BORE. See the articleCannon.
BOTH SHEETS AFT,entre deux écoutes, the situation of a ship that sails right afore the wind, or with the wind right astern.
BOTTOM,carene, (botm, Sax.bodem, Belg.) as a sea-term, is either used to denote the bottom of a ship, or that of the water: thus in the former sense we say, a clean or a foul bottom; a British, French, or Dutch bottom: and in the latter sense, a rocky, sandy, or oozy bottom.
The bottom of a ship, as we have described in the articleNavalArchitecture, comprehends all that part which is under water when the ship is laden; the figure of it must therefore be determined by the qualities required in the ship, and the purposes for which the is designed.
It has been remarked, that a ship of war should carry her lowest tier of cannon sufficiently above the surface of the water to be used when necessary. If this quality is neglected, a small ship will have the advantage of a large one, inasmuch as the latter cannot open her lower battery in a fresh side-wind, without being exposed to extreme danger, by receiving a great quantity of water in at her ports between-decks.
A ship should be duly poised, so as not to dive or pitch heavily, but go smoothly and easily through the water, rising to the waves when they run high, or when the vessel has reduced her sail to the storm. If she is deficient in this article, the seas will frequently burst aboard, and strain the decks or carry away the boats. The masts are also greatly endangered from the same cause.
A ship should sail well when large, or before the wind; but particularly whenclose-hauled, or sailing with a side-wind. She should also be enabled in the latter situation to keep her wind, without deviating much to leeward; to work and tack easily, and lie in a turbulent sea without straining violently.
Many of our shipwrights have considered it extremely difficult, if not impracticable, to make a ship carry her cannon well, bear a competent sail, and advance swiftly through the water; because a very full bottom is necessary to acquire the two first qualities; whereas a sharp floor is better fitted to procure the latter. But when it is remembered, that a full ship will carry a much greater force of sail than a sharp one, a good artist may form the body so as to unite all these three qualities with the additional one of steering easily, by paying a proper attention to the following general rules.
To make a ship carry a good sail. A flat floor-timber somewhat long, or the lower-futtocks pretty round, a streight upper-futtock, the top-timber to throw out the breadth aloft; at any rate to carry the main-breadth as high as the lower-deck. Now if the rigging be well adapted to such a body, and the upper-works lightened as much as possible, so that the whole contributes to lower the center of gravity, there will be no reason to doubt of the ship’s carrying a good sail.
To make a ship steer well, and answer the helm readily. If the fashion-pieces be well formed, the tuck, or spreading-parts under the stern, carried pretty high; the midship-frame well forward; a considerable additional depth in the draught of water abaft more than forward; a great rake forward and none abaft; a snug quarter-deck and forecastle: all these will greatly facilitate the steerage; and a ship that sails well will always steer easily.
To make a ship carry her guns well out of the water. A long floor-timber, and not of great rising; a very full midship-frame, and low tuck, with light upper-works.
To make a ship go smoothly through the water, and prevent her from pitching heavily. A long keel, a long floor, not to rise too high afore and abaft; but the area, or space contained in the fore-body, according to the respective weight it is destined to carry: all these are necessary to make a ship pass easily through the sea.
To make a ship keep a good wind and drive little to leeward. A good length by the keel; not too broad, but pretty deep in the hold, which will occasion her to have a short floor-timber and a very great rising. As such a ship will meet with great resistance in driving sideways, and feel very little, in advancing or going ahead, she will fall very little to leeward.
Being thus furnished with the methods to qualify a ship for the different purposes of navigation, the only difficulty remains to apply them properly in the construction, which must, in a great measure, be left to the judgment of the artist. The whole art then is evidently to form the body in such a manner, as that none of these qualities shall be entirely destroyed; and in giving the preference to that which is principally required in the service for which the ship is destined. As it therefore appears possible to unite them all in one vessel so that each of them may be easily discerned, a neglect of this circumstance ought to be attributed to the incapacity of the shipwright, who has not studied the principles of his art with proper application. SeeNavalArchitecture,Building, andShip.
