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.