisure vessels with no formal chain of command, all of those persons who are not the skipper or passengers.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">crew boat

A vessel specialized for the transportation of offshore support personnel and cargo to and from offshore installations such as oil platforms, drilling rigs, drill ships, dive ships, and wind farms. Also known as a fast support vessel or fast supply vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">crew management

The services rendered by specialised shipping companies to manage the human resources and manning of all types of vessels, including recruitment, deployment to vessel, scheduling, and training, as well as the ongoing management and administrative duties of seafarers, such as payroll, travel arrangements, insurance and health schemes, overall career development, and day-to-day welfare. Also known as crewing.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cringle

A loop of rope, usually at the corners of a sail, for fixing the sail to a spar. They are often reinforced with a metal eye.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cro'jackLua error: not enough memory.

The square sail set on the lower mizzen yard of a square-rigged ship. Many full-rigged ships would not set a sail in this position, as it would be interfered with by the spankerLua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cross the line

Cross the equator.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">crosstrees

Two horizontal struts at the upper ends of the topmasts of sailboats, used to anchor the shrouds from the topgallant mast. Lateral spreaders for the topmast shrouds (standing back stays).^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">crow's nest

A masthead constructed with sides and sometimes a roof to shelter the lookouts from the weather, generally by whaling vessels. The term has also become generic for what is properly called a masthead.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cruise ship

A passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way. Transportation is not the prime purpose, as cruise ships operate mostly on routes that return passengers to their originating port. A cruise ship contrasts with a passenger liner, which is a passenger ship that provides a scheduled service between published ports primarily as a mode of transportation. Large, prestigious passenger ships used for either purpose are sometimes called ocean liners.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cruiser

1. From the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, a classification for a wide variety of gun- and sometimes torpedo-armed warships, usually but not always armored, intended for independent scouting, raiding, or commerce protection; some were designed also to provide direct support to a battle fleet. Cruisers carried out functions performed previously by the cruising ships (sailing frigates and sloops-of-war) of the Age of Sail.

2. From the early to the mid-20th century, a type of armored warship with varying armament and of various sizes, but always smaller than a battleship and larger than a destroyer, capable of both direct support of a battle fleet and of independent operations, armed with guns and sometimes torpedoes.

3. After the mid-20th century, various types of warships of intermediate size armed with guided missiles and sometimes guns, intended for air defense of aircraft carriers and associated task forces or for anti-ship missile attacks against such forces; virtually indistinguishable from large destroyers since the late 20th century.

4. A yacht with one or more cabins containing the facilities for living aboard, thus capable of making voyages.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">crutches

Metal Y-shaped pins used to fix oars while rowing.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cuddy

A small [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cabin]] in a boat; a cabin, for the use of the captain, in the after part of a sailing ship under the poop deck.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Cunningham

A line invented by Briggs Cunningham, used to control the shape of a sail.^[37]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cunt splice or cut spliceLua error: not enough memory.

A join between two lines, similar to an eye-splice, where each rope end is joined to the other a short distance along, making an opening that closes under tension.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cuntline

The "valley" between the strands of a rope or cable. Before serving a section of laid rope, e.g. to protect it from [[#lua error: not enough memory.|chafing]], it may be "wormed" by laying yarns in the cuntlines, giving that section an even cylindrical shape.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cut and run

When wanting to make a quick escape, a ship might cut lashings to sails or cables for anchors, causing damage to the rigging, or losing an anchor, but shortening the time needed to make ready by bypassing the proper procedures.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cut of his jib

The "cut" of a sail refers to its shape. Since this would often vary between ships, it could be used both to identify a familiar vessel at a distance, and to judge the possible sailing qualities of an unknown one. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the ships of different nations used visually distinctive types of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jibs]] that could be determined at a distance, providing an easy way to determine friend from foe.^[38] Also used figuratively of people.^[39]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cutter

1. A sailing vessel defined by its rig. In European waters this is a single-masted [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore and aft rig]] with two or more [[#lua error: not enough memory.|headsails]] In North American waters, the definition also considers whether or not the bowsprit is permanently fixed and also takes into account the position of the mast. A standing (permanently fixed) bowsprit and a forward mast position, but with two or more headsails would be classed as a sloop in the North American definition. A running bowsprit, a forestay (carrying a staysail) that is fixed to the stemhead, a jib that is set flying and a mast position that is more aft is a cutter.

2. A type of ship's boat powered by sail or oars, though more optimised for sail than many types of ship's boat.

3. A small- or medium-sized vessel used by governmental agencies or law enforcement in the exercise of official authority, such as harbor pilots' cutters, U.S. Coast Guard cutters, and UK Border Agency cutters.

4. A type of decked sailing vessel originating in the early 18th century designed for speed. Many were used as small warships. Originally cutter referred only to a type of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]], but it came to refer to the rig, which was single-masted with both fore-and-aft and square sails. A cutter rig had very large sail areas available for use in light winds.

File:Cutter rigging.svg

flying jib]] (E)

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cutting out

A surprise attack by small boats, often at night, against an anchored vessel in which the small-boat crews boarded and captured or destroyed the target vessel. Cutting out became a popular tactic in the latter part of the 18th century and saw extensive use during the Napoleonic Wars. Cutting out was still in use in the mid-19th century, in conflicts such as the Mexican-American War and American Civil War.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">cutwater

The forward curve of the stem of a ship.

Contents: Top	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z	References

D

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">daggerboard

A type of light [[#lua error: not enough memory.|centerboard]] that is lifted vertically; sometimes in pairs, with the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|leeward]] one lowered when [[#lua error: not enough memory.|beating]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dan or dan-buoy

A temporary marker [[#lua error: not enough memory.|buoy]] consisting of a long pole with flag and/or light at the top and, lower down, a float and a ballast weight to make it float vertically. May be used with or without an anchor to attach it to the sea bed. In naval use often marks a swept channel created by minesweeping. In other uses may mark fishing equipment (nets or pots), an anchor, or, most commonly, is attached to a lifebuoy to throw into the sea to mark the position of a man overboard.^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dandy

1. A rig with a small mizzen [[#lua error: not enough memory.|abaft]] the steering post.^[1]

2. In British usage, another name for a yawl.

3. In British usage, a small after-sail on a yawl.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">danlayer

A mine warfare vessel, usually a small trawler, fitted for laying [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dans]]. Danlayers served as a part of minesweeping [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flotillas]] during and immediately after World War II (1939–1945).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dart

To run dart; to run dead before the wind.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">davit

1. A spar formerly used on board ships as a crane to hoist the flukes of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]] to the top of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] without injuring the sides of the ship.

2. A crane, often working in pairs and usually made of steel, used to lower things over the side of a ship, including [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lifeboats]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Davy Jones' Locker

An idiom for the bottom of the sea.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">day beacon

An unlighted fixed structure equipped with a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dayboard]] for daytime identification.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">day-blink

The moment at dawn where, from some point on the mast, a lookout can see above low-lying mist around the ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dayboard

The daytime identifier of an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aid to navigation]] presenting one of several standard shapes (square, triangle, or rectangle) and colors (red, green, white, orange, yellow, or black).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">day boat

1. A sailing boat without overnight accommodation, sometimes with a small cabin, used for pleasure sailing. Typically around Lua error: not enough memory. in length^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}

2. (United States): a steamboat built for daytime service; as opposed to a night boat.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dead ahead

Exactly ahead; directly ahead; directly in front.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dead horse

Debt owed for advanced pay.^[25] The "flogging a dead horse" ceremony at sea celebrated discharge of the debt.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dead in the water

Not moving (used only when a vessel is afloat and neither tied up nor anchored). The term is abbreviated to DIW by the U.S. Navy. It is often used to indicate that a pirate or drug runner vessel has been immobilised.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dead run

See running.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dead slow

See steerageway.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dead wake

The trail of a fading disturbance in the water. See also wake.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deadeye

A wooden block with three holes (but no pulleys) spliced to a shroud. It adjusts the tension in the standing rigging of large sailing vessels, by lacing through the holes with a lanyard to the deck. It performs the same job as a turnbuckle.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deadhead

A snag.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deadlight

A strong shutter fitted over a porthole or other opening that can be closed in bad weather.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dead reckoning

A method of navigation that estimates a ship's position from the distance run measured by the log and the course steered. If corrections for factors such as tide and leeway are then made, this provides an estimated position.^[40] Dead reckoning contrasts with fixing a position with astronomical navigation or satellite navigation. Some sources consider that a dead reckoning position does include adjustments for wind and tide, so care is needed in interpretation of this term.^[41]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deadrise

The angle of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] surface, relative to horizontal, as measured on either side of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] on a line drawn towards the turn of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bilge]]. Without any other qualifier, it is taken at the midships cross-section of the hull. This can be expressed in degrees or sometimes as a vertical linear measure (such as inches) at a standard distance from the keel. A hull with a lot of deadrise has an obvious "V" shape to the bottom of the hull, whereas no deadrise denotes sheer sides and a flat-bottomed hull. It is usually taken to be one of several measures of the "sharpness" of a hull. It can also be referred to as the "rise of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|floor]]".^[42]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deadwood

In a traditional wooden hull, blocks of timber on the top of the keel that form the shape of the hull where its section is too narrow for the method of construction employed elsewhere. It is often used forward of the sternpost.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">death roll

In a keel boat, the act of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|broaching]] to windward, putting the spinnaker pole into the water and causing a crash-[[#lua error: not enough memory.|gybe]] of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boom]] and mainsail, which sweep across the deck and plunge down into the water. During a death roll, the boat rolls from side to side, becoming gradually more unstable until either it [[#lua error: not enough memory.|capsizes]] or the skipper reacts correctly to prevent it.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">debarcation or disembarkation

The process of leaving a ship or aircraft, or removing goods from a ship or aircraft.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">debunk

The process of removing fuel from a vessel. After a shipwreck, a "debunkering" operation will be performed in an effort to minimize damage and protect the environment from fuel spills.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deck

1. The top of a ship or vessel; the surface that is removed to accommodate the seating area.

2. Any of the structures forming the approximately horizontal surfaces in the ship's general structure. Unlike flats, they are a structural part of the ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deck gun

A gun mounted on the deck of a submarine for use in surface combat. Common on submarines of the first half of the 20th century, deck guns became obsolete as submarines became capable of sustained underwater operations after World War II.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deck handLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A person whose job involves aiding the deck supervisor in (un)mooring, anchoring, maintenance, and general evolutions on deck.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deck supervisor