BOTTOMRY,bomerie, (frombottom) a contract for borrowing money on the keel or bottom of a ship; so that the commander binds the ship herself, that if the money be not paid at the time appointed, the creditors shall have the ship.
Bottomryis also where a person lends money to a merchant or adventurer who wants it in traffic, and the lender is to be paid a much greater sum at the return of the ship, standing to the hazard of the voyage. Although the interest on this account be greater than the law commonly allows, it is yet not esteemed usury; because the money being supplied at the lenders risk, if the ship perishes, he shares in the loss thereof.
BOW,epaule, in ship-building, the rounding part of a ship’s side forward, beginning at the place where the planks arch inwards, and terminated where they close at the stem or prow. See the article Head, where the bow of a ship is represented at large. It is proved by a variety of experiments, that a ship with a narrow bow is much better calculated for sailing swiftly, than one with a broad bow; but is not so well fitted for a high sea, into which she alwayspitches, or plunges, her fore-part very deep, for want of sufficient breadth to repel the volume of water, which she so easily divides in her fall. The former of these is called by seamen alean, and the latter abluffbow.
“The bow which meets with the least resistance in a direct course, not only meets with the least resistance in oblique courses, but also has the additional property of driving the least to leeward; which is a double advantage gained by forming the bow so as to give it that figure which will be the least opposed in moving through any medium.”Bouguer’s Traité du Navire.
On theBow, in navigation, an arch of the horizon, comprehended between some distant object, and that point of the compass which is right-ahead, or to which the ship’s stem is directed. This phrase is equally applicable, when the object is beheld from the ship, or discovered by trigonometrical calculation: as, we saw a fleet at day-break bearing three pointson the starboard bow; that is, three points, from that part of the horizon which is right ahead, towards the right hand. See also the articleBearing.
BOWER. See the articleAnchor.
BOWLINE,bouline, a rope fastened near the middle of the leech, or perpendicular edge of the square sails, by three or four subordinate parts, called bridles. It is only used when the wind is so unfavourable that the sails must be all braced sideways, orclose-hauledto the wind: in this situation the bowlines are employed to keep the weather, or windward, edges of the principal sails tight forward and steddy, without which they would be always shivering, and rendered incapable of service. See the articlesBridle,Close-hauling, andSail.
To check theBowline, is to slacken it, when the wind becomes large.
ToBOWSE,palanquer, to draw on any body with a tackle, or complication of pullies, in order to remove it, or otherwise alter its state or situation: this is chiefly practised when such alteration or removal cannot be conveniently effected without the application of mechanical powers. This term is pronouncedbowce.
BOWSPRIT,beaupré, (frombowandsprit) a large boom or mast, which projects over the stem, to carry sail forward, in order to govern the fore part of a ship, and counter-act the force of the sails extended behind, or, in theafterpart. It is otherways of great use, as being the principal support of the fore-mast, by confining thestayswhereby it is secured, and enabled to carry sail: these are great ropes stretching from the mast-head to the middle of the bowsprit, where they are drawn tight. See the articlesStayandDead-eye.
BOXESof the pump. See the articlePump.
BOX-HAULING, in navigation, a particular method of veering a ship, when the swell of the sea renders tacking impracticable. It is performed by putting the helma-lee, to throw the head up to windward, where meeting with great resistance from the repeated shocks of the waves on the weather bow, itfalls off, or turns to leeward, with a quicker effort, and without advancing. The aftermost sails are at this time diminished, or perhaps altogether deprived of their force of action, for a short time, because they would otherwise counteract the sails forward, and prevent the ship from turning. They are, however, extended as soon as the ship, in veering, brings the wind on the opposite quarter, as their effort then contributes to assist her motion of wheeling.
Box-haulingis generally performed when the ship is too near the shore to have room for veering in the usual way. SeeVeering.
BOXING, an operation in sailing somewhat similar to box-hauling. It is performed by laying the head-sails, or the sails in the fore-part of the ship, aback, to receive the greatest force of the wind in a line perpendicular to their surfaces, in order to throw the ship’s head back into the line of her course, after she had inclined to windward of it by neglect of the helmsman, or otherwise.
