P

Post meridian; after meridian; the 12 hours from noon to midnight.

An altitude of a heavenly body measured in the P. M.; an afternoon observation.

Stun'-sail-boom irons are known sometimes as Pacific Irons.

Elastic material confined about piston rods in the stuffing box to prevent leakage.

(See Piston Ring.)

A short oar having a broad blade, and used in propelling canoes. It does not set in a rowlock,…

(See Paddle Wheels.)

A propelling wheel suspended and revolving at the side or stern of a vessel, its shaft being…

The large wheels in the sides of some steam vessels, such as ferry boats and river craft, and…

A peculiar shaped boat of Ceylon.

When there is little or no wind, so that the pennant hangs down alongside the mast. Hence it…

The skipper of a small coasting vessel of the Mediterranean.

A small vessel armed and used for piratical purposes by the Malays.

A war canoe of the Society Islands.

A length of rope made fast to the inner side of the stem of boats, and used for making fast to…

A slight platform, made above the bottom of the magazine, to keep the powder from moisture.

Stout pieces of iron, so placed near a capstan or windlass as to prevent a recoil, which would…

The inner side of the fluke of an anchor, also called the pea. A piece of stout leather which…

An East African canoe having one mast, and a sail made of cocoa leaves.

A passenger boat propelled by oars, and used on the Hooghly.

A boat made of papier-mache. Also a boat made by applying lengths of linen to a form and…

A name once applied in ridicule by block-model designers to naval architects who forsook the…

The normal level of the barometer at a given place.

The apparent angular variation in the position of a body as seen from two different points of…

A term made use of in contradistinction to horizontal parallax. Annular Parallax. The maximum…

An instrument employed in navigation for shaping the ship's course on the chart. In…

Sailing true east or west; sailing on a parallel of latitude.

Lying in the same direction; all parts equally distant; small circles of the terrestrial…

Small circles parallel with the horizon.

Small circles parallel with the equinoctial.

A small, pink-sterned vessel of the Mediterranean, rigged with a lateen mainsail and mizzen,…

To hoist or lower a spar or cask on its bilge by the bight of two separate ropes passed round…

Long strips of canvas used in parceling.

To lay a narrow strip of canvas over a seam that has been caulked to prevent it filling up…

To wind long strips of canvas around a rope preparatory to serving it.

Mock suns appearing at the same height above the horizon as the true sun, and connected with…

Said of a vessel when she is careened in order to get at her bottom.

The rope or iron ring which confines a yard to the mast, but permits of a vertical movement;…

A rifled gun named after its inventor.

To break a rope or cable is to part it.

A modern man-o'-war built with not less than a 2-inch steel deck, forming an arch and curving…

(See General Average.)

(See Part II.)

Those pieces of thin plank, etc., fitted into a rabbet in the mast or capstan-carlings for the…

Grenades fired from a mortar.

To pass the word is to repeat the order to the crew. To pass an earing, gasket, seizing, etc.,…

The crossing of a heavenly body over the meridian is also known as the meridian passage; the…

The names of both cabin and steerage passengers entransit.

A document carried by a merchant vessel in time of war to certify to her nationality, etc., as…

An armed, swift Portuguese tender.

An East Indian boat for carrying merchandise and cattle.

An old character of advice boats once used in India.

An instrument employed for measuring the force of currents.

A small advice boat once common in Spain.

A block in which the sheave works on friction rollers--a circle of little brass revolving…

(See Part III.)

(See Log).

(See Pawl.)

An iron rim or scupper around the lower part of a capstan, or around the barrel of the…

A thick mat used to protect yards and rigging from chafe.

A short iron bar used to prevent a backward motion of the capstan or windlass.

To cover over anything with melted pitch, tar, etc., or to fill the seams of a vessel with…

To lay on a coat of tar, etc., with a mop or brush in order to preserve the wood and keep out…

An appointed officer who acts as clerk to the paymaster, keeping the latter's books and…

The paymaster's corps of the U. S. Navy consists of one paymaster-general with the relative…

When a vessel's head falls off from the wind she is said to pay off.

To let out more cable; to slack up a towing hawser and let it run out more; to give anything…

A rope used for guying out the clews of the square foresail when before the wind.

(See Palm.)

A coarse sand or fine gravel.