The person in charge of all evolutions and maintenance on deck; sometimes split into two groups: forward deck supervisor and aft deck supervisor.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deckhead

The underside of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] above. The inside of the boat is normally paneled over to hide the structure, pipes, electrical wires. It can be in thin wood planks, often covered with a vinyl lining, or in thin PVC or now even in fiberglass planks.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">deckhouse

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cabin]] that protrudes above a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">decks awash

A situation in which the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] of the vessel is partially or wholly submerged, possibly as a result of excessive [[#lua error: not enough memory.|listing]] or a loss of buoyancy.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">decommission

To formally take (a naval vessel) out of active service, after which the vessel is said to be out of commission or decommissioned. Sometimes used less formally to mean taking a commercial ship out of service.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">degaussing

A process to reduce a warship's magnetic signature.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">demurrage

A fee paid by a charter party to a shipowner if the time taken to load or unload a vessel exceeds the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|laytime]] – the amount of time stipulated for loading or unloading – specified in a voyage charter.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">depot ship

A ship that acts as a mobile or fixed base for other ships and submarines or that supports a naval base.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">depth of hold

The distance between the underside of the main [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] (or its supporting beams) and the top of the limber boards (the part of the ceiling that lies alongside the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keelson]]), measured at the middle frame. It is one of the key measurements in working out the measurement tonnage in most systems.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">derrick

A lifting device composed of one mast or pole and a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boom]] or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jib]] hinged freely at the bottom.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">despatch

A fee paid by a shipowner to a charter party if the time taken to load or unload a vessel is less than the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|laytime]] – the amount of time stipulated for loading or unloading – specified in a voyage charter.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">despatch boat

An alternate spelling of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dispatch boat]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">destroyer

A type of fast and maneuverable small warship introduced in the 1890s to protect [[#lua error: not enough memory.|capital ships]] from torpedo boat attack, and since increased in size and capabilities to become a long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or battle group and defend them against submarines, surface ships, aircraft, or missiles. Originally torpedo boat destroyer. In U.S. Navy slang, also called a tin can or small boy.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">destroyer depot ship

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|destroyer tender]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">destroyer escort

A US Navy term for a smaller, lightly armed warship built in large numbers during World War II (and in smaller numbers thereafter), cheaper, slower, and less-well-armed than a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|destroyer]] but larger and more heavily armed than a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|corvette]] and designed to escort convoys of merchant ships or naval auxiliaries or second-line naval forces. Employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also used to provide some protection against aircraft and smaller surface ships. Generally known as [[#lua error: not enough memory.|frigates]] in other navies, and designated as such in the U.S. Navy as well by the 1970s.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">destroyer leader

A large [[#lua error: not enough memory.|destroyer]] suitable for commanding a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flotilla]] of destroyers or other small warships; a type of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flotilla leader]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">destroyer tender

A naval [[#lua error: not enough memory.|auxiliary ship]] designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. Known in British English as a destroyer depot ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">devil seam

The devil was possibly a slang term for the garboard seam, hence "[[#lua error: not enough memory.|between the devil and the deep blue sea]]" being an allusion to keel hauling, but a more popular version seems to be the seam between the waterway and the stanchions, which would be difficult to get at, requiring a cranked caulking iron, and a restricted swing of the caulking mallet.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">devil to pay

Lua error: not enough memory.

"Paying" the devil is sealing the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|devil seam]]. It is a difficult and unpleasant job (with no resources) because of the shape of the seam (up against the stanchions) or if the devil refers to the garboard seam, it must be done with the ship slipped or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|careened]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">devil's claw

A type of chain stopper often used to secure an anchor in its [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hawsepipe]]. Consists of a two-pronged hook that fits over a link of chain, a turnbuckle and a short chain fastened to a strong point.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dhow

The generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lateen sails]] used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region, typically weighing 300 to 500 tons, with a long, thin hull. They are trading vessels primarily used to carry heavy items, like fruit, fresh water, or merchandise. Crews vary from about thirty to around twelve, depending on the size of the vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">diamonds

Glass prisms that were laid between the wooden deck planks to allow natural light below were referred to as diamonds due to the sparkle they gave off in the sunlight.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dinghy

1. A type of small boat, often carried or towed as a ship's boat by a larger vessel.

2. A small racing yacht or recreational open sailing boat, often used for beginner training rather than sailing full-sized yachts.

3. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor, but some are rigged for sailing.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dipping the eye

A method of attaching more than one [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hawser]] to a single [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bollard]], so that each can be lifted off without disturbing the other(s). The second hawser is passed under the first, then up through the eye of the first (hence the name), before being secured over the bollard.

File:Multiple mooring correct.png

Dipping the eye

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dipping the flag

A method of rendering honors at sea by lowering and raising a ship's flag.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">directional light

A light illuminating a sector or very narrow angle and intended to mark a direction to be followed.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dispatch boat

A vessel ranging in size from a small boat to a large ship tasked to carry military dispatches from ship to ship, from ship to shore, or, occasionally, from shore to shore.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">displacement

The weight of water displaced by the immersed volume of a ship's hull, exactly equivalent to the weight of the whole ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">displacement hull

A hull designed to travel through the water, rather than planing over it.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">disposable ship

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A barely seaworthy ship of the 19th century assembled from large timbers lashed or pegged together and designed to make a single voyage from North America to the United Kingdom and then to be disassembled so that her timbers could be sold, thus avoiding high British taxes on lumber imported as cargo. When British taxes on imported lumber fell, the construction of disposable ships ceased.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">disrate

To reduce in rank or rating; to demote.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">distinctive mark

A flag flown to distinguish ships of one seagoing service of a given country from ships of the country's other seagoing service(s) when ships of more than one of the country's seagoing services fly the same [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ensign]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ditty bag

Bag or box for personal items.^[25]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">division

1. Especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a permanent battle formation of a fleet, often smaller than a squadron, equipped and trained to operate as a tactical unit under the overall command of a higher command, such as a fleet or squadron.

2. Especially in modern usage, an administrative naval command, smaller than a squadron and often subordinate to an administrative squadron, responsible for the manning, training, supply, and maintenance of a group of ships or submarines but not for directing their operations at sea.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Divisional Transport Officer

Lua error: not enough memory.

In British usage, a shore-based naval officer responsible for the efficient working of the transports and boats of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flotilla]], [[#lua error: not enough memory.|division]], or squadron under his charge.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dock

1. In American usage, a fixed structure attached to shore to which a vessel is secured when in port, generally synonymous with pier and wharf, except that pier tends to refer to structures used for tying up commercial ships and to structures extending from shore for use in fishing, while dock refers more generally to facilities used for tying up ships or boats, including recreational craft.

2. In British usage, the body of water between two piers or wharves that accommodates vessels tied up at the piers or wharves.

3. To tie up along a pier or wharf.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dockyard

A facility where ships or boats are built and repaired. Routinely used as a synonym for shipyard, although dockyard is sometimes associated more closely with a facility used for maintenance and basing activities, while shipyard sometimes is associated more closely with a facility used in construction.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dodger

A hood forward of a hatch or cockpit to protect the crew from wind and spray. Can be soft or hard.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dog

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Device to secure doors and hatches. Typically used for watertight openings, but can apply elsewhere. "Dogging the hatches" is a common phrase.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dog watch

A short watch period, generally half the usual time (e.g., a two-hour watch rather than a four-hour one). Such watches might be included in order to rotate the system over different days for fairness, or to allow both watches to eat their meals at approximately normal times.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">doghouse

A slang term (in the US, mostly) for a raised portion of a ship's deck. A doghouse is usually added to improve headroom below or to shelter a hatch.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dogvane

A small weather vane, sometimes improvised with a scrap of cloth, yarn, or other light material mounted within sight of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helmsman]]. See tell-tale.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">doldrums

Lua error: not enough memory.

The equatorial trough, with special reference to the light and variable nature of the winds generally encountered there.^[43]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dolly winch

A small winch mounted on the windlass, used as an alternative to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|brails]] winch when that is obstructed in some way (e.g. by deck cargo).^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dolphin

A structure consisting of a number of piles driven into the seabed or riverbed as a marker.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dolphin striker

A spar protruding vertically beneath a bowsprit, usually attached to the boswprit cap, used provide a mechanically advantageous run for the martingale stay, and other ropes of a ship's rigging.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">donkey engine

A small auxiliary engine used either to start a larger engine or independently, e.g. for pumping water on steamships.^[44]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">donkeyman

One of a ship's engineering crew. Often a crewman responsible for maintaining a steam donkey, or any machinery other than the main engines. On some ships, the Petty Officer in charge of engineroom ratings.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dorade box

A dorade box (also called a dorade vent, collector box, or simply a "ventilator") is a type of vent that permits the passage of air in and out of the cabin or engine room of a boat while keeping rain, spray, and sea wash out.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">doryLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A shallow-draft, lightweight boat, about Lua error: not enough memory. long, with high sides, a flat bottom, and sharp [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bows]]. Traditionally used as fishing boats, both in coastal waters and in the open sea.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">double-banked

(of the arrangement of oars on a boat) having two oarsmen seated on each thwart, each of whom operates one oar on their side of the boat. This contrasts with single-banked, where only one oarsman is seated on each thwart operating one oar on one side of the boat, with the oars alternating between port and starboard along the length of the boat. A third arrangement is to have one rower on each thwart working two oars, one on each side of the boat.^[45]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">double-shotted

The practice of loading smoothbore cannon with two cannonballs.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">doubling the angle on the bow

A technique for establishing the distance from a point on land, such as a headland that is being passed. This is a type of running bearing which requires no plotting on the chart. The ship is sailed on a constant course and speed. The distance shown on the log is noted when the relative bearing of a fixed point is taken, and the increase in that bearing is watched until it is twice the original bearing, and the log is read again. The distance travelled between the two bearings is the distance of the ship from the fixed point when the second bearing was taken. Allowances for tidal streams may or may not be allowed for, depending on the accuracy required.^[46]^[47]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Dover cliffs

A slang term for very rough seas with large white-capped waves.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">downbound

1. Travel downstream, with a following current.^[48]

2. Eastward travel in the Great Lakes region (terminology used by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation).^[49]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">downflooding

The entry of water through any opening into the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] or superstructure of an undamaged vessel, such as an open door or porthole, loose or open hatch, ventilator opening, etc. Downflooding can occur due to a ship′s trim, if she [[#lua error: not enough memory.|heels]] or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lists]], or if she becomes totally or partially submerged.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">downhaul

A line used to control either a mobile spar, or the shape of a sail. A downhaul can also be used to retrieve a sail back on deck.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">drabbler

