H.
HAGS TEETH, or Hakes Teeth, those parts of a matting, pointing, &c. which are interwoven with the rest, in an erroneous and irregular manner, so as to appear aukward in the general uniformity of the work. See Pointing, &c.
HAILING, the salutation or accosting of a ship at a distance, either at sea or in a harbour. The usual expression is, Hoa, the ship ahoay! To which she answers, Holloa! Whence came ye? Where are ye bound? Good voyage! What cheer? All well! How fare ye? &c.
HALIARDS, drisse, the ropes or tackles usually employed to hoist or lower any sail upon its respective masts or stay. See also Jears.
HAMMOC, branle, a piece of canvas, six feet long and three feet wide, gathered or drawn together at the two ends, and hung horizontally under the deck, lengthways, for the sailors to sleep therein. There are usually from fourteen to twenty inches in breadth allowed between decks for every hammoc in a ship of war: this space however must in some measure depend on the number of the crew, &c. in proportion to the room of the vessel.
In the time of battle the hammocs, together with their bedding, are all firmly corded, and fixed in the nettings on the quarter-deck, or where-ever the men are too much exposed to the view, or fire of the enemy. See the article Engagement.
HANDING the sails, the same operation with furling them, which see.
HAND-OVER-HAND! main avant! the order to the men, who pull upon any rope, to pass their hands alternately one before the other, or one above the other, if they are hoisting, in order to hasten the service.
A sailor is said to go aloft, hand-over-hand, when he ascends into the tops, &c. by a single rope, as a shroud or back-stay, without the help of the rattlings, by the dexterity of throwing one hand above the other, and lifting his weight along with it.
HANDSPEC, anspec, a wooden bar used as a lever to heave about the windlass, in order to draw up the anchor from the bottom, particularly in merchant ships: for this purpose the handle or small end is round and tapering; and the other end is square, in order to conform to the shape of the holes in the windlass. It is also employed as a lever on many other occasions, as stowing the anchors, or provisions, or cargo, in the ship’s hold.
Gunner’s Handspec, renard, an handspec shorter and flatter than the above, and armed with two claws, for the purpose of managing the artillery in battle, &c.
HANK for HANK, a phrase expressed of two ships which tack and make a progress to windward together. The Dolphin and Cerberus turned up the river hank for hank, without being able to get to windward of each other.
HANKS, daillots, certain wooden rings fixed upon the stays of a ship, whereby to confine the stay-sails thereto at different heights. They are used in the place of grommets, being a later invention and much more convenient; because, being framed by the bending of a tough piece of wood into the form of a wreath, and fastened at the two ends by means of notches, they retain their circular figure and elasticity; whereas the grommets, which are formed of rope, are apt to relax in warm weather and adhere to the stays, so as to prevent the sails from being readily hoisted or lowered.
HARBOUR, havre, a general name given to any sea-port or haven; as also to any place convenient for mooring shipping, although at a great distance from the sea. The qualities requisite in a good harbour are, that the bottom be entirely free from rocks or shallows; that the opening be of sufficient extent to admit the entrance or departure of large ships, without difficulty; that it should have good anchoring-ground, and be easy of access; that it should be well defended from the violence of the wind and sea; that it should have room and convenience to receive the shipping of different nations, and those which are laden with different merchandizes; that it be furnished with a good light-house, and have variety of proper rings, posts, moorings, &c. in order to remove or secure the vessels contained therein: and finally, that it have plenty of wood, and other materials for firing, besides hemp, iron, mariners, &c.
HARD-A-LEE, barre à bord, sous le vent, the situation of the helm when it is pushed close to the lee side of the ship, either to tack or keep her head to the wind, when lying by or trying: also the order to put the helm in this position.
HARD-A-WEATHER, arrive tout, the order to put the helm close to the weather or windward side of the ship, in order to bear away. It is likewise the position of the helm, in consequence of that order; being in both senses opposed to hard-a-lee.
HARPINGS, the fore-parts of the wales which encompass the bow of a ship, and are fastened to the stem, being thicker than the after part of the wales, in order to reinforce the ship in this place, where she sustains the greatest shock of resistance in plunging into the sea, or dividing it, under a great pressure of sail.
Cat-Harpings. See Cat-Harpings.
HARPOON, (harpon, Fr.) a spear or javelin used to strike the whales in the Greenland fishery.
The harpoon, which is sometimes called the harping-iron, is furnished with a long staff, having at one end a broad and flat triangular head, sharpened at both edges, so as to penetrate the whale with facility: to the head of this weapon is fastened a long cord, called the whale-line, which lies carefully coiled in the boat, in such a manner, as to run out without being interrupted or intangled. As soon as the boat has rowed within a competent distance of the whale, the harponeer launches his instrument; and the fish, being wounded, immediately descends under the ice with amazing rapidity, carrying the harpoon along with him, and a considerable length of the line. Being soon exhausted with the fatigue and loss of blood, he re-ascends in order to breathe, where he presently expires, and floats upon the surface of the water, when they approach the carcase by drawing in the whale-line.
HATCH, or HATCHWAY, ecoutille, a square or oblong opening in the deck of a ship, of which there are several, forming the passages from one deck to another, and into the hold, or lower apartments. See the Deck, plate [III]. where A represents the main-hatchway of the lower deck; N N, the fore-hatchway; and O O, the after-hatchway.
