Age of Sail

A
Aback: Wind coming in from the front or 'wrong' side of a sail or sails, i.e. coming in to harbour
with 'all yards aback'.
***
Abaft: Like aft or a preposition indicating further aft, or nearer the stern; as in: the capstan
stands abaft the mainmast, i.e. behind it, or nearer the stern.
***
Abeam: At right angles to, or beside a ship.
***
Aberdeen Bow: A type of sharp bow developed in the 19th century which led to better
performance and speed. Used in the construction of the famous China tea clippers such as the
Thermopylae and Cutty Sark.
***
Adze: A shipwright's tool, similar to an axe, used for shaping and dressing wood. It was different
from an axe in that it had a long slender curved blade set at a right angle to the handle.

***
Afore: Before. Examples of usage: Afore the mast, as in before the mast. Also was used as in
sailing afore the wind, meaning to sail closer (in) to the wind or sailing larger.
***
Aft: The after (or rear) part of a ship or a location towards the stern.
***
After-castle: A medieval tower-like structure placed near the stern of a sailing warship such as a
cog or carrack on which soldiers (bowmen) stood and fought during battle.
***
Afterpeak: The aftermost part of a ship's hold, closest to the stern.
***
Alee: In the direction toward which the wind is blowing; downwind.
***
Aloft: Overhead or above.
***
Altitude: Used in celestial navigation, it is the angle a celestial body makes with a point on the
horizon vertically below this object and altitude was measured with an astrolabe, a cross staff, a
backstaff or quadrant and finally a sextant or octant.
***
Amidship: Midway between the bow and the stern.
***
Amsterdam Voet: A Dutch measurement formerly used for shipbuilding, 1 Amsterdam voet
was equal to 28.31cm or 11.14 inch.
***
Anchor: An object designed to grip the ground, under a body of water, to hold a ship in a
selected area. In the Golden Age of Sail it was usually a cast-iron shank with two arms and two
flukes, and a wooden stock perpendicular to the arms. The stock often consisted of two long
pieces of oak tapered toward each end, held together with iron hoops and treenails. Around the
19th century a typical anchor became of all-iron construction, including the stock.

In ancient times an anchor often consisted of a large stone with one or more holes, through which
a rope was fastened.
A stone anchor would weigh from 20 Lbs for a small anchor to 500 Lbs or more for a large
anchor. Often cut from sandstone, limestone or whatever other stone was available.

Roman lead and wood anchor.

Anchor building tools in the Age of Sail.

***
Anchor's Aweigh: Expression for when the anchor is just clear of the bottom. Was also called
atrip.
***
Anchorage: Any location where a ship savely can and is allowed to drop anchor, most often a
location within or just outside a harbour.
***
Apeak: When an object such as a cable or an oar is in a vertical or close-to vertical position or
direction. The anchor was said to be apeak when directly under the hawse.
***
Apron: 1.A planked platform at the entrance to a dock. 2. A rectangular piece of metal mounted
over the touch-hole of a cannon to keep the charge covered and dry. 3.A curved timber fixed
behind the lower part of the stem, immediately above the foremost end of the keel. The Apron
was intended to strengthen the connection between the stem and the keel. Also called gripe or
gripe piece.
***
Armada: A large fleet of warships.
***
Articles: Signed documents indicating a crew member's responsibilities, duties, rank and/or
position on board a ship.
***
Astern: Any distance behind a ship, as opposed to a-head, which is before her.
***
Astrolabe: A navigational instrument. It consisted of a dial, showing degrees, with an arm
(alidade) pivoting through the centre. This arm, had a projection with a small hole on each end,
you would line these up so a celestial body would be visible through both and the astrolabe's
degree markings would indicate the celestial object's angle in the sky.
It was used to determine a ships position by finding and predicting the position of the stars and
the sun through triangulation. With the mariners astrolabe, latitude could be determined using the
Pole Star or the Sun. It was the main navigational instrument until the invention of the sextant in
the 16th century.
***
Athwart: From side to side; crosswise or perpendicular to the keel.
***
Auger: A shipwright's tool for drilling holes in timbers.
***
Avast: Stop! Halt! Cease!
***
Awning: A canopy, often made from extra sail material, over a weather deck, gallery or quarter
gallery, intended to shield the officers and crew from the sun in warmer climates or hot weather.
***
Axe: A shipwright's tool, the shipwright's axe came in a variety of shapes. The shape of the blade
depended on the function of the axe. De edge of the blade was either straight or curved, most
were curved; The angle of the blade also varied depending whether hard or softer wood was to
be cut, a thinner blade was required for the hardest woods. A typical size would be a 1.4"
(3.5cm) thick blade, a blade height of 4.1" (10.5cm) and a blade length of 7.4" (19cm).
 ***
Azimuth: Used in celestial navigation, it was the angle measured clockwise around the horizon
from the North point to a point on the horizon vertically below the observed celestial object.
Azimuth was determined with the help of a compass.

- North = 0/360 degrees

- East = 90 degrees
- South = 180 degrees
- West = 270 degrees.
***
 B
Balance Frame: The forward-most and aftermost frame of the full-width part of the hull.
***
Balinger: A small single-masted sailing vessel, used in the 15th and 16th centuries.
***
Ballast: Heavy material, such as iron, lead or stone placed in the bottom of a ship's hold to keep
the vessel steady.
***
Baltimore Clipper: A two-masted fore-and-aft gaff-rigged schooner-like ship also carrying
square sails on the foremast and often used in the role of a blockade-runner or privateer.

The masts were set at extreme angles, as it was believed at the time to provide for better speed.
Baltimore clippers were also used to transport prospectors and settlers from the East Coast to the
West Coast during the California gold-rush.

Examples of a Baltimore clipper

***
Barca-longa: A two- or three-masted Mediterranean vessel carrying lugsails.
***
Barque Longue: A relatively small 17th century two-masted square-rigged sailing vessel best
known for its use by early Fench explorers.
Examples of a barque Longue
***
Barratry: An unlawful act or fraudulent breach of duty on the part of a ship's master or crew,
going against, and in conflict with the interests of the ship's or cargo's owner. For example;
selling cargo and subsequently claiming it was lost at sea.
***
Barge: A 17th century long and narrow ship's boat, rowed by 10 to 20 oars, often used to
transport senior officers.
***
Bark: A vessel square-rigged on all but the aftermost mast, which is fore-and-aft rigged. Also
spelled Barque. Most were three-masted, some were four- or five-masted vessels. Before the mid
18th century the term Barque was also often used for any three-masted vessel not fitting any
other accepted nomenclature or category.

Examples of a bark
***
Barkentine: A sailing ship with from three to five masts of which only the foremast is square-
rigged, the others all being fore-and-aft rigged. Also spelled Barquentine.

Examples of a barkentine
***
Barnacle: A species of shell-fish, often attaching themselves to the hulls of ships.
***
Bar Shot: An iron bar with a half-sphere (or full sphere) at each end, fired from a cannon to
damage a ship's rigging.

A cannon-ball cut in half with an iron bar wrought in between.

***
Basilisk: A generic term for a large brass cannon of exceptional power, used in the 15th and 16th
centuries. Named after the 'king serpent' or dragon of legend which had a supposed deadly breath
and stare. Later (17th century) a ships cannon firing 14 1/2 pound stone or iron roundshot.
***
Battens: 1.Strips of wood or bamboo poles, placed in pockets in the leech of a sail or sewn into a
sail, to assist in keeping its form. 2.Narrow strips of wood used to fasten down the edges of the
material covering the hatches in bad weather (batten down the hatches).
***
Beam: 1.The extreme or main breadth (widest point) of a vessel. 2.One of the transverse
members of a ship's frames on which the decks are laid. They are supported on the ship's sides by
right angle timbers called knees.
***
Bearding Line: A line drawn on the dead-woods and keel showing where the hull planking
enters the dead-woods and keel.
***
Beaufort Scale: Scale named after Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857), a British naval officer, for
classifying wind velocity, ranging from 0 for calm or no wind to 12 for hurricane strength winds.
Explanation of knot, course, royal and reefed.
***
Becket: A looped rope, with a knot on one end and an eye at the other end, used to secure loose
ropes, spars, or oars.
***
Bees: A timber block attached to the outer end of a bowsprit for guiding and tensioning (reefing)
the forestays or a block attached to any other spar for changing and holding the spar's position.

***
Beetle: A shipbuilding tool. A heavy iron mallet used to drive wedges (irons) into the seams of
wooden ships to open them before caulking.
***
Beakhead: A projection forward of the bow on a sailing ship, located below the bowsprit and
often highly decorated.
***
Belay: To tie and secure a rope.
***
Belaying Pin: A removable wooden, iron or brass pin fitted in a hole in the rail of a ship, used
for securing and tying the running rigging. They were also handy clubs in case of hand-to-hand
combat during boarding. Also called tack pin or jack pin.

***
Belfry: Usually a single-arch structure, sometimes a more elaborate structure as shown below,
from which the ship's bell was hung. After 1660, often located on or near the forecastle.

***
Bend: To attach a sail, or having been fastened onto it's supporting spar: a direct hit split the
yard the mainsail was bent to.
***
Berth: 1.Sufficient space for a ship to maneuver. 2.A space for a ship to dock or anchor.
3.Employment on a ship. 4.Another term for bunk or bed onboard a ship.
***
Bibb: A wooden bracket supporting the trestle trees.
***
Bight: The loop or double part created in a rope or in a strand of a rope when folded, often used
in creating complex knots such as the wale knot.
***
Bilander: A small two-masted merchant sailing ship, similar to a brigantine, used mainly on
Dutch coastal routes and canals. Rarely larger than 100 tons burthen. She carried a fore-and-aft
lateen main-sail bent to a yard hanging at about 45 degrees to the mast.
***
Bilge: Where the sides of a vessel curve in to form the bottom.
***
Bilge pump: A mechanism for emptying the bilge of water. Since all wooden ships would leak
to some degree, pumps were always in demand. Spray and waves would only add to how much
water a ship took on. The most common was the handpump or elm-pump, often locate on a the
highest deck not open to the weather. The more complex but also much more effective chain-
pump was used mainly in the British Royal Navy from the late 17th century.
 ***
Bilge Stringer: Timbers running the entire length of the hull near the turn of the bilge as an
integral girder (part) in a wooden ship's frame.

***
Billethead: An alternative bow decoration to the figurehead, usually carved flowing shapes,
often flowers or leaf like curls, ending in an upward or downward spiral below the bowsprit.
***
Binnacle: The housing of the ship's compass, gimbals and, in later times, a binnacle light. It was
often a simple wooden box, sometimes mounted on a pedestal. The binnacle was normally
placed near or in front of the helm. Earlier was also called bittacle.
***
Bireme: An ancient Greek or Roman war galley propelled by two tiers of oars on each side.

***
Bitt: A vertical post set on the deck of a ship; used to secure and tie ropes or cables.
***
Bitter End: The inboard end of a rope or (anchor) cable, receiving it's name from that end being
wound around a bitt.
***
Block: A wooden or metal case in which one or more sheaves (rollers) are fitted through which
lines can run, either to increase the purchase or to change the direction of the line. They are
commonly known as pulleys. In the 17th and 18th centuries the pins of blocks were often made
from greenheart.
 ***
Bluff: The bow of a ship is said to be bluff when it has a full broad rounded or flat shape (not
sharp). The term bluff originates back to the early 17th century.
***
Boarding: To go or come aboard a ship is to enter by invitation or consent. To board a ship is
to force one's way onto a ship without consent.
***
Boat: A small open vessel for travel on water by rowing or sailing.

In the age of sail, boats were essential equipment on any ship. Used as a tender, for shore landing
parties, towing, warping, rescue missions, patrols, escape from mutiny, to mention only a few
purposes. Boats came in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on time-period, geography and
function: barges, cutters, dinghies, gigs, launches, longboats, pinnaces, shallops, skiffs, wherries
and yawls.
***
Boatswain: The officer who is responsible for the boats, sails, rigging, colours, anchors, and
cables. Also called bosun.
***
Bobstay: A rope or chain used to steady the bowsprit of a ship.
***
Bollard: A heavy post on a ship or wharf, used for securing mooring ropes or cables.
***
Bolster: A substantial timber used as a temporary support or to strengthen and reinforce a ship's
frame or cradle while under construction.
***
Boltrope: A rope sewn into the outer edge of a sail to prevent it from tearing.
***
Bomb Vessel: Developed by the French to battle the Barbary corsairs, these vessels used high
trajectory mortars instead of conventional guns. The hull was strengthened to take the weight of
one or more mortars and the foremast was completely omitted. Late 18th century bomb vessels
would have had a full three-masted rig, and were often used for polar expeditions since their
hulls were so sturdily built and would hold up better in the ice.

Examples of a bomb vessel

***
Bonaventure Mizzenmast: Small fourth mast abaft the mizzenmast, often seen in larger
galleons.
***
Bonnet: An extra strip of canvas fixed to the foot of a fore-and-aft sail.
 ***
Boom: A spar used to hold or extend the foot of a sail. In fore-and-aft rigged vessels such as
schooners, a boom is a spar at the foot of the mainsail and also of the foresail and the mizzen. It
is pivoting and connected at the fore end to the mast by means of a gooseneck. In square-rigged
vessels booms were temporary extensions to the yardarms to allow the rigging of studdingsails.
 ***
Bow: The fore end of a vessel. Also called prow.
***
Bow Chaser: Cannon located in the bow of a sailing warship for the purpose of firing forward
while pursuing an enemy ship or hapless victim.
***
Bowline: A line attached to the weather leech of a square sail to haul it forward, allowing the
ship to point as high into the wind as possible.
***
Bowsprit: A large spar projecting over the stem of a vessel to carry the stays for the fore-
topmast and from which the jibs are set. Could be thought of as a nth mast. A standing bowsprit
is fixed in position while a running bowsprit can be taken in (movable).

***
Brace: A rope by which a yard is swung around and secured to shift a sail into a favourable
position to the wind and the course of a square-rigged ship. Performing this action was thus
called 'bracing the yard'.
***
Brail: One of a number of thin lines attached to the leech of a sail for hauling it in. Brailing.
***
Breast Hook: 'Bow shaped' timbers used to strengthen the bows of a ship, positioned
horizontally at different heights across the stem. A breast hook would be located below each
deck and the deck planking would be supported by and rabbeted onto this timber.
***
Breech: The solid metal base of a cannon, from the cascabel to the start of the concave inside
bore.
 ***
Breeching Rope: A thick and heavy rope used to secure a cannon to the side of a ship for the
purpose of controlling and limiting the recoil when the gun was fired. It was often wound around
or spliced to the cascabel of a cannon and looped through a ring on either side of a gun-carriage.
Both ends had an eye-splice by which the rope was connected on either side of the gun to a
heavy ringbolt attached to the side of a ship. As a rule of thumb, a breeching rope was three
times the length of the gun barrel. The rope itself could be up to 6 1/2 inches in diameter for a
large gun such as a 32 pounder.