An extra strip of canvas secured below a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bonnet]], further to increase the area of a course.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">draftLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

The depth of a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] below the waterline.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dragger

1. A fishing trawler.

2. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dredger]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dragon boat

One of a family of traditional paddled long boats of various designs and sizes found throughout Asia, Africa, and the Pacific islands. For competitive events, they are generally rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails. Dragon boat races are traditionally held during the annual summer solstice festival.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">draught

Alternative spelling of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|draft]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dreadnought

A type of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|battleship]] designed with an "all-big-gun" armament layout in which the ship's primary gun power resided in a primary battery of its largest guns intended for use at long range, with other gun armament limited to small weapons intended for close-range defense against torpedo boats and other small warships. Most, but not all, dreadnoughts also had steam turbine propulsion. Predominant from 1906, dreadnoughts differed from earlier steam battleships, retroactively dubbed predreadnoughts, which had only a few large guns, relied on an intermediate secondary battery used at shorter ranges for most of their offensive power, and had triple-expansion steam engines.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dredger

A vessel specialized for use in the excavation of material from a water environment and equipped with heavy machinery for this purpose.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dress overall

To string International Code of Signals flags, arranged at random, from stemhead to masthead, between mastheads (if the vessel has more than one mast), and then down to the taffrail, on a ship in harbor as a sign of celebration of a national, local, or personal anniversary, event, holiday, or occasion. When a ship is properly dressed overall, [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ensigns]] fly at each masthead unless displaced by another flag (e.g. that of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flag officer]] on board), in addition to the ensign flown in the usual position at the stern.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dressing down

1. Treating old sails with oil or wax to renew them.

2. A verbal reprimand.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dressing lines

Lines running from stemhead to masthead, between mastheads, and then down to the taffrail, to which flags are attached when a ship is [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dressed overall]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">drifter

A type of fishing boat designed to catch herring in a long drift net, long used in the Netherlands and Great Britain.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">drink

Overboard and into the water (e.g. "it fell into the drink").

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">driver

The large sail flown from the mizzen [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gaff]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">driver-mast

The fifth mast of a six-masted [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barquentine]] or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gaff]] schooner. It is preceded by the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jigger mast]] and followed by the spanker mast. The sixth mast of the only seven-masted vessel, the gaff schooner Thomas W. Lawson, was normally called the pusher-mast.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">drogher

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|disposable ship]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">drogue

A device to slow a boat down in a storm so that it does not speed excessively down the slope of a wave and crash into the next one. It is generally constructed of heavy flexible material in the shape of a cone. See also sea anchor.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">drudging

A technique of maintaining steerageway when going downstream with neither engine nor wind to sail. The vessel uses its anchor to draw itself head-to-stream, then lifts the anchor and drifts stern-first downstream, ferry gliding to maintain position within the stream. As steerage begins to reduce, the vessel anchors again and then repeats the whole procedure as required.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">drydock

A narrow basin or vessel used for the construction, maintenance, and repair of ships, boats, and other watercraft that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">drying harbour

Lua error: not enough memory.

A harbour where the water wholly or partly recedes as the tide goes out, leaving any vessel moored there [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aground]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">dunnage

1. Loose packing material used to protect a ship's cargo from damage during transport. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fardage]].

2. Personal baggage.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Dutch barge

Lua error: not enough memory.

Any of several types of traditional flat-bottomed shoal-draught sailing barge, originally used for carrying cargo in the Zuyder Zee and on the rivers of the Netherlands.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Dutch built

Term of abuse implying shoddiness or (when directed at a person) stupidity or stubbornness, usually embellished with other oaths and insults tagged on fore and aft.

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E

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">earings

Small lines by which the uppermost corners of the largest sails are secured to the yardarms.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">East Indiaman

Any ship operating under charter or license to the East India Company (England), or to the Danish East India Company, French East India Company, Dutch East India Company, Portuguese East India Company, or Swedish East India Company from the 17th to the 19th centuries.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">echo sounding

The measurement of the depth of a body of water using a SONAR device. See also sounding and swinging the lead.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">embayed

A condition in which a sailing vessel (especially one that sails poorly to windward) is confined between two capes or headlands by a wind blowing directly onshore.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">en echelonLua error: not enough memory.

An arrangement of gun turrets whereby the turret on one side of the ship is placed further [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aft]] than the one on the other side, so that both turrets can fire to either side.

File:Minas Geraes-class battleships.jpg

Diagram showing the Minas Geraes-class battleship with its central guns arranged en echelon.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">engine order telegraph

Lua error: not enough memory.

A communications device used by the pilot to order engineers in the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|engine room]] to power the vessel at a certain desired speed.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">engine room

One of the machinery spaces of a vessel, usually the largest one, containing the ship's prime mover (usually a diesel or steam engine or a gas or steam turbine). Larger vessels may have more than one engine room.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ensign

1. (flag) The principal flag or banner flown by a ship to indicate her nationality.

2. (rank) The lowest grade of commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">escort carrier

A type of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aircraft carrier]], smaller and slower than a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fleet carrier]], used by some navies in World War II to escort convoys, ferry aircraft, and provide air support for amphibious operations.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">estimated position

An approximate geographical position obtained by making allowances for leeway, tide, and currents to a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dead reckoning]] position (which is calculated from the distance run and the course steered).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">evaporator

A piece of ship's equipment used to produce fresh drinking water from sea water by distillation.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">executive officer

The officer second in command on a warship. Also called "X.O." in the United States and "Number One" in the Royal Navy and Commonwealth navies.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">extra ship

A term used by the British East India Company from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century for merchant ships it hired to make voyages for it between England (later the United Kingdom) and ports east of the Cape of Good Hope, a trade over which the company held a strict monopoly. "Extra ships" were chartered for a single round-trip voyage beginning during a single sailing season (September to April) and augmented the voyages of "regular ships", which were merchant ships under long-term charter to make repeated voyages for the company over many seasons. However, if an "extra ship" operated well and the company needed its services, the company often chartered it repeatedly over a number of seasons.^[30]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">extremis

Lua error: not enough memory.

The point under International Rules of the Road (Navigation Rules) at which the privileged (or stand-on) vessel on collision course with a burdened (or give-way) vessel determines it must maneuver to avoid a collision. Prior to extremis, the privileged vessel must maintain course and speed and the burdened vessel must maneuver to avoid collision.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">eye splice

A closed loop or eye at the end of a line, rope, cable, etc. It is made by unraveling its end and joining it to itself by intertwining it into the lay of the line. Eye splices are very strong and compact and are frequently employed in moorings and docking lines, among other uses.

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F

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">factory ship

A large oceangoing vessel with extensive on-board facilities for processing and freezing caught fish or whales. Some also serve as mother ships for smaller fishing or whaling vessels. Those used for processing fish are also known as fish processing vessels.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fair

1. A smooth curve, usually referring to a line of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] with minimum localised deviations.

2. To make something flush.

3. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] is fair when it has a clear run.

4. A wind or current is fair when it offers an advantage to a boat.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fair winds and following seas

A blessing wishing the recipient a safe journey and good fortune.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fairlead

A device used to keep a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] or chain running in the correct direction or to give it a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fair]] [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lead]] to prevent it rubbing or fouling.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fairing

1. (n) A structure that improves the streamlining of a vessel.

2. (v) The process of making a curve or structure [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fair]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fairwater

1. A structure that improves the streamlining of a vessel.

2. On submarines: The superstructure (conning tower, sail, etc) of the boat.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fairway

1. A navigable channel (e.g. in a harbor or offshore) that is the usual course taken by vessels in the area.

2. In military and naval terms, a channel from offshore, in a river, or in a harbor that has enough depth to accommodate the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|draft]] of large vessels.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fake

A single turn of rope in a coil or on a drum. A group of fakes is known as a tier. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fake down]].^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.^[50]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fake down

To lay a coil of rope down so that it will run easily; that is, with rope feeding off the top of the coil and the bitter end at the bottom. Often confused with [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flake]]. See also range.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">falkuša

A traditional fishing boat with a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lateen]] sail on a single mast used by fishermen from the town of Komiža on the Adriatic island of Vis.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fall

The part of the tackle that is hauled upon.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fall off

Lua error: not enough memory.

To change the direction of sail so as to point in a direction that is more downwind; to bring the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] [[#lua error: not enough memory.|leeward]]. This is the opposite of pointing up or heading up.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fantail

The [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aft]] end of a ship, also known as the poop deck.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fardage

Wood placed in the bottom of a ship to keep cargo dry. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dunnage]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fashion boards

Loose boards that slide in grooves to close off a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|companionway]] or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cabin]] entrance.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fast

Fastened or held firmly (e.g. "fast [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aground]]": stuck on the seabed; or "made fast": tied securely).^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fast attack craft

A small, fast, agile warship armed with anti-ship missiles, guns, or torpedoes. The fast attack craft replaced the torpedo boat during the second half of the 20th century in the role of a cheap, offensively-oriented [[#lua error: not enough memory.|inshore]] warship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fast combat support ship

The largest type of U.S. Navy combat logistics ship, designed to serve as a combined oiler, ammunition ship, and supply ship. The first fast combat support ship entered service in the mid-1960s.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fast supply vessel

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|crew boat]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fast support vessel

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|crew boat]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fathom

1. A unit of length equal to Lua error: not enough memory., roughly measured as the distance between a man's outstretched hands. Particularly used in sounding as a measurement of the depth of a body of water.

2. To measure the depth of water; to engage in sounding.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fathomer

A person engaged in sounding to determine the depth of water.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fathometer

A depth finder that uses sound waves to determine the depth of water.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">favored side

The side of the course that gets you to the next mark faster, due to more wind, favorable shifts, less current, smaller waves, etc.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">felucca

A traditional wooden sailing boat with a rig consisting of one or two [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lateen]] sails, used in protected waters of the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean and particularly along the Nile in Egypt and Sudan, as well as in Iraq.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fend off

A command given to the crew to stop what they are now doing and to immediately manually prevent the boat from banging into the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|docks]] or other boats.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fender

A flexible bumper used in boating to keep boats from banging into docks or each other. Often an old car tire.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ferry

Lua error: not enough memory.

