B.
BACK of the post. See the article Stern-post.
To Back an anchor, empeneller, to carry out a small anchor, as the stream or kedge, ahead of the large one, by which the ship usually rides, in order to support it, and prevent it from loosening, or coming home, in bad ground. In this situation, the latter is confined by the former, in the same manner that the ship is restrained by the latter.
To Back astern, in rowing, scier à culer, is to manage the oars in a direction contrary to the usual method, so as that the boat or vessel impressed by their force, shall retreat, or move with her stern foremost, instead of advancing.
To Back the sails, is to arrange them in a situation that will occasion the ship to retreat or move astern. This operation is particularly necessary in narrow channels, when a ship is carried along sideways by the strength of the tide or current, and it becomes requisite to avoid any object that may intercept her course, as shoals, or vessels under sail, or at anchor: it is also necessary in a naval engagement, to bring a ship back, so as to lie opposite to her adversary, when she is too far advanced in the line. See Aback.
BACK-BOARD, a piece of board of a semicircular figure, placed transversely in the after-part of a boat, like the back of a chair, and serving the passengers to recline against whilst sitting in the stern-sheets. See Boat.
BACK-STAYS, cale haubans, (from back and stay) long ropes reaching from the topmast-heads to the starboard and larboard sides of the ship, where they are extended to the channels: they are used to support the top-masts, and second the efforts of the shrouds, when the mast is strained by a weight of sail in a fresh wind.
They are usually distinguished into breast-back-stays and after-back-stays; the intent of the former being to sustain the top-mast when the force of the wind acts upon the ship sideways, or, according to the sea-phrase, when the ship sails upon a wind; and the purpose of the latter is to enable it to carry sail when the wind is further aft.
There are also back-stays for the top-gallant-masts, in large ships, which are fixed in the same manner with those of the top-masts.
A pair of back-stays is usually formed of one rope, which is doubled in the middle, and fastened there so as to form an eye, which passes over the mast-head, from whence the two ends hang down, and are stretched to the channels by dead-eyes and laniards. See Dead-eyes, &c.
The figure of the back-stays, and their position, is exhibited in the article Rigging, to which the reader is further referred.
BADGE, bouteille, fausse galerie, in ship-building, a sort of ornament, placed on the outside of small ships, very near the stern, containing either a window, for the convenience of the cabin, or the representation of it: it is commonly decorated with marine figures, martial instruments, or such like emblems. See Quarter.
To BALANCE, (balancer, Fr.) to contract a sail into a narrower compass, in a storm, by retrenching or folding up a part of it at one corner; this method is used in contradistinction to reefing, which is common to all the principal sails; whereas balancing is peculiar to few, such as the mizen of a ship, and the main-sail of those vessels, wherein it is extended by a boom. See Boom and Reef.
The Balance of the mizen, fanon, is thus performed: the mizen-yard is lowered a little, then a small portion of the sail is rolled up at the peek, or upper corner, and fastened to the yard about one fifth inward from the outer end, or yard-arm, toward the mast. See Mizen.
A boom-main-sail is balanced, after all its reefs are taken in, by rolling up a similar portion of the hindmost, or aftmost lower-corner, called the clue, and fastening it strongly to the boom, having previously wrapped a piece of old canvas round the part (which is done in both cases) to prevent the sail from being fretted by the cord which fastens it.
BALLAST, lest, (ballaste, Dut. ballastro, Span.) a certain portion of stone, iron, gravel, or such like materials, deposited in a ship’s hold, when she has either no cargo, or too little to bring her sufficiently low in the water. It is used to counter-ballance the effort of the wind upon the masts, and give the ship a proper stability, that she may be enabled to carry sail without danger of over-turning.
There is often great difference in the proportion of ballast required to prepare ships of equal burthen for a voyage; the quantity being always more or less, according to the sharpness or flatness of the ship’s bottom, which seamen call the floor.
The knowledge of ballasting a ship with propriety, is certainly an article that deserves the attention of the skilful mariner; for although it is known that ships in general will not carry a sufficient quantity of sail, till they are laden so deep that the surface of the water will nearly glance on the extreme breadth amidships; yet there is more than this general knowledge required; since, if she has a great weight of heavy ballast, as lead, iron, &c. in the bottom, it will place the center of gravity too low in the hold; and although this will enable her to carry a great sail, she will nevertheless sail very heavily, and run the risk of being dismasted by her violent rolling.
To ballast a ship, therefore, is the art of disposing those materials so that she may be duly poised, and maintain a proper equilibrium on the water, so as neither to be too stiff, nor too crank, qualities equally pernicious; as in the first, although the ship may be fitted to carry a great sail, yet her velocity will not be proportionably increased; whilst her masts are more endangered by her sudden jerks and excessive labouring: and in the last, she will be incapable of carrying sail, without the risk of oversetting.
Stiffness in ballasting, is occasioned by disposing a great quantity of heavy ballast, as lead, iron, &c. in the bottom, which naturally places the center of gravity very near the keel; and that being the center about which the vibrations are made, the lower it is placed, the more violent will be the motion of rolling.
Crankness, on the other hand, is occasioned by having too little ballast, or by disposing the ship’s lading so as to raise the center of gravity too high, which also endangers the mast in carrying sail when it blows hard: for when the masts lose their perpendicular height, they strain on the shrouds in the nature of a lever, which encreases as the sine of their obliquity; and a ship that loses her masts is in great danger of being lost.
The whole art of ballasting, therefore, consists in placing the center of gravity to correspond with the trim and shape of the vessel, so as neither to be too high nor too low; neither too far forward, nor too far aft; and to lade the ship so deep, that the surface of the water may nearly rise to the extreme breadth amidships; and thus she will be enabled to carry a good sail, incline but little, and ply well to the windward. See the article Trim.
BANIAN-Days, a cant term among common sailors, denoting those days on which they have no flesh-meat: it seems to be derived from the practice of a nation amongst the eastern Indians, who never eat flesh.
BANK, banc, atterrissement, (banc, Sax.) an elevation of the ground, or bottom of the sea, which is often so high as to appear above the surface of the water, or at least so little beneath it, as to prevent a ship from floating over it: in this sense, bank amounts nearly to the same as shallows, flats, &c. The shelves that abound with rocks under water, are distinguished by other names, as reefs, ridges, keys, &c.
An exact knowledge of the banks, their extent, and the different depths of water in which they lie, constitutes a very essential portion of the science of a pilot, or master of a ship. If the vessel be large, and draws much water, great attention will be necessary to avoid them. If, on the contrary, she is small, the same banks afford a sure asylum, where she may brave the largest ships, which dare not follow her to so dangerous a retreat. Many small vessels have eluded the pursuit of a superior enemy by means of this hospitable barrier.
Banks on the sea-coast are usually marked by beacons or buoys. In charts they are distinguished by little dots, as ridges of rocks are characterised by crosses. The principal banks in the Western Ocean, are those of Newfoundland, and the Bahama-Bank: the most remarkable one in Newfoundland is called the Grand Bank, which is of a vast extent, being nearly two hundred miles in length, and stretching north and south: its usual depth is from twenty to eighty fathoms: and this is the great scene of the cod-fishery, which is so material an article in European commerce.
Bank of oars, a seat or bench of rowers in a galley.
BANKER, a vessel employed in the cod-fishery on the Banks of Newfoundland.
BAR of a port or haven, a shoal or bank of sand, gravel, &c. thrown up by the surge of the sea, to the mouth of a river or harbour, so as to endanger, and sometimes totally prevent the navigation.
BARCA-LONGA, a large Spanish fishing-boat, navigated with lug-sails, and having two or three masts: these are very common in the Mediterranean. See Vessel.
BARGE (bargie, Dutch) a vessel or boat of state, furnished with elegant apartments, canopies, and cushions; equipped with a band of rowers, and decorated with flags and streamers: they are generally used for processions on the water, by noblemen, officers of state, or magistrates of great cities. Of this sort we may naturally suppose the famous barge or galley of Cleopatra, which, according to Shakespeare,
———————‘Like a burnish’d throne
Burnt on the water; the poop was beaten gold;
Purple her sails, and so perfumed, that
The winds were love-sick with them: the oars were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water which they beat to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes——
——At the helm
A seeming mermaid steer’d: the silken tackles
Swell’d with the touches of those flower-soft-hands
That yarely form’d their office.’——
There are likewise other barges of a smaller kind, for the use of admirals and captains of ships of war. These are of a lighter frame, and may be easily hoisted into, and out of the ships to which they occasionally belong. See Boat.
Barge, cabotiere, is also the name of a flat-bottomed vessel of burthen, for lading and discharging ships, and removing their cargoes from place to place in a harbour.
BARK (barca, low Lat.) a general name given to small ships: it is however peculiarly appropriated by seamen to those which carry three masts without a mizen top-sail. Our northern mariners, who are trained in the coal-trade, apply this distinction to a broad-sterned ship, which carries no ornamental figure on the stem or prow.
BARNICLE, cravan, a species of shell-fish, often found sticking to the bottoms of ships, rocks, &c.