***
Brig: A two-masted vessel, square-rigged on both masts. The rear mast carries a fore-and-aft
boom-sail as well. In the 17th century the term Brig was also used as short for Brigantine, which
then could be any variety of two-masted square-rigged vessels depending on nation and region.

Examples of a brig
***
Brigantine: A two-masted vessel with square sails on the foremast and fore-and-aft sails on the
mainmast. See also Hermaphrodite Brig. In the 17th century the term Brigantine was also used to
describe any variety of small two-masted square-rigged vessels.

Examples of a brigantine
***
British East India Company: Sometimes referred to as "John Company", was a joint-stock
company of investors, which was granted a Royal Charter by Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600,
with the intent to favour trade privileges in India. The Royal Charter effectively gave the newly
created British East India Company a monopoly on all trade in the East Indies. The Company
transformed from a commercial trading venture to one which virtually ruled India as it acquired
auxiliary governmental and military functions, until the Company's dissolution in 1858.

Typical ships of the British East India Company

***
Broach: When a ship veers or turns suddenly and uncontrollably broadside to the wind and
waves. Broached, broaching.
***
Broadside: 1.The simultaneous discharge of some or all of the guns fitted on one side of the
ship. 2.The side of a ship.
***
Brow: The gangway or entrance onto a ship while docked.
 ***
Buccaneer: Another term for pirate, pertaining to and origination from pirates who preyed on
Spanish 'treasure' ships in the West Indies during the 17th century.
***
Bucekarl: A mercenary seaman for hire by anyone who's willing to pay. Generally not the most
trusted crew members, since mutiny was often instigated or carried out by crew members with a
different nationality than the ship or ship's owner.
***
Bulkhead: A vertical partition, running either fore-and-aft or athwart ships, dividing the hull
into separate compartments.
***
Bull Rope: A rope used for hoisting a topmast or topgallant mast in a square-rigged ship.
***
Bulwark: The planking along the sides of a ship, above the upper deck and below the gunwales,
to act as a railing to prevent crew and passengers from falling or being washed overboard.
***
Bumkin: A small spar, usually made of oak or fir, projecting from each side of a ship's bow
providing for tack fairleads. Also called 'boomkin'.
***
Bunk: A built-in wooden bed on board of later ships, often built in tiers, one above the other.
***
Buntline: A rope tied to the foot of a square sail that keeps it from opening or bellying when it is
being hauled up for furling to the yard. Normally there were multiple somewhat evenly-spaced
buntlines leading through blocks on a yard to the foot of the square sail bent to that yard.
***
Buntline Hitch: A knot used to tie a buntline to the foot of a square sail.

***
Buoy: A float of different shape and size, attached by a cable or chain to the seabed to mark
navigational channels or underwater hazards such as shallow banks, rocks or reefs. A ship's buoy
could be attached by rope to the anchor, to indicate the underwater location of the anchor so that
the ship could stay clear of the anchor and the anchor-cable.
***
Burthen: An older term used to express a ship's carrying capacity. About 40 cubic feet per ton
burthen. Also spelled burden.
***
Buss: A relatively large three-masted European vessel dating from the 15th century, used mainly
for the herring fishery. Up to about 200 tons in size.
 ***
Buttock: The width or part of a vessel where the hull rounds down to the stern.
***
 C
Cabin: A room or space partitioned off by bulkheads to provide a private compartment for
officers, passengers and crew members for sleeping and/or meals. The Great Cabin was the
Captain's or Master's quarters.
***
Cabin Boy: A (often young) man acting as a servant on a ship; fetching water; helping out with
the cooking; cleaning etc.
***
Cable: 1. A thick and heavy rope of considerable length, used to moor or retain a ship at anchor.
2. A naval unit of distance. The British cable was 0.1 nautical (Admiralty) miles or 608 feet
(1830), the American equivalent was 120 fathoms or 0.1185 nautical miles. Still used by some
navies as a distance measure of 200 meters.
***
Caique: (Caïgue) A long narrow rowboat, similar to a skiff, used in the Middle East and is also
the name of a light sailing vessel used in the eastern Mediterranean.
***
Camber: The slight convex athwart curvature of a ship's deck, providing for water drainage.

***
Cannon: An artillery gun made from brass, bronze and later iron (16th century), usually
mounted on a wheeled gun-carriage. The angle of elevation could be altered by moving a
wooden wedge-like block, the quoin, under the base of the barrel.

It's size ranged greatly, from a 4 pounder to a 60 pounder, with 'pounder' meaning the weight of
the shot, or ball the cannon fired.
In and before the 16th century a cannon was classified according to size, with such names as
"cannon-royal", "demi-cannon", "cannon-perier", "culverin", "demi-culverin", "saker", "falcon",
"falconet", "minion", "fowler", "base", "bastard" and "murderer". By the 18th century a cannon
was classified by the weight of the roundshot it fired. A cannon's muzzle velocity was anywhere
between 900 and 1700 fps and a typical cannon had a practical range of 400 to 600 metres.
Smoothbore, black-powder cannon remained the dominant naval artillery until the middle of the
19th century.

Note: While a brass saker would have weighed 1400 - 1600 Lbs, an iron saker would have
almost doubled the weight to about 2500 lbs.

***
Cannon-Perier: A ships cannon firing 24 1/2 pound stone or iron shot.
***
Cannon-royal: The original designation for a cannon, firing 60-66 pound stone or iron
roundshot.
***
Cant Frame: Frames fore and aft, not set at right angles to the keel; introduced in English ships
around 1715.
***
Cap: The wooden block at the top of a mast through which the mast is drawn when being
stepped or lowered, often elm was used.

***
Capsquare: A metal covering plate, part of a gun-carriage, which passes over the trunnions of a
cannon, and holds it in place while allowing it to pivot.
***
Capstan: A cylindrical barrel used for heavy lifting, also called Capstern. The capstan
(sometimes two on larger ships) was located in the centre line of a ship, sometimes through
several deck-levels. Wooden rods were inserted into receiving openings in the head of the
capstan to rotate the barrel. A dog or pawl ratchet mechanism was located at or below the base to
prevent the capstan from slipping back. Link to a good working model of a capstan from Texas
A&M.

***
Captain: From the Latin caput, meaning head. Rank or commanding officer of a ship or
squadron.
***
Caracore: A small, light and swift sailboat with a single triangular sail and an outrigger,
originating in the East Indies. Also called Proa.
***
Caravel: A relatively small but highly manoeuvrable Portuguese vessel of the 15th and 16th
centuries setting lateen sails on two or three masts and sometimes a square sail on the foremast.
Each mast increased in size from the one aft of it. When lateen-rigged was classified as a
'caravela latina', when modified as a square-rigged vessel was classified as a 'caravela redonda'.

Examples of a caravel
***
Careen: To turn a ship on her side for repairs or cleaning, or a ship leaning to one side while
sailing in the wind.
***
Carling: Timbers running fore and aft that connect the transverse beams supporting the deck of
a ship. Also used to describe the timbers used to frame the partners.
***
Carrack: A large sailing vessel developed from the earlier cog, in use from the 14th to the 17th
century, usually with elevated structures known as castles at the bow and stern.

Examples of a carrack
***
Carronade: A short-barreled limited range gun developed in the 1770s by the Carron Company
in Scotland. At short range they were enormously destructive to a ship's timbers. A real ship
smasher.

The addition of carronades was not reflected in the nominal rate of a ship; a 52-gun ship
mounting 10 carronades was still designated as a 42.
***
Carvel Built: A method of ship building in which the planks are laid flush with the edges laid
close and caulked to make them watertight as opposed to clinker built where the side planks
overlap. Generally only small boats and early ships were clinker built.

***
Cascabel: A rounded projection at the rear of the breech of a muzzle loading cannon's barrel.
Also spelled cascable.
 ***
Cat: The name of the purchase by which the anchor was hoisted to the cathead in preparation for
stowing or letting go. 'To cat the anchor' is the process of hoisting the anchor to the cathead.
***
Cat O' Nine Tails: A whip made from unraveling a rope's strands (3x3). Used as punishment for
a variety of offences aboard a Naval ship. Also called 'Captains Daughter'.
***
Cathead: A heavy piece of timber projecting from each side of the bow of a vessel to hold the
anchors in position and clear away from the bow. Early catheads were often capped off with a
carved cat or lion face.

***
Catwalk: Or gangway. A narrow, elevated walkway, as on either side of a ship, connecting the
quarter-deck section to the forecastle.
***
Caulk: The process of driving material into the seams of the ship's deck or sides to make them
watertight. The tools used were caulking irons and mallets.
***
Caulking Mallet: A shipbuilding tool. An iron or wooden mallet (heavy hammer) used to strike
a variety of irons, to open and close seams or to fill seams with oakum.

***
Ceiling: The inside planking in the holds of a vessel, laid across the floors and carried up the
sides of the holds to the beams.
***
Celestial Navigation: In celestial navigation, the two coordinates used to determine a ship's
bearing were the azimuth and altitude of a celestial body.
***
Centerboard: A type of retractable keel used on sailing vessels to prevent drifting downwind.
Also known as a drop keel.
***
Chain: A unit of length equal to 4 rods or (4x16.5) 66 feet.
***
Chain Plate: A strip of iron, or a combination of linked strips of iron, with the lower end bolted
to a ship's side, and with the upper end carrying a deadeye to which a shroud or stay is
connected.
***
Chain Shot: A chain with a solid ball (sphere or half-sphere) at each end, fired from a cannon to
inflict damage to a ships rigging and masts.
 ***
Channel: A flat, plank-like or platform-like projection from the side of a sailing ship that is used
to spread the shrouds clear of the hull. Before 1590 its equivalent was often called a chain wale.

***
Charter: Late 18th century Dutch equivalent to the English Rates:

1st Charter : 80 guns

2nd Charter : 70 guns
3rd Charter : 60 guns
4th Charter : 50 guns
5th Charter : 36 guns
6th Charter : 20 guns

Only the first 4 charters were considered 'ships of the line'.

***
Chesstree: A timber fitted on the outside of the hull, just below the gunwale. It had one or more
holes through which the main tack or sheets were hauled from within board.
Dutch fashion chesstree ornamented with overlapping scales.
***
Chine: The line created by the intersection between the side and the bottom of a flatbottom boat
or ship.
***
Chip Log: A piece of wood tied to a knotted cord. The speed of a vessel was measured by
counting the number of knots passing over the stern while being timed. The nautical unit knot
came from these equidistant knots tied in a rope. Also called hand log.
***
Cleat: A piece of iron or wood often having projecting arms on which a rope can be wound or
secured.
***
Clew: The lower, aft corner of a fore-and-aft sail or the two lower corners of a square sail.
***
Clew Line: A line used for hauling up the clews when furling a sail.
***
Clinker Built: A method of ship building in which the hull planks overlap. Early ships such as
longships, nefs and early cogs were clinker built, as were, and still are, some small boats. Also
called lapstrake construction.
 ***
Clipper: A variety of square-rigged speed-built merchant ships built between 1790 and 1870.
Often thought of as some of the most beautiful and elegant sailing vessels ever built. The three-
masted Cutty Sark on display at Greenwich, England may well be the best known of the clippers.

Examples of a clipper
***
Close-hauled: The trim of sails when sailing close to (into) the wind was required, generally
within 45 degrees to the wind. A vessel was said to be close hauled, when her tacks were drawn
close to windward; the sheets hauled close aft and the bow-lines were drawn to their greatest
extension.
***
Clove Hitch: Also called ratline hitch, as it was used to tie and secure the ratlines to the shrouds.
 ***
Coak: To join two scarfed timbers with tenons. Also a hardwood pin joining two timbers or two
halfs of a tackle block.
***
Coaming: The framing around openings in the upper deck such as hatches, usually about 15-
20cm high, which prevented water on deck from running into the ship.
***
Cocca: Mediterranean equivalent for a Northern European cog.
***
Cockswain: The helmsman or crew member in command of a ship's boat.
***
Cofferdam: A watertight chamber or compartment attached to the outside of a ship's hull below
the water line so that repairs can be made. Also called caisson.
***
Cog: A single-masted clinker-built vessel used until the 15th century. The Cog originated in
Northern Europe and spread throughout the Baltic and to the Mediterranean. The first mention of
a cog is from 948 AD in Muiden near Amsterdam. The word Cog is derived from the word
Kogge, a corruption of the Dutch/Flemish word Kogel, meaning rounded or spherical. Even
though the clinker construction limited the ultimate size of a cog, Thomas Walsingham speaks of
great cogs in 1331 with three decks and over 500 crew and soldiers. A cog is characterised by
high sides, a relatively flat bottom, rounded bilge and a single square sail.
Examples of a cog
***
Coir: The fibres obtained from the husk of a coconut, used for making rope.
***
Collier: A broad beamed and shallow draught merchant sailing ship. They were designed to
transport coal between ports. The HMS Bark Endeavour was a Whitby collier.
Examples of a collier
***
Come About: To change tack and thus the direction or course of a sailing vessel. In other words:
changing the position of the vessel and the sails for the wind to come in from the opposite
direction, from starboard to port and vice versa. 'Ducking under the boom' comes to mind as an
illustration.
***
Comito: A galley officer of rank varying from admiral in ancient Byzantine times to captain and
to first mate in the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance.
***
Companionway: Any staircase or ladder leading from one deck to another.
 ***
Compass: A navigational instrument used since the 12th century for determining a ship's
direction and position. A compass was often housed in a binnacle and still consists today of a
pivoting magnetic needle which is freely suspended to align itself to the earth's magnetic field,
the needle turns until it's ends are aligned with the magnetic north and south poles. The ship's
direction would be the angle the needle made with the lubber's line or simply the direction
forward. Also used to determine azimuth in celestial navigation.
***
Composite Construction: Late 19th century hull construction using an iron or steel frame with
wooden planking.
***
Coppering: The sheathing of the hull of a wooden vessel below the waterline with copper plates.
Expensive but intended to extend a ship's life-span significantly by preventing damage caused by
shipworm, and to prevent the build-up of weed and barnacles resulting in slower speed.

***
Corsair: A raider or pirate normally operating off the Barbary Coast of North Africa (Algiers,
Morocco, Tripoli, and Tunis) during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
***
Corvette: Smallest of all the three-masted square-rigged sailing ships. Used mainly for
reconnaissance also called a 'sloop-of-war' and could be classified as a small frigate. Armed with
8-20 guns on only one deck.

Examples of a corvette
***
Counter: The overhang of the stern above the waterline.
***
Course: A sail set on the lower yard of a square-rigged ship or any principal sail of a ship. The
fore-and-aft main-stay-sails of brigs and schooners were also called courses.
***
Crab: A small and sometimes portable capstan, for the purpose of lifting equipment and cargo.
***
Cradle: The timber frame constructed around the hull of a ship while under construction on the
launching ways. The cradle was often designed to slide down the ways with the ship when the
ship was launched.
***
Crank: 1.A ship which, either because her construction or by the way her cargo was stowed,
could not carry a great deal of sail without the danger of capsizing. 2.Any iron brackets for
supporting and/or storing items such as the stern lanterns and capstan rods were also called
cranks.
***
Crayer: A small single-masted and slow merchant vessel. Built solely for maximum hold
capacity, not for it's sailing qualities.
***
Crimp: A person who coerces, often by force or deception, men into service as sailors. See also
shanghai.
***
Cross Staff: A relatively accurate tool used in celestial navigation since the early 16th century, it
consisted of a scaled wooden staff or rod with one or more sliding perpendicular 'transoms' with
which the angle between a celestial object such as the sun or moon and the horizon could be
measured (altitude). Later often replaced by the more usable but somewhat less accurate
backstaff or quadrant.