A merchant ship used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ferry glide

To hold a vessel against and at an angle to the current/stream such that the vessel moves sideways over the bottom due to the effect of the current operating on the upstream side of the vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ferry slip

A specialized docking facility designed to receive a ferryboat or train ferry.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fetch

1. The distance across water a wind or waves have traveled.

2. To reach a mark without tacking.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fid

1. A tapered wooden tool used for separating the strands of rope for splicing.

2. A bar used to fix an upper mast in place.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fife rail

A freestanding pinrail surrounding the base of a mast and used for securing that mast's sails' [[#lua error: not enough memory.|halyards]] with a series of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|belaying pins]].Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Fifie

A sailing boat with two masts with a standard rig consisting of a main dipping [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lug sail]] and a mizzen standing lug sail. Developed in Scotland and used for commercial fishing from the 1850s until the 20th century.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fig

U.S. Navy slang for a guided-missile [[#lua error: not enough memory.|frigate]], especially of the Oliver Hazard Perry class, derived from its class designation ("FFG").

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fight his ship

To fight his ship (or to fight her ship) is a naval term that denotes a captain taking his or her vessel into combat or directing his or her vessel in combat.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fighting top

An enlarged top designed to allow gunfire downward onto an enemy ship. A fighting top could have small guns installed in it or could serve as a platform for snipers armed with muskets or rifles.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">figure of eight

A stopper knot.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">figurehead

A symbolic image, particularly a carved effigy, at the head of a traditional sailing ship or early steamer.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fin

A term used in European and Commonwealth countries for a tower-like structure on the dorsal (topside) surface of a submarine; called a sail in the United States.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fine

Narrow in appearance from the vantage point of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lookout]] or other person viewing activity in the vicinity of a ship, e.g. another ship off the starboard [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] with her bow or stern facing the viewer's ship could be described as "fine on the starboard bow" of the viewer's ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fireboat

A specialized vessel equipped with firefighting equipment such as pumps and nozzles for fighting shipboard and shoreline fires.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fireman

Lua error: not enough memory.

1. A job associated with tending the fire for a boiler.

2. A U.S. Navy rate in the engineering department equivalent to seaman.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fire ship

A ship loaded with flammable materials and explosives and sailed into an enemy port or fleet either already burning or ready to be set alight by its crew (who would then abandon it) in order to collide with and set fire to enemy ships.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fire room

Lua error: not enough memory.

The compartment in which a ship's boilers or furnaces are stoked and fired.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">first-rate

The classification for the largest sailing warships of the 17th through the 19th centuries. Such vessels often had up to three masts, 850+ crew, and 100+ guns.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">first lieutenant

1. In the Royal Navy, the senior lieutenant on board; responsible to the commanding officer for the domestic affairs of the ship's company. Also known as 'Jimmy the One' or 'Number One'. Removes his cap when visiting the mess decks as a token of respect for the privacy of the crew in those quarters. Officer in charge of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cables]] on the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forecastle]].

2. In the U.S. Navy, the officer on a ship serving as the senior person in charge of all [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck hands]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">first mate

The second-in-command of a commercial ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fish

1. To repair a mast or spar with a fillet of wood.

2. To secure an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]] on the side of a ship for sea (otherwise known as "catting".)

3. A slang term for a self-propelled torpedo.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fisherman's reef

A sailing tactic for handling winds too strong for the sail area hoisted when reefing the sails is not feasible or possible. The [[#lua error: not enough memory.|headsail]] is set normally while the mainsail is let out until it is constantly [[#lua error: not enough memory.|luffing]]. This creates a loss of force on the main and also reduces the efficiency of the headsail while still retaining sailing control of the vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fisherman's sail

On a staysail schooner, the fisherman is a quadrilateral sail set between the two masts above the main staysail. It is used in light to moderate airs.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fitting-out

The period after a ship is launched during which all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and she is readied for sea trials and delivery to her owners.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fixed propeller

A propeller mounted on a rigid shaft protruding from the hull of a vessel, usually driven by an inboard motor; steering must be done using a rudder. See also outboard motor and sterndrive.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flag hoist

A number of signal flags strung together to convey a message, e.g. "England expects that every man will do his duty".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flag of convenience

The business practice of registering a merchant ship in a sovereign state different from that of the ship's owners, and flying that state's civil [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ensign]] on the ship. The practice allows the ship's owner to reduce operating costs or avoid the regulations of the owner's country.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flag officer

1. A commissioned officer senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the ship or installation under their command, in English-speaking countries usually referring to the senior officers of a navy, specifically to those who hold any of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|admiral]] ranks and in some cases to those holding the rank of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|commodore]]. In modern American usage, additionally applied to U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps officers and general officers in the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps entitled to fly their own flags.

2. A formal rank in the mid-19th century U.S. Navy, conveyed temporarily upon senior [[#lua error: not enough memory.|captains]] in command of squadrons of ships, soon rendered obsolete by the creation of the ranks of commodore and rear admiral.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flagship

1. A vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships. The term derives from the custom of commanders of such a group of ships, characteristically a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flag officer]], flying a distinguishing flag aboard the ship on which they are embarked.

2. Used more loosely, the lead ship in a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fleet]] of naval or commercial vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed, or, in terms of media coverage, best-known.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flake

To set down in folds, as in stowing a sail or to range a cable on deck so that it is clear to run. Not to be confused with [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fake down]].^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flank

The maximum speed of a ship. Faster than "full speed".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flare

1. A curvature of the topsides outward towards the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gunwale]].

2. A pyrotechnic signalling device, usually used to indicate distress.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flatback

A Great Lakes slang term for a vessel without any self-unloading equipment.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flatboat

Lua error: not enough memory.

A rectangular, flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flattop

A slang term for an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aircraft carrier]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fleet

1. Naval fleet: The highest operational echelon of command of ships commanded by a single person in a navy, and typically the largest type of naval formation commanded by a single person. In modern times, usually (but not necessarily) a permanent formation.

2. During the Age of Sail, a Royal Navy term for any naval command larger than a squadron in size, or commanded by a rear admiral and composed of five ships-of-the-line and any number of smaller vessels.

3. Merchant fleet, a collective term for the merchant marine (known in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries the merchant navy) of a particular country.

4. Fishing fleet: A term for an aggregate of commercial fishing vessels, commonly used either to describe all fishing vessels belonging to a single country, operating in a single region, operating out of a particular port, or engaged in particular type of fishing (e.g., the tuna fishing fleet). The term does not imply that the vessels operate as part of a single organization.

5. Informally, any grouping (based on physical proximity or sharing of a common organizational subordination) of naval or civilian vessels.

6. Of a person, to move from one location to another aboard a vessel, or to change positions within a naval organization.

7. To move up a rope – especially when drawing the blocks of a tackle part – to allow a greater advantage in [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hauling]].

8. To cause a rope or chain to slip down the barrel of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|capstan]] or windlass.

9. A former term for the process aboard a vessel of moving [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deadeyes]] when the shrouds become too long.

10. A location where [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barges]] are secured.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fleet in being

A naval force that extends a controlling influence on maritime operations without ever leaving port by forcing an opposing navy to maintain forces on station to oppose it in case it comes out to fight or to [[#lua error: not enough memory.|blockade]] it in port. A navy which operates its forces as a fleet in being generally seeks to avoid actual combat with an enemy fleet for fear of losing a naval battle and thereby its ability to influence events and activities at sea.^[51]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flemish

To coil a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] that is not in use so that it lies flat on the deck.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flettner rotor

A spinning cylinder that uses the Magnus effect to harness wind power to propel a ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flight deck

A flat deck on an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aircraft carrier]] used for the launch and recovery of aircraft. In the United States Navy, the term flight deck also refers to a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helicopter deck]] on other types of ships.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flog the glass

The act of vibrating or shaking a half-hour marine sandglass — used until the early 19th century to time the length of a watch — to speed the passage of the sand in order to get off watch duty earlier.^[52]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">floor

Transverse structural timbers which form that part of the lower [[#lua error: not enough memory.|frame]] of a traditional wooden ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] that sits immediately above the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]]. The frames continue upwards as pieces called [[#lua error: not enough memory.|futtock]]s. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keelson]] is usually fastened over the top of the floors.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">floorhead

Any of the upper extremities of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|floor]] of a vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flotilla

1. In naval usage, a group of warships under a single commander that is smaller than a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fleet]] but otherwise not formally defined. A flotilla often is larger than a squadron, and usually is made up of smaller vessels than those assigned to a squadron, but some flotillas are smaller than squadrons and some include larger vessels. In some navies, the term flotilla is reserved for naval formations that operate on inland bodies of water, while the terms fleet and squadron denote naval formations that operate at sea. A flotilla may be a permanent or temporary formation. In modern times, a flotilla sometimes is an administrative naval unit responsible for maintaining and supporting vessels but not for commanding their operations at sea.

2. Informally, a group of naval or civilian vessels operating together or in close proximity to one another.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flotilla holiday

A group of chartered yachts that set out together on the same route.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flotilla leader

A warship suitable for commanding a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flotilla]] of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cruiser]] or a large [[#lua error: not enough memory.|destroyer]], in the latter case known as a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|destroyer leader]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flotsam

Debris or cargo that remains afloat after a shipwreck. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jetsam]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fluke

The wedge-shaped part of an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]]'s arms that digs into the solid bottom beneath a body of water.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flush deck

An upper [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] of a vessel that extends unbroken from stem to stern.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flush decker

1. Any vessel with a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flush deck]].

2. A U.S. Navy [[#lua error: not enough memory.|destroyer]] of the World War I-era Lua error: not enough memory., Lua error: not enough memory., or Lua error: not enough memory., produced in very large numbers.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">flushing board

A board inserted vertically in a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cabin]] entrance.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fluytLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A Dutch transoceanic sailing cargo vessel, square-rigged with two or three masts that were much taller than the masts of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|galleon]], developed in the 16th century and widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fly by night

A large sail used only for sailing downwind, requiring little attention.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">folding propeller

A propeller with folding blades, furling so as to reduce drag on a sailing vessel when not in use.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">following sea

Waves going in the same direction as a ship, or within 15° of the heading, at a speed slower than the ship. See overtaking sea for waves travelling faster than the ship.^[16]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">foo-foo band

An impromptu musical band on late 19th-century sailing vessels, made up from members of the ship's crew.^[53]^[54]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">foot

1. The lower edge of any sail.^[1]

2. The bottom of a mast.

3. An Imperial unit of length equivalent to Lua error: not enough memory..

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">footloose

If the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foot]] of a sail is not secured properly, it is footloose, blowing around in the wind.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">footboat

A barge's boat or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|dinghy]].^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">footrope

Each yard on a square-rigged sailing ship is equipped with a footrope for sailors to stand on while setting or stowing the sails.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">force

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|Beaufort scale]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">foreLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

Toward the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] of a vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fore-and-aft rig

A sailing rig consisting mainly of sails that are set along the line of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] rather than perpendicular to it. Such sails, and the vessel itself, are said to be fore-and-aft-rigged.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fore-and-afters

Removable wooded beams running along the centre of the hold openings, beneath the hatches that they support.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fore horse

A transverse wooden or iron beam [[#lua error: not enough memory.|afore]] the main mast to which the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foresail]] sheet is attached.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">forecastle

(pronounced Lua error: not enough memory.) A partial [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] above the upper deck and at the head of the vessel; traditionally the location of the sailors' living quarters. The name is derived from the castle fitted to bear archers in time of war.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">foredeck

The portion of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] that is [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forward]] of the forward mast.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">forefoot

The lower part of the stem of a ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">forehold

The forward (i.e., front) part of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hold]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">foremast jack

An enlisted sailor, one who is housed before the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foremast]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">forepeak

The part of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hold]] of a ship within the angle of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">foresail

1. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] sail set on the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foremast]].

