F

Pieces of wood wrought on the fore-part of the knee of the head.

Rabbeting one piece of timber into another in order to strengthen it.

To become untwisted; bunting is fagged when it becomes ragged.

The inventor of the mercurial thermometer (a temperature measurer) was Gabriel Daniel…

A term to denote the evenness or regularity of a curve or line.

A short length of wood with holes bored in it, or a block or thimble so placed as to give…

A wind which enables a vessel to lay her course.

The middle of a channel in a harbor or river.

A circle of rope in a coil; one of the circles of the lead-line held in the hand in sounding.

The rope of a tackle.

To strike or encounter another ship or object.

The situation of a vessel when she is out-distanced by another. (See Drop Astern.)

To sail or to be towed down a river nearer to its mouth.

Said of a barometer when the mercury descends in the tube.

A vessel's topsides are said to be falling home when they incline inboards from the…

The inclination which the topside has within from a perpendicular.

Said of a vessel when her head goes off from the wind.

A timber bolted underneath the main keel of vessels in order to deepen the outside keel.

A wrong statement as to the number of persons borne on the ship's books.

When a vessel carries papers certifying falsely as to her cargo, name, destination,…

A second keel, composed of elm plank or thick stuff, fastened in a slight manner under the…

A piece tabled on to the after-part of the heel of the main part of the stern-post. It is to…

A rail fayed down upon the upper side of the main or upper rail of the head. It is to…

A line for overhauling a lee topping lift; a line rove through a block seized on to the jaws…

A long, slender, overhanging stern.

A name sometimes applied to Scotch coasting vessel.

To take departure. (See Departure.)

The timbers so-called from their fashioning the after-part of the ship in the plane of…

Secure. The rope used in securing a vessel to a wharf or to another vessel. There are bow,…

Six feet.

Six feet.

To fit two pieces of wood close and fair together.

To join one piece so close to another that there shall be no perceptible space between them.

A Japanese rowing galley.

A thick woolen cloth coat. Sometimes called Dreadnaught.

An oar is feathered in rowing by turning the blade horizontal after it leaves the water.

Planks having one of their sides thinner than the other.

One of the floats or buckets of a feathering paddle wheel.

(See Paddle Wheel.)

One in which the blades can be twisted on the hub to present the least resistance to the water…

The pipe conducting the feed water from the feed pump to the boiler.

The pump which supplies the boiler with water.

The reservoir from which the feed pump draws its supply.

The water which is forced into a boiler to be evaporated into steam.

A ship is said to feel her helm when she is sensitive to the rudder. Feeling her Way. Sounding…

A vessel having lateen sails, and housed over only in part. It is of Arabic origin.

To keep off; to bear off from; to prevent touching.

A long fore-and-aft fender hung over a ship's side just above the water line midships to…

Piles driven into the bottom, their upper part extending a number of feet above the water, and…

Shapes of wood, canvas or rope hung over a vessel's side to protect her from chafing against…

Meaning that a vessel will succeed in getting to a certain point without another tack when she…

To carry away; to break; to part.

A block of wood or iron to support a topmast or topgallant mast by placing it through the fid…

An elongated sheel containing two sheaves, the largest one on top. (See engraving.)

(See Head.)

A framework fastened to the table to prevent dishes from sliding off when in a seaway.

A carriage for a light gun used on shore.

The circular space in a telescope in which, when the instrument is in focus, objects are…

The pin rail surrounding a mast.

An East Indian vessel propelled by paddles, and having one mast.

A trading vessel of Smyrna.

A knot made in the shape of figure 8. (See engraving.)

A carved figure carried under the bowsprit by being bolted to the stem. (See Head.)

A small boat of the Garonne having a very flat bottom.

The sails are said to fill when the wind blows into them so as to force the vessel ahead.

When the wind blows on the forward surface of the sails so as to prevent the vessel's progress…

To brace the yards so as to receive the wind into the sails after the vessel has been braced…

A piece of wood inserted in a made mast to make good a deficiency. A composition used on spars…

The filling in a corner formed by the intersection of two planes, or of a plane with a…

Of the freebooter class.

The intermediate timbers between the frames that are gotten up into their places singly after…

A vessel has a fine entrance when she is sharp forward.

Carved ornaments of the quarter galley below the second counter and above the upper lights.

(See Grate Bars.)

(See Fire Quarters.)

(See Fire Quarters.)

Stationing the crew in various parts of the vessel, and alloting to each man a certain task to…

Stationing the crew in various parts of the vessel, and allotting to each man a certain task…

The space in front of the boilers from which the fires are worked.