There are likewise hatches of a smaller kind, called scuttles. See U U in the same figure, as also the article Scuttle.
Hatches is also, although improperly, a name applied by sailors to the covers or lids of the hatchways.
To HAUL, haler, an expression peculiar to seamen, implying to pull a single rope, without the assistance of blocks, or other mechanical powers: when a rope is otherwise pulled, as by the application of tackles, or the connection with blocks, &c. the term is changed into bowsing. See also the articles Bowse, Hoist, and Rowsing.
To Haul the wind, venir an vent, to direct the ship’s course nearer to that point of the compass from which the wind arises. Thus supposing a ship sailing south-west, with the wind northerly, and some particular occasion renders it necessary to haul the wind farther to the westward; to perform this operation it is necessary to arrange the sails more obliquely with her keel; to brace the yards more forward, by slackening the starboard, and pulling in the larboard braces, and to haul the lower sheets farther aft: and finally, to put the helm a-port, i. e. over to the larboard side of the vessel. As soon as her head has turned directly to the westward, and her sails are trimmed accordingly, she is laid to have hauled the wind four points, that is to say, from S. W. to W. She may still go two points nearer to the direction of the wind, by disposing her sails according to their greatest obliquity; or, in the sea-phrase, by trimming all sharp: and in this situation she is said to be close-hauled, as sailing W. N. W. See the articles Close-hauled and Sailing.
HAUSE, or HAWSE, is generally understood to imply the situation of the cables before the ship’s stem, when she is moored with two anchors out from forward, viz. one on the starboard, and the other on the larboard bow. Hence it is usual to say, She has a clear hause, or a foul hause. It also denotes any small distance a-head of a ship, or between her head and the anchors employed to ride her; as, “He has anchored in our hause;” the “brig fell athwart our hause,” &c.
A ship is said to ride with a clear hause, when the cables are directed to their anchors, without lying athwart the stem; or crossing, or being twisted round each other, by the ships winding about, according to the change of the wind, tide, or current.
A foul hause, on the contrary, implies that the cables lie across the stem, or bear upon each other, so as to be rubbed and chafed by the motion of the vessel.
The hause accordingly is foul, by having either a cross, an elbow, or a round turn. If the larboard cable, lying across the stem, points out on the starboard side, while the starboard cable at the same time grows out on the larboard side, there is a cross in the hause. If, after this, the ship, without returning to her former position, continues to wind about the same way, so as to perform an entire revolution, each of the cables will be twisted round the other, and then directed out from the opposite bow, forming what is called a round turn. An elbow is produced when the ship stops in the middle of that revolution, after having had a cross: or, in other words, if she rides with her head northward with a clear hause, and afterwards turns quite round so as to direct her head northward again, she will have an elbow. See the articles Elbow and Riding.
Hause-holes, ecubiers, certain cylindrical holes cut through the bows of a ship on each side of the item, through which the cables pass in order to be drawn into, or let out of the vessel, as occasion requires. They are represented by d d in fig. 10. plate [IV]. being fortified on each side by the
Hause-pieces, a name given to the foremost timbers of a ship, whose lower ends rest upon the knuckle-timber, or the foremost of the cant-timbers. They are generally parallel to the stem, having their upper ends sometimes terminated by the lower part of the beak-head, and otherwise, by the top of the bow, particularly in small ships and merchantmen.
HEAD, an ornamental figure erected on the continuation of a ship’s stem, as being expressive of her name, and emblematical of war, navigation, commerce, &c.
The heads which have any affinity to war or navigation, are in general either historical, as referring to some of the deities or heroes of antiquity; or allegorical, as alluding to some of the natural consequences of battle, or the virtues most essential to a life exposed to perpetual danger. Thus, in the former sense, they represent a Neptune, an Alcides; a Mars, an Achilles; a Minerva, or a Jason; and in the latter they produce a Magnanime, an Intrepid, a Revenge, or a Victory.
The head of a ship however has not always an immediate relation to her name, at least in the British navy. Various instances might be produced to shew, that our artists, as it suits their conveniency or judgment, can dispense with this supposed idea of propriety. Hence we sometimes observe the place of a Jason supplied by a Medea; or a best of prey made the representative of an illustrious lady. The same liberty of design may therefore, with equal propriety, be allowed to symbolize the successes of our arms, by a groupe of heterogeneous figures, of sundry shapes and sizes, according to the artists opinion of their superiority or subordination. Their attitude and situation, as well as their size, must accordingly depend, in a great measure, on the space into which they are to be crowded: for although the figures may be of equal importance in themselves, yet as there is not room for them all, as large as the life, on a ship’s head, it becomes expedient to diminish a few, in order to give place to others. The emblems by which allegorical figures are usually characterized in painting, poetry, and sculpture, are not always thought necessary in a work of this kind, nor even the postures in which these figures are exhibited. And indeed, if we reflect with how much labour and application the workman has endeavoured to fill up every vacancy with some little figure of a convenient form and size, we ought rather to admire his ingenuity than censure him for a violation of those general rules of art, by which it is supposed necessary, on such occasions, to relieve the eye from a scene of perplexity and confusion.