BARRICADE (barricada, Span.) a strong wooden rail, supported by several little pillars or stanchions, and extending, as a fence, across the foremost part of the quarter-deck. In a vessel of war, the intervals between the pillars are commonly filled with cork, junks of old cable, or matts of platted cordage. In the upper-part, there is a double rope-netting, supported by double cranes of iron, extending about a foot above the rail; and between the two parts of the netting are stuffed a number of hammocks, filled with the seamens bedding, to intercept and prevent the execution of small-shot fired by swivel guns, carabines, or muskets, in the time of battle.
BARS of the Capstern and Windlass. See those articles.
BASIN of a dock, (bassin, Fr.) a place where the water is confined by double flood-gates, and thereby prevented from running out at the tide of ebb. The use of it is to contain ships whilst repairing, either before they enter, or after they come out of the dock.
Basin, paradis, also implies some part of a haven, which opens from a narrow channel into a wide and spacious reservoir for shipping.
BATTENS of the hatches, a sort of long narrow laths, scantlings of wooden stuff, or streight hoops of casks. They are nailed along the edges of tarpaulings, which are pieces of tarred canvas, of sufficient breadth and length to cover the hatches at sea; the battens serve to confine the edges of the tarpaulings close down to the sides of the hatches, to prevent the water, which may rush over the decks in a storm, from penetrating into the lower apartments of the ship.
BAY, baye, a gulf or inlet of the sea-coast, comprehended between two promontories, or capes of land, where shipping frequently ride at anchor, sheltered from the wind and sea.
BEACON, balise, (beacon, Sax.) a post or stake erected over a shoal or sand-bank, as a warning to seamen to keep their ships at a distance.
BEAK-HEAD, coltis, a name given to a ship’s head whose forecastle is square or oblong, a circumstance common to all vessels of war which have two or more decks of guns. In smaller ships, the forecastle is nearly shaped like a parabola, whose vertex, or angular point, lies immediately over the stem.
The strong, projecting, pointed beaks used by the antients in time of battle, have been intirely rejected since the use of gun-powder.
BEAMS, baux, (beam, Sax. a tree) strong thick pieces of timber, stretching across the ship from side to side, to support the decks, and retain the sides at their proper distance.
The Beams of ships of war are usually formed of three pieces scarfed together; as appears in plate [III]. They are sustained at each end by thick planks in the ship’s side, called clamps, upon which they rest. They are also firmly connected to the timbers of the ship by means of strong knees, and sometimes by standards. See Midship-Frame.
It is necessary that the beams, as represented in the midship-frame, should have a greater height in the middle than at the two ends, to carry the water more readily off from the decks, and to diminish the recoil of the guns, which will thereby more easily return into their places.
The longest of these is called the midship-beam; it is lodged in the midship-frame, or between the widest frame of timbers. At about two thirds of the height from the keel to the lower-deck, are laid a range of beams, to fortify the hold, and support a platform called the orlop, which contains the cables and stores of the ship.
There are usually twenty-four beams on the lower-deck of a ship of seventy-four guns, and to the other decks additional ones in proportion, as the ship lengthens above.
On the Beam, implies any distance from the ship on a line with the beams, or at right angles with the keel: thus, if the ship steers or points northward, any object lying east or west, is said to be on the starboard or larboard beam. Thus also,
Before the Beam, is an arch of the horizon comprehended between the line that crosses her length at right angles, and some object at a distance before it, or between the line of the beam, and that point of the compass which she stems. Thus if a ship, steering west, discovers an island on the right, three points before the beam, the island must bear N W b N from the ship. See the article Bearing.
BEAN-COD, a small fishing-vessel, or pilot-boat, common on the sea-coasts and in the rivers of Portugal. It is extremely sharp forward, having its stem bent inward above into a great curve: the stem is also plated on the fore-side with iron, into which a number of bolts are driven, to fortify it, and resist the stroke of another vessel, which may fall athwart-hause. It is commonly navigated with a large lateen sail, which extends over the whole length of the deck, and is accordingly well fitted to ply to windward.
BEAR-a-hand! a phrase of the same import with make haste, dispatch, quick, &c.
BEARING, in navigation, gissement, an arch of the horizon intercepted between the nearest meridian and any distant object, either discovered by the eye, or resulting from the sinical proportion; as in the first case, at 4 P. M. Cape Spado, in the isle of Candia, bore S by W. by the compass.
In the second, the longitudes and latitudes of any two places being given, and consequently the difference of latitude and longitude between them, the bearing from one to the other is discovered by the following analogy:
As the meridional difference of latitude
Is to the difference of longitude:
So is radius
To the tangent bearing.
Bearing is also the situation of any distant object, estimated from some part of the ship according to her position. In this sense, an object so discovered, must be either ahead, astern, abreast, on the bow, or on the quarter.
These Bearings, therefore, which may be called mechanical, are on the beam, before the beam, abaft the beam, on the bow, on the quarter, ahead, or astern. If the ship sails with a side-wind, it alters the names of such bearings in some measure, since a distant object on the beam is then said to be to leeward, or to windward; on the lee quarter, or bow; and on the weather quarter or bow.
Bearing-up, or Bearing-away, arriver, in navigation, the act of changing the course of a ship, in order to make her run before the wind, after she had sailed some time with a side-wind, or close-hauled: it is generally performed to arrive at some port under the lee, or to avoid some imminent danger occasioned by a violent storm, leak, or enemy in sight.
This phrase, which is absurd enough, seems to have been derived from the motion of the helm, by which this effect is partly produced; as the helm is then borne up to the windward, or weather side of the ship. Otherwise, it is a direct contradiction in terms, to say that a ship bears up, when she goes before the wind; since the current of the wind, as well as that of a river, is always understood to determine the situation of objects or places within its limits. In the first sense we say, up to windward and down to leeward; as in the latter we say, up or down the river. This expression, however, although extremely improper, is commonly adopted in the general instructions of our navy, printed by authority, instead of bearing down, or bearing away.
BEATING, in navigation, the operation of making a progress at sea against the direction of the wind, in a zig-zag line, or traverse, like that in which we ascend a steep hill. As this method of sailing will be particularly explained under the term Tacking, the reader is referred to that article.
To BECALM, derober, (from calme, Dut.) to intercept the current of the wind, in its passage to a ship, with any contiguous object, as a shore above her sails, a high sea behind, or some other ship. At this time the sails remain in a state of rest, and are consequently deprived of their power to govern the motion of the ship.
BECKETS, bille, imply in general any thing used to confine loose ropes, tackles, oars, or spars, in a convenient place, where they may be disposed out of the way till they are wanted. Hence, beckets are either large hooks, or short pieces of rope, with a knot in one end and an eye in the other, or formed like a circular wreath; or they are wooden brackets; and, probably, from a corruption and misapplication of this last term, arose the word becket, which seems often to be confounded with bracket.
Put the tacks and sheets in the Beckets! the order to hang up the weather main and fore-sheet, and the lee main and fore-tack, to a little knot and eye-becket on the foremost main and fore-shrouds, when the ship is close-hauled, to prevent them from hanging in the water.
BED, a flat thick piece of timber, usually formed of the rough staves of casks, or such like materials, to be lodged under the quarters of casks containing any liquid, and stowed in a ship’s hold. The use of the beds is to support the cask, and keep the bilge, or middle-part of it, from bearing against the ship’s floor, or against the body upon which it rests, lest the staves should give way and break in the place where they are weakest: or lie in a wet place, so as to rot in the course of the voyage. See the article Stowing.
Bed of a river, lit., the bottom of the channel in which the stream or current usually flows.
Bed of a cannon. See Carriage.
To BELAY, amarrer, (from beleygen, Belg.) to fasten a rope, by winding it several times round a cleat, belaying-pin, or kevel: this term is peculiar to small ropes, and chiefly the running-rigging, there being several other expressions used for large ropes, as bitting, bending, making fast, stoppering, &c. See those articles.
BEND, avuste, (probably from bindan, Sax. to bind) the knot by which one rope is fastened to another, hence
To Bend, is to fasten one rope to another, of which there are several methods.
BENDING the cable, the operation of clinching, or tying the cable to the ring of its anchor.
Bending a sail, fastening it to its yard or stay. See the articles Sail, Stay, and Yard.
BENDS, the thickest and strongest planks in a ship’s side. See Wales, by which name they are more properly called.
BETWEEN-DECKS, entre-pont, the space contained between any two decks of a ship.
BEVELLING, in ship-building, the art of hewing a timber with a proper and regular curve, according to a mould which is laid on one side of its surface.
‘In order to hew any piece of timber to its proper bevel, it will be necessary, first, to make one side fair, and out of winding; a term used to signify that the side of a timber should be a plane. If this side be uppermost, and placed horizontally, or upon a level, it is plain, if the timber is to be hewed square, it may be done by a plummet and line; but if the timber is not hewed square, the line will not touch both the upper and lower edge of the piece; or if a square be applied to it, there will be wood wanting either at the upper or lower side. This is called within or without a square. When the wood is deficient at the under-side, it is called under-bevelling; and when it is deficient in the upper-side, it is called standing-bevelling: and this deficiency will be more or less according to the depth of the piece; so that before the proper bevellings of the timbers are found, it will be sometimes very convenient to assign the breadth of the timbers; nay, in most cases it will be absolutely necessary, especially afore and abaft: though the breadth of two timbers, or the timber and room, which includes the two timbers and the space between them, may be taken without any sensible error, as far as the square body goes. For as one line represents the moulding-side of two timbers, the fore-side of the one being supposed to unite with the aft-side of the other; the two may be considered as one intire piece of timber.’ Murray’s Ship-building.