BRACE,bras, a rope employed to wheel, or traverse the sails upon the mast, in a direction parallel to the horizon, when it is necessary to shift the sails that they may correspond with the direction of the wind and the course of the ship. Braces are, for this purpose, fastened to the extremities of the yards, which are called theyard-arms.
All the braces of the yards are double, except those of the top-gallant, and spritsail-topsail yards. The mizen-yard is furnished withfangs, or vangs, in the room of braces. See the articleMizen.
BRACKETS,consoles, short crooked timbers resembling knees. They are fixed under the galleries and frame of a ship’s head, to support the gratings.
BRAILS,cargues, (breuils, Fr.) certain ropes passing through pullies on the mizen-mast, and afterwards fastened, in different places, on the hinder, or aftmost ridge of the sail, in order to truss it up to the mast, as occasion requires. SeeMizen.
Brails, is likewise a general name given to all the ropes which are employed tohaul up, or collect to their yards, the bottoms, lower corners, and skirts of the other great sails, for the more readyfurlingthem whenever it is necessary. The operation of thus drawing them together, is called brailing them up, or hauling them up in the brails. See the articleSail.
BRAKE,brimbale, the handle, or lever, by which a common ship-pump is usually managed. It operates by means of two iron bolts thrust through the inner end of it; one of which resting across two cheeks or ears, in the upper-end of the pump, serves as a fulcrum for the brake, supporting it between the cheeks. The other bolt connects the extremity of the brake to the pump-spear, which draws up theboxor piston, charged with the water in the tube. See the articlePump.
BREADTH,largeur, the measure of a ship from side to side in any particular place: it is usually distinguished into extreme-breadth,ligne du fort, main-breadth, and top-timber-breadth. See the explanation of the plane of projection, in the articleNavalArchitecture.
As the sides of the ship are formed by a variety of ribs, called timbers, and the areas of those timbers being of different breadths above and below, it is necessary to distinguish them in the construction, in order to form their several curves, and fix the corresponding pieces with more accuracy and precision. The part of every timber which encloses the greatest space from the middle-line of the ship’s length, is therefore called themain-breadth; and the distance between the upper-part of the same timber and the middle-line of the ship’s length, is called the top-timber-breadth.
As the ship is also broader at the midship-frame than in any other point of her length, the distance between her sides in the main-breadth of that timber, is called the extreme-breadth of the ship.
Breadth-sweep, the radius of the arch which forms part of the curve of a ship’s timber; as explained in the horizontal plane. SeeNavalArchitecture.
BREAKERS,brisans, a name given by sailors to those billows that break violently over rocks lying under the surface of the sea. They are distinguished both by their appearance and sound, as they cover that part of the sea with a perpetual foam, and produce a hoarse and terrible roaring, very different from what the waves usually have in a deeper bottom.
When a ship is unhappily driven amongst breakers, it is hardly possible to save her, as every billow that heaves her upwards, serves to dash her down with additional force, when it breaks over the rocks or sands beneath it.
BREAKING-BULK, the act of beginning to unlade a ship; or of discharging the first part of the cargo.
ToBREAK-UP,déchirer, to rip off the planks of a ship, and take her to pieces, when she becomes old and unserviceable.
BREAK-WATER, the hulk, or hull, of some old ship or vessel, sunk at the entrance of a small harbour, to break off, and diminish the force of the waves, as they advance towards the vessels moored within.
Break-wateris also a sort of small buoy, fastened to a large one in the water, when the buoy-rope of the latter is not long enough to reach from the anchor, lying on the bottom, to the surface of the water. The use of this break-water is therefore to shew where the buoy swims. SeeBuoy.