The heads of many of our ships of war have undoubtedly great beauty and propriety; and candour must acknowledge that some of the most elegant and judicious have been borrowed from the French designs, which are never left to the invention of illiterate mechanics. A multitude of ornaments appears rather unnecessary in any building calculated for the purposes of war. If there be any general rule to determine the subjects, and the quantity of sculpture employed in ship-building, it seems to be connected with the ideas of dignity and simplicity. These too are the genuine characteristics of the Grecian and Roman orders of architecture, as opposed to that perplexity, and rage for embellishment, which peculiarly distinguish the Gothic. It is hardly possible for us to recollect the various disasters to which a single hero, or goddess, on the head of a ship, is exposed by tempestuous weather, battle, and the unexpected encounter of ships, without trembling for the havoc and indecency that may happen in an assemblage of gods and conc-shells, princesses and satyrs; heroes, blunder-buffes, sea-monsters, little children, globes and thunder-bolts, and all the apparatus necessary to constitute the head of a ship of the first class in our navy.
In plate [IV]. we have sketched four heads, which are calculated for vessels of different sizes and constructions. Fig. 6. exhibits an image of Hercules brandishing his club over the heads of Cerberus, calculated for a ship of the line. Fig. 7. represents Jupiter riding on his eagle, and armed with his thunders, being a suitable head for a capital ship. The eagle displayed by fig. 8. may serve for a frigate; and fig. 9. which expresses an incumbent dragon, is very proper for any small vessel with a projecting beak or prow. These figures have been selected from many others, because, being very rarely used to decorate the head of a ship, it is possible that several of our readers may never before have observed them. The two first, which are usually called image-heads, are bold, warlike, and classical. The eagle in the third is certainly a proper emblem of dignity, force, and velocity: and it is apprehended neither the representation of the latter, nor any other figure in that position, are to be met with amongst our shipping.
Head, avant, is also used, in a more enlarged sense, to signify the whole front or fore part of the ship, including the bows on each side: the head therefore opens the column of water through which the ship passes when advancing. Hence we say, head-sails, head-sea, head-way, &c.
Thus fig. 10. plate [IV]. represents one side of the fore-part, or head of a seventy-four gun ship, together with part of the bow, keel, and gunnel. The names of the several pieces, exhibited therein, are as follow:
A A fore part of the keel, with a a the two false keels beneath it.
A C The stem.
a a The cat-head.
b b The supporter of the cat-head, sous-barbe.
c c The knight-head, or bollard-timber, of which there is one on each side, to secure the inner-end of the bowsprit.
d d The hause-holes.
e e The navel-hoods, i. e. thick pieces of plank laid upon the bow to strengthen the edges of the hause-holes.
f The davit-chock, by which the davit is firmly wedged while employed to fish the anchor.
g The bulk-head, which terminates the forecastle on the fore-side, being called the beak-head bulk-head by ship-wrights.
H The gun-ports of the lower deck.
h The gun-ports of the upper deck and forecastle.
I, I, The channels, with their dead-eyes and chain-plates.
i The gripe, or fore-foot, which unites the keel with the stem, forming a part of either.
k k These dotted lines represent the thickness and descent of the different decks from the fore-part of the ship towards the middle. The lowest of the three dotted lines l expresses the convexity of the beams, the difference between the height of the deck in the middle of its breadth, and at the ship’s side. This is also exhibited more clearly in the midship-frame, where the real curve of the beam is delineated.
N. B. These lines must be always parallel to the lines which terminate the gun-ports above and below.
m m The timbers of the head part of the bowsprit.
X The rails of the head which lie across the timbers.
Q Z Fore-part of the main-wale.
R X Fore-part of the channel-wale.
U C The load water-line.
See also the continuation of a ship throughout her whole length, upon a smaller scale, plate [I]. Elevation.
Fig. 11. represents a head-view of a ship, with the projection of her principal timbers, and all her planks laid on one side. This figure corresponds to that of the elevation, plate [I]. and the stern-view, fig. 2. plate [X].
It is evident that the fore-part of a ship is called its head, from the affinity of motion and position it bears to a fish, and in general to the horizontal situation of all animals whilst swimming.
By the Head, the state of a ship, which is laden deeper at the fore-end than the after-end.
Head-fast, amarre d’avant, a rope employed to fasten a ship to a wharf, chain, or buoy, or to some other vessel along-side.
Head-land, acrotere, a name frequently given to a cape, or promontory.
Headmost, the situation of any ship or ships which are the most advanced in a fleet, or line of battle.
Head-rope, that part of the bolt-rope which terminates any of the principal sails on the upper-edge, which is accordingly sewed thereto. See the article Bolt-rope.
Head-sails, voiles de l’avant, a general name for all those sails which are extended on the fore-mast and bowsprit, and employed to command the fore-part of the ship: such are the fore-sail, fore-top-sail, fore-top-gallant-sail, jib, fore-stay-sail, and the sprit-sail with its top-sail. This term is used in opposition to after-sails, which see.
Head-to-wind, de bout au vent, the situation of a ship or boat, when her head is turned to windward.