***
Crossjack: The lowest square sail, or the lower yard of the mizzenmast.
***
Crosstree: Light oak timber spreader fixed across the trestle trees at the upper ends of the
lowermast and topmast. They supported the topmast and topgallant mast shrouds.
 ***
Crown: The lower end of an anchor-shank where the arms come together.

***
Crow's Nest: A platform for a lookout at or near the top of a mast. Named for the cage which
housed ravens, often carried by Norsemen at their masthead; for when a raven was released, it's
flight direction would hopefully indicate shore.
***
Crutch: Oblique or horizontal knee used to reinforce the stern.
***
Culverin: A long-barreled heavy cannon used in the 16th and 17th centuries, often an 18
pounder with two serpent-shaped handles and a muzzle velocity of over 1200 fps.
***
Currach: A small rounded boat made of hides stretched over a wicker frame; still used in some
parts of Great Britain. Also called Coracle.
***
Cutter: 1. A fast-sailing single-masted vessel usually setting double headsails and used for
patrol and dispatch services. Cutters were the ships of choice for English smugglers during the
18th century. The largest were up to 150 tons burden and could carry up to 12 guns.
2. A clinker built ship's boat used for travel between ship and shore.
***
Cutwater: The forward curve or edge of the stem of a ship.
***
 D
Danish East India Company: Dansk Ostindisk Kompagni 1616 - 1669. The first Danish East
India Company was formed in 1616, modelled after the Dutch VOC, she traded tea and other
commodities from Tranquebar in Danish-India to Europe. Founded in 1670, the second Danish
East India Company was dissolved in 1729.
***
Davit: A purchase for suspending or lowering heavy equipment and objects. For example: fish
davits for raising the flukes of an anchor, or boat davits for lowering and raising a ship's boat.
***
Deadeye: A round or triangular hardwood disk with one or more holes and a grooved perimeter,
used to properly tension and tighten a shroud or stay. As in the image below, the most commonly
thought of variety had three holes.

***
Dead-light: A shutter for a stern or gallery light.
***
Deadweight: Deadweight tonnage is the absolute maximum weight that a ship can safely carry
when fully loaded. It includes crew, passengers, cargo, fuel, water, and stores. Often expressed in
long tons or metric tons. Acronym: dwt. It is measured by measuring the displacement difference
when the vessel is empty (or light) and fully loaded.
***
Dead-wood: Solid timbers at the bow and stern, just above the keel where the lines narrowed
down so that separate side timbers would not fit. They 'extended' the keel upwards, effectively
raising the floor-timbers at the bow and stern.
 ***
Deals: Planks cut from pine or fir of a specific size, for instance deals of 3" x 9" x 12' were
common.
***
Deck: A horizontal platform in a vessel that corresponds to a floor in a building. Decks in
wooden vessels often were sloped towards the stern or bow, and always had an athwart camber.
***
Demi-cannon: A heavy cannon, usually a thirty to thirty-six pounder.
***
Demi-culverin: A long barreled cannon used in the 16th and 17th centuries, normally a 9 to 13
pounder.
***
Demurrage: Charges required as compensation for the delay, or the detention of a ship beyond
its scheduled time of departure.
***
Dinghy: A small rowing or sailing boat, often a tender to a larger vessel.
***
Disembark: Leaving a ship to go ashore.
***
Displacement Tonnage: The actual weight of a ship and its contents. One displacement ton,
measuring the displacement of seawater while a ship is afloat, is equivalent to one long ton or
about one cubic meter (35 cubic feet) of salt water.
***
Dhow: A lateen-rigged sailing vessel that originated in the Middle East. Early dhows were of
shell-first construction. Most dhows are known by names referring to their hull shape.
The ghanjah is a large vessel with a curved stem and a sloping, often ornately carved transom.

The baghlah, was the traditional deep-sea dhow; it had a transom with five windows and a poop
deck similar to European galleons.

Double-ended dhows, like the boom, have both stem and stern posts.

The battil, featured long stems topped by large, club-shaped stemheads and sternposts decorated
with cowrie shells and leather.
The badan was a smaller and shallow draught vessel.
***
Dog: A hinged catch that fits into a notch of a ratchet to move a wheel forward or prevent it from
moving backward.
***
Dogger: A two-masted Dutch fishing-vessel resembling a ketch.
***
Doldrums: Regions near the equator where there is little or no wind.
***
Dolphin Striker: The short perpendicular spar under the cap of the bowsprit used to counteract
the upward pull on the jib-boom of the fore topgallant stay or topmast stay.

***
Dory: A small, narrow, flat-bottomed and shallow draft boat of between 15 to 20 ft in length,
usually with high sides and a sharp prow, propelled by oars. Also spelled Dorey (British).

***
Down Easter: A square-rigged merchant vessel combining large carrying capacity with a
relatively sharp hull. They got their name from having been built in Maine, downwind and east
of all the major East Coast ports, and were being used largely for the California grain trade
(1865-1890).

Examples of a down easter

***
Drabler: An additional strip of canvas attached to the foot of the bonnet of a fore-and-aft sail.
Also spelled drabbler.
 ***
Draft: The depth of a ship in the water. The vertical distance between the waterline and the keel,
expressed in feet or meters. Also draught.
***
Draught: The plans for construction of a ship, showing at least hull cross-sections and water-
lines (horizontal sections). Draughts were often at 1:48 scale (quarter of an inch to a foot).
Drawings did not exist for ships built before the 17th century, which were constructed solely by
and from a shipwright's knowledge and experience. Also draft.
***
Drawing Knife: A shipbuilding tool with a long and slender sharp-edged blade and two handles,
one on each end. It was used to draw material away from the piece to be worked on.
 ***
Dromon: A medium-size, fast-sailing Mediterranean galley often armed with Greek fire for
burning enemy ships.
***
Druxey: Fungal decay in a ship's timbers, characterized by spongy whitish-colored spots and
veins.
***
Dubbing: A term used for working with an adze in smoothing or evening timbers.
***
Dunnage: Loose wood, laid in the bottom of a ship's hold, to raise the cargo, to keep it from
getting water damaged. Most ships would take on some water during rough weather or just
through seepage.
***
 E
Earing: A rope used to fasten the top corners of a square sail to its yard.
***
East Indiaman: A large and heavily armed European merchantman used for trade between
Europe and the East-Indies.

Examples of an East-Indiaman
***
Elm: Wood from various deciduous trees of the genus Ulmus and an important timber in wooden
shipbuilding since it's tough and curly grain makes it very resistant to splitting. Elm trees were
usually felled in the winter when they contained no sap. Elm was used for bees, bibbs, caps, tops
and planking below the waterline.
***
Ensign: A large standard, banner or flag, hoisted on the ensign-staff. The ensign is used to
distinguish the ships of different nations from each other, and to characterise the different
squadrons of the navy.

The Red Ensign as carried by English civil vessels from 1707-1800.

***
Ensign-staff: A long pole erected over the poop, used to hoist the ensign.
***
Entry: The form of the fore part of the ship as it cuts through the water.
***
Escutcheon: A shield-shaped emblem located on a ship's stern, bow or sides, bearing a coat of
arms, name, or owners symbol.
***
Even Keel: When the draft of a vessel fore and aft is equal. In other words: the ship's keel is
parallel to the ship's waterline.
***
Eye: A circular loop on the end of a shroud or stay.
***
Eyes of a ship: The extreme bows of a ship. Originated from the ancient custom of painting an
eye on each side of the bow so a ship could find her way.
***
 F
Fack: A full circle of any coiled rope or cable.
***
Fairlead: A means, often a pulley-block, of leading a line in the proper direction and prevent
snagging or chafing.
***
Falcon: A small anti-personnel cannon, usually a 2 to 3 pounder.
***
Falconet: A small anti-personnel cannon, usually a 1 to 1 1/2 pounder.
***
False Keel: An extra timber attached to the underside of a ship's main keel, either to protect the
keel from damage and/or to increase the draft and improve the sailing characteristics.
***
Fashion Piece(s): The aft most timbers in the submerged hull of a ship forming the shape of the
stern.
***
Fathom: A unit of measurement for depth. One fathom is 1.83 meters or 6 feet. From the Anglo-
Saxon "faehom" for the act of stretching two arms wide or 'embracing arms' as a rough
measurement of six feet.
***
Fay: To fit together two pieces of timber so there is no perceptible space between them.
***
Felucca: A narrow, swift, lateen-rigged sailing vessel used on the Nile and in the Mediterranean.
***
Fender: Originally timbers running along the outside of the hull from the gunwale downward,
later a cable hung over the side of a ship, to prevent it from striking or rubbing against a wharf,
or another vessel moored alongside it.
***
Fid: A bar of wood or iron which takes the weight of a topmast when it is stepped on the
lowermast. A hole in the topmast corresponds with a hole in the lowermast and the fid is driven
through to hold them together.
***
Fiddlehead: The scrolled stemhead of a vessel lacking a true figurehead.
***
Fife Rail: A rail around the mast or along a ship's sides with holes for belaying pins, used to
secure the running rigging.
***
Fifth Rate: Sailing warship with 32-44 guns (1779).

Examples of a fifth rate

***
Figurehead: An ornamental carved and painted figure on the stem, below the bowsprit,
generally expressing some aspect of the ship's name or owner.
 ***
Filling Frame: A frame in between the master frames.
***
Fireship: A ship or boat that is deliberately set on fire and steered to collide with a larger enemy
ship in order to set it on fire and destroy it. Fireships were often used in the 17th century to finish
off disabled enemy vessels.
***
First Mate: The officer below the master on a ship.
***
First Rate: Sailing 'ship of the line' warship with 100 or more guns on three gun decks (1779).

Examples of a first rate

***
Fish: A piece of timber, somewhat resembling a fish, used to strengthen a mast or yard.
***
Fish Davit: A spar used as a purchase to hoist the flukes of the anchor to the top of the bow,
without damaging the ship's hull.
***
Fisherman's bend: A knot used to secure the end of a line to a ring or spar, made by two turns
with the end passed back under both.

***
Flag: On a sailing warship the flag distinguished the admiral's ship from the other ships of his
squadron; also the colours by which one nation is distinguished from another, flown from either
the fore, main, or mizzenmast.
***
Flagship: The sailing warship carrying the admiral (or fleet commander) and his flag. Normally
the most powerful ship in a squadron or fleet.

Examples of a flagship
***
Flax: Fibres of the flax plant stem were often used in creating oakum.
***
Fleet: 1.A number of ships sailing together. 2.The number of merchant ships owned by a
shipping company. 3.The whole of a national navy in a region or territory. In 18th century naval
terms anything more than five ships-of-the-line would have been considered a fleet.
***
Flitch: One of a number of planks used in creating a heavy beam.
***
Floor: The lowest timber of a frame, centered on the keel.
***
Fluke: The pointed triangular blade at the end of an anchor arm, intended to grab hold of the
sea-bottom. It is usually the broadest part of an anchor and was also called the palm of an anchor.
 ***
Flush Deck: A continuous deck of a ship laid from stem to stern without any break.
***
Fluyt: A classic three-masted, square-rigged merchant ship of the 17th century, invented by the
Dutch to be economical in operation, carrying the largest cargo and smallest crew possible. It
had a wide, balloon-like hull rounding at the stern and bow and a very narrow, high stern.
Lightly armed, they were not well-suited for dealing with pirates, privateers or any other armed
opposition.

Examples of a fluyt
 ***
Flying Jib: The outermost triangular fore-and-aft sail that extends beyond the jib and is carried
on a stay attached to the flying-jib boom.

***
Foot: The bottom edge of a sail.
***
Footrope: A rope in square-rigged ships suspended below the yard on which the topmen stood
when furling sails.
***
Fore: The forward part of a ship or a position towards the bow.
***
Fore-and-aft Rigged: Rigged with sails bent to gaffs or set on stays in the midship line (parallel
to the centerline) of a vessel.
***
Fore-and-aft Sail: A sail set parallel to the centerline of a vessel. A fore-and-aft rigged vessel is
often simpler to rig then a square-rigged vessel, it requires less crew and can sail closer to the
direction from which the wind is blowing.
***
Forecastle: Originally a tower-like structure placed near the bow of a sailing warship on which
soldiers stood and fought from during battle. Later the space between the short raised forward
deck, pronounced focstle. Also a generic term for the living space of the crew in sailing vessels.
***
Foremast: The mast on a sailing vessel set closest to the bow or front.
***
Forepeak: The foremost part of a ship's hold.
***
Forward: Toward the bow.
***
Fourth Rate: Sailing 'ship of the line' warship with 50-60 guns on two gun decks (1779).

Examples of a fourth rate

***
Frame: The timber or rib of a ship running from the keel to the side rail. The frames form the
shape of the hull.

***
Frame-first Construction: A method of construction in which the internal framework, or
skeleton, of a ship's hull is constructed first, with the hull planking being attached afterward.
Several different methods of building the frame or hull were used according to local practice and
time-period.

A semi-frame-first method, as shown below, would consist of building the keel and attaching a
bow- and stern-frame first, then lay and shape the bottom up to the bilge as the shipwright saw
fit, including the planking. After this was completed the remaining frames and sides would
follow.

More 'progressive' builders would build the entire framework before any planking. Several
combinations of the two were also used.
***
Freeboard: The distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the centre of
the ship.
***
Freeing Port: An opening or hole in the bulwarks at deck level to drain water from the deck.
***
French East India Company: 'La Compagnie des Indes Orientales' was the French answer to
rival the Dutch and British in the trade on the East Indies. It was established in 1664, dissolved in
1719.
***
Frigate: A three-masted sailing warship with two full decks, with only one gun deck. A frigate
was armed with between 30 to 44 guns located on the gun deck and possibly some on the
quarter-deck and forecastle, used in the 18th and 19th centuries, used for escort, reconnaissance
and a myriad of other duties. Find the modern definition of frigate here.

Examples of a frigate
***
Furl: To fold or roll a sail and secure it to its main support.
***
Furniture: All moveable equipment of a ship: rigging, sails, spars, anchors, etc.
***
Furring: The re-planking of a vessel to give her more beam and freeboard.
***
Futtock: The separate pieces of wood that together form a frame in a wooden vessel. Usually
there were four or five futtocks to a rib.
***
Futtock Plates: Plates of wood or iron to which the deadeyes of the topmast shrouds are
secured.
***
Futtock Shroud: A shroud used to brace and support the base of the topmast, running from the
futtock plates on the sides of the topmast base downwards and inwards to a futtock band around
the mast or directly to the lower shroud.
***
 G
Gaff: A spar to which the head of a four sided fore-and-aft sail is attached. When a gaff is
hoisted, it carries the sail up with it. Normally it takes two sets of halyards to hoist a gaff-rigged
sail.