2. The lowest sail set on the foremast of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|full-rigged ship]] or other square-rigged vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">forestay

A long [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cable]] reaching from the bow of the vessel to the mastheads, used to support the mast.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">forestaysail

A triangular sail set on the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forestay]].^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">foul

1. Having freedom of motion interfered with by collision or entanglement; entangled; the opposite of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|clear]]. For instance, a rope is foul when it does not run straight or smoothly, and an anchor is foul when it is caught on an obstruction.

2. A ship′s bottom is foul when it is overgrown with marine life such as barnacles.

3. An area of water treacherous to navigation due to many shallow obstructions such as reefs, sandbars, rocks, etc.

4. A breach of racing rules.

5. Foul the range: To block another vessel from firing her guns at a target.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">foulies

A slang term for oilskins, the foul-weather clothing worn by sailors.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">founder

To fill with water and sink.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">four piper

A term sometimes used to refer to United States Navy four-funneled [[#lua error: not enough memory.|destroyers]] of the Lua error: not enough memory., Lua error: not enough memory., Lua error: not enough memory., and Lua error: not enough memory. classes, all built for service in World War I.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fourth rate

In the British Royal Navy during the first half of the 18th century, a ship-of-the-line mounting between 46 and 60 guns.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">frame

A transverse structural member that gives the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] strength and shape. Wooden frames may be sawn, bent, or laminated into shape; planking is then fastened to the frames. In traditional wooden ship building, an individual frame may be made of the following individual parts: [[#lua error: not enough memory.|floor]], several [[#lua error: not enough memory.|futtock]]s, then a top timber as the last component closest to the deck. If the hull is built frame-first, these frame components are fastened to each other. In a planking-first construction, they may only be fastened to the hull planking.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">freeboard

The height of a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] (excluding the superstructure) above the waterline; the vertical distance from the current waterline to the lowest point on the highest continuous watertight deck. This usually varies from one part to another.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">freighter

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cargo ship]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">frigate

1. In the 17th century, any warship built for speed and maneuverability.

2. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, a sailing warship with a single continuous gun deck, typically used for patrolling, blockading, etc., but not in line of battle.

3. In the second half of the 19th century, a type of warship combining sail and steam propulsion, typically of ironclad timber construction, with all guns on one deck.

4. In the 20th and 21st centuries, a warship, smaller than a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|destroyer]], originally introduced during World War II as an anti-submarine vessel but now general-purpose.

5. In the U.S. Navy from the 1950s until the 1970s, a type of guided-missile antiaircraft ship built on a destroyer-sized hull, all of which were reclassified as "guided-missile cruisers" in 1975.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">full and by

Sailing into the wind (by), but not as [[#lua error: not enough memory.|close-hauled]] as might be possible, so as to make sure the sails are kept full. This provides a margin for error to avoid being taken [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aback]] in a tricky sea (a serious risk for square-rigged vessels). Figuratively it implies getting on with the job but in a steady, relaxed way, without undue urgency or strain.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">full-rigged shipLua error: not enough memory.

A sailing vessel with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a "ship rig".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">full steam ahead

With as much speed as possible.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">funnelLua error: not enough memory.

1. (funnel) Also stack. The smokestack of a ship, used to expel boiler steam and smoke or engine exhaust.

2. Ventilation funnel: A curved, rotatable tube protruding from the deck of a vessel, designed to direct fresh air into her interior.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Furious Fifties

Strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 50 and 60 degrees. They are stronger than the similar "Roaring Forties" to their north.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">furl

To roll or gather a sail against its mast or spar.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">furnace

[[#lua error: not enough memory.|Boiler]] component where fuel is burned.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">furring

A method of improving the stability of a wooden vessel by increasing the breadth of the hull. The planking is removed and pieces of wood are added to the outside of the frames. Then the planking is replaced. An increase in breadth of about Lua error: not enough memory. could typically be achieved on each side. This was a common remedial technique at a time before shipwrights were able to carry out mathematical stability calculations.^[28]^{: Lua error: not enough memory., ch 6 the Gresham Ship}

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">fustaLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A narrow, light, and fast ship with a shallow [[#lua error: not enough memory.|draft]], powered both by oars and sail, with a single mast carrying a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lateen]] sail; a favorite of North African [[#lua error: not enough memory.|corsairs]] during the 16th and 17th centuries.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">futtock shrouds

Rope, wire, or chain links in the rigging of a traditional square-rigged ship running from the outer edges of a top downwards and inwards to a point on the mast or lower shrouds. They carry the load of the shrouds that rise from the edge of the top, preventing the top from tilting relative to the mast.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">futtocks

The parts of a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|frame]] that continue the structure above the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|floor]]s. These often exist as individual pieces termed first futtock, second futtock and third futtock, numbered moving away from the keel.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

Contents: Top	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z	References

G

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gaff

1. (gaff rig) A spar that holds the upper edge of a four-sided [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-mounted]] sail. On a hoisting gaff, the lower end is supported by gaff jaws which partly encircle the mast; it is hoisted using peak and throat [[#lua error: not enough memory.|halliards]]. A standing gaff remains aloft, its sails brailed when not in use.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. (fishing gaff) A hook on a long pole used to haul in fish.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gaff rigLua error: not enough memory.

A boat rigged with a four-sided [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft]] sail set [[#lua error: not enough memory.|abaft]] the mast, its head being spread by a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gaff]]. The gaff may be standing (permanently in position) with the sail being brailed up to the gaff when not in use, or, more commonly, is hoisted using two halliards: the peak and the throat.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gaff topsail

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft]] sail set above a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gaff-rigged]] sail, with the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|clew]] sheeted to the end of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gaff]].Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gaff vang

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] rigged to the end of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gaff]] and used to adjust a gaff sail's trim.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gale

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ghali]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gali

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ghali]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">galleass

1. An oared warship of the 16th century equipped with a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gun deck]]; larger and equipped with more sails than a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|galley]].

2. A flat-bottomed commercial sailing vessel of the North Sea and western Baltic Sea.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">galleon

A large, multi-decked sailing ship with a prominent, squared-off, raised stern, generally carrying three or more masts, typically [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lateen]] [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] on the rear mast and square-rigged on the mainmast and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foremast]]. Galleons were used primarily as armed cargo carriers and sometimes as warships by European states from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

File:15th century galleon.JPG

galleon]]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">galley

1. (galley (kitchen)) The compartment of a ship where food is cooked or prepared; a ship's kitchen.

2. (galley) A type of ship propelled by oars, used especially in the Mediterranean for warfare, piracy, and trade from the 8th century BC to the 16th century AD, with some in use until the early 19th century.

3. A type of oared [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gunboat]] built by the United States in the late 18th century, akin to a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|brigantine]] but termed "galley" for administrative and funding purposes.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">galliot

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fusta]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gam

A meeting of two (or more) whaling ships at sea. The ships each send out a boat to the other, and the two captains meet on one ship, while the two chief mates meet on the other.^[55]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gammon iron

The [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] fitting that clamps the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bowsprit]] to the stem.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gangplank

Lua error: not enough memory.

A movable bridge used in boarding or leaving a ship at a pier.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gangway

An opening in the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bulwark]] of a ship to allow passengers to board or leave the ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gantline

A rope running through a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|block]] at or near the masthead, with both ends reaching the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]]. It is used solely for hoisting and lowering crew members and/or tools into the rigging for maintenance and repair work.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">garbling

The illegal practice of mixing cargo with garbage.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">garboard

The strake closest to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] (from Dutch gaarboard).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">garboard planks

The planks immediately on either side of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gash

Any refuse or rubbish discarded into a refuse container or dustbin, also known as "gash fanny" (South African Navy).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gasket

A rope used to secure a sail (particularly the topsail) when stowed.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gate ship

An alternative term for a net-laying ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gear

A collective term for a vessel's sails and rigging.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">geedunk

Ice cream, snacks, etc. Also the place selling such items.^[25]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">general quarters

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|battle stations]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gennaker

A large, lightweight sail used for sailing a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft rig]] down or across the wind, intermediate between a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|genoa]] and a spinnaker.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">genoaLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A large [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jib]], strongly overlapping the mainmast.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ghali

Lua error: not enough memory.

Any of several types of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|galley]]-like ships from the Nusantara archipelago in Southeast Asia. The term refers both to Mediterranean vessels built by local people and to native vessels with Mediterranean influence.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ghost

To sail slowly when there is apparently no wind.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ghost fleet

In the modern United States, an informal term for a reserve fleet.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gibe

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gybe]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gig

A type of open boat designed primarily for propulsion under oar, but often fitted with a sailing rig for appropriate conditions. Used most often for the swift transport of one or a few people, as in a pilot gig or as a naval ship's boat. In U.S. Navy usage, a captain's gig is reserved for use by a ship's captain and, in modern times, is a power-boat.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gillnetter

A fishing vessel that employs gillnetting as its means of catching fish.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gin-pole

Lua error: not enough memory.

A pole that is attached perpendicular to a mast, to be used as a lever for raising the mast.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">girt

1. Said of a vessel moored by cables to two [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchors]] in such a way that the force of a current or tide causes her to swing against one of the cables.