Head-way, sillage, the motion of advancing at sea. It is generally used when a ship first begins to advance; or in calm weather, when it is doubtful whether she is in a state of rest or motion. It is in both senses opposed to retreating, or moving with the stern foremost. See the article Stern-way.
HEART, moque, a peculiar sort of dead-eye, somewhat resembling the shape of a heart, but differing from the common dead-eyes, inasmuch as it is only furnished with one large hole in the middle, fig. 32. plate [II]. whereas the common dead-eyes have always three holes. The hearts are principally used to contain the laniards, by which the stays are extended. See Dead-Eye.
HEAVER, a name given by seamen to a wooden staff, employed by them as a lever on many occasions; particularly in setting up the top-mast-shrouds, frapping the top masts, dropping the larger blocks, seizing the standing rigging, &c. See those articles.
HEAVING, virer, (heafian, Sax.) the act of turning about a capstern, windlass, or other machine of the like kind, by means of bars or handspecs.
Heaving the lead. See the article Sounding.
Heaving a-head, is advancing the ship by heaving-in the cable, or other rope, which is fastened to an anchor at some distance before her. To heave a-stern is therefore to draw the ship backwards by the same operation.
Heaving-down. See the article Careening.
Heaving-out, the act of unfurling and throwing loose a sail from the place where it had been rolled and fastened. This phrase is more particularly applied to the stay-sails: thus we say, “Loose the top-sails, and heave out the stay-sails!” which is accordingly done, either to set or dry them.
Heaving-short, is the drawing so much of the cable into the ship, by means of the capstern or windlass, as that by advancing, she will be almost perpendicularly above the anchor, and in a proper situation to set sail.
Heaving-taught, the act of heaving about the capstern, till the rope applied thereto becomes streight and ready for action.
HEEL, talon, a name usually given to the after-end of a ship’s keel; as also to the lower end of the stern-post, to which it is firmly connected.
Heel of a mast, the lower end, which is diminished into the frustrum of a pyramid, so as to sink immoveably into a hole of the same shape, cut in the step, which is attached to the ship’s keel.
Heel of a top-mast, the lower end, which is sustained upon the tressel-trees by means of an iron bar, called the fid. See the article Mast.
To Heel, carguer, to stoop or incline to either side. It is usually applied to a ship when she is forced into this position by the wind acting upon her sails, while braced obliquely across her; or by being ballasted so as to lean more to one side than the other. See the articles Crank, Stiff, and Trim.
HELM, gouvernail, (helme, Sax.) a long and flat piece of timber, or an assemblage of several pieces, suspended along the hind part of a ship’s stern-post, where it turns upon hinges to the right or left, serving to direct the course of the vessel, as the tail of a fish guides the body.
The helm is usually composed of three parts, viz. the rudder, the tiller, and the wheel, except in small vessels, where the wheel is unnecessary.
The length and breadth of the rudder are represented in plate [VIII]. where it is evident that it becomes gradually broader in proportion to its distance from the top, or to its depth under the water. The back, or inner part of it, which joins to the stern-post, is diminished into the form of a wedge throughout its whole length, so as that the rudder may be more easily turned from one side to the other, where it makes an obtuse angle with the keel. The hinges upon which it is supported are also expressed in this figure. Those which are bolted round the stern-post to the after extremity of the ship, are called googings, and are furnished with a large hole on the afterpart of the stern-post. The other parts of the hinges, which are bolted to the back of the rudder, are called pintles, being strong cylindrical pins, which enter into the googings, and rest upon them. The length and thickness of the rudder is nearly equal to that of the stern-post, as represented in fig. 1. plate [X].
The rudder is turned upon its hinges by means of a long bar of timber, called the tiller, which is fixed horizontally in its upper end within the vessel. The movements of the tiller to the right and left, accordingly, direct the efforts of the rudder to the government of the ship’s course as she advances, which, in the sea-language, is called steering. The operations of the tiller are guided and assisted by a sort of tackle, communicating with the ship’s side, called the tiller-rope, which is usually composed of untarred rope-yarns, for the purpose of traversing more readily through the blocks or pullies.
In order to facilitate the management of the helm, the tiller-rope, in all large vessels, is wound about a wheel, which acts upon it with the powers of a crane or windlass. The rope employed in this service being conveyed from the fore-end of the tiller k, to a single block i, on each side of the ship, (plate [III]. Deck) is farther communicated to the wheel, by means of two blocks, suspended near the mizen-mast, and two holes immediately above, leading up to the wheel, which is fixed upon an axis, on the quarter-deck, almost perpendicularly over the fore end of the tiller. Five turns of the tiller-rope are usually wound about the barrel of the wheel, and, when the helm is amidship, the middle turn is nailed to the top of the barrel, with a mark by which the helmsman readily discovers the situation of the helm, as the wheel turns it from the starboard to the larboard side. The spokes of the wheel generally reach about eight inches beyond the rim or circumference, serving as handles to the person who steers the vessel. As the effect of a lever increases in proportion to the length of its arm, it is evident that the power of the helmsman, to turn the wheel, will be increased according to the length of the spokes, beyond the circumference of the barrel.