***
Gaff-rigged: A fore-and-aft rig where the primary sails abaft the mast are trapezoidal in shape.
The foot of the sail is attached to a boom, the luff is attached to the mast, and the head is attached
to a gaff.
***
Gale: A very strong wind. Classified on the Beaufort scale as one of four (7-10) wind speeds
from 32 to 63 miles or 51 to 102 kilometers per hour.
***
Galjoot: A small 17th-century shallow-draught flat-bottom Dutch ship mostly used as a coastal
merchant vessel. They were also used on occasion as bomb vessels because of their stability and
durability.
***
Galleas: A large, three-masted galley/galleon hybrid of the 16th and 17th centuries that used
both sails and oars. They were powerful warships of the day, very successful at the Battle of
Lepanto, 1571.

Examples of a galleas
***
Galleon: A square-rigged, three-masted (or four-masted) sailing ship in use from the 16th to the
18th centuries, particularly by the Spanish and Portuguese but also by most other European
nations.

Examples of a galleon
***
Gallery: A platform at the stern of a ship, could be open like a balcony or closed i.e. built-up.
 ***
Galley: An oared fighting ship used mainly in the Mediterranean from many centuries BC until
well into the 18th century. They were also used in the Baltic and by other northern European
nations, just not to the same extent and duration as in the Mediterranean.

A galley a scaloccio is rowed by groups of three, five or seven men on a bench pulling a single
oar, and a galley ala sensile has a single rower per oar, possibly two or three men to a bench (a
terzaruolo). The top speed of a galley under full-oar has been estimated to be 7 or 8 knots.

The silhouette above is of a lateen-rigged heavy Venetian galley.

Examples of a galley
***
Galliot: Also Galiot; A light, fast galley formerly used in the Mediterranean.
***
Gammoning: A heavy rope securing the bowsprit to the stem of a ship.
 ***
Gammon Iron: A circular band of iron used to hold the bowsprit to the stem of a ship in late
sailing vessels. See also gammoning.
***
Gangplank: A plank, board or ramp used for boarding and disembarking a ship.
***
Garboard: The first plank on the outer hull next to the keel.
***
Ghost Ship: Either a ship that appears as a ghostly apparition such as the Flying Dutchman, or a
ship which is found floating at sea with no sign of the crew, such as the Mary Celeste.

Examples of a ghost-ship
***
Gig: 1.A two-masted coastal vessel carrying lugsails. 2.A wide beamed 18th century ship's boat,
often reserved for use by a ship's captain.
***
Gimbal: Gimbal or Gimbals. Two concentric metal rings mounted and pivoting on axes at right
angles from each other. Used to suspend an object such as a ship's compass in a horizontal plane,
allowing gravity to keep the object level despite the vessel's rolling and pitching in the waves.
 ***
Girder: A steel, iron or wooden beam supporting the hull structure.
***
Girtline: Term for a rope passing through a block hung from a mast or masthead for hoisting
relatively light loads such as a flag, tools and weapons. Also called gantline from the mid-19th
century on.
***
Gooseneck: 1.A fitting attaching the boom to the mast of a fore-and-aft rigged vessel allowing
the boom to swing sideways. 2.The join between the end of a whipstaff and the tiller.
***
Grape Shot: A canister or canvas bag filled with golf-ball size solid balls, fired from a cannon to
inflict damage to personnel, rigging and sails. Think of it as giant shot-gun ammunition.
***
Grapnel: A small anchor with three or more flukes, often used for anchoring a small vessel or
used as a grappling hook.
***
Graving: The treatment of the submerged part of the hull to protect it from weeds, shipworm
and decay.
***
Great Cabin: The Captain's quarters on a ship, located at the stern of a vessel. Often used as a
meeting or dining room and of course foremost for the Captain's use. Some cannons could be
located in the Great Cabin turning it into an occasional battle station (after dissassembling most
of the Great Cabin and removing furniture and glass windows). Sometimes, depending on time-
period and ship-type, the rudder yoke or tiller would run through this cabin from the rudder to
the helm.
***
Greenheart: A strong, hard and durable dark greenish timber from the West Indies (Guyana)
tree Ocotea rodioei, used for shipbuilding; outer hull, block-pins etc.
***
Grog: A sailers drink; rum diluted with water. Originated around 1740 from English Admiral
Edward Vernon (1684-1757), nicknamed Old Grog for wearing a grogram cloak, who ordered
the Navy sailor's rations of rum to be diluted. Not a popular man he was.
***
Gross Ton: A British unit of weight equivalent to 2240 pounds. Also called 'long ton'. (One
'short ton' or 'net ton' equals 2000 pounds or 0.907 metric tons).
***
Gudgeon: A socket for a pintle of a rudder. Also spelled Gudgin.
***
Gun: A generic term for a carriage-mounted cannon in sailing warships. By the 18th century
guns were rated according to the weight of shot fired, anywhere from a 1 pounder to 42
pounders.
***
Gun deck: Any full-length deck carrying a ship's guns. There could be up to three gun decks for
large deep-draught sailing warships, the upper or main gun deck, the middle gun deck and the
lower gun deck. A few large warships have been built with four gun decks but they were not
very successful.
***
Gunner: An officer in charge of the artillery and ammunition on a sailing warship, also
responsible for training sailors on how to handle and fire cannons.
***
Gunport: A square or round hole built in the side of a sailing warship through which the
cannons were fired. First appeared around 1500 AD. Sometimes the gunports were highly
decorated with wreaths and other decorations, especially from the 15th to the 17th century.
***
Gunwale: Upper edge or topmost planking of the side of a ship or boat. Was also called gunnel.
***
GWC: The Dutch West India Company or Geoctroyeerde Westindische Compagnie. Hoping for
the same success as the VOC, the GWC was founded in 1621 and focused on privateering of
Spanish vessels, producing and trading Brazilian sugar and on the African gold and slave trade.
The GWC built Fort Orange (1624) on the site of Albany, N.Y., Fort Nassau (1624) on the
Delaware River, Fort Good Hope on the site of Hartford on the Connecticut River, and finally
Fort Amsterdam (1626) on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, which was the settlement
called New Amsterdam, now New York City. Between 1634 and 1648 the GWC also established
colonies further south: Aruba, Curaçao, Suriname, Guyana and Saint Martin.
 Seal of the city of New York.

Peace with Spain in 1648 signalled the start of the end for the GWC: Spanish shipping was no
longer a legitimate target and the financial fortune of the company disintegrated. The GWC was
dissolved in 1674.
***
 H
Hair Bracket: A moulding which comes in at the back of, or runs aft from a figurehead or
billethead.
***
Half Beam: Short beam running from the ships side to the coamings of hatches.
***
Half Frame: A floorless frame fore and aft, with futtocks seated directly on the keel.
***
Half-Model: A scale model of the hull of a proposed ship showing the hull from stem to stern. It
was made in layers which when taken apart served as a model for the full scale plans.
***
Halyard: A line used to hoist a spar holding a sail or a line used to hoist a flag.
***
Hammoc: A sailors bed, often made of a piece of canvas, drawn together at the two ends, and
hung lengthways, fore-and-aft, under the deck. Often more than one sailor had to share one
hammock, space was at a premium.
***
Hance: The step made by the drop of a hand-rail (at the top of a ship's side) to a lower level.
***
Hancing Piece: A bracket to fit a hance, often elaborately carved with dogs or dolphins and
sometimes running several feet down a ship's side.
***
Hand: A measurement unit of 4 inches, used to describe the circumference of masts and yards
among other things.

***
Handspike: One of several wooden levers used to turn a windlass or capstan. One end was
rectangular or square and would fit into a slot or hole in the barrel of a windlass or capstan. Was
also used whenever a sturdy lever was required for any other purposes.
 ***
Harpins: Term for the bow part of the wales where they are attached to the stem.
***
Hanseatic League: Former alliance of trading cities in the Baltic and North Sea Region,
officially established in 1356 in Lübeck, the alliance lasted well into the 17th century. Cloth,
grain, pelts, salt and wax were some of the more important goods traded.
***
Hatch: An opening in a ships deck, often rectangular, covered by gratings; for below deck
access (ladder) or access to a ship's hold for stowing and retrieving cargo or stores. Also called
hatchway (hatchways), implying a passage below rather than a physical hatch-grating.
***
Hawse: Location at the bow of a ship where the hawseholes are located. A ship is also said to be
riding to hawse when moored with both starboard and port bow anchors out.
***
Hawsehole: A hole in the bow of the ship through which an anchor cable or hawser passes.
***
Hawse-pieces: Relatively large pieces of wood attached to the bow through which the
hawseholes were cut.
***
Hawser: A cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship.
***
Head: 1.The area forward of the forecastle and beak. 2.The top edge of a four sided sail.
***
Headsail: A sail, such as a jib, set forward of a foremast.
***
Headway: The forward motion of a ship. Opposite of sternway.
***
Heave to: To bring a vessel up in a position where it will maintain little or no headway (forward
motion), usually with the bow into the wind or close to.
***
Heel: 1.The lower end of a mast. 2.The aft end of a ship's keel.
***
Heeling: When a ship or boat tilts to one side, she is said to heel, as in: 'She never took in sail,
heeled sharply to port, took on water and sank shortly thereafter'.
***
Helm: The mechanism (wheel, tiller, yoke, rudder) by which a ship is steered.
***
Helmsman: The crew member responsible for steering a ship.
***
Helve: Generic term for the handle of a variety of shipwright's tools, such as an adze or a
hammer.
***
Hemp: Tough, coarse fibers of the cannabis plant, used to make cordage or rope. Also used in
creating oakum
***
Hermaphrodite Brig: A two-masted vessel, square-rigged on the foremast and fore-and-aft
rigged mainsail with a square topsail on the mainmast.

Examples of a hermaphrodite brig

***
Hog: A ship was said to be hogging when the keel would arch up because of structural weakness
causing an improper amount of sheer and causing the ship to be out of trim. The U.S. Super-
Frigates of 1812 suffered from hogging because of their extreme length and frame-structure.

Opposite of hogging is sagging, see image below.

***
Hold: A large compartment below decks for the stowing of cargo and stores.
***
Hollow shot: A cast-iron ball with a hollow interior filled with gun-powder. One of the culprits
that made wooden warships obsolete.
***
Holystone: A soft sandstone used for scrubbing the decks of a ship.
***
Hoop: In fore-and-aft rigged vessels the wooden hoops that secure the luff of a sail to the mast
and slide up and down when the sail is hoisted or lowered.
***
Horn: A fixtures securing a gaff to the mast. Unlike a gooseneck that secured the boom, horns
could slide up and down the mast.
***
Horsing Iron: A shipbuilding tool. A caulking iron used when caulking deck seams.
 ***
Hound: Location directly below the head of a mast, supporting the trestle trees and top.
***
Hulk: 1.A medieval ship with the ends of the planks fitted parallel to the stern and sternposts.
2.A ship that has fallen into disuse or is used in a static role i.e. sheer hulk or prison hulk.
***
Hull: The main body of a ship excluding the masts, rigging and internal fittings.

***
 I
Impress: To compel or force a sailor to serve in a specific naval force.
***
Inboard: The inside of the structural area of a vessel and the opposite of outboard.
***
Interscalm: The minimum distance between rowers or oarsmen when viewing a ship or boat
from the side. The interscalm is sometimes used to estimate the length of ancient galleys and
other rowed vessels.
***
Ironclad: A warship with a wooden hull sheathed in iron for protection against gunfire. Another
culprit causing the demise of wooden sailing ships.

Examples of an ironclad
***
 J
Jack: 1.A sailor 2.A relatively small flag flown at the bow of a ship, usually to indicate
nationality.
***
Jack Staff: A flag pole fixed to the bowsprit cap for flying the jack.
***
Jackyard Topsail: A triangular topsail set above the mainsail in a gaff-rigged vessel.
***
Jacob's Staff: A instrument used to measure altitudes at sea.
***
Jaght: Also jacht. The name for a three-masted lightly-armed speed-built Dutch merchant vessel
of the 17th century. Often used in convoys to, or returning from, the East Indies. Slightly larger
then a fluyt.

Examples of a jaght
***
Jeers: Heavy tackle used for hoisting the lower yards in square-rigged vessels.
***
Jerry Iron: A shipbuilding tool. An iron tool used for extracting old oakum from seams.

***
Jib: A triangular fore-and-aft sail carried on a stay leading from the fore-topmast head to the
bow or bowsprit.

***
Jib-Boom: A continuation of the bowsprit used to stay the foot of the outer jib and the stay of
the topgallant mast. A flying-jib boom is a further extension to which the tack of the flying jib is
attached.
***
Jigger: A piece of rope about five feet long, with a block at one end and a sheave at the other.
Used to pull back (tension) the hind part of a cable, when it is pulled aboard ship by means of a
windlass.
***
Joggle: A notch cut in the edge of a plank to take the butt of the next plank when planking a
wooden vessel.
***
Jolly Boat: All purpose boat onboard a ship.
***
Jumper: A stay leading from the outer end of the jib-boom to the dolphin striker. See also
martingale.
***
Junk: A Chinese sailing vessel with bamboo sail battens and a long overhanging counter;
originally developed during the 5th century.

***
Jury Rig: A temporary rig used to replace a damaged mast or spar.
***
Jute: The fibre obtained from either of two Asian plants (Corchorus capsularis or C. olitorius)
used for cordage and to create oakum.
***
 K
Keckling: Also called kaicling. The process of winding old rope around a cable, with a small
interval between the turns, to save the cable from being fretted and chafed by the hull.
***
Keel: The lowest and most important timber of a wooden ship to which the stem, sternpost and
the ribs are attached.
***
Keel Block: One of many aligned timber blocks, on the floor of the slip on which the keel of a
ship to be built or repaired is laid and rests.
***
Keel-hauling: Punishment for various offences onboard a ship. The offender was plunged
repeatedly under the bottom of the ship on one side and then pulled up on the other side of the
ship, after having passed under the keel. Particularly cruel treatment since the victim would
contact the rough hull repeatedly and mind-numbing cold seawater would often only add to the
misery.
***
Keelson: A timber bolted to the keel to provide additional strength (internal keel).
***
Kedge: A light, small anchor used for warping a vessel.
***
Kentledge: Iron ballast.
***
Ketch: A two-masted sailing vessel with the mizzenmast stepped forward of the rudder head.
They were usually fore-and-aft rigged but could have square sails. Sizewise, they were usually
from 100 to 250 tons burthen. Often used in the role as a bombard vessel.

Examples of a ketch
***
Kevel: A large and sturdy belaying pin for use with heavy cables such as the mooring cable
(mooring kevel). The word kevel stands for the old French word for 'wooden peg'.
***
Killick: A relatively small anchor made of an elongated stone or several stones enclosed in a
wooden frame. Normally a killick has two curved wooden timbers forming a cross as the base on
wich this center stone rests. Pliable wooden rods rise from the base enclosing the center stone(s).
These rods were then tied together just above the center stone(s). Used for anchoring small boats
and fishing nets. Also called killock or kellick. Either from Irish or Scottish origins.