BIGHT, balant, (bygan, Sax. to bend) the double part of a rope when it is folded, in contradistinction to the end: as, her anchor hooked the bight of our cable, i.e. caught any part of it between the ends. The bight of his cable has swept our anchor; that is, the double part of the cable of another ship, as she ranged about, has entangled itself under the stock or fluke of our anchor.
Bight, anse, is also a small bay between two points of land.
BILANDER, bilandre, Fr. a small merchant-ship with two masts.
The Bilander is particularly distinguished from other vessels of two masts by the form of her main-sail, which is a sort of trapezia, the yard thereof being hung obliquely on the mast in the plane of the ship’s length, and the aftmost or hinder end peeked or raised up to an angle of about 45 degrees, and hanging immediately over the stern; while the fore end slopes downward, and comes as far forward as the middle of the ship. To this the sail is bent or fastened; and the two lower corners, the foremost of which is called the tack, and the aftmost the sheet, are afterwards secured, the former to a ring-bolt in the middle of the ship’s length, and the latter to another in the taffarel. The main-sails of larger ships are hung across the deck instead of along it, being fastened to a yard which hangs at right angles with the mast and the keel.
Few vessels, however, are now rigged in this method, which has probably been found more inconvenient than several others. See Ship. It may not be improper to remark, that this name, as well as brigantine, has been variously applied in different parts of Europe to vessels of different sorts.
BILGE, (supposed from bilik, Sax. a storm) that part of the floor of a ship, on either side of the keel, which approaches nearer to an horizontal than to a perpendicular direction, and on which the ship would rest if laid on the ground: or more particularly, those parts of the bottom which are opposite to the heads of the floor-timbers amidships on each side of the keel. Hence, when a ship receives a fracture in this place, she is said to be bilged.
BILL of lading, connoissement, an acknowledgment signed by the master of a ship, and given to a merchant, containing an account of the goods which the former has received from the latter, &c. with a promise to deliver them at the intended place for a certain sum of money. Each bill of lading must be treble; one for the merchant who ships the goods, another to be sent to the person to whom they are consigned, and the third to remain in the hands of the master of the said ship. It must, however, be observed, that a bill of lading is only used when the goods sent on board a ship are but part of the cargo; for when a merchant loads a vessel entirely on his own account, the deed passed between him and the master of the ship is called charter-party. See Charter-party.
BINACLE, a wooden case or box, which contains the compasses, log-glasses, watch-glasses, and lights to shew the compass at night.
As this is called bittacle in all the old sea-books, even by mariners, it appears evidently to be derived from the French term habitacle, (a small habitation) which is now used for the same purpose by the seamen of that nation.
The Binacle (plate [I]. fig. 4.) is furnished with three apartments, with sliding shutters: the two side ones, a b, have always a compass in each, d, to direct the ship’s way, while the middle division, c, has a lamp or candle, with a pane of glass on either side to throw a light upon the compass in the night, whereby the man who steers may observe it in the darkest weather, as it stands immediately before the helm on the quarter-deck.
There are always two binacles on the deck of a ship of war, one being designed for the man who steers, and the other for the person who superintends the steerage, whose office is called conning, or cunning.
BIRTH, or Berth, eviteé, the station in which a ship rides at anchor, either alone or in a fleet; or the distance between the ship and any adjacent object; comprehending the extent of the space in which she ranges at the length of her cables; as, she lies in a good birth, i. e. in a convenient situation, or at a proper distance from the shore and other vessels; and where there is good anchoring-ground, and shelter from the violence of the wind and sea.
Birth, appartement, also signifies the room or apartment where any particular number of the officers or ship’s company usually mess and reside. In a ship of war there is commonly one of these between every two guns.
To BITE, mordre, to hold fast in the ground; expressed of the anchor.
BITS, bittes, (bitol, Sax.) a frame composed of two strong pieces of timber, fixed perpendicularly in the fore-part of a ship, whereon to fasten her cables as she rides at anchor. See b b, Pieces of the Hull.
These pieces being let down through square mortises cut in the decks above and below, are bolted and fore-locked to the ship’s beams. There are several bits in a ship, the principal of which are those for the cables: their upper ends commonly reach about four or five feet above the lower deck, over which the cable passes. They are supported on the fore part by strong standards; one arm of which is bolted to the deck, and the other to the bits: and on the after part is fixed a strong beam of timber, g, (plate [I]. Pieces of the Hull) parallel to the deck, and at right angles with the bits, to which it is bolted and forelocked. The ends of this beam, which is called the cross-piece, reach about two or three feet beyond the bits, whose upper-ends are nearly two feet above the cross-piece. The cable being passed once round about these bits, may be gradually slackened at pleasure; without which it would be impossible to prevent it from running out with the utmost rapidity, when the ship rides a great strain, which is always the case in a storm, or an impetuous tide. In ships of war there are usually two pair of cable bits, and when they are both used at once, the cable is said to be double-bitted. The plan of the bits, with their cross-pieces and standards, are represented in Plate [III]. where b b are the bits, e their standards, and g the cross-piece.
To Bit the cable, is to put it round the bits, in order to fasten it, or slacken it gradually, which last is called veering away.
The other bits are of a smaller kind, but constructed nearly in the same manner. They are used to fasten the top-sail-sheets, or the ropes by which the lower corners of the top-sails are extended.
BLACK-STRAKES, a range of planks immediately above the wales in a ship’s side: they are always covered with a mixture of tar and lamp-black, forming an agreeable variety with the white bottom beneath, and the scraped planks of the side, covered with melted turpentine or varnish of pine, above. All the yards are likewise daubed with this mixture, which not only preserves them from the heat of the sun and the weather, but gives them a fine gloss, which makes a good appearance contrasted with the white varnish on the masts.
BLADE. See the article Oar.
BLOCK, poulie, a machine known in mechanics by the name of pully, and used for various purposes in a ship, particularly to increase the mechanical power of the ropes employed in contracting, dilating, or traversing the sails. The ends of these ropes, being arranged in certain places upon the deck, may thus be readily found whenever they are wanted. The blocks, which are for these purposes disposed in various places upon the masts, yards, and sails, and amongst the rigging, are also of various sizes, shapes, and powers, according to the effect they are calculated to produce. They are single, double, or treble, being so denominated from the number of wheels they contain. There are even some of five, six, and seven fold, but these are only employed to raise or move some very weighty bodies, and are not used about the yards or sails. We shall begin by describing the most simple, and afterwards proceed to those which are more complicated.
A common single block is composed of three parts; the shell, the sheave, and the pins. The shell, arcasse, approaches nearest to the figure of a long spheroid, somewhat flatted in the middle. Between the two flat sides it is hollowed so as to receive a narrow cylindrical wheel called the sheave, rouet, formed of lignum vitæ, or other hard wood; and thro’ the centre of this sheave is bored a round hole, to admit of a pin, which is driven through two corresponding holes in the middle of the shell, perpendicular to the hollow space within. The pin thus becomes the axis of the wheel or sheave, which completes the wooden work of the machine. Thus formed, it is bound with a sort of rope-ring, which is closely fitted to a notch passing round the surface of the shell, and over both ends of the pin: and by this ring, or wreath, which is called a block-strop, they are suspended upon the masts, shrouds, &c.
The complicated blocks, or those which contain a number of wheels, either have all the wheels to run upon one axis, (see plate [I].) or have their shells so formed that the wheels are one above another. In the former shape they approach nearest the figure of a cylinder, and in the latter appear like two or more single blocks joined together endways.
In plate [I]. fig. 7. a, represents a single block, and b, c, two double ones, of different kinds, without strops. Fig. e, f, two double tackle-blocks iron bound, the lower one, f, being fitted with a swivel, g, a double iron-bound block with a large hook, h, a snatch-block, i, a top-block, k, a voyal-block, and l, a clue-garnet-block. See Snatch-Block, Tackle, and Voyal.
The Cat-block (plate [II]. fig. 15.) is employed to draw the anchor up the cat-head. See the article Cat.
The swivel in the iron-bound block is to turn it, that the several parts of the rope of which the tackle is composed may not be twisted round each other, which would greatly diminish the mechanical power.
The top-block is used to hoist up or lower down the top-masts, and is for this purpose hooked in an eye-bolt driven into the cap. See Cap.
The clue-garnet blocks are used to draw the clues, or lower-corners of the courses, up to the yard, and are consequently fastened to the clues of those sails. See Clue-garnet. The use of the shoulder on the lower-end, is to prevent the strop from being fretted or chafed by the motion of the sail, as the ship rolls or pitches.