(See Heating Surface.)

Instruments used in working the fires under a boiler.

One of the engineer force whose duty it is to supply fuel to and regulate the fires.

The burning fuel in the furnaces. Banked Fires. The burning fuel is heaped up in one part of…

The executive officer of a man-o'-war. (See Marine Corps.)

Same as prime meridian. A great circle selected as the starting point of longitude; the…

The vernal equinoctial point; the first of the twelve signs which the sun enters at the vernal…

The summer solstitial point, which the sun enters about the 21st of June.

The winter solstitial point, which the sun enters about the 21st of December.

The autumnal equinoctial point which the sun enters about the 22d of September.

A qualification for the highest grade ships in the navy.

To lift the flukes of the anchor on the rail so that the shank is horizontal; to strengthen or…

The davit employed in fishing the anchor.

The name of a strengthening slab on the front of a made mast.

The large iron hook used to catch the arm of the anchor, and by which the fluke is raised to…

The rope to which the fish hook is secured.

The ropes, blocks, hook, etc., used in fishing an anchor.

Sometimes used for bending on the gaff topsail halliards, or the topmast stunsail…

To seize; to lay hold upon.

Stars which appear to maintain their places with reference to one another.

A design manufactured from bunting or silk, representing the national colors, standards, etc.…

The commander of a flagship--also known as chief of staff.

An aid to the flag officer.

A white flag is used as a flag of truce by all nations. When shown, it is an evidence of a…

An officer above the rank of captain--such as commodore, rear admiral, vice-admiral and…

The share of prize money which goes to the flag officer of a fleet in consequence of prizes…

Any vessel flying the flag of an officer above the rank of captain.

The reverse of falling or tumbling home. As this can be only in the fore-part of the ship, it…

The strip along the edge of a boiler plate which is turned over at an angle, usually a right…

A distinguishing light carried by a pilot vessel, or exhibited by a vessel being overtaken by…

Opposed to falling home. A vessel is said to have a flaring bow when the topside inclines…

A signal made for a pilot by flashing a white light above the bulwarks at short intervals. An…

To haul a sheet flat is to haul it down or in as close as possible.

Said of a square sail when the wind is blowing on its forward side so as to press the…

Not a breath of air stirring.

Known also as a reef knot and a square knot. It is used in tying reef points, etc. (See…

A seizing put on anything without overlaying or riding turns.

A name given to the timbers amidships that have no beveling, and are similar to dead-flat,…

Same as flatten in.

To haul in the head-sheets so that the head-sails will lie closer to the wind.

A sudden gust of wind.

A boat used in South America for carrying dispatches.

To shift anything from one place to another; to separate the blocks of a tackle. Fleet-ho! The…

A collection of men-o'-war. A fleet is divided into divisions and squadrons.

Same as flag captain.

(See Engineer.)

The boat used by the fleet captain.

The senior marine officer in the fleet, who is attached to the flagship.

The senior paymaster in the fleet, who is attached to the flagship.

The senior surgeon in the fleet who is attached to the flagship.

Naval evolutions.

To coil a rope down with each succeeding fake outside of and half-way covering the fake…

A kind of eye splice. (See engraving.)

A number of turns of rope being concentric, or having a common centre, and lying flat on the…

The small extra foot ropes at the ends of topsail yards.

Where an abrupt rise exists in the lines of a vessel it is said to take flight.

(See Bucket.)

A name for a drag or sea anchor.

A chapel built on a floating stage for towing about a harbor.

A line of connecting cribs anchored across a harbor's mouth for breaking the force of the seas…

A name applied particularly to monitors, and in general to unseaworthy vessels.

(See Dry Dock.)

A kind of faucet which is connected to a pipe leading from the vessel's outer side inboard,…

High water mark.

A rising tide. When it ceases rising it is high tide.

The incoming tide; the rising tide.

Admitting too much injection water to a jet condenser.

The platform of a vessel over or on each side of the keelson.

The bottom of a ship, or all that part on each side of the keel which approaches nearer to a…

The timbers on which the flooring of a vessel rests.

The timbers that are fixed athwart the keel, and upon which the whole frame is erected. They…

A fleet comprised of small vessels.

Wreckage floating on the sea; goods found drifting about on the surface of the water.

The name once given to chart compasses. The diagram compasses printed on old charts were…

The old style of diagram compasses printed on charts, having a rose in the middle.

When a ship has the wind between the beam and the quarter, so that the she goes two or three…

A large tube; usually a flue is built up of plates bent and riveted together.