ToBREAM,chauffer(frombroom) to burn off the filth, such as grass, ooze, shells, or sea-weed, from a ship’s bottom, that has gathered to it in a voyage, or by lying long in a harbour. This operation is performed by holding kindled furze, faggots, or such materials, to the bottom, so that the flame incorporating with the pitch, sulphur, &c. that had formerly covered it, immediately loosens and throws off whatever filth may have adhered to the planks. After this, the bottom is covered anew with a composition of sulphur, tallow, &c. which not only makes it smooth and slippery, so as to divide the fluid more readily, but also poisons and destroys those worms which eat through the planks in the course of a voyage. Breaming may be performed either when the ship lies aground after the tide has ebbed from her, bydocking, or bycareening, which see; as alsoCoatandStuff.
BREAST-FAST, a sort of hawser, or large rope, employed to confine a ship sideways to a wharf or key, or to some other ship; as the head-fast confines her forward, and the stern-fast, abaft.
BREAST-HOOKS,guirlandes, (frombreastandhook) are thick pieces of timber, incurvated into the form of knees, and used to strengthen the fore-part of the ship, where they are placed at different heights directly across the stem, so as to unite it with the bows on each side.
The breast-hooks are strongly connected to the stem and hawse-pieces by tree-nails, and by bolts, driven from without, through the planks and hawse-pieces, and the whole thickness of the breast-hooks, upon whose inside those bolts are forelocked, or clinched, upon rings. They are usually about one third thicker, and twice as long, as the knees of the decks which they support.
There are generally four or five of these pieces in the hold between the kelson and the lower-deck, in the form of R, (plateI.Piecesof theHull), upon the uppermost of which the planks of that deck are rabitted. There are two placed between the lower and the second decks, in the form of S, (plateI.), one of which is immediately beneath the hawse-holes, and the other under the second deck, whose planks are inlaid thereon, and upon which the inner-end of the bowsprit frequently rests.
The fore-side of the breast-hook, which is convex, is formed so as to correspond with the place in which it is stationed, that is to say, it conforms exactly to the interior figure of that part of the bow where it ought to be fayed: accordingly the branches, or arms, of the breast-hooks, make a greater angle as they are more elevated above the keel, whilst the lower ones are more incurvated, and are almost figured like the crotches.
As it is not necessary that the inner, or concave side of these pieces, should retain a regular form, the artificers frequently let them remain as thick as possible, to give additional support to the ship’s fore-part, where she sustains the whole shock of resistance in dividing the fluid, or in plunging down into it.
It is evident that the connexion and solidity of the ship in this place will be reinforced in proportion to the strength and extent of the breast-hooks, so that they may cover a greater number of the head-timbers.
BREAST-WORK,fronteau, a sort of balustrade or fence, composed of rails or mouldings, and frequently decorated with sculpture. It is used to terminate the quarter-deck and poop at the fore-ends, and to inclose the forecastle both before and behind.
BREECHING,brague, (frombreech) a rope used to secure the cannon of a ship of war, and prevent them from recoiling too much in the time of battle.
It is fixed by fastening the middle of it to the hindmost knob or cascabel of the gun, which sailors call the pomiglion, or pummelion; the two ends of it are afterwards inserted through two strong rings on the sides of the carriage, and fastened to other bolts in the ship’s sides.
The breeching is of sufficient length to let the muzzle of the cannon come within the ship’s side to be charged.
The use of the breeching, as it checks the recoil of the cannon, is shewn in plateIII.Deck, where it is expressed by e e, passing through the ring-bolts, f, on the side of the carriage, g, being fastened to the cascabel, h. It is also exhibited in theMidship-Frame, where it is employed to lash the cannon when it ishousedduring the course of a voyage. See the articleCannon.
BREWING, the appearance of a collection of black and tempestuous clouds arising gradually from a particular part of the hemisphere, as the fore-runner of a storm.
BRIDLES, the upper-part of the moorings laid in the king’s harbours to ride ships or vessels of war. See the articleMoorings.
Bridlesof the bowline,pattes, the legs by which the bowline is fastened to different places on the edge or skirt of a large sail.
We have already explained the use of thebowline; that it is employed to confine or keep steddy the windward or weather edges of the principal sails when they are braced for a side-wind. For as the current of air enters the cavity of the sail in a direction nearly parallel to its surface, it follows that the ridge of the sail must necessarily be shaken by the wind, unless it is kept tight forward; but as a single rope has not been found sufficient to confine the whole skirt of the sail, inasmuch as it only draws upon one part thereof, it became necessary to apply bridles or legs spreading out from the bowline. They are represented in the figures annexed to the articleSail.