2. To [[#lua error: not enough memory.|capsize]] because of forces exerted on a cable by another vessel attached to it. Tug girting specifically refers to girting that causes a tugboat to capsize because of forces placed on a cable attached to her by another vessel attached to the same cable.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">give-way

In a situation where two vessels are approaching one another so as to involve a risk of collision, the vessel directed to keep out of the way of the other.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">glass

1. A marine barometer. Older barometers used mercury-filled glass tubes to measure and indicate barometric pressure.

2. A marine sandglass.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Global Positioning System (GPS)

A satellite-based radionavigation system providing continuous worldwide coverage of geolocation and time information to air, marine, and land users wherever there is an unobstructed line of sight to at least four GPS satellites developed and operated by the United States Department of Defense but publicly available for use by anyone with an enabled GPS receiver.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">go-fast boat

A small, fast boat designed with a long narrow platform and a planing [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] to enable it to reach high speeds. Colloquially equivalent to a "rum-runner" or a "cigarette boat".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">goat locker

A mess hall reserved for chief petty officers in the United States Navy.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">going about

Changing from one tack to another by going through the wind. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gybe]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gondola

1. A traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat.

2. An alternative term for a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gundalow]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gooseneck

A fitting that attaches a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boom]] to a mast yet allows it to move freely.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">goosewingedgoosewing

(of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] vessel) Sailing directly away from the wind, with the sails set on opposite sides of the vessel (e.g. with the mainsail to port and the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jib]] to starboard) so as to maximize the amount of canvas exposed to the wind. See also running.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">grapeshot

Small balls of lead fired from a cannon, analogous to shotgun shot but on a larger scale; similar to [[#lua error: not enough memory.|canister shot]] but with larger individual shot. Intended specifically to injure personnel and damage rigging more than to cause structural damage.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">grave

To clean a ship's bottom.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">graving dock

A narrow basin, usually made of earthen berms and concrete, closed by gates or by a caisson, into which a vessel may be floated and the water pumped out, leaving the vessel supported on blocks; the classic form of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|drydock]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">graybeard

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|Cape Horn roller]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">great-circle navigation

The practice of navigating a vessel along the arc of a great circle. Such routes yield the shortest possible distance between any given pair of points on the surface of the Earth.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">green-to-green

A passage of two vessels moving in the opposite direction on their starboard sides, so called because the green navigation light on one of the vessels faces the green light on the other vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Greenlandman

A British term used in the 18th and 19th centuries for any whaling ship operating in the Arctic Ocean or northern waters near the Arctic.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">green water

1. That portion of the ocean lying generally within a few hundred nautical miles of shore but beyond the edge of the continental shelf, and thus between "[[#lua error: not enough memory.|brown water]]" over the continental shelf and "[[#lua error: not enough memory.|blue water]]" farther out to sea.

2. A large amount of water on or passing over or across a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] or superstructure after a large wave strikes her, e.g., The ship took green water over her [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] during the storm.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">green-water navy

A navy capable of sustained operations beyond coastal areas out to a few hundred nautical miles from shore, i.e., in "[[#lua error: not enough memory.|green water]]," but not farther into the open ocean, i.e., in "[[#lua error: not enough memory.|blue water]]." While a green-water navy can possess ships capable of operating farther out to sea than in "green water," it requires logistical support from foreign countries to sustain such longer-range operations.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gridiron

A large metal cross-frame on which vessels are placed at high water for examination, cleaning, and repairs after the tide falls.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gripe

A temporary eye in a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] (rope).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">griping

The tendency of a ship to turn into the wind despite the efforts of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helmsman]], usually due to either the design of a ship or more commonly the incorrect distribution of weight on and within the hull.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gripie

A Cockney (London dialect) name for a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barge]].^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">grog

Watered-down pusser's rum consisting of half a gill with an equal part of water, issued to all seamen over twenty (CPOs and POs were issued with neat rum). From the British Admiral Vernon who, in 1740, ordered the men's ration of rum to be watered down. He was called "Old Grogram" because he often wore a grogram coat, and the watered rum came to be called grog. Specific quantities of grog were often traded illegally as a form of currency; a sailor might repay a colleague for a favour by giving him part or all of his grog ration, ranging from "sippers" (a small amount) via "gulpers" (a larger quantity) to "grounders" (the entire tot). Additional issues of grog were made on the command "splice the mainbrace" for celebrations or as a reward for performing especially onerous duties. The Royal Navy discontinued the practice of issuing rum in 1970.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">groggy

Drunk from having consumed a lot of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|grog]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">grommet

1. A metal or plastic ring inserted in canvas to prevent wear.

2. A ring of rope.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

3. An inexperienced surfer or extreme sports participant.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ground

The bed of the sea; the underwater surface or sea floor to which an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]] holds.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">grounding

When a ship (while afloat) touches the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bed of the sea]], or runs [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aground]]. A moored vessel that grounds as the tide goes out is said to "take the ground".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">groundway

Lua error: not enough memory.

A substantial foundation of wood or stone for the blocks on which a vessel is built, typically lying on either side of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] of a ship under construction, which also serves to support and guide the blocks when they slide to carry the vessel into the water when she is launched.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">growler

A small iceberg or ice floe barely visible above the surface of the water.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Guineaman

Another name for a slave ship, coined after the emergence of the transatlantic slave trade from Africa in the 15th century.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">guards

Lua error: not enough memory.

1. (on an oceangoing sidewheel steamship) Horizontal structures, usually of wood, built around the paddle boxes just above their lowest point and extending a short distance [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forward]] and [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aft]], designed to protect them from damage and to provide additional support for the paddle shaft.^[56]

2. (on an American sidewheel steamboat) Extensions of the main deck beyond the hull to the outer extremity of the paddle boxes, and tapering to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] and stern (thus giving the deck a characteristic oval shape), to increase the available deck space for passengers, cargo, and/or machinery.^[56]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">guard ship

1. Any vessel that makes the rounds of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fleet]] at anchor to see that due watch is kept at night.

2. A warship stationed at a port or harbour to act as a guard there.

3. In former times in the British Royal Navy, a ship that received men impressed for naval service, often the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flagship]] of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|admiral]] commanding along the coast.

4. In Soviet and Russian terminology, a guard ship (storozhevoj korabl') is a small, general-purpose patrol or escort vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gun deck

1. Up through the 19th century, a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cannon]] to be fired in [[#lua error: not enough memory.|broadsides]].

2. On smaller vessels (of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|frigate]] size or smaller) up through the 19th century, the completely covered level under the upper deck, though in such smaller ships it carried none of the ship's guns.

3. On marine seismic survey vessels, the lowest deck on the ship, which carries the seismic source arrays, consisting of air guns arranged in clusters.

4. In naval slang, to fabricate or falsify something; in modern usage, meaning especially to falsify documentation in order to avoid doing work or make present conditions seem acceptable without having made a real effort to improve them.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gundecking

Falsifying of records and reports.^[25]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gundalow

A type of flat-bottomed sailing [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barge]] with a single large [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lateen sail]] [[#lua error: not enough memory.|brailed]] to a heavy yard, used on rivers in Maine and New Hampshire from the mid-17th century to the early 20th century. Sometimes referred to as a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gondola]] in period accounts.^[57]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gunner's daughter

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|kissing the gunner's daughter]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gunport

An opening in the side of a ship or in a turret through which a gun fires or protrudes.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gunter rig

Lua error: not enough memory.

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft]] sail set [[#lua error: not enough memory.|abaft]] (behind) the mast, approximately triangular in shape, with the top half of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|luff]] (front) of the sail attached to a yard which extends the sail above the top of the mast. The yard is raised and lowered with the sail.^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.} This traditional sail is popular in small boats and produces aerodynamic performance close to that of the highly developed [[#lua error: not enough memory.|Bermuda rig]].^[58]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gunwale

Lua error: not enough memory.

Generally, the upper edge of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]]; more specifically, in an open (undecked) boat of timber construction, the longitudinal stringer that connects the top of the ribs.^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gurdy

A mechanical crank used to set and retrieve fishing lines.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">guy

1. A rope or stay leading to the side of the vessel.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. A rope used to steady a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boom]].Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gybeLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

To change from one tack to the other away from the wind, with the stern of the vessel turning through the wind. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|going about]] and wearing ship.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">gypsy winch

A type or component of an anchor winch. The "gypsy" or "gypsy wheel" engages the anchor chain.

Contents: Top	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z	References

H

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">half-breadth plan

In shipbuilding, an elevation of the lines of a ship, viewed from above and divided lengthwise.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">halyardLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

Originally, ropes used for hoisting a spar with a sail attached; today, a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] used to raise the head of any sail.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hammock

Canvas sheets, slung from the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deckhead]] in messdecks, in which seamen slept. "Lash up and stow" was a piped command to tie up hammocks and stow them (typically) in racks inboard of the ship's side so as to protect the crew from splinters from shot and provide a ready means of preventing flooding caused by damage.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hamper

Articles that normally are indispensable aboard ship but at certain times are in the way.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hand

To furl a sail.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hand bomber

A ship using coal-fired boilers shoveled in by hand.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hand over fist

To climb steadily upwards, from the motion of a sailor climbing shrouds on a sailing ship (originally "hand over hand").

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">handsomely

With a slow even motion, as when hauling on a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] "handsomely".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">handy billy

A loose block and tackle with a hook or tail on each end, which can be used wherever it is needed. Usually made up of one single and one double block.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hangar deck

An enclosed [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] on an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|aircraft carrier]], usually beneath the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flight deck]] and intended for use as a hangar in servicing and storing aircraft.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hank

A fastener attached to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|luff]] of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|headsail]] that attaches the headsail to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|forestay]]. Typical designs include a bronze or plastic hook with a spring-operated gate, or a strip of cloth webbing with a snap fastener.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">harbour of refuge

An artificial [[#lua error: not enough memory.|harbour]] constructed on a coast without a natural harbour to provide shelter for small vessels.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">harbour

Lua error: not enough memory.

A place where ships or smaller craft may shelter from the weather, are unloaded/loaded, or stored. Harbours can be man-made or natural.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">harbour dues

The fees charged by the owners or operators of a harbour to those vessels using the harbour. Under British legislation, the person in charge of a vessel must report to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|harbourmaster]] within 24 hours of arrival in a port where harbour dues are payable.^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">harbourmaster

A person in charge of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|harbour]], with powers including the collection of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|harbour dues]], instructing the masters of vessels where to moor, and overall safety within the area of the harbour, often including pilotage and navigational aids. In most countries the powers of a harbour master are laid down by legislation, and can be quite extensive.^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hard

A section of otherwise muddy shoreline suitable for mooring or hauling out.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hard-a-lee

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lee-oh]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">harden in

To haul in the sheet and tighten the sails.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">harden up

To turn towards the wind; to sail closer to the wind.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">harness cask

Lua error: not enough memory.

A large, usually round tub lashed to a vessel's deck and containing dried and salted provisions for daily use.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hardtack

A hard and long-lasting dry biscuit, used as food on long journeys. Also called a "ship's biscuit".