BOARD, in navigation, (bordée, Fr.) the space comprehended between any two places where the ship changes her course by tacking; or the line over which she runs between tack and tack, when she is turning to windward, or sailing against the direction of the wind. See the articles Beating and Tacking.
She makes a good Board, i. e. sails nearly upon a streight line, without deviating to leeward when she is close-hauled. See Close-hauled.
BOARDING, abordage, an assault made by one ship upon another, by entering her in battle with a detachment of armed men; either because the efforts of the artillery and musquetry have proved ineffectual, or because she may have a greater number of men, and be better equipped for this attack than the enemy who defends herself against it.
This stratagem, however, is chiefly practised by privateers upon merchant-ships, who are not so well provided with men, and rarely attempted in the royal navy; the battle being generally decided in men of war by the vigorous execution of a close cannonade.
An officer should maturely consider the danger of boarding a ship of war before he attempts it; and be well assured that his adversary is weakly manned: for perhaps he wishes to be boarded, and if so, a great slaughter will necessarily follow.
The swell of the sea ought also to be considered, because it may run so high as to expose both the ships to the danger of sinking.
There is perhaps very little prudence in boarding a ship of equal force; and when it is attempted, it may be either to windward or to leeward, according to the comparative force or situation of the ships. If there be any swell, or sea, it may be more adviseable to lay the enemy aboard on the lee-side, as the water is there the smoothest; besides, if the boarder is repulsed in that situation, he may more easily withdraw his men, and stand off from his adversary. But as the weather-ship can generally fall to leeward at any time, it is perhaps more eligible to keep to windward, by which she will be enabled to rake her antagonist, or fire the broadside into her stern as she crosses it, in passing to leeward, which will do great execution amongst her men, by scouring the whole length of the deck.
Boarding may be performed in different places of the ship, according to the circumstances, preparation and position of both: the assailant having previously selected a number of men armed with pistols and cutlasses. A number of powder-flasks, or flasks charged with gun-powder and fitted with a fuse, are also provided, to be thrown upon the enemy’s deck immediately before the assault. Besides this, the boarder is generally furnished with an earthen shell, called a stink-pot, which on that occasion is suspended from his yard-arms or bow-sprit-end. This machine is also charged with powder, mixed with other inflammable and suffocating materials, with a lighted fuse at the aperture. Thus prepared for the action, and having grappled his adversary, the boarder displays his signal to begin the assault. The fuses of the stink-pot and powder-flasks being lighted, they are immediately thrown upon the deck of the enemy, where they burst and catch fire, producing an intolerable stench and smoke, and filling the deck with tumult and distraction. Amidst the confusion occasioned by this infernal apparatus, the detachment provided rush aboard sword in hand, under cover of the smoke, on their antagonist, who is in the same predicament with a citadel stormed by the besiegers, and generally overpowered, unless he is furnished with extraordinary means of defence, or equipped with close-quarters, to which he can retreat with some probability of safety. See the article Close-Quarters.
BOAT (bæt, Sax. boot, Belg.) a small open vessel, conducted on the water by rowing or sailing. The construction, machinery, and even the names of boats, are very different, according to the various purposes for which they are calculated, and the services on which they are to be employed.
Thus they are occasionally slight or strong; sharp or flat-bottomed; open or decked; plain or ornamented; as they may be designed for swiftness or burthen; for deep or shallow water; for sailing in a harbour or at sea; and for convenience, or pleasure.
The largest boat that usually accompanies a ship is the long-boat, chaloupe, which is generally furnished with a mast and sails: those which are fitted for men of war, may be occasionally decked, armed, and equipped, for cruising short distances against merchant-ships of the enemy, or smugglers, or for impressing seamen, &c.
The barges are next in order, which are longer, slighter, and narrower: they are employed to carry the principal sea-officers, as admirals, and captains of ships of war, and are very unfit for sea. See the article Barge.
Pinnaces exactly resemble barges, only that they are somewhat smaller, and never row more than eight oars; whereas a barge properly never rows less than ten. These are for the accommodation of the lieutenants, &c.
Cutters of a ship, bateaux, are broader, deeper, and shorter than the barges and pinnaces; they are fitter for sailing, and are commonly employed in carrying stores, provisions, passengers, &c. to and from the ship. In the structure of this sort of boats, the lower-edge of every plank in the side over-lays the upper-edge of the plank below, which is called by shipwrights clinch-work.
Yawls, canots, are something less than cutters, nearly of the same form, and used for similar services; they are generally rowed with six oars.
The above boats more particularly belong to men of war; as merchant-ships seldom have more than two, viz. a long-boat and yawl: when they have a third, it is generally calculated for the countries to which they trade, and varies in its construction accordingly.
Merchant-ships employed in the Mediterranean find it more convenient to use a lanch, which is longer, more flat-bottomed, and better adapted every way to the harbours of that sea than a long-boat. See Lanch.
A wherry, diligence, is a light sharp boat, used in a river or harbour for carrying passengers from place to place.
Punts, flette, are a sort of oblong flat-bottomed boats, nearly resembling floating stages; they are used by shipwrights and caulkers, for breaming, caulking, or repairing a ship’s bottom.
A moses is a very flat broad boat, used by merchant-ships amongst the Caribbee-islands, to bring hogsheads of sugar off from the sea-beach to the shipping which are anchored in the roads.
A felucca is a strong passage-boat used in the Mediterranean, from ten to sixteen banks of oars. The natives of Barbary often employ boats of this sort as cruisers.
For the larger sort of boats, see the articles Craft, Cutter, Periagua, and Shallop.
Of all the small boats, a Norway yawl seems to be the best calculated for a high sea, as it will often venture out to a great distance from the coast of that country, when a stout ship can hardly carry any sail.
Trim the Boat! barque-droit! the order to sit in the boat in such a manner as that she shall float upright in the water, without leaning to either side.
To bale the Boat, is to throw out the water which remains in her bottom or the well-room.
Moor the Boat! the order to fasten a boat with two ropes, so as that the one shall counter-act the other.
For a representation of some of the principal boats of a ship of war, see plate [III]. where fig. 1. exhibits the elevation, or side view, of a ten-oared barge; a a, its keel; b, the stern-post; c, the stem; b c, the water-line, which separates what is under the surface of the water from what is above it; e, the row-locks, which contain the oars between them; f, the top of the stern; g, the back-board; f g, the place where the cockswain stands or sits while steering the boat; l, the rudder, and m, the tiller, which is of framed iron.
Fig. 2. represents the plan of the same barge, where d is the ‘thwarts, or seats where the rowers sit to manage their oars; f, i, h, the stern-sheets; i k, the benches whereon the passengers sit in the stern-sheets: the rest is explained in fig. 1.
Fig 3. is a stern view of the same barge, with the projection of all the timbers in the after-body; and fig. 4, a head view, with the curves of all the timbers in the fore-body.
Having thus explained the different views of the barge, the reader will easily comprehend the several corresponding parts in the other boats; where fig. 5 is the plan, and fig. 6 the elevation of a twelve-oared cutter that rows double banked: which, although seldom employed unless in capital ships, because requiring twelve rowers, is nevertheless a very excellent boat, both for rowing and sailing. Fig. 7 and 8 are the head and stern of this boat.
Fig. 9 is the plan of a long-boat, of which fig. 10 is the elevation, 11 the stern-view, and 12 the head-view.
Boat-hook, an iron hook with a sharp point on the hinder part thereof, to stick into a piece of wood, a ship’s-side, &c. It is stuck upon a long pole or shaft, (pl. III. fig. 1 n.) by the help of which a person in the boat may either hook any thing to confine the boat in a particular place, or push her off by the sharp point attached to the back of the hook.
Boatswain, Contre-maitre, the officer who has the boats, sails, rigging, colours, anchors, and cables committed to his charge.
It is the duty of the boatswain particularly to direct whatever relates to the rigging of a ship, after she is equipped from a royal dock-yard. Thus he is to observe that the masts are properly supported by their shrouds, stays, and back-stays, so that each of those ropes may sustain a proportional effort when the mast is strained by the violence of the wind, or the agitation of the ship. He ought also to take care that the blocks and running-ropes are regularly placed, so as to answer the purposes for which they are intended; and that the sails are properly fitted to their yards and stays, and well furled or reefed when occasion requires.
It is likewise his office to summon the crew to their duty; to assist with his mates in the necessary business of the ship; and to relieve the watch when it expires. He ought frequently to examine the condition of the masts, sails, and rigging, and remove whatever may be judged unfit for service, or supply what is deficient: and he is ordered by his instructions to perform this duty with as little noise as possible.
BOB-STAY, sous-barbe, a rope used to confine the bowsprit of a ship downward to the stem, or cut-water. It is fixed by thrusting one of its ends through a hole bored in the fore-part of the cut-water for this purpose, and then splicing both ends together so as to make it two-fold, or like the link of a chain: a dead-eye is then seized into it, and a laniard passing through this and communicating with another dead-eye upon the bowsprit, is drawn extremely tight by the help of mechanical powers. See Bowsprit.