BRIG, orBrigantine, a merchant-ship with two masts. This term is not universally confined to vessels of a particular construction, or which are masted and rigged in a method different from all others. It is variously applied, by the mariners of different European nations, to a peculiar sort of vessel of their own marine.
Amongst English seamen, this vessel is distinguished by having her main-sail set nearly in the plane of her keel; whereas the main-sails of larger ships are hung athwart, or at right angles with the ship’s length, and fastened to a yard which hangs parallel to the deck: but in a brig, the foremost edge of the main-sail is fastened in different places to hoops which encircle the main-mast, and slide up and down it as the sail is hoisted or lowered: it is extended by agaffabove, and by a boom below.
ToBRINGby the lee. SeeToBroach-to.
ToBRING-TO, in navigation,caposer, to check the course of a ship when she is advancing, by arranging the sails in such a manner as that they shall counter-act each other, and prevent her either from retreating or moving forward. In this situation the ship is said to lie-by, or lie-to, having, according to the sea-phrase, some of her sailsaback, to oppose the force of those which arefull; or having them otherwise shortened by beingfurled, orhauled up in the brails.
Bringing-to, is generally used to detain a ship in any particular station, in order to wait the approach of some other that may be advancing towards her: or to retard her course occasionally near any port in the course of a voyage.
ToBring-up, a provincial phrase peculiar to the seamen in the coal-trade, signifying to anchor, &c.
ToBROACH-TO, in navigation, to incline suddenly to windward of the ship’s course when she sails with a large wind; or, when she sails directly before the wind, to deviate from the line of her course, either to the right or left, with such rapidity as to bring the ship’s side unexpectedly to windward, and expose her to the danger of oversetting.
It is easy to conceive that a ship will carry much more sail before the wind than when she makes a progress with her side to its direction; because when the current of wind acts nearly endways on her hull, the pressure of it on the masts must be considerably diminished as she yields to its impulse and flies before it; and that if she carries a great sail at this time, it can only press her fore-part lower down in the water. But if, when she carries a great extension of sail, her side is suddenly brought to the wind, it may be attended with the most fatal consequences, as the whole force of it then pours like a torrent into the cavities of the sails. The masts therefore unavoidably yield to this strong impression, acting like levers on the ship sideways, so as nearly to overturn her, unless she is relieved by some other event, which may be also extremely pernicious, such as the sails rending to pieces, or the masts being carried away.
It is generally occasioned by the difficulty of steering the ship; by the negligence or incapacity of the helmsman; or by some disaster happening to the helm or its machinery, which renders it incapable of governing the ship’s course.
The difference between broaching-to and bringingby the lee, may be thus defined. Suppose a ship with a great sail set is steering south, having the wind N.N.W. then is west theweather, and east thelee-side.
If by some deficiency in the steerage her head turns round to the westward, so as that her sails are all taken aback on the weather-side before she can be made to return to the course from which she has deviated, she is said tobroach-to.
If otherwise her head, from the same cause, has declined so far eastward as to lay her sails aback on that side which was the lee-side, it is called bringing her by the lee.
BROADSIDE,bordee, in a naval engagement, the whole discharge of the artillery on one side of a ship of war above and below; as,
We poured a broadside into the enemy’s ship, i. e. discharged all the ship’s cannon on one side upon her.
She brought her broadside to bear on the castle; that is, disposed the ship so as to point all her cannon to it within point-blank range.
A squall of wind laid the ship on her broadside; that is, pressed her down in the water, so as nearly to overturn her.
BROKEN-BACKED,arcqué, the state or quality of a ship, which is so loosened in her frame, either by age, weakness, or some great strain, as to droop at each end.
This circumstance is more common amongst French than the English or Dutch ships, owing partly to their great length, and to the sharpness of the floor, whose breadth is not sufficiently carried from the middle towards each end; and partly from being frequently obliged to have a great weight in both ends, when they are empty in the middle, at the time of discharging one cargo and taking in another. SeeCambering.