A name by which a liquid compass is sometimes called. (See Part III.)

The triangular shape of iron welded on to the end of the anchor-arm.

The title given to the cabin waiters on a merchant passenger vessel.

With a continued even surface; as a flush deck, which is a deck upon one continued line,…

A deck unbroken by deck houses, poop topgallant forecastle, etc., but presenting an even…

The rising tide.

The coming in or the flow of the tide.

The part of a flag extending from the union to the extreme end. A name also applied to the…

A name applied to the traditional spectre-ship which has been met with, according to the…

One of the head-sails which sets outside the jib on the jib-boom. (See Jib.)

(See Jib Netting.)

A stay forward, the foremast on which the flying jib is set.

The light spar that rests on the jib-boom, and is rigged out ahead of the latter. (See…

(See Jib-Boom Guys.)

Skysails, moonsails, and sky-scrapers, the two latter being obsolete.

Said of a vessel when she is crank for want of ballast or cargo.

A sailing canoe of the Ladrone Islands.

(See Set Flying.)

This is the start now generally adopted by all yacht clubs in this country, and means that…

Violent ebullition in a steam boiler, due to which particles of water are detached from the…

Also known as focal length. The distance between the centre of a lens and its focus, or…

A moist vapor of greater or less density floating near the surface of the land or water; a…

A heavy fog cloud lying on the horizon.

A bell on a light-ship, shoal, etc., rung in foggy weather to warn vessels.

Buoys placed on shoals, having an automatic whistle attached, which gives forth a warning…

A term applied to the risen moon on account of its influence as a dissipator of fog,…

An instrument blown by steam, by caloric engine or by bellows, from a light-house, etc.,…

When under way at sea a steamship blows a prolonged blast on the steam whistle every two…

(See Siren.)

A steamer's whistle blown as a warning during fogs.

In a piston, the ring or plate which holds the packing rings in place.

The bolts which secure the follower to the piston-head.

A sea setting after the vessel; a sea running toward the same point of the compass that the…

A wind blowing towards the same point of the compass that the vessel is heading.

The lower edge of a sail; that part of a mast near the deck. (See Fore Foot.)

A small portable thwartship piece of wood fitting into notches on top of the flooring in a…

Lengths of rope made fast to and hanging under a yard, or along the bowsprit, end of the…

A check valve in the suction passage to a pump; the valve in the channel way between condenser…

The inside planks or lining of a vessel over the floor timbers.

When a green hand first goes aloft at sea he is followed up the rigging and lashed to the…

To drag a ship over a shoal by ramming it under a big spread of canvas or a full head of steam.

(See Draft.)

The forward part of a vessel; anything in the direction of the head of the ship.

That part of the ship's body afore the midships or dead-flat. (See Bodies.) This term is more…

A cabin in the forepart of the vessel, or a cabin just forward of the main cabin.

(See Chains.)

The forward part of the main deck.

The forward extremity of the keel, upon which the stem of the vessel rests.

The roping grafted on the handle of the harpoon and having an eye in its after-end for the…

On sailing vessels generally the first hatch abaft the foremast, and on steamships the hatch…

The forward part of the hold.

Also known as a breast hook; a timber that goes across the stem, and which unites the parts of…

The luff of a fore-and-aft sail is often termed the fore leach.

A piece of iron slipped thwartships through a hole in the end of a bolt to prevent the latter…

To face the body or object when measuring an altitude is known as taking a fore observation.…

That part of the vessel below decks which is close to the stem.

Close forward under the lower deck.

The overhang of the vessel bows forward of the forefoot.

A vessel is said to fore reach when, after being thrown into the wind, either in tacking or…

The shrouds and their ratlines of the fore lower mast.

The piece of bunting tucked in the strands of a log line (generally ten fathoms from the log…

The sail that on a square-rigger is bent to the fore yard; but the sail that on a…

(See Horse.)

(See Traveler.)

(See Shoulder.)

The shrouds of the fore lower mast.

An old instrument for measuring altitudes at sea.

The hemp or wire rope leading from the foremast head to the stem, where it sets up. The…

The first head sail forward of the foremast, setting on the fore stay. (See Staysail.)

A head sail that sets upon the foretopmast stay.

The lowest yard across the foremast on a brig, brigantine, bark, barkentine and ship.

In the line of the keel; opposed to athwart ship; a schooner is called a fore-and-aft vessel.

Sails which set upon gaffs and booms and stays.

The compartment in the forward part of a vessel, on or under the upper deck, in which the…

That portion of the spar deck which is forward of the after fore shroud.