The use of the bob-stay, is to draw down the bowsprit, and keep it steddy; and to counter-act the force of the stays of the fore-mast, which draw it upwards. The bowsprit is also fortified by shrouds from the bows on each side; which are all very necessary, as the foremast and the upper-part of the main-mast are stayed and greatly supported by the bowsprit. For this reason, the bob-stay is the first part of a ship’s rigging which is drawn tight to support the masts. To perform this task more effectually, it is usual to suspend a boat, anchor, or other weighty body, at the bowsprit-end, to press it downwards during this operation.
BOLSTERS, a sort of small cushions or bags, filled with tarred canvas, laid between the collars of the stays and the edge of some piece of wood on which they lie: they are used to preserve the stays from being chafed or galled by the motion of the masts, as the ship rocks or pitches at sea.
BOLT-ROPE, ralingue, a rope to which the edges or skirts of the sails are sewed, to strengthen, and prevent them from rending. Those parts of the bolt-rope which are on the perpendicular or sloping edges, are called leech-ropes; that at the bottom, the foot-rope; and that on the top or upper edge, the head-rope. Stay-sails, whose heads are formed like an acute angle, have no head-rope. To different parts of the bolt-rope are fastened all the ropes employed to contract or dilate the sails. The figure and position of the bolt-rope is exhibited in the plate referred to from the article Sail.
BOMB. See the articles Mortar and Shell.
BOMB-VESSEL, a small ship particularly calculated to throw bombs into a fortress. They are said to be invented by M. Reyneau, and to have been first put in action at the bombardment of Algiers. Till then it had been judged impracticable to bombard a place from the sea. See a particular description of these ships in the article Ketch.
BOOM, estacade, barre, (from boom, a tree, Dutch) in marine fortification, a strong chain or cable, on which are fastened a number of poles, bars, &c. extending athwart the mouth of a harbour or river, to prevent the enemies ships of war from entering. It may be occasionally sunk, or drawn up to the surface of the water, by capsterns, and other mechanical powers.
Booms, boute dehors, certain long poles run out from different places in the ship to extend the bottoms of particular sails. Of these there are several sorts; as the jib-boom, studding-sail-booms, ring-tail-boom, driver-boom, main-boom, and square-sail-boom; the two last, however, are only appropriated to small ships of one or two masts. See Jib, &c.
BOOT-TOPPING, the act of cleaning the upper-part of a ship’s bottom, or that part which lies immediately under the surface of the water, and daubing it over with tallow, or with a coat or mixture of tallow, sulphur, resin, &c.
Boot-topping is chiefly performed where there is no dock, or other commodious situation for breaming or careening; or when the hurry of a voyage renders it inconvenient to have the whole bottom properly trimmed and cleansed of the filth which gathers to it in the course of a sea-voyage. It is executed by making the ship lean to one side, as much as they can with safety, and then scraping off the grass, slime, shells, or other material, that adheres to the bottom, on the other side, which is elevated above the surface of the water for this purpose, and accordingly daubed with the coat of tallow and sulphur. Having thus finished one side, they make the ship lean to the other side, and perform the same operation, which not only preserves the bottom from the worm, but makes the ship slide smoothly through the water. See Careen and Dock.
BORE. See the article Cannon.
BOTH SHEETS AFT, entre deux écoutes, the situation of a ship that sails right afore the wind, or with the wind right astern.
BOTTOM, carene, (botm, Sax. bodem, Belg.) as a sea-term, is either used to denote the bottom of a ship, or that of the water: thus in the former sense we say, a clean or a foul bottom; a British, French, or Dutch bottom: and in the latter sense, a rocky, sandy, or oozy bottom.
The bottom of a ship, as we have described in the article Naval Architecture, comprehends all that part which is under water when the ship is laden; the figure of it must therefore be determined by the qualities required in the ship, and the purposes for which the is designed.
It has been remarked, that a ship of war should carry her lowest tier of cannon sufficiently above the surface of the water to be used when necessary. If this quality is neglected, a small ship will have the advantage of a large one, inasmuch as the latter cannot open her lower battery in a fresh side-wind, without being exposed to extreme danger, by receiving a great quantity of water in at her ports between-decks.
A ship should be duly poised, so as not to dive or pitch heavily, but go smoothly and easily through the water, rising to the waves when they run high, or when the vessel has reduced her sail to the storm. If she is deficient in this article, the seas will frequently burst aboard, and strain the decks or carry away the boats. The masts are also greatly endangered from the same cause.
A ship should sail well when large, or before the wind; but particularly when close-hauled, or sailing with a side-wind. She should also be enabled in the latter situation to keep her wind, without deviating much to leeward; to work and tack easily, and lie in a turbulent sea without straining violently.
Many of our shipwrights have considered it extremely difficult, if not impracticable, to make a ship carry her cannon well, bear a competent sail, and advance swiftly through the water; because a very full bottom is necessary to acquire the two first qualities; whereas a sharp floor is better fitted to procure the latter. But when it is remembered, that a full ship will carry a much greater force of sail than a sharp one, a good artist may form the body so as to unite all these three qualities with the additional one of steering easily, by paying a proper attention to the following general rules.
To make a ship carry a good sail. A flat floor-timber somewhat long, or the lower-futtocks pretty round, a streight upper-futtock, the top-timber to throw out the breadth aloft; at any rate to carry the main-breadth as high as the lower-deck. Now if the rigging be well adapted to such a body, and the upper-works lightened as much as possible, so that the whole contributes to lower the center of gravity, there will be no reason to doubt of the ship’s carrying a good sail.
To make a ship steer well, and answer the helm readily. If the fashion-pieces be well formed, the tuck, or spreading-parts under the stern, carried pretty high; the midship-frame well forward; a considerable additional depth in the draught of water abaft more than forward; a great rake forward and none abaft; a snug quarter-deck and forecastle: all these will greatly facilitate the steerage; and a ship that sails well will always steer easily.
To make a ship carry her guns well out of the water. A long floor-timber, and not of great rising; a very full midship-frame, and low tuck, with light upper-works.
To make a ship go smoothly through the water, and prevent her from pitching heavily. A long keel, a long floor, not to rise too high afore and abaft; but the area, or space contained in the fore-body, according to the respective weight it is destined to carry: all these are necessary to make a ship pass easily through the sea.
To make a ship keep a good wind and drive little to leeward. A good length by the keel; not too broad, but pretty deep in the hold, which will occasion her to have a short floor-timber and a very great rising. As such a ship will meet with great resistance in driving sideways, and feel very little, in advancing or going ahead, she will fall very little to leeward.
Being thus furnished with the methods to qualify a ship for the different purposes of navigation, the only difficulty remains to apply them properly in the construction, which must, in a great measure, be left to the judgment of the artist. The whole art then is evidently to form the body in such a manner, as that none of these qualities shall be entirely destroyed; and in giving the preference to that which is principally required in the service for which the ship is destined. As it therefore appears possible to unite them all in one vessel so that each of them may be easily discerned, a neglect of this circumstance ought to be attributed to the incapacity of the shipwright, who has not studied the principles of his art with proper application. See Naval Architecture, Building, and Ship.
BOTTOMRY, bomerie, (from bottom) a contract for borrowing money on the keel or bottom of a ship; so that the commander binds the ship herself, that if the money be not paid at the time appointed, the creditors shall have the ship.
Bottomry is also where a person lends money to a merchant or adventurer who wants it in traffic, and the lender is to be paid a much greater sum at the return of the ship, standing to the hazard of the voyage. Although the interest on this account be greater than the law commonly allows, it is yet not esteemed usury; because the money being supplied at the lenders risk, if the ship perishes, he shares in the loss thereof.
BOW, epaule, in ship-building, the rounding part of a ship’s side forward, beginning at the place where the planks arch inwards, and terminated where they close at the stem or prow. See the article Head, where the bow of a ship is represented at large. It is proved by a variety of experiments, that a ship with a narrow bow is much better calculated for sailing swiftly, than one with a broad bow; but is not so well fitted for a high sea, into which she always pitches, or plunges, her fore-part very deep, for want of sufficient breadth to repel the volume of water, which she so easily divides in her fall. The former of these is called by seamen a lean, and the latter a bluff bow.
“The bow which meets with the least resistance in a direct course, not only meets with the least resistance in oblique courses, but also has the additional property of driving the least to leeward; which is a double advantage gained by forming the bow so as to give it that figure which will be the least opposed in moving through any medium.” Bouguer’s Traité du Navire.
On the Bow, in navigation, an arch of the horizon, comprehended between some distant object, and that point of the compass which is right-ahead, or to which the ship’s stem is directed. This phrase is equally applicable, when the object is beheld from the ship, or discovered by trigonometrical calculation: as, we saw a fleet at day-break bearing three points on the starboard bow; that is, three points, from that part of the horizon which is right ahead, towards the right hand. See also the article Bearing.
BOWER. See the article Anchor.
BOWLINE, bouline, a rope fastened near the middle of the leech, or perpendicular edge of the square sails, by three or four subordinate parts, called bridles. It is only used when the wind is so unfavourable that the sails must be all braced sideways, or close-hauled to the wind: in this situation the bowlines are employed to keep the weather, or windward, edges of the principal sails tight forward and steddy, without which they would be always shivering, and rendered incapable of service. See the articles Bridle, Close-hauling, and Sail.