BUCCANEER, a name given to certain piratical rovers of various European nations, who formerly infested the Spanish coasts in America, and, under pretence of traffic with the inhabitants, frequently seized their treasure, plundered their houses, and committed many other depredations.
Ship-BUILDING may be defined the manner of constructing ships, or the work itself, as distinguished from naval architecture, which we have rather considered as the theory or art of delineating ships on a plane, and to which this article may properly be understood as a supplement.
The pieces by which this complicated machine is framed, are joined together in various places, by scarfing, rabitting, tenanting, and scoring. See those articles.
During the construction of a ship, she is supported in the dock, or upon a wharf, by a number of solid blocks of timber placed at equal distances from, and parallel to, each other, as may be seen in the articleLanching; she is then said to be on the stocks.
The first piece of timber laid upon the blocks is generally the keel; I saygenerally, because, of late, a different method has been adopted in some of the royal dock-yards, by beginning with the floor-timbers; the artists having found that the keel is often apt to rot during the long period of building a large ship of war. The pieces of the keel, as exhibited in plateI. are scarfed together, and bolted, forming one entire piece, A A. which constitutes the length of the vessel below. At one extremity of the keel is erected thestem. It is a strong piece of timber incurvated nearly into a circular arch, or, according to the technical term,compassing, so as to project outwards at the upper-end, forming what is called therakeforward. In small vessels this is framed of one piece, but in large ships it is composed of several pieces scarfed and bolted together, as expressed in the explanation of plateI.Piecesof theHull, and in those terms separately. At the other extremity of the keel, is elevated the stern-post, which is always of one entire strait piece. The heel of it is let into a mortise in the keel, and having its upper-end to hang outwards, making an obtuse angle with the keel, like that of the stem: this projection is called therakeabaft. The stern-post, which ought to support the stern, contains the iron-work or hinges of the rudder, which are calledgoogings, and unites the lower-part of the ship’s sides abaft. See the connexion of those pieces in theElevation, pl. I.
Towards the upper-end of the stern-post, and at right angles with its length, is fixed the middle of thewing-transom, where it is firmly bolted. Under this is placed another piece parallel thereto, and called the deck-transom, upon which the after-end of the lower-deck is supported. Parallel to the deck-transom, and at a proper distance under it, another piece is fixed to the stern-post, called the first transom, all of which serve to connect the stern-post to thefashion pieces. Two more transoms, called the second and third, are also placed under these, being likewise attached to the fashion pieces, into which the extremities of all the transoms are let, as exhibited in plateX. fig. 1. The fashion-pieces are formed like the other timbers of the ship, and have their heels resting on the upper-part of the kelson, at the after extremity of the floor ribbands.
All these pieces, viz. the transoms, the fashion-pieces, and their top-timbers, being strongly united into one frame, are elevated upon the stern-post, and the whole forms the structure of the stern, upon which the galleries and windows, with their ornaments, are afterwards built,
The stem and stern-post being thus elevated upon the keel, to which they are securely connected by knees and arched pieces of timber bolted to both; and the keel being raised at its two extremities by pieces of dead-wood, the midshipfloor-timberis placed across the keel, whereto it is bolted through the middle. The floor-timbers before and abaft the midship-frame are then stationed in their proper places upon the keel; after which thekelson, which, like the keel, is composed of several pieces scarfed together, is fixed across the middle of the floor-timbers, to which it is attached by bolts driven through the keel, and clinched on the upper-part of the kelson. The futtocks are then raised upon the floor-timbers, and thehawse-pieceserected upon the cant-timbers in the fore-part of the ship. The top-timbers on each side are next attached to the head of the futtocks, as already explained in the articlenavalArchitecture. The frames of the principal timbers being thus completed, are supported by ribbands, as exhibited in the plate referred to from the articleRibbands.
The ribs of the ship being now stationed, they proceed to fix on the planks, of which the wales are the principal, being much thicker and stronger than the rest; as is represented in theMidship-Frame. The harpins, which may be considered as a continuation of the wales at their fore-ends, are fixed across the hawse-pieces, and surround the fore-part of the ship. The planks that inclose the ship’s sides are then brought about the timbers, and theclamps, which are of equal thickness with the wales, fixed opposite to the wales within the ship; these are used to support the ends of the beams, and accordingly stretch from one end of the ship to the other. Thethick stuff, or strong planks of the bottom within-board, are then placed opposite to the several scarfs of the timbers, to reinforce them throughout the ship’s length. The planks employed to line the ship, called theceiling, orfoot-waling, is next fixed in the intervals between the thick-stuff of the hold. Thebeamsare afterwards laid across the ship to support the decks, and are connected to the side by lodging and hanging knees; the former of which are exhibited in their proper stations in plateIII. F. and the hanging ones, together with the breadth, thickness, and position of the keel, floor-timbers, futtocks, top timbers, wales, clamps, thick-stuff, planks within and without, beams, decks, &c. are seen in theMidship-Frame.
The cable-bits being next erected, thecarlingsandledges, which are represented in plateIII. and described in their proper places, are disposed between the beams to strengthen the deck. Thewater-waysare then laid on the ends of the beams throughout the ship’s length, and the spirketting fixed close above them. The upper-deck is then planked, and thestringplaced under thegunnelorplansheerin the waist. The disposition of those latter pieces on the timbers, viz. the water-ways, spirketting, upper-deck, string, and gunnel, are also represented in theMidship-Frame.
They proceed next to plank the quarter-deck and forecastle, and to fix thepartnersof the masts and capsterns with thecoamingsof the hatches. Thebreast-hooksare then bolted across the stem and bow within-board, thestepof the fore-mast placed on the kelson; and theriders, exhibited in theMidship-Frame, fayed on the inside of the timbers to reinforce the sides in different places of the ship’s length. Thepointers, if any, are afterwards fixed across the hold diagonally to support the beams; and thecrotchesstationed in the after-hold to unite the half-timbers. Thestepsof the main-mast and capsterns are next placed; the planks of the lower-decks and orlop laid; thenavel hoodsfayed on the hawse-holes; and theknee of the head, or cutwater, connected to the stem. The figure of the head is then erected, and thetrail-boardand cheeks fixed on the sides of the knee.
Thetaffarelandquarter pieces, which terminate the ship abaft, the former above, and the latter on each side, are then disposed; and the stern and quarter galleries framed and supported by their brackets. Thepumps, with their well, are next fixed in the hold; thelimber-boardslaid on each side of the kelson, and thegarboardstrake fixed on the ship’s bottom next to the keel without.
The hull being thus fabricated, they proceed to separate the apartments bybulk-heads, or partitions; to frame theport-lids; to fix thecatheadsandchess-trees; to form thehatchwaysandscuttles, and fit them with proper covers orgratings. They next fix the ladders whereby to mount or descend the different hatchways, and build themangeron the lower deck, to carry off the water that runs in at the hawse-holes when the ship rides at anchor in a sea. The bread-room and magazines are then lined, and thegunnel,rails, andgangways, fixed on the upper part of the ship. Thecleats,kevels, andranges, by which the ropes are. fastened, are afterwards bolted or nailed to the sides. in different places.
Therudder, being fitted with its irons, is next hung to the stern-post; and thetiller, or bar, by which it is managed, let into a mortise at its upper-end. Thescuppers, or leaden tubes, that carry the water off from the decks, are then placed in holes cut through the ship’s sides; and thestandards, represented in theMidship-Frame, bolted to the beams and sides above the decks to which they belong. The poop-lanthorns are last fixed upon their cranes over the stern, and the bilge-ways, or cradles, placed under the bottom, to conduct the ship steadily into the water whilst lanching.
As the various pieces, which have been mentioned above, are explained at large in their proper places, with references to their figures according to the plan of this work, it would have been superfluous to have entered into a more particular description of them here. It is perhaps necessary to observe, that as the theory ought always to precede the practice, this article would probably be much better understood by previously reading that ofNavalArchitecture, which may be considered as a proper introduction to it.