When the helm, instead of lying in a right line with the keel, is turned to one side or the other, as in BD, fig. 1. plate [V]. it receives an immediate shock from the water, which glides along the ship’s bottom in running aft from A to B; and this fluid pushes it towards the opposite side, whilst it is retained in this position: so that the stern, to which the rudder is confined, receives the same impression, and accordingly turns from B to b about some point c whilst the head of the ship passes from A to a. It must be observed, that the current of water falls upon the rudder obliquely, and only strikes it with that part of its motion which acts according to the sine of incidence, pushing it in the direction N P, with a force which not only depends on the velocity of the ship’s course, by which this current of water is produced, but also upon the extent of the sine of incidence. This force is by consequence composed of the square of the velocity with which the ship advances, and the square of the sine of incidence, which will necessarily be greater or smaller according to circumstances; so that if the vessel runs three or four times more swiftly, the absolute shock of the water upon the rudder will be nine or sixteen times stronger under the same incidence: and, if the incidence is increased, it will yet be augmented in a greater proportion, because the square of the sine of incidence is more enlarged. This impression, or, what is the same thing, the power of the helm, is always very feeble, when compared with the weight of the vessel; but as it operates with the force of a long lever, its efforts to turn the ship are extremely advantageous. For the helm being applied to a great distance from the centre of gravity, G, or from the point about which the vessel turns horizontally, if the direction P N of the impression of the water upon the rudder be prolonged, it is evident that it will pass perpendicularly to R, widely distant from the centre of gravity G: thus the absolute effort of the water is very powerful. It is not therefore surprizing that this machine impresses the ship with a considerable circular movement, by pushing the stern from B to b, and the head from A to a; and even much farther, whilst the sails with rapidity: because the effect of the helm always keeps pace with the velocity with which the vessel advances[[31]].
Amongst the several angles that the rudder makes with the keel, there is always one position more favourable than any of the others, as it more readily produces the desired effect of turning the ship, in order to change her course. To ascertain this, it must be considered, that if the obliquity of the rudder with the keel is greater than the obtuse angle A B D, so as to diminish that angle, the action of the water upon the rudder will increase, and at the same time oppose the course of the ship in a greater degree; because the angle of incidence will be more open, so as to present a greater surface to the shock of the water, by opposing its passage more perpendicularly. But at that time the direction N P of the effort of the helm upon the ship will pass, with a smaller distance from the centre of gravity G towards R, and less approach the perpendicular N L, according to which it is absolutely necessary that the power applied should act with a greater effect to turn the vessel. Thus it is evident that if the obtuse angle A B D is too much enclosed, the greatest impulse of the water will not counterbalance the loss sustained by the distance of the direction N P from N L; or by the great obliquity, which is given to the same direction N P of the absolute effort of the helm with the keel A B. If, on the contrary, the angle A B D is too much opened, the direction N P of the force of action of the helm will become more advantageous to turn the vessel, because it will approach nearer the perpendicular N L; so that the line prolonged from N P will increase the line G R, by removing R to a greater distance from the centre of gravity G: but then the helm will receive the impression of the water too obliquely, for the angle of incidence will be more acute; so that it will only present a small portion of its breadth to the shock of the water, and by consequence will only receive a feeble effort. By this principle it is easy to conceive, that the greatest distance G R from the centre of gravity G is not sufficient to repair the diminution of force occasioned by the too great obliquity of the shock of the water. Hence we may conclude, that when the water either strikes the helm too directly, or too obliquely, it loses a great deal of the effect it ought to produce. Between the two extremes there is therefore a mean position, which is the most favourable to its operations.
The diagonal N P of the rectangle I L represents the absolute direction of the effort of the water upon the helm. N I expresses the portion of this effort which is opposed to the ship’s head-way, or which pushes her astern, in a direction parallel to the keel. It is easily perceived that this part N I of the whole power of the helm contributes but little to turn the vessel; for if I N is prolonged, it appears that its direction approaches to a very small distance G V from the centre of gravity G, and that the arm of the lever B N=G V, to which the force is applied, is not in the whole more than equal to half the breadth of the rudder: but the relative force N L, which acts perpendicular to the keel, is extremely different. If the first N I is almost useless, and even pernicious, by retarding the velocity; the second N L is capable of a very great effect, because it operates at a considerable distance from the centre of gravity G of the ship, and acts upon the arm of a lever G E, which is very long. Thus it appears, that between the effects N L and N I, which result from the absolute effort N P, there is one which always opposes the ship’s course, and contributes little to her motion of turning; whilst the other produces only this movement of rotation, without operating to retard her velocity[[32]].
Geometricians have determined the most advantageous angle made by the helm with the line prolonged from the keel, and fixed it at 54° 44´ presuming that the ship is as narrow at her floating-line, or at the line described by the surface of the water round her bottom, as at the keel. But as this supposition is absolutely false, inasmuch as all vessels augment their breadth from the keel upward to the extreme breadth, where the floating-line or the highest water-line is terminated; it follows that this angle is too large by a certain number of degrees. For the rudder is impressed by the water, at the height of the floating-line, more directly than at the keel, because the fluid exactly follows the horizontal outlines of the bottom; so that a particular position of the helm might be supposed necessary for each different incidence which it encounters from the keel upwards. But as a middle position may be taken between all these points, it will be sufficient to consider the angle formed by the sides of the ship, and her axis, or the middle-line of her length, at the surface of the water, in order to determine afterwards the mean point, and the mean angle of incidence.