To check the Bowline, is to slacken it, when the wind becomes large.
To BOWSE, palanquer, to draw on any body with a tackle, or complication of pullies, in order to remove it, or otherwise alter its state or situation: this is chiefly practised when such alteration or removal cannot be conveniently effected without the application of mechanical powers. This term is pronounced bowce.
BOWSPRIT, beaupré, (from bow and sprit) a large boom or mast, which projects over the stem, to carry sail forward, in order to govern the fore part of a ship, and counter-act the force of the sails extended behind, or, in the after part. It is otherways of great use, as being the principal support of the fore-mast, by confining the stays whereby it is secured, and enabled to carry sail: these are great ropes stretching from the mast-head to the middle of the bowsprit, where they are drawn tight. See the articles Stay and Dead-eye.
BOXES of the pump. See the article Pump.
BOX-HAULING, in navigation, a particular method of veering a ship, when the swell of the sea renders tacking impracticable. It is performed by putting the helm a-lee, to throw the head up to windward, where meeting with great resistance from the repeated shocks of the waves on the weather bow, it falls off, or turns to leeward, with a quicker effort, and without advancing. The aftermost sails are at this time diminished, or perhaps altogether deprived of their force of action, for a short time, because they would otherwise counteract the sails forward, and prevent the ship from turning. They are, however, extended as soon as the ship, in veering, brings the wind on the opposite quarter, as their effort then contributes to assist her motion of wheeling.
Box-hauling is generally performed when the ship is too near the shore to have room for veering in the usual way. See Veering.
BOXING, an operation in sailing somewhat similar to box-hauling. It is performed by laying the head-sails, or the sails in the fore-part of the ship, aback, to receive the greatest force of the wind in a line perpendicular to their surfaces, in order to throw the ship’s head back into the line of her course, after she had inclined to windward of it by neglect of the helmsman, or otherwise.
BRACE, bras, a rope employed to wheel, or traverse the sails upon the mast, in a direction parallel to the horizon, when it is necessary to shift the sails that they may correspond with the direction of the wind and the course of the ship. Braces are, for this purpose, fastened to the extremities of the yards, which are called the yard-arms.
All the braces of the yards are double, except those of the top-gallant, and spritsail-topsail yards. The mizen-yard is furnished with fangs, or vangs, in the room of braces. See the article Mizen.
BRACKETS, consoles, short crooked timbers resembling knees. They are fixed under the galleries and frame of a ship’s head, to support the gratings.
BRAILS, cargues, (breuils, Fr.) certain ropes passing through pullies on the mizen-mast, and afterwards fastened, in different places, on the hinder, or aftmost ridge of the sail, in order to truss it up to the mast, as occasion requires. See Mizen.
Brails, is likewise a general name given to all the ropes which are employed to haul up, or collect to their yards, the bottoms, lower corners, and skirts of the other great sails, for the more ready furling them whenever it is necessary. The operation of thus drawing them together, is called brailing them up, or hauling them up in the brails. See the article Sail.
BRAKE, brimbale, the handle, or lever, by which a common ship-pump is usually managed. It operates by means of two iron bolts thrust through the inner end of it; one of which resting across two cheeks or ears, in the upper-end of the pump, serves as a fulcrum for the brake, supporting it between the cheeks. The other bolt connects the extremity of the brake to the pump-spear, which draws up the box or piston, charged with the water in the tube. See the article Pump.
BREADTH, largeur, the measure of a ship from side to side in any particular place: it is usually distinguished into extreme-breadth, ligne du fort, main-breadth, and top-timber-breadth. See the explanation of the plane of projection, in the article Naval Architecture.
As the sides of the ship are formed by a variety of ribs, called timbers, and the areas of those timbers being of different breadths above and below, it is necessary to distinguish them in the construction, in order to form their several curves, and fix the corresponding pieces with more accuracy and precision. The part of every timber which encloses the greatest space from the middle-line of the ship’s length, is therefore called the main-breadth; and the distance between the upper-part of the same timber and the middle-line of the ship’s length, is called the top-timber-breadth.
As the ship is also broader at the midship-frame than in any other point of her length, the distance between her sides in the main-breadth of that timber, is called the extreme-breadth of the ship.
Breadth-sweep, the radius of the arch which forms part of the curve of a ship’s timber; as explained in the horizontal plane. See Naval Architecture.
BREAKERS, brisans, a name given by sailors to those billows that break violently over rocks lying under the surface of the sea. They are distinguished both by their appearance and sound, as they cover that part of the sea with a perpetual foam, and produce a hoarse and terrible roaring, very different from what the waves usually have in a deeper bottom.
When a ship is unhappily driven amongst breakers, it is hardly possible to save her, as every billow that heaves her upwards, serves to dash her down with additional force, when it breaks over the rocks or sands beneath it.
BREAKING-BULK, the act of beginning to unlade a ship; or of discharging the first part of the cargo.
To BREAK-UP, déchirer, to rip off the planks of a ship, and take her to pieces, when she becomes old and unserviceable.
BREAK-WATER, the hulk, or hull, of some old ship or vessel, sunk at the entrance of a small harbour, to break off, and diminish the force of the waves, as they advance towards the vessels moored within.
Break-water is also a sort of small buoy, fastened to a large one in the water, when the buoy-rope of the latter is not long enough to reach from the anchor, lying on the bottom, to the surface of the water. The use of this break-water is therefore to shew where the buoy swims. See Buoy.
To BREAM, chauffer (from broom) to burn off the filth, such as grass, ooze, shells, or sea-weed, from a ship’s bottom, that has gathered to it in a voyage, or by lying long in a harbour. This operation is performed by holding kindled furze, faggots, or such materials, to the bottom, so that the flame incorporating with the pitch, sulphur, &c. that had formerly covered it, immediately loosens and throws off whatever filth may have adhered to the planks. After this, the bottom is covered anew with a composition of sulphur, tallow, &c. which not only makes it smooth and slippery, so as to divide the fluid more readily, but also poisons and destroys those worms which eat through the planks in the course of a voyage. Breaming may be performed either when the ship lies aground after the tide has ebbed from her, by docking, or by careening, which see; as also Coat and Stuff.
BREAST-FAST, a sort of hawser, or large rope, employed to confine a ship sideways to a wharf or key, or to some other ship; as the head-fast confines her forward, and the stern-fast, abaft.
BREAST-HOOKS, guirlandes, (from breast and hook) are thick pieces of timber, incurvated into the form of knees, and used to strengthen the fore-part of the ship, where they are placed at different heights directly across the stem, so as to unite it with the bows on each side.
The breast-hooks are strongly connected to the stem and hawse-pieces by tree-nails, and by bolts, driven from without, through the planks and hawse-pieces, and the whole thickness of the breast-hooks, upon whose inside those bolts are forelocked, or clinched, upon rings. They are usually about one third thicker, and twice as long, as the knees of the decks which they support.
There are generally four or five of these pieces in the hold between the kelson and the lower-deck, in the form of R, (plate [I]. Pieces of the Hull), upon the uppermost of which the planks of that deck are rabitted. There are two placed between the lower and the second decks, in the form of S, (plate [I].), one of which is immediately beneath the hawse-holes, and the other under the second deck, whose planks are inlaid thereon, and upon which the inner-end of the bowsprit frequently rests.
The fore-side of the breast-hook, which is convex, is formed so as to correspond with the place in which it is stationed, that is to say, it conforms exactly to the interior figure of that part of the bow where it ought to be fayed: accordingly the branches, or arms, of the breast-hooks, make a greater angle as they are more elevated above the keel, whilst the lower ones are more incurvated, and are almost figured like the crotches.
As it is not necessary that the inner, or concave side of these pieces, should retain a regular form, the artificers frequently let them remain as thick as possible, to give additional support to the ship’s fore-part, where she sustains the whole shock of resistance in dividing the fluid, or in plunging down into it.
It is evident that the connexion and solidity of the ship in this place will be reinforced in proportion to the strength and extent of the breast-hooks, so that they may cover a greater number of the head-timbers.
BREAST-WORK, fronteau, a sort of balustrade or fence, composed of rails or mouldings, and frequently decorated with sculpture. It is used to terminate the quarter-deck and poop at the fore-ends, and to inclose the forecastle both before and behind.
BREECHING, brague, (from breech) a rope used to secure the cannon of a ship of war, and prevent them from recoiling too much in the time of battle.
It is fixed by fastening the middle of it to the hindmost knob or cascabel of the gun, which sailors call the pomiglion, or pummelion; the two ends of it are afterwards inserted through two strong rings on the sides of the carriage, and fastened to other bolts in the ship’s sides.
The breeching is of sufficient length to let the muzzle of the cannon come within the ship’s side to be charged.
The use of the breeching, as it checks the recoil of the cannon, is shewn in plate [III]. Deck, where it is expressed by e e, passing through the ring-bolts, f, on the side of the carriage, g, being fastened to the cascabel, h. It is also exhibited in the Midship-Frame, where it is employed to lash the cannon when it is housed during the course of a voyage. See the article Cannon.