That part of the upper or spar deck which is forward of the after fore shroud. (See Topgallant…

The forward part of the forecastle deck or topgallant forecastle near the knight heads.

The foremost piece of the keel.

A thin circular wedge of iron used to retain a bolt in Its place by being thrust through a…

The forward mast of all vessels. As sloops and cutters have but one mast, it is always…

One of the crew not above the rating of a seaman.

A designation for boatswains, carpenters and sailmakers on a merchant vessel.

Same as Head Reach.

Towards the forepart of the vessel.

To stitch oakum over the surface of a sail and draw it under a vessel's bottom for the purpose…

A rope fouls when it jams in a block; a term used to express the opposite of clear.

When the cable is twisted about the anchor. When the anchor of one vessel locks itself to the…

When a ship is anchored in the way of another ship or some other obstruction.

When a vessel's bottom is covered with barnacles, grass or slime.

When a vessel has two anchors down, and the cables get a cross or twist in them by the…

When the vessel sails so close to the bottom that the mud is disturbed and rises to the…

When a vessel fills with water and sinks she is said to founder.

The amount charged a vessel for furnishing her with water while in harbor and filling her…

A block containing four sheaves.

A purchase having two blocks, each containing four sheaves.

A consideration belonging to chart sailing by which the ship's place may be fixed after a…

Two or more rope yarns twisted together. (See Spanish Fox.)

The various timbers that compose a frame bend, as the floor-timber, the first, second, third…

The bends of timber which form the body of the ship, each of which is composed of one…

After a vessel's bottom has been fothered, the sail is frapped by passing ropes under the sail…

To free a vessel of water is to pump her dry; a vessel sails free when she has a fair wind.

The distance from the plank shear, or covering board, to the water line.

Height of side from water line to deck, or planksheer.

(See Pirate.)

The amount paid for transportation of cargo.

(See Flemish Coil.)

A knot used for rejoining a shroud or a stay that has been carried away.

A breeze blowing from thirteen to fifteen miles an hour.

Newly-killed, or canned meats and vegetables; any kind of food not salted.

When a vessel increases her velocity she is said to get fresh way, or to gather fresh way.

To freshen anything is to shift or renew it.

To move the ballast about.

To veer out or to heave in a little cable so as to allow another part of it to be brought in…

To renew the service where it has become worn through or chafed.

A seaman whose experience is limited to lake and river vessels.

The resistance which is met when one piece slides on another.

A band encircling a drum which can be tightened at will to control the revolutions of that…

A disc in which the friction primers are set.

A day of the week once held in superstitious awe by seamen; but with the advent of steam,…

A ship of war having a quarter-deck and forecastle raised above the main deck. A vessel…

Owing to the obliquity of the ecliptic, the earth's surface is divided into five zones,…

A sailor's name for French people.

A name employed by seamen when speaking of Hollanders, owing to the character of their…

The side pipes, chests and valve gear attached to the cylinder of a beam engine.

The space into which the products of combustion are discharged when they leave the tubes. In a…

A license granted to a vessel of the United States by the customs authorities her to engage in…

Said of the sails when they are distended by the wind.

Sailing close to the wind but keeping the sails full. An order given to the helmsman to effect…

When the whole illuminated face or disc of the moon is turned toward the earth.

A vessel having all sail set is said to be under a full spread of canvas.

(See Explosives.)

Smoke-stack or smoke-pipe. (See Smoke Pipe.)

The smoke-stack of a steam vessel. Telescopic Funnel. A smoke-stack that telescopes so that…

To roll up and secure a sail or awning.

A small line used to bind a fore-and-aft sail to a gaff or boom after it is furled. Short…

An eighth of a mile.

The space in or under a boiler where the fuel is burned.

The door closing the opening into a furnace through which the fuel is introduced.

The rigging, spars, anchors, sails, boats, cables, etc., of a vessel are termed collectively…

(See Corposant.)

A small metal plug through the centre of which is a hole filled with a metal that will fuse at…

The iron band which goes around the lower-mast just under the top, and to which the futtock…

Iron plates secured to the side rims of the tops, with a dead-eye in the upper part for the…

Holes in the rim of the top on each side for the futtock chain plates.

Short shrouds extending from the lower ends of the futtock chain plates to the futtock band.

A length of wood or iron covered with canvas or leather seized across the topmast rigging like…

The separate pieces of timber of which the frame timbers are composed. They are named…

The mechanism attached to a shell or torpedo, and by which the same are exploded. (See Time…