The upper after or outer corner of a gaffsail. (See A-peak.) Stay Peak. When the cable and…

The halliards on a fore-and-aft sail which hoist the out-board end of the gaff and straightens…

To have the mizzen yard perpendicular and alongside the mast.

An instrument for taking bearings, on the principles of the alidade. (See engraving.)

A length of rope with a block or thimble strapped or spliced into one end, the other end being…

A tackle hooked on to a pendant.

(See Clinometer.)

A long strip of bunting carried at the masthead.

The ship carrying the Commodore or Rear Admiral.

In astronomy that portion of the shadow in an eclipse which is not entirely deprived of light.

A pole driven into the bottom on a shoal as a warning to mariners.

Near the earth; the point in the orbit of a heavenly body (particularly the moon) which is…

Near the sun; the point in the orbit of a heavenly body which is nearest the sun--opposed to…

A line at right angles to the plane of the horizon.

Difference in judgment, as shown in measuring angles, etc., by different observers.

Same as Personal Equation.

Irregularities in motion of a heavenly body in its orbit.

A small cock placed in the barrel of a pump to ascertain if the pump is throwing water.

A Thames fishing boat named for St. Peter, the patron of fish ermen.

The haddock. It is so named, because the spots on the sides are said to be the marks of St.…

(See Uniform.)

Deserting the ship when she first gets alongside of a dock after coming into port is known as…

A sailor's name for a quadrant of reflection.

A name sometimes applied to the quadrant owing to its likeness to the yoke sometimes placed…

A pointed spar driven into the bottom, and projecting a number of feet above water.

A machine for hammering piles into the bottom.

A block of timber upon which the inner end of the bowsprit rests.

A shaft-bearing that is complete in itself and secured to the rest of the structure by bolts.

A person familiar with local dangers along the coast, who conducts vessels in and out of port.…

A fast sailing boat used by pilots in cruising for homeward bound vessels. The New York pilot…

(See Wheel House.)

In the daytime the jack, or other national color usually worn by merchant ships, having round…

Certain limits within which the law obliges a vessel to pay pilotage fees.

A pilot's fees.

To luff around a buoy or point of land when by holding the course the vessel would go to…

The metal axle passing through the sides of a block and upon which the sheave revolves.

An order given to the helmsman to shiver the sails a little when close-hauled.

A ship (obsolete) having a flat bottom and a very narrow stern with a high house built above…

A ship with a very narrow round stern; whence all vessels, however small, having their stern…

A high, narrow stern. Also a pointed stern like that of a lifeboat, peculiar to some small…

A larger boat than a cutter. It generally is pulled double banked.

A metal bolt by which a rudder hangs.

Straps of mixed metal, or of iron, fastened on the rudder, in the same manner as the braces on…

The boatswain's whistle or call.

The conclusion of quarters or drill, when the boatswain or his mates blow the call to signify…

A sailor term for weeping.

When the commanding officer of a man-o'-war or other official dignitaries enter or leave a…

(See Quarters.)

A robber; a freebooter of the seas.

The ship of a sea-robber; an unlawful plunderer. (See River Pirate.)

The circular disc in the bore of a steam cylinder which receives and transmits the pressure of…

The volume swept through by the piston in a single stroke, and is the area of the piston face…

The principal piece composing a piston.

Small metal rings closely fitted at the circumference of the piston between the flange and…

The rod which is attached at one end to the piston, passes out through the stuffing box in…

The rod connected with the cylinder, carriage and slide.

A small single or double piston which reciprocates in its cylinder past ports which are in the…

A substance obtained from the pine tree, and boiled down to such a consistency as to become…

Tar, boiled to a harder and more tenacious substance.

The distance between their centres.

The distance that any given point in the screw would move in the direction of the axis if…

The fore-and-aft motion of a vessel in a seaway; for a ship to bury her head in the seas.

The inclination or vibration of the ship lenghtwise about her centre of gravity; or the motion…

A gun that can be revolved horizontally and fired on either side of the ship.

The point on the celestial sphere to which a heavenly body is referred by the observer.…

The ports specified in a charter party at which the vessel is to touch.

The regular working sails of a vessel and not such as are set flying like stun' sails, balloon…

A level surface. In astronomy planes are ideal, passing through certain points of the…

A chart so constructed that the parallels and meridians are represented by straight lines…

Calculating the position of the ship on the supposition that the surface of the earth is a…

A rule used in navigation, on which are graduated chords, sines, tangents, secants, rhombs,…

An opaque celestial body which receives its light from the sun, and around which it revolves.…

An astronomical machine which exhibits the relative motion and position of the planets.…

A small planet.