BREWING, the appearance of a collection of black and tempestuous clouds arising gradually from a particular part of the hemisphere, as the fore-runner of a storm.
BRIDLES, the upper-part of the moorings laid in the king’s harbours to ride ships or vessels of war. See the article Moorings.
Bridles of the bowline, pattes, the legs by which the bowline is fastened to different places on the edge or skirt of a large sail.
We have already explained the use of the bowline; that it is employed to confine or keep steddy the windward or weather edges of the principal sails when they are braced for a side-wind. For as the current of air enters the cavity of the sail in a direction nearly parallel to its surface, it follows that the ridge of the sail must necessarily be shaken by the wind, unless it is kept tight forward; but as a single rope has not been found sufficient to confine the whole skirt of the sail, inasmuch as it only draws upon one part thereof, it became necessary to apply bridles or legs spreading out from the bowline. They are represented in the figures annexed to the article Sail.
BRIG, or Brigantine, a merchant-ship with two masts. This term is not universally confined to vessels of a particular construction, or which are masted and rigged in a method different from all others. It is variously applied, by the mariners of different European nations, to a peculiar sort of vessel of their own marine.
Amongst English seamen, this vessel is distinguished by having her main-sail set nearly in the plane of her keel; whereas the main-sails of larger ships are hung athwart, or at right angles with the ship’s length, and fastened to a yard which hangs parallel to the deck: but in a brig, the foremost edge of the main-sail is fastened in different places to hoops which encircle the main-mast, and slide up and down it as the sail is hoisted or lowered: it is extended by a gaff above, and by a boom below.
To BRING by the lee. See To Broach-to.
To BRING-TO, in navigation, caposer, to check the course of a ship when she is advancing, by arranging the sails in such a manner as that they shall counter-act each other, and prevent her either from retreating or moving forward. In this situation the ship is said to lie-by, or lie-to, having, according to the sea-phrase, some of her sails aback, to oppose the force of those which are full; or having them otherwise shortened by being furled, or hauled up in the brails.
Bringing-to, is generally used to detain a ship in any particular station, in order to wait the approach of some other that may be advancing towards her: or to retard her course occasionally near any port in the course of a voyage.
To Bring-up, a provincial phrase peculiar to the seamen in the coal-trade, signifying to anchor, &c.
To BROACH-TO, in navigation, to incline suddenly to windward of the ship’s course when she sails with a large wind; or, when she sails directly before the wind, to deviate from the line of her course, either to the right or left, with such rapidity as to bring the ship’s side unexpectedly to windward, and expose her to the danger of oversetting.
It is easy to conceive that a ship will carry much more sail before the wind than when she makes a progress with her side to its direction; because when the current of wind acts nearly endways on her hull, the pressure of it on the masts must be considerably diminished as she yields to its impulse and flies before it; and that if she carries a great sail at this time, it can only press her fore-part lower down in the water. But if, when she carries a great extension of sail, her side is suddenly brought to the wind, it may be attended with the most fatal consequences, as the whole force of it then pours like a torrent into the cavities of the sails. The masts therefore unavoidably yield to this strong impression, acting like levers on the ship sideways, so as nearly to overturn her, unless she is relieved by some other event, which may be also extremely pernicious, such as the sails rending to pieces, or the masts being carried away.
It is generally occasioned by the difficulty of steering the ship; by the negligence or incapacity of the helmsman; or by some disaster happening to the helm or its machinery, which renders it incapable of governing the ship’s course.
The difference between broaching-to and bringing by the lee, may be thus defined. Suppose a ship with a great sail set is steering south, having the wind N.N.W. then is west the weather, and east the lee-side.
If by some deficiency in the steerage her head turns round to the westward, so as that her sails are all taken aback on the weather-side before she can be made to return to the course from which she has deviated, she is said to broach-to.
If otherwise her head, from the same cause, has declined so far eastward as to lay her sails aback on that side which was the lee-side, it is called bringing her by the lee.
BROADSIDE, bordee, in a naval engagement, the whole discharge of the artillery on one side of a ship of war above and below; as,
We poured a broadside into the enemy’s ship, i. e. discharged all the ship’s cannon on one side upon her.
She brought her broadside to bear on the castle; that is, disposed the ship so as to point all her cannon to it within point-blank range.
A squall of wind laid the ship on her broadside; that is, pressed her down in the water, so as nearly to overturn her.
BROKEN-BACKED, arcqué, the state or quality of a ship, which is so loosened in her frame, either by age, weakness, or some great strain, as to droop at each end.
This circumstance is more common amongst French than the English or Dutch ships, owing partly to their great length, and to the sharpness of the floor, whose breadth is not sufficiently carried from the middle towards each end; and partly from being frequently obliged to have a great weight in both ends, when they are empty in the middle, at the time of discharging one cargo and taking in another. See Cambering.
BUCCANEER, a name given to certain piratical rovers of various European nations, who formerly infested the Spanish coasts in America, and, under pretence of traffic with the inhabitants, frequently seized their treasure, plundered their houses, and committed many other depredations.
Ship-BUILDING may be defined the manner of constructing ships, or the work itself, as distinguished from naval architecture, which we have rather considered as the theory or art of delineating ships on a plane, and to which this article may properly be understood as a supplement.
The pieces by which this complicated machine is framed, are joined together in various places, by scarfing, rabitting, tenanting, and scoring. See those articles.
During the construction of a ship, she is supported in the dock, or upon a wharf, by a number of solid blocks of timber placed at equal distances from, and parallel to, each other, as may be seen in the article Lanching; she is then said to be on the stocks.
The first piece of timber laid upon the blocks is generally the keel; I say generally, because, of late, a different method has been adopted in some of the royal dock-yards, by beginning with the floor-timbers; the artists having found that the keel is often apt to rot during the long period of building a large ship of war. The pieces of the keel, as exhibited in plate [I]. are scarfed together, and bolted, forming one entire piece, A A. which constitutes the length of the vessel below. At one extremity of the keel is erected the stem. It is a strong piece of timber incurvated nearly into a circular arch, or, according to the technical term, compassing, so as to project outwards at the upper-end, forming what is called the rake forward. In small vessels this is framed of one piece, but in large ships it is composed of several pieces scarfed and bolted together, as expressed in the explanation of plate [I]. Pieces of the Hull, and in those terms separately. At the other extremity of the keel, is elevated the stern-post, which is always of one entire strait piece. The heel of it is let into a mortise in the keel, and having its upper-end to hang outwards, making an obtuse angle with the keel, like that of the stem: this projection is called the rake abaft. The stern-post, which ought to support the stern, contains the iron-work or hinges of the rudder, which are called googings, and unites the lower-part of the ship’s sides abaft. See the connexion of those pieces in the Elevation, pl. I.
Towards the upper-end of the stern-post, and at right angles with its length, is fixed the middle of the wing-transom, where it is firmly bolted. Under this is placed another piece parallel thereto, and called the deck-transom, upon which the after-end of the lower-deck is supported. Parallel to the deck-transom, and at a proper distance under it, another piece is fixed to the stern-post, called the first transom, all of which serve to connect the stern-post to the fashion pieces. Two more transoms, called the second and third, are also placed under these, being likewise attached to the fashion pieces, into which the extremities of all the transoms are let, as exhibited in plate [X]. fig. 1. The fashion-pieces are formed like the other timbers of the ship, and have their heels resting on the upper-part of the kelson, at the after extremity of the floor ribbands.
All these pieces, viz. the transoms, the fashion-pieces, and their top-timbers, being strongly united into one frame, are elevated upon the stern-post, and the whole forms the structure of the stern, upon which the galleries and windows, with their ornaments, are afterwards built,
The stem and stern-post being thus elevated upon the keel, to which they are securely connected by knees and arched pieces of timber bolted to both; and the keel being raised at its two extremities by pieces of dead-wood, the midship floor-timber is placed across the keel, whereto it is bolted through the middle. The floor-timbers before and abaft the midship-frame are then stationed in their proper places upon the keel; after which the kelson, which, like the keel, is composed of several pieces scarfed together, is fixed across the middle of the floor-timbers, to which it is attached by bolts driven through the keel, and clinched on the upper-part of the kelson. The futtocks are then raised upon the floor-timbers, and the hawse-pieces erected upon the cant-timbers in the fore-part of the ship. The top-timbers on each side are next attached to the head of the futtocks, as already explained in the article naval Architecture. The frames of the principal timbers being thus completed, are supported by ribbands, as exhibited in the plate referred to from the article Ribbands.
The ribs of the ship being now stationed, they proceed to fix on the planks, of which the wales are the principal, being much thicker and stronger than the rest; as is represented in the Midship-Frame. The harpins, which may be considered as a continuation of the wales at their fore-ends, are fixed across the hawse-pieces, and surround the fore-part of the ship. The planks that inclose the ship’s sides are then brought about the timbers, and the clamps, which are of equal thickness with the wales, fixed opposite to the wales within the ship; these are used to support the ends of the beams, and accordingly stretch from one end of the ship to the other. The thick stuff, or strong planks of the bottom within-board, are then placed opposite to the several scarfs of the timbers, to reinforce them throughout the ship’s length. The planks employed to line the ship, called the ceiling, or foot-waling, is next fixed in the intervals between the thick-stuff of the hold. The beams are afterwards laid across the ship to support the decks, and are connected to the side by lodging and hanging knees; the former of which are exhibited in their proper stations in plate [III]. F. and the hanging ones, together with the breadth, thickness, and position of the keel, floor-timbers, futtocks, top timbers, wales, clamps, thick-stuff, planks within and without, beams, decks, &c. are seen in the Midship-Frame.