It is evident that the angle 54° 44´ is too open, and very unfavourable to the ship’s head-way, because the water acts upon the rudder there with too great a sine of incidence, as being equal to that of the angle which it makes with the line prolonged from the keel below: but above, the shock of the water is almost perpendicular to the rudder, because of the breadth of the bottom, as we have already remarked. If then the rudder is only opposed to the fluid, by making an angle of 45° with the line prolonged from the keel, the impression, by becoming weaker, will be less opposed to the ship’s head-way, and the direction N P, fig. 1. plate [V]. of the absolute effort of the water upon the helm drawing nearer to the lateral perpendicular, will be placed more advantageously, for the reasons above mentioned[[33]]. On the other hand, experience daily testifies, that a ship steers well when the rudder makes the angle D B E equal to 35° only.
It has been already remarked, that the effect of moving the wheel to govern the helm increases in proportion to the length of the spokes; and so great is the power of the wheel, that if the helmsman employs a force upon its spokes equivalent to 30 pounds, it will produce an effect of 90 or 120 pounds upon the tiller. On the contrary, the action of the water is collected into the middle of the breadth of the rudder, which is very narrow in companion with the length of the tiller; so the effort of the water is very little removed from the fulcrum B upon which it turns; whereas the tiller forms the arm of a lever ten or fifteen times longer, which also increases the power of the helmsman in the same proportion that the tiller bears to the lever upon which the impulse of the water is directed. This force then is by consequence ten or fifteen times stronger, and the effort of 30 pounds, which at first gave the helmsman a power equal to 90 or 120 pounds, becomes accumulated to one of 900 or 1800 pounds upon the rudder. This advantage then arises from the shortness of the lever upon which the action of the water is impressed, and the great comparative length of the tiller, or lever, by which the rudder is governed; together with the additional power of the wheel that directs the movements of the tiller, and still farther accumulates the power of the helmsman over it. Such a demonstration ought to remove the surprize with which the prodigious effect of the helm is sometimes considered, from an inattention to its mechanism: for we need only to observe the pressure of the water, which acts at a great distance from the centre of gravity G, about which the ship is supposed to turn, and we shall easily perceive the difference there is between the effort of the water against the helmsman, and the effect of the same impulse against the vessel. With regard to the person who steers, the water acts only with the arm of a very short lever N B, of which B is the fulcrum: on the contrary, with regard to the ship, the force of the water is impressed in the direction N P, which passes to a great distance from G, and acts upon a very long lever E G, which renders the action of the rudder extremely powerful in turning the vessel; so that, in a large ship, the rudder receives a shock from the water of 2700 or 2800 pounds, which is frequently the case, when she sails at the rate of three or four leagues by the hour; and this force being applied in E, perhaps 100 or 110 feet distant from the centre of gravity G, will operate upon the ship, to turn her about, with 270000 or 308000 pounds; whilst, in the latter case, the helmsman acts with an effort which exceeds not 30 pounds upon the spokes of the wheel.
After what has been said of the helm, it is easy to judge, that the more a ship increases her velocity with regard to the sea, the more powerful will be the effect of the rudder, because it acts against the water with a force, which increases as the square of the swiftness of the fluid, whether the ship advances or retreats; or, in other words, whether she has head-way or stern-way; with this distinction, that in these two circumstances the effects will be contrary. For if the vessel retreats, or moves astern, the helm will be impressed from I to N, fig. 1. plate [V]. and, instead of being pushed, according to N P, it will receive the effort of the water from N towards R; so that the stern wall be transported according to the same movement, and the head turned in a contrary direction.
When the helm operates by itself, the centre of rotation of the ship, and her movement, are determined by estimating the force of this machine; that is to say, by multiplying the surface of the rudder by the square of the ship’s velocity[[34]]. See the articles Rudder, Sailing, Steering, Trim, and Working.
HIGH AND DRY, a phrase which implies the situation of a ship, when she has run aground, so as to be seen dry upon the strand.
HIGH WATER, haute marée, the greatest height of the flood-tide, See Flood and Tide.
HITCH, clef, a sort of knot or noose, by which one rope is fastened to another, or to some other object, as a post, ring, timber-head, mast, &c. Hence we say an half-hitch, demi-clef, a clove-hitch, a rolling-hitch, &c. See Bend and Knot.
HOASE, manche pour l’eau, a long flexible tube, formed of leather or tarred canvas, but chiefly of the latter, and employed to conduct the fresh water, which is hoisted aboard a ship, into the casks that are ranged in the hold; and to pass the water, or other liquors, out of one cask into another. For the latter use, one of the ends or openings of the hoase is fixed in the empty cask, whilst the other is applied to the pump that extracts the water out of the full one. This exercise is, on some occasions, necessary to alter or preserve the trim of the vessel, without disturbing her stowage.
HOG, goret, a sort of flat scrubbing-broom, serving to scrape off the filth from a ship’s bottom, under water, particularly in the act of boot-topping, which see.