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hatchwayLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

A covered opening in a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] through which cargo can be loaded or access made to a lower deck; the cover to the opening is called a hatch.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">haul

1. To steer (a vessel) closer to the direction of the wind.

2. To shift forward, i.e. more toward the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] of the vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hauling wind

Pointing the ship towards the direction of the wind; generally not the fastest point of travel on a sailing vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hawsepipeLua error: not enough memory.

Lua error: not enough memory.

The shaft or hole in the side of a vessel's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] through which the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor chain]] passes. "In through the hawsepipe" describes someone with experience and savvy.^[25]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hawsepiper

An informal term for an officer of a merchant ship who began their career as an unlicensed merchant seaman, and so did not attend a traditional maritime academy to earn their officer's licence. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|before the mast]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hawser

A large cable or rope used for mooring or towing a vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">head

1. The forwardmost or uppermost portion of the ship.

2. The forwardmost or uppermost portion of any individual part of the ship, e.g. masthead, [[#lua error: not enough memory.|beakhead]], stemhead, etc.

3. The top edge of a sail.^[1]

4. The toilet or latrine of a vessel, which in sailing ships usually projected from the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] and therefore was located in the "head" of the vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">head boat

A fishing boat that takes recreational fishermen out for a fee paid individually by each person (i.e. per head). A head boat differs from a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|charter boat]], which is a fishing boat that a party of fishermen hires for an agreed-upon period.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Head of navigation

The farthest point above the mouth of a river that can be navigated by ships.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">head rail

A curved rail that extends from the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|figurehead]] to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] of a ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">head rope

1. The mooring rope that goes from the bow of a vessel to a point on a jetty a distance ahead of the bows.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. Part of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bolt rope]], at the head of a sail, running from the mast to the sprit.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">head sea

A sea in which waves are directly opposing the motion of the ship, or approaching within 15° of ahead.^[16]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">head-sail

1. Jibs and staysails set between the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bowsprit]] and the fore Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. Sometimes refers to the square sails on the fore-mast of a square rigged vessel. Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">head-stays

Stays between the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bowsprit]] and the foremost mast. Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">header

A change in the wind direction that forces the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helmsman]] of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|close-hauled]] sailboat to steer away from its current course to a less favorable one. This is the opposite of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lift]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">heading

The direction in which the nose of a vessel is pointing (which is not necessarily the same as the direction in which the vessel is actually moving).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">headsail

Any sail set in front of the most forward mast. A sailing vessel may have one or more headsails. A headsail may be [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hank]]ed to a stay, or may be set flying, with the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|luff]] being kept taut by the tension of the halyard. Where several headsails are set, a complex arrangement might be termed (from the front and top) flying jib, outer jib, inner jib, and (fore) staysail; less complex would be [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jib]] and staysailLua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">headstick

The spar laced to the head of the topsail.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">heave

A vessel's transient, vertical, up-and-down motion.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">heave down

To turn a ship on its side (for cleaning), a process which is also known as [[#lua error: not enough memory.|careening]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Heave ho!

An exclamation sailors make when pulling forcefully on a rope.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">heave to

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hove to]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">heavy weather

A combination of high winds and rough seas that may be dangerous for a ship or boat, sometimes requiring changes to a passage plan (such as a precautionary diversion to a safe harbour), [[#lua error: not enough memory.|heaving to]], running under bare poles, or other similar survival strategies.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">heel

1. The lean caused by the wind's force on the sails of a sailing vessel.

2. The inclination or canting of a vessel to one side or the other from the vertical as she maneuvers, e.g. "The ship heeled to port as she turned to starboard".

3. The lowest or last part of something, such as the heel of the mast or the heel of the vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">helicopter deck

A helicopter pad on the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|deck]] of a ship. In the United States Navy, a helicopter deck is referred to as a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flight deck]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">helm

1. A ship's steering mechanism, such as a tiller or ship's wheel.

2. The wheel and/or wheelhouse area.

3. (v.) To take over the steering of a vessel.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">helmsman

Lua error: not enough memory.

A member of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|crew]] who is responsible for steering the ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">herring buss

A type of seagoing fishing vessel used by Dutch and Flemish herring fishermen from the 15th through the early 19th century.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">highfield lever

A type of tensioning lever, usually for running [[#lua error: not enough memory.|backstays]]. Their use allows the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|leeward]] backstay to be completely slackened so that the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boom]] can be let fully out.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hitch

A knot used to tie a rope or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] to a fixed object. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bend]].^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hobby horsing

Harmonic pitching of a vessel forward and backward.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hog

1. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft]] structural member of the hull fitted over the keel to provide a fixing for the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|garboard]] planks.

2. A rough, flat scrubbing brush for cleaning a ship's bottom under water.

3. A semi-permanent bend in a ship's keel, especially in wooden-hulled ships, caused over time by the ship's center being more buoyant than her [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] or stern.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hog frame

A heavy wooden truss fitted lengthwise along each side of a large American steamboat, secured to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] and rising above deck just outside the superstructure, to provide support for the hull and prevent [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hogging]]. Similar in appearance and function to a truss bridge. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|king post]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Hog Islander

Slang term used for Design 1022 [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cargo ships]] and Design 1024 troop transports constructed at Hog Island in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address merchant marine shortfalls in the United States during World War I. Completed too late for World War I, Hog Islanders saw United States Navy and United States Merchant Marine service prior to and during World War II.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hogging

1. A condition in which the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] of a vessel bends upward such that the ends of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] are lower than the middle. Hogging can occur when the peak of a wave is [[#lua error: not enough memory.|amidships]] or during loading or unloading of a vessel and can damage her or even break her in half. Contrast sagging.

2. A permanent distortion of the hull in the same manner as above, caused over time by the bow and stern of a ship being less buoyant than the midships section. During the Age of Sail, shipwrights employed a number of different designs of braces to stiffen ships' hulls against this warping.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hogging line

A line passed under a ship from side to side to pull a collision mat into place over a leak.^[59] Also a line passed under a ship from side to side used as a reference to indicate position of a frame during underwater inspections.^[60]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hoist

The height of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] sail as measured next to the mast or stay.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hold

The lower part of the interior of a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]], especially when considered as storage space, as for cargo. In earlier use, the term referred to all interior spaces below the orlop deck; in later merchant vessels it extended up through the decks to the underside of the weather deck.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">holiday

A gap in the coverage of newly applied paint, slush, tar, or another preservative.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">holystone

A chunk of sandstone used to scrub a ship's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|decks]]. The name comes from both the kneeling position sailors adopt to scrub the deck (reminiscent of genuflection for prayer), and the stone itself (which resembled a Bible in shape and size).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">home port

The port at which a vessel is based. Often confused with the ship's port of registry, which is the port listed in the vessel's registration documents and lettered on her stern but which may differ from her home port. In the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cruise ship]] industry, the term "home port" is often incorrectly used to refer to a ship's port of departure.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">homeward bounder

A slang term for a sail repair, especially one done with large herringbone stitches.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">honey barge

Slang term for a vessel that transports sewage.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hoop

Wooden or metal hoops used to secure the topsail to the topmast so it can be speedily raised or lowered.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">horn

A sound signal that uses electricity or compressed air to vibrate a disc diaphragm.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hornpipe

A type of dance.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">horns

Shaped ends to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|chocks]] where the main [[#lua error: not enough memory.|horse]] is bolted.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">horn timber

A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft]] structural member of the hull sloping up and backwards from the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] to support the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|counter]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">horse

1. A metal bar (sometimes a shaped aluminium extrusion), running [[#lua error: not enough memory.|athwartships]], to which a sheet is attached with a traveller that slides along the horse or is adjusted to be fixed in one position on it. Commonly used for a mainsheet, but also seen with some [[#lua error: not enough memory.|headsails]], particularly a staysail fitted with a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|boom]].^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.}

2. Sand lying mid-channel.^[1]

3. (v.) To move or adjust a sail by manual force (i.e. directly with the hands) rather than by using running rigging.

4. (v.) A term used since the end of the 17th century for the action of a strong, favorable current on a sailing vessel allowing her to make good progress despite insufficient wind for sailing; the vessel is considered to be horsed by the current, riding it in the way a human rides a horse.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">horse latitudes

The latitudes between 30 and 35 degrees in the Northern Hemisphere and between 30 and 35 degrees in the Southern Hemisphere in which weather patterns often result in sailing vessels being becalmed in mid-ocean.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hospital ship

A ship designated and equipped to serve primarily as a floating medical healthcare facility or hospital, usually operated by military forces such as navies for use in or near war zones, or for the support of disaster relief and other humanitarian operations.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hounds

Attachments of stays to masts.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hotel load

The electrical load for all non-propulsion systems on a ship, including lighting, climate control, and services used by the crew and passengers.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hove to

1. In a sailing vessel, stopping her by [[#lua error: not enough memory.|backing]] some of the sails and lashing the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helm]] to [[#lua error: not enough memory.|leeward]]. In a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] sloop, this involves backing the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|headsail]] and allowing the mainsail to fill somewhat (the precise arrangement varies from one vessel to another). The vessel will gradually drift to leeward, with the speed of the drift depending on the vessel's design.

2. In a powered vessel, stopping her by stopping her engines.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hoveller

1. Someone who does salvage work, such as that done by Deal boatmen.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. An additional crewman who assists getting a vessel in and out of harbour. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|huffler]] (regional usage of these words varies substantially, with strongly held views on the differences).Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">how's your head?

A question asked of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|helmsman]] to report the vessel's [[#lua error: not enough memory.|course]] at that moment. The actual course may differ from the course to steer that has been ordered.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hoy

1. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cutter]]-rigged craft, having a pole masted with a boomless [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gaff]] mainsail and a steeved-up [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bowsprit]]. Hoys were square, swim-headed Thames estuary barges of 40 to 150 tons burthen.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|barge]] making regular passages on a fixed route with mixed third-party cargoes. Also passage barge or goods barge.^[1]Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hufflers

Additional crew taken on to enter harbour or navigate in confined waters, particularly applying to Thames barges. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hoveller]].Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hulk

1. A ship, often an old ship or one that has become obsolete or uneconomical to operate, that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed and is incapable of going to sea, but that is still [[#lua error: not enough memory.|afloat]] and continues to serve a useful function, such as providing living, office, training, storage, or prison space.

2. (v.) To convert a ship into a hulk.