The cable-bits being next erected, the carlings and ledges, which are represented in plate [III]. and described in their proper places, are disposed between the beams to strengthen the deck. The water-ways are then laid on the ends of the beams throughout the ship’s length, and the spirketting fixed close above them. The upper-deck is then planked, and the string placed under the gunnel or plansheer in the waist. The disposition of those latter pieces on the timbers, viz. the water-ways, spirketting, upper-deck, string, and gunnel, are also represented in the Midship-Frame.
They proceed next to plank the quarter-deck and forecastle, and to fix the partners of the masts and capsterns with the coamings of the hatches. The breast-hooks are then bolted across the stem and bow within-board, the step of the fore-mast placed on the kelson; and the riders, exhibited in the Midship-Frame, fayed on the inside of the timbers to reinforce the sides in different places of the ship’s length. The pointers, if any, are afterwards fixed across the hold diagonally to support the beams; and the crotches stationed in the after-hold to unite the half-timbers. The steps of the main-mast and capsterns are next placed; the planks of the lower-decks and orlop laid; the navel hoods fayed on the hawse-holes; and the knee of the head, or cutwater, connected to the stem. The figure of the head is then erected, and the trail-board and cheeks fixed on the sides of the knee.
The taffarel and quarter pieces, which terminate the ship abaft, the former above, and the latter on each side, are then disposed; and the stern and quarter galleries framed and supported by their brackets. The pumps, with their well, are next fixed in the hold; the limber-boards laid on each side of the kelson, and the garboard strake fixed on the ship’s bottom next to the keel without.
The hull being thus fabricated, they proceed to separate the apartments by bulk-heads, or partitions; to frame the port-lids; to fix the catheads and chess-trees; to form the hatchways and scuttles, and fit them with proper covers or gratings. They next fix the ladders whereby to mount or descend the different hatchways, and build the manger on the lower deck, to carry off the water that runs in at the hawse-holes when the ship rides at anchor in a sea. The bread-room and magazines are then lined, and the gunnel, rails, and gangways, fixed on the upper part of the ship. The cleats, kevels, and ranges, by which the ropes are. fastened, are afterwards bolted or nailed to the sides. in different places.
The rudder, being fitted with its irons, is next hung to the stern-post; and the tiller, or bar, by which it is managed, let into a mortise at its upper-end. The scuppers, or leaden tubes, that carry the water off from the decks, are then placed in holes cut through the ship’s sides; and the standards, represented in the Midship-Frame, bolted to the beams and sides above the decks to which they belong. The poop-lanthorns are last fixed upon their cranes over the stern, and the bilge-ways, or cradles, placed under the bottom, to conduct the ship steadily into the water whilst lanching.
As the various pieces, which have been mentioned above, are explained at large in their proper places, with references to their figures according to the plan of this work, it would have been superfluous to have entered into a more particular description of them here. It is perhaps necessary to observe, that as the theory ought always to precede the practice, this article would probably be much better understood by previously reading that of Naval Architecture, which may be considered as a proper introduction to it.
BUILT, fabrique, the particular form or structure of a ship, by which she is distinguished from others of a different class or nation. Thus a ship is said to be frigate-built, galley-built, a hag-boat, a pink, a cat, &c. or to be English-built, French-built, American-built, &c.
BULK-HEADS, certain partitions, or walls, built up in several places of a ship between two decks, either lengthwise or across, to form and separate the various apartments. Some of those which are built across the ship are remarkably strong. See the article Close-Quarters.
BULL’S-EYE, cosse. a sort of small pulley in the form of a ring, having a rope spliced round the outer edge of it, (which is hollowed to admit of the rope) and a large hole in the middle for another rope to slide in. It is seldom used but for the main and fore bowline-bridles of some ships, particularly the colliers of Northumberland, &c. It is spliced in the outer-end of the bowline, and sliding along the bridle, to rest in the most apposite place, draws it tight above and below. This implement is more frequently used by Dutch than English seamen.
BUMKIN, or Boomkin, boute-lof, a short boom or bar of timber, projecting from each bow of a ship, to extend the lower-edge of the fore-sail to windward; for which purpose there is a large block fixed on its outer end, through which the rope is passed that is fastened to the lower-corner of the sail to windward, called the tack; and this being drawn tight down, brings the corner of the sail close to the block, which being performed, the tack is said to be aboard.
The bumkin is secured by a strong rope which confines it downward to the ship’s bow, to counter-act the strain it bears from the fore-sail above, dragging it upwards.
BUNT, the middle part, or cavity of the principal square sails, as the main-sail, fore-sail, top-sails, and top-gallant-sails. If one of those sails is supposed to be divided into four equal parts, from one side to the other, then may the two middle divisions, which comprehend half of the sail, be properly called the limits of the bunt.
BUNTINE, etamine, a thin woollen stuff, of which the colours and signals of a ship are usually formed.
BUNTLINES, cargues fond, are ropes fastened to the bottoms of the square sails, to draw them up to the yards: they are inserted through certain blocks above, or on the upper-part of the yard, whence passing down-wards on the fore-part of the sail, they are fastened below to the lower-edge in several places of the bolt-rope.
BUOY, (bouée, Fr.) a sort of close cask, or block of wood, fastened by a rope to the anchor, to determine the place where the anchor is situated, that the ship may not come too near it, to entangle her cable about the stock, or the flukes of it.
Buoys are of various kinds; as,
Can-Buoys; these are in the form of a cone, (see plate [II]. fig. 8.) and of this construction are all the buoys which are floated over dangerous banks and shallows, as a warning to passing ships, that they may avoid them. They are extremely large, that they may be seen at a distance, and are fastened by strong chains to the anchors which are sunk for this purpose at such places.
Nun-Buoys, are shaped like the middle frustum of two cones, abutting upon one common base, (plate [II]. fig. 9.) being casks, which are large in the middle, and tapering, nearly to a point, at each end.
Wooden Buoys, are solid pieces of timber, sometimes in the shape of a cylinder, and sometimes of a nun-buoy; they are furnished with one or two holes, in which to fix a short piece of rope, whose two ends being spliced together make a sort of circle or ring called the strop.
Cable-Buoys, common casks employed to buoy up the cable in different places from any rocky ground. In the harbour of Alexandria, in Egypt, every ship is moored with at least three cables, and has three or four of these buoys on each cable for this purpose.
BUOY-ROPE, the rope which fastens the buoy to the anchor: it should be little more than equal in length to the depth of the water where the anchor lies, as it is intended to float near, or immediately above the bed of it, that the pilot may at all times know the situation thereof. See plate [I]. fig. 6. b is the anchor, c the buoy-rope, and d the buoy floating on the surface of the water.
The Buoy-Rope is often extremely useful otherways, in drawing up the anchor when the cable is broke. It should therefore be always of sufficient strength for this purpose, or else the anchor may be lost through negligence.
Slings of the Buoy, the ropes which are fastened about it, and by which it is hung: they are curiously spliced round it, something resembling the braces of a drum.
To stream the Buoy, is to let it fall from the ship’s side into the water, which is always done before they let go the anchor, that it may not be retarded by the buoy-rope as it sinks to the bottom.
BURTHEN, or Burden, port, (byrthen, Sax.) the weight or measure of any species of merchandize that a ship will carry when fit for sea.
To determine the burthen, or, in other words, the tonnage, of a ship, it is usual to multiply the length of the keel into the extreme breadth of the ship within-board, taken along the midship-beam, and multiply the product by the depth in the hold from the plank joining to the kelson upwards, to the main-deck, and divide the last product by 94, then will the quotient be the burden required, in tons.
BURTON, bredindin, a sort of small tackle, formed by two blocks or pullies, till the rope becomes three or four fold, and acquires an additional power in proportion.
It is generally employed to tighten the shrouds of the top-masts, but may be otherways used to move or draw along any weighty body in the hold, or on the deck, as anchors, bales of goods, large casks, &c.
BUSS, buche, (busse, Germ.) a ship of two masts, used by the English and Dutch in their herring fisheries. It is generally from fifty to seventy tons burthen; being furnished with two small sheds or cabins, one at the prow and the other at the stern; the former of which is employed as a kitchen.
BUTT, about, the end of any plank in a ship’s side which unites with the end of another, continuing its length: when a plank is loosened at the end by the ship’s weakness or labouring, she is said to have started or sprung a butt.
BUTTOCK, the convexity of a ship behind, under the stern; it is terminated by the counter above, and by the after part of the bilge below, by the rudder in the middle, and by the quarter on the side.
BUTTONS. See the article Bonnet.