A map of the stars.

Horizontal timbers laid fore-and-aft over the tops of the frame timbers which are even with…

(See Planks.)

Covering the outside of the timbers with plank sometimes quaintly called skinning, the plank…

Broad timbers of oak, pine, etc., from 1 1/2 to 8 inches thick, and used for planking a…

The pieces of plank laid horizontally over the timber-heads for the purpose of covering the…

To braid small stuff or rope is to plat it.

(See Chain Plates.)

A certain freedom of movement. A rudder plays in the rudder-port when the port is so large as…

A term applied to members of the fourth, or lowest, class at the Naval Academy.

A full tide.

A painted circle containing a horizontal line through the center. This figure is to be found…

Delineating; marking down; to trace on a chart the courses sailed by a ship, in order to…

A wedge of wood which fits into the plug-hole in the bottom of a boat. The plug is withdrawn…

The tray on which the breech plug travels in and out.

(See Duff.)

(See Ship Plumbing.)

(See Pillow Block.)

The cylindrical piece of equal diameter which, reciprocating in a pump cylinder through a…

A vessel is said to ply when she is working to windward.

A bight in the land on a lee shore.

As its name implies, a small sextant; of a peculiar pattern and of a size suitable for…

To taper the end of a rope. (See engraving.) One of the 32 divisions on the mariner's compass.

A certain place in the heavens; one of the 32 divisions of the compass card. Autumnal Point.…

The natural line of sight; the direction of a gun when leveled horizontally.

In a direct line with the object at which the gun is aimed. Point-blank Range. The distance at…

The two stars in the Dipper (Ursae Majoris) pointing to Polaris--the North Star.

(See Out Point.)

That point where, in a direct course, the centre of effort of all the sails should be found.

Pertaining to the pole.

The angle at the terrestrial pole formed by two meridians, and the angle at the celestial pole…

The two parallels of latitude situated 23 deg. 28 min. from the poles of the earth. The…

Rather less than 25,000 miles. (See Earth.)

The earth's polar diameter is 7,899.1 miles--the polar compression being about I-300 of the…

The complement of the declination; the angular distance from the elevated pole.

The admiralty chart of the Arctic regions, contained in Part I. of this volume, records the…

The Pole Star, so-called on account of its being near the north pole of the heavens. Also…

That part of the highest mast which is above the shoulder on which rests the eyes of the…

A lowermast and topmast in one piece.

(See Polaris.)

The extremities of the earth's axis. (See Magnetic Poles.)

A vessel peculiar to the Mediterranean. It is square-rigged, but has neither tops nor…

(See Deck.)

A vessel is pooped when a sea breaks over her stern.

When a vessel is scudding, and a sea follows so fast after the vessel as to fall on her poop…

A circular valve with a conical face and seat. It moves in the direction of its axis. There…

A name sometimes applied to the small pins set into the gunwale of a boat, between two of…

Those pieces (mostly fir) which are fixed perpendicularly between the ship's bottom and the…

An opening in a valve-seat leading to the interior of the cylinder, or to the exhaust passage.

The left-hand side of the vessel looking forward; at one time called larboard.

In gunnery, an opening in the side of a man-o-war through which a gun is fired.

Pieces of timber which secure the port shutters after they are closed.

The superintendent of a line of vessels.

Taxes levied upon vessels in the way of wharfage, tonnage money, light money, fee for health…

Holes in the sides of a vessel for guns; round glass windows in the vessel's sides for giving…

A harbor having a custom house.

A frame-work of glass to fit into the ports in pleasant weather at sea, or when at anchor, for…

The hinged covers for the port holes.

Pieces of timber bolted horizontally inside of and flush with the lower edge of the port for…

A square-rigged vessel is on the port tack when the port tacks of her courses are inboard, or…

An order to the helmsman to put the tiller toward the port side of the vessel.

An officer having guardianship over the shipping in a port, where he performs the duties of a…

(See Dock.)

A double hand-lamp carried by small boats when under way. It has two slides, showing a green…

An instrument constructed on the divided object-glass principle, and used in marine surveying.

A small telescope instrument used for the purpose of regulating chronometers on shore, for…

The yards are said to be a-portoise when they are resting on the rail.

A physalis; a compound found floating on the surface of the ocean, the lower or submerged part…

The latitude and longitude of a ship calculated by dead reckoning, cross-bearings, etc., or by…

The powders explained following are in use in the U. S. Navy. Brown Prismatic. A slow-burning…

A vessel designed for conveying powder, and may be distinguished by the red flag which she…

(See Magazine.)

A term applied to a boy who passes powder charges to the guns.

A copper case for containing powder.

Same as Powder Hoy.

A Holland lighter.

(See Drill Shell.)

A limited (generally two days) quarantine placed upon a newly-arrived vessel from an unhealthy…

The slow shifting of the equinoxes toward the west, the annual rate being 50 sec. This is…

A flag hoisted on the race committee's boat, or at some convenient place on shore, notifying…

The first gun fired. A notice from the race committee for the vessels to be prepared to cross…

A body of naval seamen who, commanded by an officer, impress men to serve on board men-of-war.…

All the sail that a ship can carry.

Figures showing the pressure sustained by the gun.

A rule sometimes made use of when working Sumner's method, so as to confine the ship to a…

A rope used as an additional support for a spar, as preventer braces, preventer backstays, etc.

A name given to extra ropes used as stays during storms at sea for the additional security of…

(See Preventer Backstays.)

A small marlinspike.

A gratuity originally given to the captain in compensation for his particular care of the…

(See Planets.)

To prepare a muzzle-loading gun for being fired by pricking the cartridge through the vent and…

First meridian; the starting point of longitude; the meridian from which longitude is reckoned…

The vertical circle perpendicular to the meridian, and which passes through the east and west…

An instrument for firing the cartridge in a gun. A Percussion Primer is made of a quill tube,…

(See Foaming.)

A steel wire used to prick the cartridge after it is rammed home in the gun.

The plane upon which projection are to be made; the surface to be drawn upon.

In spherical projections the plane upon which the different circles of the sphere are…

An azimuth compass fitted with a prism glass, so that the bearing of an object can be read…

A vessel fitted up for the safe keeping of prisoners of war.

One captured by the enemy and entitled to protection.

A captive who is not placed in irons or kept confined, but who is granted a certain amount of…

A vessel fitted out by private (hence the name) parties during a war to prey upon the commerce…

A vessel captured in warfare or for illegal work.

A court having jurisdiction to adjudicate and dispose of vessels captured from the enemy.

The freight of prizes.

The names of all the persons on board a vessel or vessels which has, or have, captured a…

The officer sent on board a prize for the purpose of navigating her to port.

The proceeds of the sale of vessels captured. The captures are sent to port and turned over to…

Where the sailing masters, officers and crews are professional seamen.

The Corps of Professors of Mathematics in the U. S. Navy consists of three with the relative…

A mass of metal discharged from a gun by the explosion of a charge of gunpowder or some high…

Delineations; maps; plans; representation.

(See Deck.)

Tho two, three, and four-bladed propelling wheels in the stern of some steam vessels revolved…

These logarithms are employed in lunar observation for finding the mean time at Greenwich…

A table for facilitating the process of interpolation in the employment of logarithms.

A modern man-o'-war built with not less than a four-inch steel protective deck. (See Partially…

(See Partially Protected Cruiser.)

A writing filed with the race committee or proper officials, charging another vessel with…

An instrument employed in plotting for laying off angles.

To furnish; to serve out.

A field where guns are tested.

An East Indian vessel. The edge of a vessel's cutwater.

A pad made of rope yarns, oakum, etc., to prevent chafing.

To row.

A small platform on the end of the bowsprit of sword-fishing vessels upon which the harpooner…

A machine for drawing water out of a vessel's hold by suction.

The machine, fitted in the wells of ships, to draw water out of the hold.

The handle of a pump.

The space in the upper part of the pump-box; also called the pump well.

Cisterns fixed over the heads of the pumps, to receive the water until it is conveyed through…

The iron rods which have the leather suckers on the lower ends, and which work in the upper…

(See Pump Chamber.)

Pipes fitted to the cisterns, to convey the water from them through the ship's sides.

A flat-bottomed boat used by fishermen.

A mechanical appliance to obtain an increase of power. A purchase is formed of ropes and…

An officer on board of a merchant ship who keeps the vessel's accounts, has charge of the…

To tack ship. To put to sea is to sail away from the land.