***
King Spoke: Marked top spoke on a ship's wheel when the rudder is centered.
***
KL: Norwegian Commercial last. A measure of burthen. 1 kl = 2,08 register tons.
***
Knarr: A Viking merchant ship. Broader in the beam and more draught than a longship. They
were also more reliant on the use of sails, rather than oars, for propulsion.

***
Knee: Wooden support brace used to strengthen the location where two timbers were joined or
crossing. Rising knees supported the connection of deck beams to the hull or frame from above,
lodging knees strengthened them laterally (sideways).
 ***
Knight Head: One of two large timbers on either side of the stem of the vessel which rise above
the deck and support the heel of the bowsprit between them. In smaller vessels they were called
bitts. In early vessels often decorated with carved human heads, thus the name knight-head. Also
called bollards.
***
Knot: A unit of measure used to express the speed of a ship in nautical miles per hour. One knot
= 1.151 statute miles per hour.

In the Age of Sail, speeds of 4 to 12 knots were typical depending on vessel type, wind speed
and direction. The 14 knot cruising speed of the 1779 frigate USS Constellation being indeed
very fast and earning her the nickname Yankee Race Horse.
***
Knuckle: Any abrupt change in direction or non-tangency in any external structure of a vessel,
forming a 'knuckle-line' i.e. the line formed at the apex of the angle dividing the upper and lower
part of the stern or counter. Was also called a nipple.
***
 L
Lanyard: A line used for extending or securing rigging.
***
Larboard: The old name for the left hand side of a ship. Larboard was officially changed to
'port' in 1844, to avoid confusion with starboard. Larboard refers to the loading side of a ship, as
apposed to steerboard.
***
Lasten: An older Dutch term used to express a ship's carrying capacity. 4000 Amsterdam
pounds or 1976 kilos per ton lasten. As a quick reference or rule of thumb: 1 last is about 2 ton.
***
Lateen: A triangular fore-and-aft sail set from a long spar attached to a short mast and found in
traditional vessels of the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean, and Indian Ocean. Lateen comes
from the word latium, meaning Rome and surrounding area.
***
Lateen-rigged: Rigged with triangular (lateen) fore-and-aft sails.
***
Launch: 1.The process of sending the hull of a newly built vessel from the shipyard into the
water. 2. Originally a large dock-yard boat with a broad transom, used as a ship's boat from the
late 18th century on. They were often lug-rigged and did not have a bowsprit.
***
Launching Ways: Beds of timber blocks sloping toward the water which supported the sliding
ways of the cradle holding the ship. Large timbers called Ground-ways were sunk into the
ground on top of which timber (keel) blocks were laid. At launch time, the launching ways were
greased to facilitate smooth sliding of the hull into the water.
See also our 3D Launching ways model

***
League: Unit of distance equal to 3 statute miles or 4.8 kilometers. Previously a unit of distance
equal to 3 nautical miles.
 ***
Leeboard: Leeboards are lobe-shaped boards lowered from either side of a vessel acting as large
oars to minimize drifting.
***
Leech: The after side of a fore-and-aft sail and the edges of a square sail.
***
Leech Line: A line used for hauling a sail onto a yard. Also called brail.
***
Lee Gauge: If a ship was down-wind of another it was said to have the lee gauge, it's guns
would fire at the enemy rigging; opposite ship had the weather gauge.
***
Leeward: The direction away from the wind; opposite of windward.
***
Lift: A rope in a square-rigged ship, leading from a masthead, crosstrees or cap to either end of a
yard for support.

***
Light: Any opening in a ship's hull, stern or deck structure that is specifically meant to allow
sunlight to enter a ship.
***
Lightship: An anchored ship acting as a floating lighthouse where building a lighthouse was not
possible or impractical. Lightships would display a light at the top of a mast and in case of fog
would sound a fog signal.

Example of a lightship
***
Limber Hole: A hole cut in the timbers on either side of the keelson to allow bilge water to run
freely to the pump well.
***
Limber Rope: A rope threaded through the limber holes, running the length of a ship. To keep
the holes from becoming plugged, the limber rope was being pulled back and forth.
***
Line of Battle: A formation of a fleet before entering battle. Also called: Order of Battle.
Introduced in the mid-17th century, fleets formed opposing lines to engage one another, thus
bringing all their respective broadsides to bear. All the ships were close-hauled when possible
and about 50 fathoms (300 feet) apart.
***
Lines: The designer's drawings of a ship. There were normally three; the sheer plan showing the
longitudinal vertical section, the body plan, showing the vertical cross section and the halfwidth
plan showing the longitudinal transverse section at various depths between the deck line,
waterline and bottom.
***
List: A ship that leans to one side is said to be listing: The heavily overloaded galleon listed
badly to larboard.
***
Lodeman: A navigator who could find the magnetic North with the aid of a primitive early 16th
century compass called a lodestone or waystone (magnetic ore), and thus could 'show the way'.
***
Lodya: Name for Russian river, lake and sea vessels until the 16th century and later.

***
Loggerhead: 1.A post on a whaling ship used to secure the line attached to the harpoon. 2.A
long wooden handle with an iron ball attached to the end, used for caulking and, just like a
belaying pin, a handy and effective weapon for close combat.
***
Lombard: A small cannon used in the 15th and early 16th centuries by the Spanish and
Portuguese.
***
Longship: Generally thought of as a Viking ship. It was a 45–75ft (14–23m) galley with up to
10 oars on each side, a square sail, and a 50–60-man capacity. Double-ended and built shell-first
with overlapping planks (clinker built), it was exceptionally sturdy in rough seas.

***
Longboat: The largest boat carried aboard a larger sea going vessel. Propelled by sail or oars.
***
Loose-footed: A fore-and-aft sail that is set without a boom. Most jibs are loose footed.
 ***
Lowermast: The main mast body rising up from a ship and the first division of a complete mast.
***
Lubber: An inexperienced, unsure or clumsy seaman.
***
Lubber's Hole: The opening in the floor of the tops on the fore, main and mizzen masts of
square-rigged ships to give access to the topmasts from below. Unsure or inexperienced seaman
(lubbers) preferred going through this hole rather that over the futtock shrouds as the more
experienced sailors did.
***
Lubber's Line: A mark or permanent line on a compass indicating the direction forward;
parallel to the keel.
***
Luff: 1.The leading (forward) edge of a fore-and-aft sail. 2.To bring a sailing vessel's bow closer
to the wind, usually to decrease power to the headsails.
***
Lugger: A small ship rigged with one or more lugsails on two or three masts, and usually one,
two or three jibs were set on the bowsprit. Luggers usually outperformed square-rigged vessels
in coastal tideways but required a larger crew then a square-rigged vessel of similar size. Often
used by smugglers and privateers around the English Channel in the 18th century.

***
Lugsail: A square sail, which has the foot larger than the head and that is bent to a yard hanging
slanted (obliquely, not at right angles) to the mast.

***
 M
Magazine: A ship's gunpowder storage room, usually located deep in the fore, or after-part of a
ship's hold. As for obvious reasons, no lamps or candles were permitted. To still see what one
was doing, often there was a 'light-room' adjacent to it, with the specific purpose of illuminating
the magazine. The magazine was often lined with either lead or copper to prevent sparking and
keep rats from gnawing their way in.
***
Mainmast: The main and normally tallest mast on a sailing vessel. On a two-masted vessel it is
always the tallest mast.
***
Mainsail: The principal and largest sail of a sailing vessel. In square-rigged ships it is the lowest
sail on the mainmast.

***
Manger: A small space or compartment in the bows of a ship to prevent water coming in
through the hawseholes from running along the deck or into the ship. Located directly aft of the
hawseholes, a manger was enclosed by a coaming while scuppers drained the water from the
manger back to the sea.
***
Manila: Fibres obtained from the stalks of a Philippine banana tree called Abaca, used to create
rope.
***
Man O'War: A term applied to a ship specifically built for the purpose of war. Instances of the
term 'man-of-war' to indicate a warship are found as early as 1484. Man O War.

Examples of a Man O'War

***
Martingale: A stay running from the end of the jib-boom to the dolphin striker, which holds the
jib-boom down against the pull of the fore topgallant mast stay.
***
Mast: A large vertical spar set in a vessel used to attach further yards and spars to carry sails. A
mast is taken through a hole in the deck(s) and fitted into a step in the keelson. A mast made
from a single tree trunk was called a pole mast. When there were no suitable tall trees available,
masts were constructed of several pieces of timber, scarfed, glued and banded together. Until the
19th century ships carried one, two, three or a maximum of four masts: a foremast at the front; a
mainmast in the center; and a mizzenmast nearest the stern. A tall mast could consist of a
lowermast, a topmast and a topgallant mast. Masts and yards were made of softwoods such as fir,
spruce and pine.

Mast making and lifting tools from the Age of Sail.

Mast and yard dimensions for a 19th century ship of 600 tons.
Mast and yard dimensions for a 19th century bark of 623 tons.
Mast and yard dimensions for a 19th century ship of 500 tons.

***
Mast Cheek: One of a pair of support brackets directly below the trestle trees at the masthead,
normally made from oak.

***
Master: The captain of a merchantman or warship.
***
Master-at-Arms: A non-commissioned officer responsible for maintaining discipline and order
on a naval ship.
***
Master Builder: The head workman in a shipyard. In many shipyards, he was the designer of
the ship as well. See also shipwright.
***
Master Frame: The main frames set up at intervals to give form to the hull; between them are
the filling frames.
***
Masthead: The top of a mast.
***
Masthead Knot: A knot around a jury-rigged masthead intended to provide for attachment
points for stays.
***
Matelot: A sailor on a merchantman. Meaning the person sharing a bunk or hammock with, as
was usual with the different watches.
***
Merchantman: Any vessel used for trade. The combined term of 'merchant' and 'man' occurs as
early as 1473.
***
Midshipman: Naval cadet, appointed by the captain of a sailing warship, to second the orders of
the superior officers, and assist with whatever needs to be done, either onboard the ship or
ashore.
***
Minion: A type of cannon, usually a 4 to 5 pounder.
***
Mizzenmast: The name of the third and aftermost mast of a square-rigged ship or a three-masted
schooner. Also the aftermost mast in a two-masted vessel such as a ketch or a yawl.
***
Monkey: A small 16th century coastal merchantman. It carried a square sail on a single mast.
***
Moonraker: A small light sail set above the skysail of a square-rigged ship.
***
Moor: To secure and hold a ship or boat in a specific location by means of lines, cables and/or
anchors.
***
Mortar: A piece of high trajectory artillery, shorter and wider than a cannon. Used to bombard a
target from above, a mortar was the main armament on a bomb vessel.

***
Mortise: A square hole in the sides of a plank, made to receive a tenon and so to form a mortise-
and-tenon joint.
***
Moulding: A term describing the depth of any member of a ships construction such as frames,
keelson, beams, sternpost, etc.
***
Mould-Loft: A large building where the full-size lines of a ship could be laid-out.
***
Mould: A thin length of wood or template used to form the patterns from which the timbers of
the frames are shaped. A convex timber mould would be called a bend-mould and a concave
mould a hollow-mould (timbers adjacent to the keel or at stern and bow).
***
Murderer: A small anti-personnel cannon, it's name indicative of the effect it had. Also called
murdering piece.
***
Mutiny: Rebellion against a ship's constituted authority.
***
 N
Nao: A classic medium-sized Spanish vessel of the age of exploration, having a fully developed
three-masted rig and often a small topsail on the mainmast.

Examples of a nao
***
Nautical Mile: A unit of measurement used in navigation that is equal to a minute of arc (one-
sixtieth of a degree) of a great (full) circle on a sphere. One international nautical mile is
equivalent to 1852 meters or 1.151 statute miles.
***
Nave Line: Small tackle used to keep the parrel directly opposite to the yard, particularly while
raising or lowering, (as it would otherwise hang under the yard), and prevent it from being
sufficiently braced.
***
Nef: 1.Also called a roundship, a single-masted clinker-built ship used in Europe during the
middle-ages until the 14th century, for example as transportation for the crusades. Descendant of
the Viking longship a Nef still had a side-rudder and was used in Northern regions a century or
two longer with a sternpost-rudder. 2.A French word for ship. 3.Drinking vessel in the shape of a
ship.

***
Nest: 1.Two or more boats stowed one within the other 2.Two or more ships moored alongside
each other.
***
New Measurement: NM; came into effect on 1 January 1836 when the method of recording the
measurements of tonnage and other dimensions of British merchant ships was changed, giving
way to the term "New Measurement". In NM terms overall length, beam and depth of ships were
all measured from the inner edges of the hull i.e. inner edge to inner edge from stem to stern for
length, inner edge to inner edge at the widest part of the ship for beam, and an overall depth from
the top of the gunwales to base of the hold. Dimensions in New Measurement terms are given in
decimals of a foot.
***
Nog: A wooden treenail or pin used in shipbuilding.
***
 O
Oak: Wood from deciduous trees of the genus Quercus and the most important shipbuilding
timber for strength and durability. Oak trees were often grown for a particular function, for
example they were grown in bizarre bends to provide the ideal grain and shape for knees and
crutches.
***
Oakum: Tarred hemp, flax or jute fibres used for caulking the seams on the decks and sides of
wooden ships. Often produced by picking apart old ropes.
***
Oar: A wooden lever used to steer or propel (sculling or rowing) a boat through the water. A
rowing or sculling oar generally consists of three parts; a broad blade that makes contact with the
water; the shaft, the main length of the oar; and the loom or handle.
***
Octant: A similar navigational device to a sextant with the difference being a shorter scale, only
1/8 of a circle or 45°. It was used until 1767 when it was quickly replaced by the sextant because
of the first edition of the Nautical Almanac. This almanac tabulated lunar distances, enabling
navigators to determine the current time from the measured angle between the sun and the moon.
This angle is sometimes larger than 90° and then can not be measured with an octant, making it
obsolete.
***
Offward: In the direction away from the shore.
***
Oker: Red chalk used by shipwrights to mark timber.
***
Old Man: Seaman's term for the captain of a ship.
***
Old Measurement: OM; applies to the measurements of ships built, registered or surveyed prior
to 1 January 1836, and in particular to merchant ships of the British Empire. In OM terms a ship
was measured for overall length, from fore side of the stem to aftside of the sternpost, and for the
beam - outer edge to outer edge across the widest part of the ship. The depth was an inside
measurement of the depth of the hold for a single decked vessel, and the total of the space
between decks for a multi decked vessel. In Old Measurement, the dimensions are given in feet
and inches. Also called BM or Builders Measurement.
***
Orlop: The lowest deck of a ship laid directly over the bilge.
***
Outrigger: In larger sailing vessels an outrigger is an extension to each side of the crosstrees to
spread the backstays. In smaller East Indies sailing vessels such as the Caracore it is a thin, long
extra hull parallel to the main hull.
***
Overboard: Generally a very, very bad thing. Closely related to drowning.
***
Overlaunch: When the end of a plank overlaps the end of another.
***
 P
Packet Ship: The generic name given to a vessel that sailed in regular service between two
ports.

