An Universal Dictionary of the Marine / Or, a Copious Explanation of the Technical Terms and Phrases Employed in the Construction, Equipment, Furniture, Machinery, Movements, and Military Operations of a Ship. Illustrated With Variety of Original Designs of Shipping, in Different Situations; Together With Separate Views of Their Masts, Sails, Yards, and Rigging. to Which Is Annexed, a Translation of the French Sea-terms and Phrases, Collected from the Works of Mess. Du Hamel, Aubin, Saverien, &c.

by William Falconer

On the Quarter, may be defined an arch of the horizon, contained between the line prolonged from the ship’s stern and any distant object, as land, ships, &c. Thus if the ship’s keel lies on an east and west line, the stern being westward, any distant object perceived in the north-west or south-west, is said to be on the larboard or starboard quarter. See the article Bearing.

Quarter-bill, a roll, or list, containing the different stations, to which all the officers and crew of the ship are quartered, in the time of battle, and the names of all the persons appointed to those stations.

Quarter-cloths, bastingage, long pieces of painted canvas, extended on the outside of the quarter-netting from the upper-part of the gallery to the gangway. They are generally decorated with martial instruments, or allegorical figures.

Quarter-gallery, a sort of small balcony, with or without ballustrades, on the quarter of a ship, as represented by fig. 1. plate [VIII]. The gallery on the quarter generally communicates with that on the stern, by means of a door passing from one to the other.

Quarter-gunner, an inferior officer under the direction of the gunner of a ship of war, whom he is to assist in every branch of his duty; as keeping the guns and their carriages in proper order, and duly furnished with whatever is necessary; filling the powder into cartridges; scaling the guns, and keeping them always in a condition to be ready for service. The number of quarter-gunners in any ship is always in proportion to the number of her artillery, one quarter-gunner being allowed to every four cannon.

Quarter-master, an inferior officer, appointed by the master of a ship of war to assist the mates in their several duties; as stowing the ballast and provisions in the hold, coiling the cables on their platforms, overlooking the steerage of the ship, and keeping the time by the watch-glasses.

Quarter-netting, a sort of net-work, extended along the rails on the upper-part of a ship’s quarter. In a ship of war these are always double, being supported by iron cranes, placed at proper distances. The interval is sometimes filled with cork, or old sails, but chiefly with the hammocs of the sailors, so as to form a parapet to prevent the execution of the enemy’s small arms in battle. See the article Engagement.

Quarter-rails, are narrow-moulded planks, generally of fir, reaching from the top of the stern to the gangway. They are supported by stanchions, and serve as a fence to the quarter-deck, to prevent the men from tumbling into the sea by the rolling of the ship, particularly in small vessels.

QUARTERS, a name given, at sea, to the several stations where the officers and crew of a ship of war are posted in action. See the article Engagement.

The number of men appointed to manage the artillery is always in proportion to the nature of the guns, and the number and condition of the ship’s crew. They are, in general, as follow, when the ship is well manned, so as to fight both sides at once occasionally: