H

A vessel hails from the port to which she belongs; to accost another vessel, prefacing the…

The various responses made by officers at night to the sentry, and by which he may learn the…

A charge of small cannon-shot fired for cutting purposes.

A vessel is said to make a half board when she luffs up into the wind, and then when her…

The fish davit.

Formed by passing the end of a rope around its own standing part and bringing it then through…

A flag is half-masted when it is hoisted but half way.

A sand-glass used in logging the ship.

Ports made in two pieces and hinged top and bottom, so as to open by tricing up the upper one…

The middle of the tide.

A ship-construction drawing showing the rail line, planksheer line and all water lines as…

A bar bent to a V shape, with both ends flattened and turned up for feet, through which it is…

The short timbers in the cant bodies which are answerable to the lower futtocks in the square…

A chart showing the variations of the compass by a series of curves.

Also written halyards. Tackles used for hoisting and lowering yards, gaffs and sails.

A circle or bright ring about the sun or moon-in the first place termed solar halo, and in the…

A fine quality of seizing stuff, three-stranded, and tightly laid.

A canvas bed swung from hooks in the deck beams.

The canvas cover over the hammock nettings to protect the hammocks from the weather.

The hollow space between the inner and outer bulwarks on the spar deck in which the hammocks…

To hand a sail is to furl it; one of the men of the crew; all hands, every body on board; bear…

A shell filled with an explosive, and thrown by hand from the tops to the enemy's deck when…

A small hole in the shell of a steam boiler to admit of the latter being scraped and freed…

A conical shape length of lead weighing from 7 to 14 pounds, used for sounding in water of…

To ascend a rope by putting one hand above the other alternately--the legs dangling. To…

To pull a rope as tight as possible by hand.

To descend a rope by dropping one hand below the other alternately.

A small opening provided in a boiler-shell for cleaning and examining the interior. It is…

After the firing of the starting gun in a race a certain number of minutes are allowed for the…

A ship handles well when she is obedient to her helm. To handle a ship well is to work her in…

To do anything carefully or cautiously is to do it handsomely. Slack away handsomely is an…

A wooden bar like a capstan bar, used as a lever for moving heavy weights.

A wooden lever.

A vessel is said to be handy if she is quick in stays and always answers her helm quickly.

A watch tackle; a name for the forecastle boy.

When slow ignition occurs a piece is said to hang fire.

Blocks used at the mastheads for the halliards of the head sails.

A tell-tale compass.

A plank hung horizontally over the ship's side for men to stand or sit on while painting ship,…

Those knees against the sides whose arms hang vertically or perpendicular.

The rings of wood, rope or iron round a stay, and to which the luff of the head sails is…

(See Port Charges.)

(See Gasket.)

An officer whose duty it is to inspect the moorings of the harbor, to observe that ships are…

Same as River Pirate--see latter.

(See Anchor Watch.)

The helm is said to be hard down when it is put over to leeward as far as it can go.

The helm is hard over when it is moved to its extreme limit.

To put the tiller all the way over towards the windward side of the vessel.

A name for the rigging on a vessel.

A conical barrel, having a locked lid and kept on deck, containing a quantity of salt pork and…

Pieces of oak, similar to ribbands, but trimmed and beveled to the shape of the body of the…

A spear-shaped iron used for burying in the bodies of large fish.

(See Primage.)

An iron bar which crosses the hatches and keeps them down by having both of its ends secured…

(See Coamings.)

The iron rings in the corners of hatches for lifting the latter.

An ordinary luff tackle, composed of a double and single block, and used for hoisting or…

The covers for the hatchways.

The openings in the deck to afford passage up and down for the cargo.

To pull. The wind is said to haul when it ships around the compass with the sun, i. e., in the…

An order given to bring the weather clew of a course to the tack block when setting the sail.

The order given to haul the bunting down from aloft, and from the truck of the flag-pole at…

Swinging all the yards at once.

(See Fires.)

A vessel is said to be hauled up when her course is changed so that she will lie closer to the…

A line sent down from aloft to bend on to any article required for use, and by which the…

A vessel rides to a hawse when she has her two bow anchors down; the surface of the water just…

(See Jackass.)

A block of wood made to fit into a hawse pipe from inboard, and which is shipped at sea in…

Pieces of oak plank bolted under the hawse holes in order to prevent the cables from chafing.

The woodwork to be seen just outside of the hawse pipe on a wooden vessel.

An iron plate to cover the hawse hole, taking the place of hawse blocks and jackasses.

The holes in the bows of a vessel through which the cables pass.

The timbers in the bows of a vessel through which the hawse holes are cut.

An iron pipe in a vessel's bows through which the cable runs.

A block of wood made to fit into a hawse pipe from the outside so as to prevent water from…

A large rope used for towing, warping, etc.

Same as cable-laid rope--see the latter.

Punishing a man by keeping him at work upon dirty and unnecessary jobs. (See Ride Down a Man.)

The head of anvthing, as mast-head, timber-head, capstan-head, head of a sail, etc. Also the…

The sanitary compartment set aside for the use of the crew.

The upper end of anything but more particularly applied to all the work fitted afore the stem,…

The boards placed inside the hammock nettings at the forward and after ends.

The iron ring or shape spliced into the bolt rope at the junction of the leach and head of a…

The ropes which secure the two upper corners of a square sail to the yard-arms by alternate…

(See Coamings.)

A mooring rope leading ahead of the vessel.

Short low rails extending from the stem to the bows.

The forging or progress ahead of a vessel when lying to. (See Fore Reach.)

The height of the cabin from the floor to the roof; the height of any place, such as the hold,…

The rope to which the tabring on the upper edge of a sail is sewn.

All the sails forward of the foremast. These are named differently on vessels of various rigs.…

A sea coming from the same point of the compass that the vessel is directed toward.

The sheets of all the head sails.

The small round spar about 15 inches long seen on the heads of some spinnakers and jibs. The…

The situation of a vessel when she has been thrown up into the wind and all her sails are…

The progress of a vessel through the water in a forward direction.

All the yards on the foremast.

The 'thwartship pieces which frame the hatchways and ladderways.

Used for extracting cartridges from small-arm rifles.

The farthest in advance.

Those rails in the head which extend from the back of the figure to the cathead and bows,…

The medical officer who inspects the ship and cargo, physical condition of crews and…

A block of wood shaped like a heart and stropped, having a hole through it for stays to reeve…

The strand running through the centre of some ropes.

An apparatus for heating the feed water for a boiler with the exhaust steam or other waste…

That surface of a boiler which is exposed to the hot gases on one side and has water on the…

To advance the vessel by heaving in on the anchor chain, or the rope leading from the ship to…

A call to the men at the windlass, signifying that one more heave will bring the anchor ring…

A call to the men at the windlass to heave once more in order to lift the anchor from the…

An order to the men to heave until the paul drops so as not to lose anything.

An order and an encouraging cry to the men at the capstan or windlass.

To heave in on a cable until the anchor is right under the hawse hole, but resting on the…

To move the ship backwards by hauling on the rope that leads astern.

An order to crew to heave round the capstan; to heave on the windlass brakes, etc.

To careen the vessel in order to repair the side of the vessel on or below the water-line.

An order to the crew to heave slowly

To heave strong.

To get in some of the cable.

To put the helm down and bring the ship in the wind so as to go about.

The send of the sea. The amount of distance that the vessel gains, or is retarded, or is…

To revolve the capstan by means of the capstan bars.

The cable is hove short when, independent of the depth of water where she may be anchored, the…

To heave in until the cable or rope gets a strain on it.

To throw the lead overboard, and ascertain the depth of water where the ship is.

To throw the log chip overboard so as to ascertain the velocity of the ship.

(See Celestial Sphere.)

A wooden bar like a capstan bar, for use as a lever.

To bring the vessel's head to the wind, and manage the sails so as to keep her stationary.…

A small rope bent on to a hawser and thrown out to a dock, etc., to be caught, and by which…

(See Clove Hitch.)

Determining the ship's rate of speed through the water by means of the log and line and…

The lowest end of a mast; the aftermost part of the keel; the lowest part of the stern-post; a…

The lower end of a tree, timber, etc. A ship is also said to heel when she is not upright but…

(See Brace.)

A lashing placed around the heel of a spar.

The term applied both to the lowest extremity of the stern-post and the rudder post.

A rope used in sending up and down spars.

A vessel is said to be heeled over when she is forced over side-ways in sailing by the action…

A name applied sometimes to the square part of the lower end of a mast in which is the fid…

The alteration of compass deviation owing to the vessel being off an even keel.

Same as heeling deviation.

The angle of a heavenly body above the horizon; the level of high water; the distance in feet…

A star rises heliocally when it is first visible in the morning after it has been hidden by…

In relation to the sun's centre.

The point in which a planet would appear if viewed from the centre of the sun.

An instrument made use of for measuring the diameters of the sun, moon and planets.

An instrument which reflects the sun's rays by a mirror, and used in trigonometrical surveys.…

(See Heliostat.)

(See Hail.)

A misnomer, as the term wrongly includes all the machinery by which a vessel is steered,…

To put the helm towards the lee side, so as to bring the vessel's head up into the wind.

(See Rudder Port.)

A piece of timber placed across the lower counter inside at the height of the helm port, and…

To let the vessel go off from the wind by putting the helm towards the weather side.

Signifying that the helm has been put over to leeward; the verbal notice given to the men…

The man at the helm or wheel; the man who is steering the vessel.

Half of a globe; half of the heavens.

Hemp is a plant, from the fibres of which a rope is made, taking its name from the same.

A name applied to a ship in which the captain's wife interferes with the rules, regulations…

A vessel that is square-rigged forward and schooner-rigged on the main. (See Brigantine.)

A name by which the Atlantic Ocean is sometimes referred to by seamen.

The position of a vessel when left entirely out of water by a receding tide.

Dynamite, gun cotton, nitro-glycerine, fulminates, picrates, Emmensite, and glycerine.

Parallels far from the equator, and approaching the poles.

Terms to distinguish types of engines, or cylinders. It is more common in these days to use…

The highest point of the flood tide.

The greatest elevation of the flood tide.

Same as high tide.

The mark made on the shore by the tide at the point of its greatest height.

The smallest cylinder of a compound or triple expansion engine.

A manner of fastening ropes around a spar or other object. See engravings.)

A rough broom for scrubbing the marine growth from a vessel's bottom.

Chains with one end attached to the hog frames and the other end to some particular part of…

The two great flying fore-and-aft arches seen on shallow-draught inland steamers, which…

When the two ends of a ship droop from the midship part, causing an upward arching of the…

(See Broken-Backed.) A ship is said to hog when the middle part of her keel and bottom are so…

A title applied to the monitors during the Rebellion.

The length of the luff of a fore-and-aft sail--the distance in feet from the jaws of the boom…

The interior of a vessel below the lower deck.

That part of the ship below the lower deck, between the bulkheads, which is reserved for the…

To keep the vessel's sails shivering.

To keep the sails full.

To check the progress of a boat by keeping the oars in the water with the blades vertical, and…

The bolts which secure the bed-plate to the foundation.

When a piece of work is only imperfectly executed, such, for example, as leaving patches of…

A curling sea like breakers on a shore.

An old fashion nautical instrument of reflection used in 1570.

A sailor's name for a parson. (See Sky Pilot.)

A large flat stone used for cleaning the ship's decks by dragging it to and fro. (See…

Anything is said to be home when it is hauled out as far as it can go, as the clew of a gaff…

The home port of a vessel is that in which, or the nearest to which, the managing owner…

The name of the rise in the quarter-deck which gives more head room to the cabin; a covering…

Those ends of the planks which bury in the rabbets of the stem and stern post.

The scarphing or laying the ends of timbers over each other.

The line of the blending of earth (or sea) and sky; the apparent meeting of the earth and…

The small half-silvered and half-clear glass on the quadrant, octant and sextant.

(See Danger Angle.)

The change of position which a body in the horizon, as seen from the surface of the earth,…

A name by which the jaws of the booms and the ends of the cross-trees are known.

An iron bar or span fastened to the deck for the fore, main and spanker sheet blocks of a…

The raised grating platforms on the quarter-deck, close against the bulwarks, to be found on…

A region of calms on the borders of the trade winds.

That force which will raise 33,000 pounds one foot in one minute. A conventional unit used in…

An iron fixed in a handle, and used with a beetle by caulkers, to horse-up or harden in the…

(See White Caps.)

Large straps of iron or copper shaped like a horse-shoe and let into the stem and gripe on…

A floating hulk, used, as its name implies, as a hospital for seamen.

Up to June 26, 1884, a tax of forty cents per month was exacted by law from every person…

A receptacle above the delivery valves of the air pump which receives the water of…

These guns are divided into two classes, and are known as rapid-fire (R. F.) and machine (M.)…

The hounding of a mast is all that is contained between the heel and the lower part of the…

Projections bolted on to the masthead which serve as shoulders for the trestle-trees, and…

Sixty minutes of time; the twenty-fourth part of a day.

The angular distance of a body east or west of the meridian; an angle at the poles included…

A great circle of the celestial sphere passing through the two poles; it marks out all places…

To house a mast is to lower it partly and secure its heel by a lashing to the mast against…

A broad, shallow draught vessel with a house extending over nearly its entire length, fitted…

Houses built along dangerous and non-inhabited coasts, and supplied with boats and provisions…

The housing of a mast is all that is below the spar or upper deck; the housing of a bowsprit…

The bolt that locks the carriage in the desired position.

(See Heave Short.)

(See Lie-to.)

(See Middle Point.)

(See Torpedo.)

A small cannon used principally in field operations. Previous to the advent of rapid-fire guns…

The body of metal about a shaft hole.

To hug the land is to keep close to it in sailing. To hug the wind is to keep the vessel by…

A vessel unfit for use at sea. (See Sheer Hulk).

The body of a vessel exclusive of masts, spars and rigging.

The whole frame or body of a ship, exclusive of the masts, yards, sails and rigging.

When only the spars of a vessel are visible above the horizon.

A revolving wind storm of great violence, extending over an area from a few to hundreds of…

The central calm space around which the winds resolve. (See Bearing of Storm Centre.)

(See Deck.)

(See Dock.)

A carriage provided with one or more cylinders filled with liquid (glycerine and water) and…

Charts which show sections of the navigable waters of the earth, and which describe the rocks,…

(See Nautical Surveying.)

Description of the navigable waters of the earth, rocks, shoals, tides, currents, soundings,…

An instrument employed for measuring the amount of moisture in the atmosphere. Also known as a…

The longest side of a right-angled triangle.