Examples of a Packet Ship

***
Parish-Rigged: A vessel that because of the neglect of the ship's owner or master had worn or
bad gear aloft.
***
Parrel: An arrangement of rollers and flat pieces of wood held together with rope, used to hold a
yard against a mast while allowing it be raised and lowered. Sometimes all yards or some of the
lighter, upper yards were held to the mast with ropes called parrel lashings.
***
Partners: A wooden framework used to strengthen a ship's deck at the point where a mast or
capstan shaft passes through it.
***
Pattamar: A one to three-masted lateen-rigged dhow-like vessel used off the west coast of
India.
***
Pavesses: Large wooden shields fixed permanently to the sides and bulwarks of a ship, often
seen in galleons and carracks.
***
Pawl: A hinged or pivoted catch designed to fit into a notch of a ratchet wheel, to move it
forward in one direction while preventing it from slipping back.
***
Pay: To pour hot pitch over a freshly caulked hull or deck to waterproof the oakum.
***
Peak: The upper, aft corner of a four-sided, gaff-rigged, fore-and-aft sail.
***
Penteconter: An ancient Greek galley with 50 oars, 25 each side set in a single bank.
***
Pied: Old French (Paris) measurement equivalent to the English foot. 1 pied equals 0.3248 meter
or 1.066 ft. The old French equivalent to the English inch was a pouce, and since 1 pied equals
12 pouces; 1 pouce would be 1.066 inch or 0.02707 meter. Apparently French feet used to be
slightly larger than English feet.
***
Pillow: A block of timber fixed to the deck of a sailing vessel just inside the bow on which the
inboard end of the bowsprit rests.
***
Pink: A three-masted sailing vessel with a sharply narrowed and rounded stern, and an
overhanging square counter, used during the 18th century. The term pink-sterned applied to ships
having similar narrowed and rounded sterns. Somewhat similar to a Fluyt.

Examples of a pink
***
Pinnace: 1.A variety of relatively small sailing vessels having generally two fore-and-aft rigged
masts. 2.A 17th century ship's boat, usually rowed with eight oars.

Examples of a pinnace
***
Pintle: A pin or bolt forming the pivot of one of the hinges on which a rudder turns. Also called
a rudder-iron. See also: gudgeon.
***
Pirate: A sea-robber, or an armed ship that roams the seas without any legal commission, and
seizes or plunders any vessel she meets indiscriminately, whether friend or foe. Some other
names for a pirate were buccaneer, freebooter, ladrone and skimmer.

Examples of a pirate
Examples of a pirate ship
***
Pissdale: A ship's urinal from the 18th century. It was essentially a tapered lead tube leading to
the sea, often located near the officer's quarters.
***
Pitch: A mixture of boiled tar and coarse resin. Also a term for a ship's rotational motion, the
rise and fall of the bow and stern.

***
Pitch Ladle: An iron ladle used to pour boiling tar into deck seams to seal and make them
watertight.
 ***
Plank: A long piece of timber used in the construction of the hull and for decking. Planks were
from 1" (2.5cm) to 4" (10cm) thick and of varying lengths.
***
Plimsoll Line: A mark painted on the sides of (initially British) merchant ships indicating the
draught levels to which the ship may be loaded under varying conditions. It was made
compulsory in 1876 after too many ships were lost due to being overloaded. Named after Samuel
Plimsoll, who was instrumental in the creation of the British Merchant Shipping Act one year
earlier.

***
Polacre: A three-masted Mediterranean vessel, usually square-rigged on the mainmast, and
lateen-rigged on the foremast and mizzenmast. Some of them however carried square sails on all
three masts. They carried one piece masts, neither topmast nor topgallant mast were present.
***
Polyreme: A variety of large Phoenician, Greek or Roman war galleys. In these large
'Polyremes', there were only two levels of oars, each being rowed by half the men indicated by
the number. For instance, in an octoreme (8), there were 2 banks of oars, each rowed by 4 men,
on each side of the ship. In a 'decareme' (10), each oar was manned by 5.
***
Poop: The short, aftermost deck raised above the quarter-deck of a ship. Received its name from
the old Roman custom of carrying pupi (small images of their gods) at the stern of their ships for
luck.
***
Port: The left hand side of a ship, looking from aft forward. Formerly called larboard.
***
Port-Piece: Generally a term for a smaller or short range ships cannon firing 8 to 12 pound shot.
Sometimes all the ships guns were referred to as port-pieces.
***
Ports: Openings in the side of a ship's hull. They can be for various purpose, i.e. gun ports,
timber ports or lights. When not in use they were closed by hinging doors, called port-lids.
***
Pot Boat: An ancient boat made from clay or similar material for use in inland waterways.
***
Pram: A clinker-built small boat. Also called praam. It had a transom at both ends, the bow
transom was usually smaller then the stern transom.
***
Preventer: A rope backing-up another line or rope that is under extra strain, to 'prevent' the latter
from breaking or giving way.
***
Privateer: A person or private vessel intent on raiding enemy shipping in wartime for the
purpose of making a profit from the sale of captured ships, including whatever cargo would be
onboard. A privateer could be described as a commissioned pirate. Dangerous business all-
around, often a privateer would mistake a 'friendly' ship for fair game with the consequence of
rapidly being 'promoted' from privateer to pirate.

Examples of privateers
***
Prize Money: The proceeds from the sale of an enemy ship, often shared between officers and
the rest of the crew.
***
Prize Rules: English legislation governing the distribution of prize money. Prow: Alternate
term for bow; the fore end of a vessel.
***
Pump: Bilge pump. A mechanism for emptying the bilge of water. Since all wooden ships
would leak to some degree, pumps were always in demand. Spray and waves would only add to
how much water a ship took on.
***
Punt: A small square ended rowboat.
***
Purchase: Any mechanical device, often consisting of spars and tackle, to increase the
mechanical advantage (lifting power) when hoisting heavy objects such as spars or sails.
***
 Q
Qarib: A small two-masted lateen-rigged vessel, common in Egypt around the 11th century,
sailing down the Nile from Cairo and as far west as Tunisia and Sicily.
***
Quail: Coil. When a cable or rope was neatly coiled and stacked, one fack over another, it was
called a quail of ropes.
***
Quarter: 1. The after parts of the ship on each side of the centerline. 2. Work-shift on board a
sailing vessel, continual 24/7 rotation of a 4 hour work-shift followed by a 4 hour rest period in a
normal two quarters setup. Also called 'Quarter Watch' on a Man O'War.
***
Quarter Badge: Window or outcrop at the quarters of a sailing ship, a remnant of the earlier
quarter gallery, often highly decorated with marine figures or other emblems.

***
Quarter Boat: A boat hung from or located on a ship's quarter.
***
Quarter Block: A block attached to a yard through which the clew lines and sheets are reeved.
***
Quarter-deck: The part of the upper deck of a ship abaft the mainmast, also often included a
poop deck. The quarter-deck was that part of the ship from which command was executed and
thus it was often reserved for officers in naval vessels. Cannon were often also stationed on this
deck.
***
Quarter Gallery: An open or closed platform at the quarters of a sailing ship, sometimes
separate from the stern gallery and sometimes fully joined so one could "walk around the stern".
***
Quarter Netting: Nettings along the quarter rails.
***
Quartermaster: An inferior officer appointed by the master of a sailing warship to assist the
mates in their respective duties; such as stowing the ballast and provisions in the hold, coiling the
cables on their platforms, overlooking the steerage of the ship, and keeping time by the watch-
glasses.
***
Quinquereme: A Mediterranean war galley having three banks of oars, the oars on the top two
levels being pulled by two men each, the lower level oar being pulled by a single man. The
quinquereme (5 rowers) was developed from the earlier trireme, rowed by three levels (or banks)
of oars, each rowed by a single man. It was used by the Greeks of the Hellenistic period and later
by the Carthaginians and Romans, from the 4th century BC to about the 1st century AD.
***
Quintal: A weight measure of 100-120 lbs.
***
Quoin: A wooden wedge, used to raise or lower a cannon's breech to the proper level for
targeting.

***
 R
Rabbet: A notch in a piece of timber made to receive the ends or sides of planks which are to be
secured to it. For example a keel was rabbeted to receive the sides of the garboard strake and a
breast hook was rabbeted to receive the ends of deck planking.
***
Rabonet: A small anti-personnel cannon, usually around a 1/3 pounder.
***
Racing Knife A shipwright's tool to mark or race the shape to be cut, often to mark or score the
shape of a mould onto a piece of timber.
***
Rake: Deviation off the perpendicular. For instance the angle the ship's masts make in relation to
the deck: the angle measured between the centerline of a mast and a line normal to the deck,
passing through the intersection of that centerline and the deck section.

***
Ram: A long sharp or blunt projection from the bow of a warship for the purpose of demolishing
an enemy warship's hull. Often present in ancient Greek and Roman war galleys.
***
Rammer: A wooden rod to push the charge (gunpowder) and shot down into the breech of a
cannon. A side arm.
***
Rate: In 1653 the British Admiralty's Fighting Instructions classified the size and capabilities
(guns mounted) of a sailing warship into 6 distinct rates. A first rate being the largest and most
capable, a sixth rate being the least. The number of guns carried by a ship of a certain rate
changed from time to time. Only the first four rates were considered fit for duty as 'ships of the
line', all though fifth and sixth rates did join the battle from time to time.
***
Ratline: One of a series of rope steps affixed horizontally between the shrouds of a mast. They
form a rope-ladder for the crew to climb the masts and reach the yards and tops when working
aloft.
 ***
Reef: To take in or lessen the area of a sail without furling it. Depending on the location and size
of the sail (and time-period), sails would have the option to be single reefed, double reefed,
treble reefed or close reefed, the last indicating that all the reefs had been taken in and the
minimum surface area was exposed. Between 0 and 4 reef bands were common, often 2 were
present.
***
Reef Band: A strip of extra canvas attached across a sail to strengthen it where the reef points
are located.
 ***
Reef Points: Short tapered lengths of rope located across and reeved though the sail which can
be tied together or hauled onto a yard to keep part of the sail out of use in strong winds. These
reef points were reinforced with reef bands to prevent the sail from tearing.
***
Reef Tackle: A tackle for hauling up the reef bands onto a yard and thus lessening the effective
sail area in strong winds.
***
Reeving: To pass a rope or line through something else. For instance: To pass a line through a
hole in a sail or through a block. Rove or Reeved.
***
Reeming Iron: A shipbuilding tool. An iron wedge used to open up seams before caulking.

***
Retour Ship: Generic name for a collection of different but relatively heavily armed, and well-
manned merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie,
or VOC). They were specifically designed for the long roundtrip (retour) voyage from the
Netherlands to the East Indies.

Examples of a retour ship

***
Ribband: A length of wood (and later metal) running across the hull frames (ribs), for the
purpose of keeping the frames in position while the outer hull planking was being applied.
 ***
Riders: Substantial timbers used to strengthen the internal structure of a wood-framed hull.
***
Rig: The characteristics of a sailing vessel's masts and type and number of sails by which the
type is determined i.e. square-rigged or fore-and-aft rigged.
***
Rigger: A shipyards worker who fits or dismantles the standing and running rigging of ships.
***
Rigging: All the ropes, wires or chains used to support the masts and yards and for hoisting,
lowering or trimming sails. Rigging used to support the masts, yards and bowsprit is called the
standing rigging. The ropes controlling the sails form the running rigging.

***
Rigol: A gutter fitted over a port or scuttle to prevent the rain from running into the ship when
the port is open.
***
Rising Floor: The floors fore and aft of the flat (midship) floors, having an increasing (steeper)
angle towards the stem and stern.
***
Ro: A traditional Japanese sculling oar, similar to the Chinese yuloh.
***
Roads: A save and sheltered anchorage, also called 'roadstead'.
***
Rope: Any flexible heavy cord over one inch in diameter. The tightly intertwined fibres used in
ropes on sailing vessels were hemp, manila, sisal and coir.
***
Roundship: A medieval merchant sailing ship with a rounded stern and bow, as opposed to a
sharp double-ended longship. A roundship often had a two-masted rig with a small foresail. Also
called a nef.
Examples of a roundship

***
Roundshot: A solid stone or (later) iron ball to be fired from a cannon.
***
Rowlock: A U-shaped or O-shaped hole cut in the gunwale of a ship's boat where an oar is
located, or any of a number of devices providing a pivot point for an oar while rowing. Often it
consisted of a swiveling, U-shaped or O-shaped holder located just above the gunwale. Also
called oarlock.

Images courtesy of Leen van den Berg

 ***
Royal: The sail next above the top-gallant sail. Normally it is the fourth sail in ascending order
from the deck.

***
Rubbing Strake: A line of thick and heavy (protruding) horizontal planking running the length
of a ships hull acting as a bumper.
***
Rudder: Also formerly spelled 'rother'. The means of giving direction to a ship under way.
Around the mid-14th century changed from an oar rudder, hung from the side of a ship, to a
fixed stern rudder. The latter being a flat paddle, hung and hinging from the sternpost. See
gudgeon and pintle. This pivoting lateral movement was transmitted to the rudder by a wheel,
tiller and/or rope and pulley system, depending on the ship's size and time period.
***
Running before the wind: Sailing downwind.
***
Running Rigging: The name given to the all the lines, ropes and chains controlling sails, yards
and masts, all the rigging except the shrouds and stays:

Bull ropes for hoisting top- or topgallant-masts.

Halyards, tyes and jeers for hoisting sails and yards.
Trusses and parrels for securing and holding the yards to the mast.
Lifts and braces for positioning, topping and supporting the yards.
Sheets, tacks, reef tackles, bow-, bunt-, clew- and leech lines for manipulating and controlling
the sails.
***
 S
Saddle: A long block of wood, or semi-circular pieces of wood, fixed to a mast, bowsprit, or a
yard.
***
Sail: A piece of cloth or canvas, or a combination of pieces, cut and sewn together to the desired
shape and size and attached to the spars and rigging of a vessel. A sail has the single purpose of
catching the wind and propelling the vessel. Sails were often repaired at sea, or at anchor in a
secluded bay a thousand miles from home, and thus could be quite a patchwork of different
pieces of material. Something the head-seamstress at the Royal Dockyards would have surely
disapproved of.

Fore-and-aft Sails
Lateen Sails
Square Sails

Flying Jib
Headsail
Jib
Lugsail
Mainsail
Moonraker
Royal Sail
Skysail
Spanker
Spritsail
Staysail
Studding Sail
Topsail
Topgallant Sail
Trysail

Sail (sailcloth) making in the Age of Sail.

***
Sail Burton: A block and tackle that extended from the head of a topmast to the deck in a
square-rigged vessel, used for hoisting the sails aloft when they were bent to the yards.
***
Saker: A relatively small ships cannon, usually a 4 to 9 pounder.
***
Sarve: The process of winding something around a rope to protect it against being fretted and
chafed.
***
Scantling: The dimension of a timber after it has been reduced to its standard size.
***
Scarph: Also Scarf. An overlapping joint used to connect two timbers or planks. Includes
hooked and keyed (image below) scarphs. The stem and sternposts of wooden ships were
scarphed to the keel.