This instrument is formed by inclosing a multitude of short twigs of birch, or such wood, between two pieces of plank, which are firmly attached to each other, after which the ends of the twigs or branches are cut off even, so as to form a sort of brush of considerable strength. To this machine is fitted a long staff, together with two ropes, the former of which is used to thrust the hog under the ship’s bottom, and the latter to guide, and pull it up again, close to the planks thereof, so as to rub off all the filth effectually. This exercise is usually performed in the ship’s boat, which is accordingly confined as close as possible to the vessel’s side during the operation, and shifted from one part of the side to another, till the whole is compleated.
HOIST, guindant, the perpendicular height of a flag or ensign, as opposed to the fly, which implies its breadth from the staff to the outer edge.
HOISTING, hisser, the operation of drawing up any body by the assistance of one or more tackles, according to the weight intended to be raised. See the article Tackle.
The act of pulling up any body, by the help of a single block only, is never expressed by the term hoisting, if we except the exercise of extending the sails, by drawing them upwards along the masts or stays, to which it is invariably applied. See also Tracing-up and Whipping.
HOLD, cale, the whole interior cavity or belly of a ship, or all that part of her inside, which is comprehended between the floor and the lower-deck, throughout her whole length.
This capacious apartment usually contains the ballast, provisions, and stores of a ship of war, and the principal part of the cargo in a merchantman. The disposition of those articles, with regard to each other, &c. necessarily falls under our consideration in the article Stowage; it suffices in this place to say, that the places where the ballast, water, provisions, and liquors are stowed, are known by the general name of the hold. The several store-rooms are separated from each other by bulk-heads, and are denominated according to the articles which they contain, the sail-room, the bread-room, the fish-room, the spirit-room, &c.
To trim the Hold. See the article Trim.
After-Hold, a general name given to all that part of the hold which lies abaft the main-mast.
Fore-Hold, that part of the hold which is situated in the fore-part of the ship, or before the main hatch-way.
Hold, in navigation, is generally understood to signify a particular situation of a ship with regard to the shore, by which she is enabled to keep within a sufficient distance, to facilitate her course, or answer some other important object. Hence we say, Keep a good hold of the land! or, Keep the shore well aboard! which are synonimous phrases, implying to keep near, or in sight of the land.
Holding-on, the act of pulling back the hind part of any cable, or other rope, which is heaved round, by the capstern or windlass, or drawn in by the purchase of a tackle. See Capstern &c.
To have a clearer idea of this exercise, it is necessary to premise, that there are seldom or never more than three turns of any rope passed about the barrel of the capstern, when it is employed in heaving; because a great number of turns of a large rope would soon cover the whole barrel, and utterly destroy the effect of this motion, till those turns could be removed; a circumstance which might be attended with very bad consequences. On the contrary, when there are only a few turns, the capstern or windlass is always kept sufficiently clear for action for it is evident, that every revolution of either will heave-in a quantity of the rope, upon which it is employed, equal to the circumference of its barrel. Now as there are only a few turns upon the barrel at once, an equal quantity of the rope will necessarily come off from the capstern at the same time; and this is accordingly pulled back as strongly as possible, to prevent it from surging or jerking round the barrel, by being held too loosely. This is called holding-on, which therefore may be defined, the act of retaining any quantity of rope, acquired by the effort of a capstern, windlass, or tackle, as being employed in hoisting as well as heaving.
Holding water, the operation of stopping a boat in her course, by holding the oars in the water and bearing the blade, or flat part, strongly against the current made along-side, by her passing swiftly through the water. See Back-astern, Oar, and Rowing.
HOLLOA! commande! an exclamation of answer, to any person, who calls to another to ask some question, or to give a particular order. Thus, if the master intends to give any order to the people in the main-top, he previously calls, Main-top, hoay! To which they answer, Holloa! to shew that they hear him, and are ready. It is also the first answer in hailing a ship at a distance. See Hailing.
HOME, in a naval sense, either implies the situation of some object, where it retains its full force of action; or where it is properly lodged for convenience or security. In the former sense it is applied to the sails; and in the latter, it usually refers to the stowage of the hold, or the anchors.
When it is expressed of the sails, it denotes that their clues, or lower corners, are close to the blocks upon the yard-arm, immediately beneath them; it is therefore understood only of the loftier sails, as the top-sails, top-gallant-sails, and the studding-sails thereto belonging. Hence to haul-home the top-sail sheets, is to extend the bottom of the top-sail to the lower-yard, by means of the sheets. See Clue and Sheet.
In the stowage of the hold, &c. a cask, bale, or case, is said to be home, when it bears against, or lies close to some other object, without leaving any interval between; and indeed the security, or firmness of the stowage, greatly depends on this circumstance.
Home, when spoken of the anchor, seems to imply the station of the ship, with regard to her anchor; which is accordingly said to come home when it loosens from the ground, by the effort of the cable, and approaches the place where the ship floated, at the length of her moorings. See the article Anchor.
HOMMOC, tertre, a name given by mariners to a hillock, or small eminence of land resembling the figure of a cone, and appearing on the sea-coast of any country.
HOOD, tremue, a sort of low wooden porch, resembling the companion, and placed over the stair-case or ladder, which leads into the steerage or apartments, where the crew generally reside in a merchant-ship. The use of the hood is to admit the air and light, and at the same time prevent the rain from falling into the steerage.