3. A ship that has been launched but not completed.

4. An abandoned wreck or shell of a ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hull

The shell and framework of the basic flotation-oriented part of a ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hull speed

The maximum efficient speed of a displacement-hulled vessel.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hull-down

Of a vessel when only her upper parts (e.g. [[#lua error: not enough memory.|funnel]], masts, and superstructure) are visible on the horizon but her [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] remains below the horizon. Contrast [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull-up]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hull-up

Of a vessel when her [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] as well as her upper parts (e.g., [[#lua error: not enough memory.|funnel]], masts, and superstructure) are visible on the horizon. Contrast [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull-down]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hydrofoil

A boat with wing-like foils mounted on struts below the hull, lifting the hull entirely out of the water at speed and therefore greatly reducing water resistance.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">hydroplane

Lua error: not enough memory.

A fast motorboat with a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] shaped so that at speed planing forces support the boat′s weight, rather than simple [[#lua error: not enough memory.|buoyancy]]. A hydroplane moving at speed thus relies on the water for lift instead of buoyancy.

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I

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ice class

A notation assigned by a ship classification society or a national government authority to denote a ship's level of strengthening and other arrangements enabling her to navigate through sea ice. In some cases, an ice class also establishes the performance requirements for a vessel operating in sea ice.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">icebreaker

A special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">icing

A serious hazard where cold temperatures — below about Lua error: not enough memory. — combined with high wind speed (typically force 8 or above on the Beaufort scale) result in spray blown off the sea freezing immediately upon contact with the ship. If the weight of the ice becomes too great, the ship will become top-heavy and capsize.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">idlers

Members of a ship's company not required to serve watches. In general, these were specialist tradesmen such as the carpenter and the sailmaker.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">in ballast

Lua error: not enough memory.

(of a vessel) Having only [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ballast]], and no cargo, as a load.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">in irons

Lua error: not enough memory.

When a sailing vessel has lost its forward momentum while heading into the wind, rendering it unable to steer.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">in ordinary

An 18th- and 19th-century term originally used to refer to a naval vessel that is out of service for repair or maintenance, later coming to mean naval ships in reserve with no more than a caretaker crew.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">in-water survey

A method of surveying the underwater parts of a ship while it is still afloat instead of having to [[#lua error: not enough memory.|drydock]] it for examination of these areas as was conventionally done.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">in way of

In the vicinity of; in the area of.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">inboard

1. Situated within a vessel.

2. Situated within a vessel and positioned close (or closer relative to another object) to her [[#lua error: not enough memory.|centerline]].

3. Situated outside a vessel but nearer to her [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]], e.g. "The larger boat was tied up alongside the ship inboard of the smaller boat."

4. Nearer the pier or shore, e.g. "The tanker and cargo ship were tied up at the pier alongside one another with the tanker inboard of the cargo ship."

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">inboard motor

An engine mounted within the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]] of a vessel, usually driving a fixed propeller by a shaft protruding through the stern. Generally used on larger vessels. See also sterndrive and outboard motor.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">inboard-outboard drive system

See sterndrive.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Inglefield clip

A type of clip for attaching a flag to a flag [[#lua error: not enough memory.|halyard]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">inshore

1. Near (especially in sight of) or toward the shore.

2. (of a wind) Blowing from the sea to the land.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">interloper

A term used by the British East India Company in the seventeenth century for a merchant ship operating in violation of the company's monopoly over trade between England (later the United Kingdom) and ports east of the Cape of Good Hope. If caught, an "interloper" and her cargo could be confiscated, and her crew faced harsh penalties.^[30]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Iron Mike

A slang term for autopilot.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">iron topsail

An auxiliary motor on a schooner.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">iron wind

What sailors call inboard engines.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ironboat

Lua error: not enough memory.

A Great Lakes term for a vessel primarily used in the transport of iron ore.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ironclad

A steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates of the period from 1859 until the 1890s (when the term "ironclad" fell out of use).

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">island

The superstructure of an aircraft carrier that extends above the flight deck. A carrier that lacks one is said to be [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flush-decked]].

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J

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jack

1. A sailor. Also jack tar or just tar.

2. (jack (flag)) A national or other official flag flown on a short [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jackstaff]] at the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] of a vessel indicating nationality or subordination to a navy or other particular seagoing service or to a government department or subnational government (such as a state or province), or to indicate membership in a yacht club. Typically, crew members spoke of the jack as if it were a member of the crew. A jack contrasts with an [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ensign]], which is a flag with a generally similar purpose flown from the vessel′s stern. Typically, vessels fly a jack while in port and an ensign while at sea (in daylight hours).

3. Informally, any flag flown by a ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jackass-barque

Lua error: not enough memory.

A sailing ship with three or more masts, of which the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|foremast]] is square-rigged and the main is partially square-rigged (topsail, topgallant, etc.) and partially [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] (course). The mizzen mast is fore-and-aft-rigged.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jack dusty

A naval stores clerk.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jack tar

A sailor dressed in "square rig" with square collar. Formerly with a tarred pigtail.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jacklineLua error: not enough memory.

On a yacht, a deck lifeline of rope or (preferably) flat tape, running fore and aft, to which the crew can clip their harnesses for safety. Sometimes called a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jackstay]], though this is a misnomer as a jackline is a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|line]] rather than a stay. The line must be very strong to take the weight of all crew clipped to it.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jackstaff

A small vertical pole on the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] of a vessel upon which is flown its flag, or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|jack]]. The jackstaff was introduced in the 18th century.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jackstay

1. A rope, bar, or [[#lua error: not enough memory.|batten]] running along a ship's yard, to which is attached the head of a square sail.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

2. A stay for racing or cruising vessels used to steady the mast against the strain of the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gaff]].

3. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|cable]] between two ships or from a ship to a fixed point that supports a load during transfer of personnel or materiel along the cable.

4. On a yacht, a deck lifeline of rope or (preferably) flat tape may be called a jackstay, though this is a misnomer as a jackstay is a stay rather than a line.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Jacob's ladder

Lua error: not enough memory.

1. A flexible hanging ladder consisting of vertical ropes or chains supporting horizontal rungs, used to allow access over the side of a ship, either to transfer between the ship and another vessel alongside it or to perform maintenance tasks along the side of the ship. Sometimes mistakenly referred to as a pilot ladder, which differs from a Jacob′s ladder in its use of spreaders and in terms of specific regulations governing step size and step spacing.

2. A vertical ladder from the ratlines found on square-rigged ships, used to get around the top while climbing between the lower mast and the topmast.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jetty

A man-made pier in a marina or open water, typically made of wood or rocks and rising several feet above high tide in order to create a breakwater, shelter, channel, erosion control, or other function.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jetsam

Floating debris ejected from a ship. See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|flotsam]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jib

A triangular [[#lua error: not enough memory.|headsail]] at the front of a sailing vessel. The tack is attached to the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bow]] or to a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bowsprit]]. May be the only headsail, or one of several – in which case the jib is set forward of the fore staysail. A large jib that overlaps the mainmast is called a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|genoa]] or genny.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jib top

A high-clewed overlapping headsail for beam reaching in medium to strong winds^[61]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jibboom

A spar used to extend the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bowsprit]].Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jibe

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gybe]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jibe-ho

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|gybe-oh]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jigger-mast

The fourth mast on a ship, or the aftmost mast where it is smallest on vessels of less than four masts.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">joggle

A slender, triangular recess cut into the faying surface of a frame or steamed timber to fit over the land of [[#lua error: not enough memory.|clinker]] planking, or cut into the faying edge of a plank or rebate to avoid feather ends on a strake of planking. The feather end is cut off to produce a nib. The joggle and nib in this case is made wide enough to allow a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|caulking]] iron to enter the seam.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jollies

Traditional Royal Navy nickname for the Royal Marines.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jolly boat

A type of ship's boat used to ferry crew and stores.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Jonah

A person (either a sailor or a passenger) who carries a jinx, one whose presence on board brings bad luck and endangers the ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">Jonah's lift

The throwing overboard of a man considered to be a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|Jonah,]] almost always in the dark of night.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">junk

1. Old cordage past its useful service life as [[#lua error: not enough memory.|lines]] aboard a ship. The strands of old junk were teased apart in a process known as "picking oakum".

2. A sailing ship of classic Chinese design with characteristic full [[#lua error: not enough memory.|batten]] sails that span the masts usually on unstayed rigs.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">jury rig

Both the act of rigging a temporary mast and/or sails and the name of the resulting rig. A jury rig would be built at sea when the original rig was damaged, and then used to sail to a harbor or other safe place for permanent repairs. Also used as a general term for a temporary repair, hence "jury rudder", "jury tiller", etc.Lua error: not enough memory.Lua error: not enough memory.

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K

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">kaep

A type of proa native to Palau.^[62]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">K BO Line

A line or mark on the aft end of a ship indicating the true centerline of the transom.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">kedge

Lua error: not enough memory.

A type of relatively light [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">kedging

A technique for moving or turning a ship by using a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|kedge]]. The kedge anchor may be dropped while in motion to create a pivot and thus perform a sharp turn. It may also be carried away from the ship in a smaller boat, dropped, and then weighed, pulling the ship forward.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">keel

The principal central longitudinal structural member of a [[#lua error: not enough memory.|hull]], positioned at or close to the lowest point of the hull. Where the keel protrudes below the surface of the hull, it provides hydrodynamic resistance to the lateral forces that give rise to [[#lua error: not enough memory.|leeway]]. A [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ballast]] keel of (typically) lead or cast iron may be fastened underneath the structural keel in sailing vessels to provide stability and usually also additional hydrodynamic lift and lateral resistance effects.^[11]^{: Lua error: not enough memory.} See also [[#lua error: not enough memory.|bilge keel]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">keel draft <dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: -0.2em;">keel draught

Depth of water occupied by the vessel from the waterline to the underside of the keel.^[15] Compare with moulded draught.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">keelhauling

A type of maritime punishment by which one is dragged under the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] of a ship.

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">keelson

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A baulk of timber or a steel girder immediately above the [[#lua error: not enough memory.|keel]] that forms the backbone of a wooden ship. A chine keelson of more modest proportions is fitted at the junction of the floors and frames.^[1]

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">kellet

See [[#lua error: not enough memory.|anchor sentinel]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">kentledge

Weights, usually pig iron, used as permanent, high-density [[#lua error: not enough memory.|ballast]].

<dt class="glossary " id="Lua error: not enough memory." style="margin-top: 0.4em;">ketch

A two-masted [[#lua error: not enough memory.|fore-and-aft-rigged]] sailboat with the aft mast (the mizzen) mounted (stepped) [[#lua error: not enough memory.|afore]] the rudder.