***
Schooner: A vessel rigged with fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts. A topsail schooner sets
one or two square sails on the foremast as well. Many further sub-divisions can be made such as
Tern Schooners, Scow Schooners, Coastal Schooners and Grand Banks Schooners such as the
Bluenose.

Examples of a schooner
***
Scow: A variety of flat-bottomed vessels used for carrying cargo, often having a sloping square
bow and stern. Similar to a barge, simple hull construction and maximum cargo capacity.
***
Scow Schooner: A flat-bottomed square-ended schooner-rigged vessel used mainly in the latter
half of the 19th century on the Great Lakes and North-American coastal routes. Scow schooners
often used centerboards or leeboards and the name scow refers to the shape of the hull. Scow
schooners carried the bulk of cargo in North-America during the 19th century.

Examples of a scow schooner

***
Scrive Board: A platform of boards to draw or scrive full-scale lines and moulds, showing the
length and shape of all frames and beams.
***
Scud: When a sailing ship runs before a gale (downwind) with little or no sail set. Also called
spoom.
***
Sculling Oar: A large oar used for propelling a boat by moving it from side to side, called
sculling; also used as a rudder.
***
Scupper: A drainage opening.
***
Scuttle: A small hatch or port opening.
***
Scuttlebutt: A ships drinking water barrel.
***
Seasoning: Reducing the moisture content in timbers. The preferred shipbuilding timber for
European and American ships was fully seasoned oak. To reduced moisture content below 20 per
cent, years of controlled storage of these timbers was required. This was not always possible,
especially during wartime when shipbuilding timbers were routinely in short supply since ships
would be lost faster then they could be built.
***
Second Rate: Sailing 'ship of the line' warship with 84-98 guns on three or two gun decks
(1779).

Examples of a second rate

***
Section: Drawings made during the design stage of a ship showing the positions of the frames
and their exact curvature.
***
Seizing: To bind a rope to another, or to a spar, with turns of a smaller, thinner line.

***
Serpentine: A small anti-personnel cannon, usually a 1/2 pounder.
***
Sextant: A navigational instrument used to measure the angle of elevation of a celestial object
above the horizon. The angle, and the time when it was measured, are used to calculate a position
line on a nautical chart. A common use of the sextant is to sight the sun at noon to find the
vessel's latitude. The scale of a sextant has a length of 1/6 of a full circle or 60°, hence the
sextant's name.

***
Shackle: 1.A greatly varying unit of length, most often used for measuring the length of anchor
chains. Shackels were used to join lengths of anchor chain and thus could be counted when the
anchor was dropped or raised. These lengths could be anywhere from 75 to 100 feet. The
standard length of a shackle is 15 fathoms or 90 feet, but different deviating lengths were used
through varying time-periods. Also called shot. 2.A u-shaped piece of metal, closed with a pin
across the end, used for connecting and securing parts of the rigging including the
aforementioned anchor chains.
 ***
Shallop: 1.A two-masted ship usually carrying lugsails. 2.A 17th century ship's boat, used as a
tender. Shallops had no keel but used leeboards instead. A shallop could be propelled by oars or
sails.
***
Shanghai: To take someone against their will for compulsory service on board a ship; "The men
were shanghaied after being drugged".
***
Sheathing: To protect the hull of a wooden ship against wood boring ship worms, the
underwater part of the hull was often covered with board, tar and hair and later thin copper
plates.
***
Sheepshank: A knot for shortening a line. Should remain under tension to be secure.

***
Sheer: 1.The upward curve of the deck of a ship toward the bow and stern with the lowest point
at or near the waist when viewed from the side.

2.The position of a ship riding at single anchor holding her clear of the anchor.
***
Sheer Draught: A projection of the lines of a vessel on a vertical longitudinal plane passing
through the middle line of the vessel(centerline-section). Also called Elevation or Sheer Plan.

***
Sheer Hulk: A cut-down, old ship fitted with a pair of sheers, used to hoist masts up to another
ship that was being built or repaired.

Example of a sheer hulk and other mastbuilding tools.

***
Sheer Pole: A horizontal rod, parallel to the ratlines, attached to the base of the shrouds just
above the deadeyes to keep the shrouds from twisting while they were being set up and
tensioned.
***
Sheer Strake: The top strake of the hull, usually following the sheer of the upper deck. Located
just below the gunwale.
***
Sheer Width: The distance between the centerline and the sheer-line (or sheer strake) (1/2 deck
width) of a vessel at a specific location.

***
Sheet: A line used for trimming a sail to the wind and hold down the clew.
***
Shell-first Construction: A method of construction in which the hull is formed without a frame.
Strakes either overlap, fastened to one another by clenched nails (clinker or lapstrake
construction), or they form a smooth skin, fastened edge to edge by a complex system of
mortise-and-tenon joints.
***
Ship: In the 18-19th centuries a ship was defined as a first rank sailing vessel having a bowsprit
and three or more square-rigged masts (ship-rigged), each composed of a lowermast, a topmast,
and often a topgallant mast.

Examples of a full-rigged ship.

Many earlier and other definitions of ship exist, just think of a single-masted Viking ship for
example.
 ***
Ship of the Line: A sailing warship built to fight in the line of battle. The 'line of battle' meant
that each ship would form in a line thus allowing each ship to fire full broadside salvos at the
opponent. Ships of the line were usually all of fourth rate or above, most were third-rate ships of
74 guns.

Examples of a ship of the line

***
Ship-rigged: Rigged with three or more masts carrying all square sails. Also called full-rigged.
***
Shipside: The area of a wharf or dock that is next to a ship.
***
Ship´s Boy: A young servant on board a ship.
***
Ship types: A variety of ship and boat types from the Age of Sail are located at their appropriate
alphabetic letters all through this database. They are also conveniently grouped together on our
Listing of Historical Sailing Ship types and nomenclature page.
***
Shipyard: An area where ships are built and repaired. Also called a dockyard when bordering a
body of water.

***
Shipworm: Troublesome wormlike marine mollusks such as the Teredo (shown below) and the
large Bankia, which bore into the submerged timbers of a wooden ship and are capable of doing
extensive damage to the hull.
 ***
Shipwright: A carpenter who builds and launches wooden vessels. A shipwright would often
also be the designer of the ship.
***
Shoe: Protective planking along the bottom of a keel. Shoeing.
***
Shroud: The standing rigging of a sailing ship that gives lateral and aft support to the masts.
 ***
Side Arms: The collection of tools such as a rammer, sponge and worm that were used for
cleaning and servicing a ships cannon.
***
Siding: The width of deck beams, the crosswise members of the ship's frames.
***
Sisal: Fibres from a Central American plant, Agave sisalana, which sword-shaped leaves yield
stiff fibres used for cordage and rope.
***
Sixth Rate: Sailing warship with 20-30 guns (1779).

Examples of a sixth rate

***
Skeg: A timber connecting the keel and sternpost of a ship.
***
Skiff: A small flat-bottomed ship's boat, having a sharp pointed bow and a square stern. Could
be propelled by oars or sail.
***
Skylight: A window set at an angle to the deck of a ship to give light and ventilation to the cabin
below.
***
Skysail: The sail next above the royals in a square-rigged vessel. Normally it is the fifth sail in
ascending order from the deck.

***
Skyscraper: A small triangular sail set above the skysail in fair weather.
***
Sleepers: Heavy, thick planks laying in the bottom of a vessel's hold.
***
Sling: The middle part of a yard, including the ropes or chains by which the yard is attached to
the mast.
***
Slipway: A sloping surface in front of a shipyard, leading down to the water, on which ships are
built or repaired. It was fitted with keel blocks and launching ways.
***
Sloop: A single-masted fore-and-aft rigged vessel setting a mainsail and generally a single jib, or
headsail (sometimes double - double-headsail sloop). Sloop and cutter are almost
indistinguishable today, generally a sloop has her mast located more forward than a cutter.

Examples of a sloop
***
Sloop-of-war: A name given to the smallest three-masted sailing warships, having 8 to 20
cannon on only one deck. They were either fully rigged as ships (three-masted ship-sloop) or as
snows. Also sometimes called 'corvette' (0riginally a French term) but brigs (two-masted brig-
sloop) and cutters were also sometimes classified as sloops-of-war.

Examples of a sloop-of-war
***
Smack: A small two-masted coastal fishing or merchant vessel, fore-and-aft rigged and very
similar to a ketch.

***
Snow: A large two-masted sailing vessel, similar to a Brig.

"A Brig bends her boom-sail (or trysail) to the mainmast, while a Snow bends it to a trysail mast
( a small third mast stepped immediately aft of the mainmast): in other respects these two vessels
are alike." (Young's Nautical Dictionary 1846.)

Examples of a snow
***
Sny: The upward curve in a piece of timber or the sheer of a ship.
***
SOIC: Swedish East India Company or Svenska Ostindiska Companiet was formed in 1731 in
Gothenburg. The Swedish East India Company traded commodities such as tea, porcelain and
silk from China, very similar to other European East India Companies.

***
Spale: Temporary cross beam to support and hold the frames of a wooden ship in the proper
position while the hull is under construction.
***
Spanker: A fore-and-aft gaff-rigged sail set on the aftermost lowermast of a sailing vessel.

***
Spar: Any wooden (and later metal) pole used in supporting the rigging and sails of a ship, such
as a boom, gaff, yard, or bowsprit. Fir, spruce and white pine were often used for spars. A mast
is also considered to be a spar.
 ***
Spiegelschip: Dutch name for a large trading vessel with three or four masts as well as a
distinctive flat stern, extensively used by the VOC.
***
Splice the Main Brace: Breaking out extra rations of rum, something rare, like really splicing
the main brace.

***
Spoke: In a ship's wheel the extension beyond the rim that acts as a handle by which the wheel is
turned.
***
Sponge: A damp (sheepskin) sponge attached to the end of a wooden rod or to the end of a rope
for the purpose of extinguishing any smoldering residue and embers still in the cannon after it
was fired. Meant to prevent a new charge from prematurely igniting. A side arm.
***
Spoondrift: Wind swept spray from the water surface. Also called spindrift.
***
Spreader: A metal bar fitted to the foremast of a square-rigged ship to give more spread to the
tacks of the fore sails.
***
Sprig: A relatively small threaded eye-bolt.
***
Sprit: A long spar stretching diagonally across a four-sided fore-and-aft sail to support the peak.
 ***
Spritsail: 1.A square sail extended by a spar running diagonally to the sail's peak. 2.A fore-and-
aft sail extended by a sprit.

***
Square Frame: One of the frames erected perpendicular to the keel in the midbody of the hull.
***
Square Sail: A quadrilateral (four-sided) sail set from a yard. Although a square-rigged vessel
can carry more sail then a fore-and-aft rigged vessel of comparable size, it is more dependent on
favourable (following) winds.
***
Square-rigged: Fitted with square sails as the principal sails.

***
Stanchion: Upright support set along the edge of the upper deck to carry a guard rail.
***
Standing Rigging: The ropes and chains used to support the masts, yards and bowsprit, called
the shrouds and stays
***
Star Shot: A small iron ring holding a dozen or so pivoting weighted bars which when fired
from a cannon spread out like a "star" to do damage to a ship's rigging and crew.
***
Starboard: The right hand side of a vessel when facing forward. From earlier steerboard, the
side the oar rudder was hung from.
***
Stay: A part of the standing rigging of a sailing vessel that supports a mast in the fore-and-aft
line. Forestays support from forward and backstays support from aft. Backstays also give lateral
support to the masts since there is a pair of each backstay, one to each side of the ship, aft of the
mast.
 ***
Staysail: A triangular fore-and-aft sail which is set by attaching it to a stay, such a sail takes it
name from the stay on which it is set.
***
Steeve: The angle of the bowsprit in relation to the horizontal.
***
Stem: The foremost timber forming the bow of a vessel.
***
Stemson: A large wooden knee attaching between the inside of the apron and upper side of the
keelson for structural support.
***
Step: A framework of timber or metal fixed to the keel of a vessel to take the heel of a mast.
***
Stern: The rear part of a ship or boat. Often referring to the rear part above the sternpost, from
the counter to the taffrail. Where the galleries, lanterns and tafferel were located.

***
Stern Chaser: Cannon located in the stern of a sailing warship for the purpose of firing at a
pursuing enemy ship and hopefully slowing it down by damaging its rigging.
***
Sternpost: The aftermost timber in a ship's hull, forming the stern of the ship down to the keel.
 ***
Stern Lantern: A lantern, often resembling a street-lamp mounted above the tafferel or above
the quarter-galleries.

Since about 1450, sailing ships would often carry one to three (and sometimes more) lanterns at
the stern.
***
Stores: The provisions and supplies, such as food, water, arms, sailcloth and rope on board a
ship during a sea-voyage.
***
Strake: Each line of horizontal planking running the length of a ships hull. In small boats this
might be a single plank, in larger vessels a strake could consist of a number of planks.
***
Stretcher: A staff or wooden bar fixed athwart the bottom of a boat, for a sailor's feet to push off
against, while rowing.
***
Studding Sail: An extra sail set on an extension of a yardarm. These extensions were called
studding-sail booms or booms Also referred to, and contracted as stunsail or stunsails.
 ***
Sway: The operation of hoisting the topmasts and yards of a square-rigged ship.
***
Sweep: A long oar used to propel a ship or boat.
***
 T
Tack: Also called takke in Old English. 1. The lower, forward corner of a fore-and-aft sail. In
square-rigged ships, it is the rope used to hold in the lower corners of the courses and staysails
on the weather side. 2. To change the course of a vessel by shifting the position of the helm and
sails, as in: tacking the ship to larboard. 3. A line used to pull the lower corner of a studding sail
to its boom.
***
Tackle: Any combination of two or more blocks and ropes used to gain a mechanical advantage.
***
Tafferel: Upper part of a ship's stern, often a curved piece of wood, richly decorated with
sculptures and paintings. Later also called taffrail when referring more to a railing around the
stern.
***
Taffrail: The railing around the stern of a ship. Also tafferel.
***
Tarides: Small sail and/or oar powered transport vessel used from the dark ages to about the late
12th century. Early medieval equivalent of a landing craft, they had doors used as ramps for
loading and unloading men and their horses. Possibly derived from earlier Roman horse
transports.
***
Tarpaulin: Waterproofed and treated canvas used for covering hatches, boats and other gear on
board a ship.
***
Tartan: A small and nimble single- or two-masted lateen-rigged sailing vessel originating in the
Middle East and the north coast of Africa. Like the xebec, it is often associated with the Barbary
corsairs.
 ***
Tender: A vessel attending to another vessel, in particular one that ferries supplies and
personnel between ship and shore.
***
Tenon: A projection at the sides of a plank that is shaped to fit into a mortise and form a
mortise-and-tenon joint.
***
Tern Schooner: North American term for a three-masted Schooner of 200 to 400 tons. Most
cargo carrying Tern Schooners were built between 1870 and 1920 along the coast of North
America.
***
Thames Measurement A system for measuring the size (tonnage) of smaller ships and boats.
Originally used for calculating port dues for smaller vessels such as yachts, the formula was also
used in early handicapping rules for yacht racing (1854). Also called Thames Tonnage.(Length =
length stempost to sternpost; Beam = maximum beam).