HOOK, a crooked piece of iron, of which there are several of different shapes and sizes, used at sea, as boat-hooks, can-hooks, cat-hooks, fish-hooks, foot-hooks, &c. See the articles Boat-hook, Can-hook, &c.
HORSE, marche-pied, a rope reaching from the middle of a yard to its extremity, or what is called the yard-arm, and depending about two or three feet under the yard for the sailors to tread upon, whilst they are loosing, reefing or furling the sails, rigging out the studding-sail booms, &c. In order therefore to keep the horse more parallel to the yard, it is usually suspended thereto, at proper distances, by certain ropes called stirrups, which hang about two feet under the yard, having an eye in their lower ends through which the horse passes. See the article Rigging.
Horse is also a thick rope, extended in a perpendicular direction near the fore or after-side of a mast, for the purpose of hoisting or extending some sail thereon. When it is fixed before a mast, it is calculated for the use of a sail called the square-sail, whose yard being attached to the horse, by means of a traveller, or bull’s-eye, which slides up and down occasionally, is retained in a steddy position, either when the sail is set, or whilst it is hoisting or lowering. When the horse is placed abaft or behind a mast, it is intended for the try-sail of a snow, and is accordingly very rarely fixed in this position, except in those sloops of war which occasionally assume the form of snows, in order to deceive the enemy.
HOUNDS, a name given to those parts of a mast-head, which gradually project on the right and left side, beyond the cylindrical or conical surface, which it preserves from the partners upwards. The hounds, whose upper parts are also called cheeks, are used as shoulders to support the frame of the top, together with the top-mast and the rigging of the lower-mast. See the article Mast.
HOUSED, à la serre, the situation of the great guns of a ship, when they are secured at sea by their tackles and breechings. See Cannon.
HOWKER, a vessel in the Dutch marine, commonly navigated with two masts, viz. a main-mast and a mizen-mast, and being from sixty to upwards of two hundred tons in burthen.
HOUSING, or HOUSE-LINE, a small line, formed of three fine strands, or twists of hemp, smaller than rope-yarn. It is chiefly used to seize blocks into their strops, to bind the corners of the sails, or to fasten the bottom of a sail to its bolt-rope, &c. See Bolt-rope.
HOY, a small vessel, chiefly used in coasting, or carrying goods to or from a ship, in a road or bay, where the ordinary lighters cannot be managed with safety or convenience.
It would be very difficult to describe, precisely, the marks of distinction between this vessel and some others of the same size, which are also rigged in the same manner; because what is called a hoy in one place, would assume the name of a sloop or smack in another: and even the people, who navigate these vessels, have, upon examination, very vague ideas of the marks by which they are distinguished from those above mentioned. In Holland, the hoy has two masts; in England it has but one, where the main-sail is sometimes extended by a boom, and sometimes without it. Upon the whole, it may be defined a small vessel, usually rigged as a sloop, and employed for carrying passengers and luggage from one place to another, particularly on the sea-coast.
HULK, an old ship of war, fitted with an apparatus, to fix or take out the masts of his majesty’s ships, as occasion requires.
The mast of this vessel, a a, fig. 2. plate [V]. is extremely high, and withal properly strengthened by shrouds and stays, in order to secure the sheers, machine à mater, which serve, as the arm of a crane, to hoist out or in the masts of any ship lying alongside. The sheers, b b, are composed of several long masts, whose heels rest upon the side of the hulk, and having their heads declining outward from the perpendicular, so as to hang over the vessel whose masts are to be fixed or displaced. The tackles, c c, which extend from the head of the mast to the sheer-heads, are intended to pull in the latter towards the mast-head, particularly when they are charged with the weight of a mast after it is raised out of any ship, which is performed by strong tackles depending from the sheer-heads. The effort of these tackles is produced by two capsterns, fixed on the deck for this purpose.
Hulk is also a name bestowed on any old vessel laid by, as unfit for further service: it is probably derived from the ολκαδες, or vessels of burthen of the ancient Grecians.
HULL, corps d’un vaisseau, the frame, or body of a ship, exclusive of her masts, yards, sails, and rigging: it is usually expressed of a ship either before she is furnished with masts, &c. or after she is dismasted and stripped of the aforesaid machinery.
To Hull a ship, is to fire cannon-balls into her hull within the point-blank range.
Hull-to, the situation of a ship when she is trying a-hull, or with all her sails furled; as in trying. See the article Trying.
HURRICANE, ouragan, (huracan, Span.) a violent and prodigious tempest, occasioned by the collection and opposition of several winds, that sometimes blow from one quarter and sometimes from another, producing a dangerous agitation in the sea, where the waves break, and dash against each other with astonishing fury. On the approach of a hurricane, the sea and air become perfectly calm and motionless, without a breath of wind stirring either. Soon after this the sky is darkened, the clouds accumulate, and the light of the day is replaced by terrible flashes of lightening. The hurricanes often last abundantly long, and are usually accompanied with many fatal accidents[[35]]. During the continuance of this general calamity, the vessels which were anchored in the roads frequently cut their cables and put to sea, where they drive at the mercy of the winds and waves, after having struck their yards and top-masts.
The hurricanes are more usual between the tropics, particularly in the Atlantic ocean, than to the northward or southward of the torrid zone.