***
Thick-stuff: Term to describe planks thicker than four inches.
***
Third Rate: Sailing 'ship of the line' warship with 64-80 guns on two gun decks (1779).

Examples of a third rate

 ***
Thole Pin: A vertical piece of wood against which a rowing oar pivots.
***
Throat: The upper foremost corner of a four sided fore-and-aft sail.
***
Thwart: The transverse wooden seat in a small rowing boat.
***
Tiller: A wooden or metal bar, attached to the head of a rudder and by which the rudder is
turned.
***
Timber: A frame or rib of a ship, connected to the keel. They give the hull both its shape and
strength. Also a term to describe other substantial wooden parts of a ship. The preferred
shipbuilding timber for European and American ships was fully seasoned oak. Cuban mahogany
and Indian teak were also used and elm was often used for planking below the waterline.

***
Timberhead: The upper end of a timber that projects above a deck and is used as a bollard.
***
Timber hitch: A knot used for fastening a rope around a spar to be hoisted. Tightens under
strain and releases easily when slackened.

***
Tjalk: A Dutch flat-bottomed vessel with rounded ends and leeboards. Used to carry freight and
also often used as a pleasure yacht.
 ***
Toggle: A fastener consisting of a peg or crosspiece that is inserted into an eye at the end of a
rope in order to attach it to something.
***
Tomkin: A bung (wooden stopper) used as a plug for the muzzle of a cannon to prevent water
from entering the gun. Also called tompion.
***
Tonnage: The cargo or internal capacity of a ship. From the medieval tun or wine cask. Earlier
called burthen. In modern terms a ton equals a 100 cubic feet.
***
Top: A platform at the masthead of a ship whose main purpose is to extend the topmast shrouds
so the give additional support to the topmast. Early tops were often enclosed and basket-like,
later tops were always open. They were also great platforms for look-out and for snipers and
archers to take aim from.
***
Topgallant Mast: In a square-rigged vessel, the mast stepped above the topmast. It is the third
division of a complete mast.

***
Topgallant Sail: The sail set next above the topsail. Normally it is the third sail in ascending
order from the deck.
 ***
Topmast: The mast next above the lowermast and the second division of a complete mast.

***
Topping: Raising one end of a spar higher than the other.
***
Topping Lift: The tackle used to raise or top the end of a gaff, or of a boom.
***
Topsail: In square-rigged vessels it is the sail set on the topsail yard. Normally the second sail in
ascending order from the deck.

***
Topside: That part of the side of the ship that is above the upper deck.
***
Top-timber: The uppermost timber (futtock) of a frame.
***
Trailboard: One of a pair of boards or a set of often gilded and elaborate carvings, located on
each side of the stem 'trailing' the figurehead. A trailboard often helped to express and support
the ship's name, sometimes with figures or scenes related to the figurehead. Later simpler
trailboards often have a vine of oakleaf theme.
***
Transom: The crosswise timbers bolted to the sternpost of a ship to give a flat or curved stern.
***
Treenail: A cylindrical pin of oak or other hardwood, used to secure the planks of a wooden ship
to the ribs. Wooden nails did not rust nor loosen since they would swell when wet, and were also
used simply because metal nails and bolts were not available yet. Treenail was pronounced as
trennel.
***
Trestle Tree: Oak timbers fixed horizontally fore-and-aft on each side of the lower and upper
masthead of a square-rigged vessel, used to support the topmast or topgallant mast, the lower or
upper crosstrees and the top. A trestle tree normally rests on the cheeks of a lowermast, or the
hounds of a topmast.

***
Triaconter: An ancient Greek galley with 30 oars, 15 each side set in a single bank.
***
Trierarch: The highest ranking officer or captain on an ancient Greek ship such as a trireme.
Also the person who's civil duty it was to equip and maintain a trireme.
***
Trim: The relationship between a ship's draft fore and aft. See also: even keel.
***
Triple Sister: A triple sister block is a pulley block with three sheaves side by side in the same
housing.
***
Trireme: An ancient Phoenician, Greek or Roman war galley propelled by three tiers (banks) of
oars on each side, each oar being pulled by a single man, used from the 7th to the 4th century
BC. Upper level oarsmen were called thranites, middle level zygites and lower level oarsmen
were called thalamites. The hull was shell-first, mortise-and-tenon construction, planked with fir,
cedar or pine while the keel was made of oak.
 ***
Truck: The wooden top 'cap-off' of a mast, staff or flagpole.
***
Trundlehead: The drumhead of the lower capstan of a double capstan.
***
Trunnion: A cylindrical projection on each side of a cannon forming the axis on which it pivots,
and also by which it rests on a gun-carriage. Normally they are located near the center of gravity
of a cannon, closer to the breech or base.

***
Truss: 1.Any structural support or beam in a ship's frame. 2.The fitting by which a lower yard is
fastened to a mast.
***
Trysail: A fore-and-aft sail with a boom and gaff on the fore, main or trysail mast of a three- or
two-masted square-rigged vessel.
***
Tumble Home: The amount by which the two sides of a ship are brought in towards the center
above the maximum beam. Also tumblehome.

***
Turk's head: A knot resembling a turban, worked on a rope with a piece of small line.

***
Turtle Ship: A 16th-century Korean armoured warship called Geobukseon or Kobukson in
Korean. It was fitted with an iron shell (top) and sharp spikes for protection and to prevent
boarding. They were developed and built by Admiral YI, SOON SHIN in 1592 who led Korea to
victory in the IM JIN WAR (Korea vs. Japan; 1592-1598). The hull was built from red pine and
a turtle ship carried cannons with such names as Heaven and Earth or in Korean, Chon and Ji.
Comparable to a European 12 and 7pdr cannon respectively.

***
Tye: A chain or rope to hoist a yard onto a mast, one end normally passed through the mast, and
was secured to the center of a yard; the other end was attached to a tackle.
***
 U
Unship: To remove or detach a piece of equipment from its proper operating location onboard a
ship. For example: The rudder can be unshipped or dislodged from its hinges.
***
Upper Deck: The highest of the continuous decks running the full length of a ship. Sometimes
also called the spar deck.
***
Upper Strake: Also called sheer strake, the top strake of the hull, usually following the sheer of
the upper deck, and often heavier than any other strakes.
***
Upper Work: That part of a ship's hull that is above the surface of the water when she is
properly balanced for a sea-voyage.
***
 V
Van: The ship(s) leading a fleet or squadron. From vanguard.
***
Vangs: Braces to support the mizzenmast gaff to keep it steady. Connected to the outer-end or
peek of the gaff, they reach downwards to the aftmost part of the ship's side, where they are
hooked and fastened. They are slackened when the wind is fair; and drawn in to windward when
the gaff's position becomes unfavourable to the ship's course.
***
Vessel: A craft designed for water transportation.
***
VOC: Dutch East India Company or Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie'.

The VOC was established on March 20, 1602 and was granted a Dutch monopoly on the trade to
and from the East Indies. The VOC was responsible for protecting the Dutch Republic and
prevent, or at least make it difficult, for other European nations to enter the East India trade. The
VOC consisted of six chambers: Amsterdam, Zeeland, Delft, Rotterdam, Hoorn and Enkhuizen.
During its 200 year history, the VOC became the largest and most successful company of its
kind, trading spices such as nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and pepper, and items like tea, silk and
Chinese porcelain. In the mid-17th century its fleet numbered some six thousand ships.
Typical ships of the VOC
***
Voyol: A looped rope used to unmoor, or hoist the anchors of a ship. Since the voyol was
thinner, lighter and more pliable than an anchor cable, it was easier to wind around the capstan
and more convenient to use the voyal to hoist in the larger, stiffer anchor cables. The anchor
cable was seized to the voyal using thin removable lines called nippers. A voyal was also called
a messenger.
***
 W
Wad: A ball or cylinder rolled from old rope-yarns and hay, acting as a stop to keep the shot and
charge of powder in the breech of a cannon while the ship was in motion at sea.
***
Wadhook: An iron worm (corkscrew) for removing the charge and wad or the remnants of the
charge after firing a cannon to avoid a build-up of material near the breech of the cannon. Also
called worm. A side arm.
***
Waist: That part (mid-section) of the upper deck of a vessel between the forecastle and the
quarter-deck.
***
Wale: One of the heavy and thick planks or strakes extending length-wise along the sides of a
wooden ship. As in upper, middle, lower and channel wale.
***
Wale Knot: A large knot created by untwisting the strands of the end of a rope and interweaving
them. Also called a wall knot.
***
Walk the plank: An expression supposedly derived from the practice of pirates who extended a
plank from the side of a ship to force their victims to walk off into the sea to drown. This may
however be a complete fictional 'Hollywood' version, no historic accounts have ever been found
attesting to the use of 'the plank'.
***
Walt: A vessel was said to be walt when it required more ballast for stability.
***
Ward-room. The officers quarters for dining and recreation on a sailng warship, often located
directly below the captain's cabin.
***
Warp: 1.To move or re-position a ship by hauling on a line. Often the ship's lesser anchors were
used. See also kedge

2.The measuring and laying out of rigging in a sail loft before cutting to the desired final lengths.
***
Watch: One of the six four-hour periods or shifts of work during a day on board a seagoing
vessel.
 ***
Waterline: One of a number of horizontal lines on the hull of a ship indicating the surface of the
water when the ship is under various loads.
***
Waterway: A hollowed out channel in the outboard planks of the ship's deck to allow water on
the deck to run off.
***
Ways: Beds of timber blocks sloping toward the water which supported the sliding ways of the
cradle holding the ship. Large timbers called Ground-ways were sunk into the ground on top of
which timber blocks were laid. At launch time, the launching ways were greased to facilitate
smooth sliding of the hull into the water.
See also our 3D Launching ways model

***
Weather Deck: A term for a ship's deck having no overhead protection from the weather, it is
open to the elements (weather).
***
Weather Gauge: If a ship was up-wind of another it was said to have the weather gauge, it's
guns could fire at the enemy hull; opposite of lee gauge.
***
Weather Side: The direction or side toward the wind (windward).
***
Weep:: Water leaking into the ship through cracks and seams, continually happening on wooden
sailing ships hence the pumps often being manned 24/7. Weeping is synonymous to leaking.
***
Well: A vertical, often cylindrical trunk, running down to the lower parts of the ship's hull. The
pipes of the bilge pumps lead through this well. Also called bilge well.
***
Well Found: A vessel that is all-around sound, that is well built and well equipped. A well
found ship could, with good and regular maintenance, have a life span of up to fifty years. Lesser
built ships would only last for 5-10 years.
***
West Indiaman: A relatively heavily armed European merchantman used for trade between
Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Examples of a West-Indiaman
***
Whaler: A sturdy purpose build vessel with a large hold. Intended for the catching of whales,
many were used on polar expedition and/or by Navies around the world because of their sturdy
nature.

Examples of a whaler
***
Wharf: A structure or platform such as a pier or a dock, built along the water's edge or into the
water for the purpose of loading and unloading vessels, often by means of cranes. Dues to be
paid for the use of a wharf for loading and unloading were called wharfage. A wharf is also often
referred to as a quay.
***
Wharfinger: A person who is in charge of a wharf.
***
Wheel: Ship's wheel or wheel of the helm. A spoked round steering device, linked to the tiller by
a configuration of ropes and blocks or chains. The rudder, tiller, and wheel form the helm.

***
Wheelhouse: The deckhouse of a vessel in which the wheel is fitted, protecting the helmsman
from the elements.
***
Whelp: Any of the pieces of wood, or iron, bolted onto the barrel of a windlass or capstan to
save the barrel from being chafed and damaged by the cables it hoists.
***
Wherry: A light and fast 17th century ship's boat.
***
Whipping: A binding on the end of a rope to prevent unravelling.
***
Whipstaff: A bar attached to the tiller, for convenience and to extend leverage in steering.
***
Whisker: Short horizontal spars fitted to a bowsprit when a jib-boom is added.
***
Whooding: The planks that are rabbeted into the stem of a vessel.
***
Windjammer: A three- to five-masted square-rigged merchant vessel built between 1870 and
1890. They were of all-iron hull construction and rather large, often displacing several thousand
tons.
***
Windlass: A lifting device consisting of a horizontal cylindrical barrel on which a rope or
anchor cable winds. A windlass was turned by rods called handspikes, and in later times by one
or more cranks.

***
Woolding: A rope wound around a mast or yard, often at the place where it has been fished or
scarfed, in order to strengthen it. Also spelled woulding.
***
Worm: An iron worm (corkscrew) for removing the charge and wad or the remnants of the
charge after firing a cannon to avoid a build-up of material in the barrel of a cannon. Also called
wadhook. A side arm.
***
Wreck: The ruined or sunken remains of a ship.
***
Wrung Staff: A shipwright's tool used in attaching the hull planking to the frame timbers. It
consisted of a sturdy wooden rod, tapered at both ends. Also called wrain stave. Was used
together with ring bolts called wrung- or wrain-bolts, to force the planks closer to their shape and
the ship's frame.
***
 X
Xebec: A relatively small three-masted lateen-rigged vessel favoured by the Barbary corsairs
operating off the coast of North Africa. These ships had long narrow hulls, and were fitted with
oars like their galley predecessors. The xebec was adopted by the French and Spanish navies and
called a chebec.

***
 Y
Yacht: Any of a variety of small sailing vessels. Often a personal transportation watercraft or a
personal pleasure boat; i.e. captain's yacht, royal yacht.

Examples of a yacht
***
Yard: A large horizontal spar tapered towards each end. Yards were fastened to the masts of
square-rigged vessels for the purpose of carrying square sails.
***
Yardarm: Either end (outer quarter) of a yard, from the lift to the outboard end of a yard. Also
yard arm.
***
Yaw: Sudden and erratic off course deviation. For instance; when a ship swerves because of
large waves.
 ***
Yawl: 1. A small two-masted sailing vessel with the mizzenmast stepped astern of the rudder
post. Similar to a ketch, which has its mizzenmast stepped forward of the rudder head or post.

2. A ship's boat similar to, but smaller than a pinnace, usually rowed by four to six oars.
***
Yeoman: An officer under the boatswain or gunner of a ship of war, usually charged with the
stowage, account, and distribution of their respective stores.
***
Yoke: An early name for the steering mechanism when steering was achieved with the help of
tackle connected to the tiller. Also a name used for when a boat was steered by two ropes leading
from the stern to a small cross-bar attached to the top of the rudder.
***
Yuloh: A long oar developed by the Chinese, it is placed over the stern and used for both
steering and sculling without being taken out of the water.
***
 Z
Zabra: A 16th century Spanish sailing vessel, smaller then a Galleon or Carrack. Zabra's were
used for dispatch, transport and other utilitarian duties.
***
Zeeland: A historical region along the southwest coast of Holland. One of the six chambers of
the VOC.

***
Zephyr: The west wind or a gentle breeze.
***