BUILT,fabrique, the particular form or structure of a ship, by which she is distinguished from others of a different class or nation. Thus a ship is said to be frigate-built, galley-built, a hag-boat, a pink, a cat, &c. or to be English-built, French-built, American-built, &c.
BULK-HEADS, certain partitions, or walls, built up in several places of a ship between two decks, either lengthwise or across, to form and separate the various apartments. Some of those which are built across the ship are remarkably strong. See the articleClose-Quarters.
BULL’S-EYE,cosse. a sort of small pulley in the form of a ring, having a rope spliced round the outer edge of it, (which is hollowed to admit of the rope) and a large hole in the middle for another rope to slide in. It is seldom used but for the main and fore bowline-bridles of some ships, particularly the colliers of Northumberland, &c. It is spliced in the outer-end of the bowline, and sliding along the bridle, to rest in the most apposite place, draws it tight above and below. This implement is more frequently used by Dutch than English seamen.
BUMKIN, orBoomkin,boute-lof, a short boom or bar of timber, projecting from eachbowof a ship, to extend the lower-edge of the fore-sail to windward; for which purpose there is a large block fixed on its outer end, through which the rope is passed that is fastened to the lower-corner of the sail to windward, called thetack; and this being drawn tight down, brings the corner of the sail close to the block, which being performed, thetackis said to beaboard.
The bumkin is secured by a strong rope which confines it downward to the ship’s bow, to counter-act the strain it bears from the fore-sail above, dragging it upwards.
BUNT, the middle part, or cavity of the principal square sails, as the main-sail, fore-sail, top-sails, and top-gallant-sails. If one of those sails is supposed to be divided into four equal parts, from one side to the other, then may the two middle divisions, which comprehend half of the sail, be properly called the limits of the bunt.
BUNTINE,etamine, a thin woollen stuff, of which the colours and signals of a ship are usually formed.
BUNTLINES,cargues fond, are ropes fastened to the bottoms of the square sails, to draw them up to the yards: they are inserted through certain blocks above, or on the upper-part of the yard, whence passing down-wards on the fore-part of the sail, they are fastened below to the lower-edge in several places of thebolt-rope.
BUOY, (bouée, Fr.) a sort of close cask, or block of wood, fastened by a rope to the anchor, to determine the place where the anchor is situated, that the ship may not come too near it, to entangle her cable about the stock, or the flukes of it.
Buoysare of various kinds; as,
Can-Buoys; these are in the form of a cone, (see plateII. fig. 8.) and of this construction are all the buoys which are floated over dangerous banks and shallows, as a warning to passing ships, that they may avoid them. They are extremely large, that they may be seen at a distance, and are fastened by strong chains to the anchors which are sunk for this purpose at such places.
Nun-Buoys, are shaped like the middle frustum of two cones, abutting upon one common base, (plateII. fig. 9.) being casks, which are large in the middle, and tapering, nearly to a point, at each end.
WoodenBuoys, are solid pieces of timber, sometimes in the shape of a cylinder, and sometimes of a nun-buoy; they are furnished with one or two holes, in which to fix a short piece of rope, whose two ends being spliced together make a sort of circle or ring called the strop.
Cable-Buoys, common casks employed to buoy up the cable in different places from any rocky ground. In the harbour of Alexandria, in Egypt, every ship is moored with at least three cables, and has three or four of these buoys on each cable for this purpose.
BUOY-ROPE, the rope which fastens the buoy to the anchor: it should be little more than equal in length to the depth of the water where the anchor lies, as it is intended to float near, or immediately above the bed of it, that the pilot may at all times know the situation thereof. See plateI. fig. 6. b is the anchor, c the buoy-rope, and d the buoy floating on the surface of the water.
TheBuoy-Ropeis often extremely useful otherways, in drawing up the anchor when the cable is broke. It should therefore be always of sufficient strength for this purpose, or else the anchor may be lost through negligence.
Slings of theBuoy, the ropes which are fastened about it, and by which it is hung: they are curiously spliced round it, something resembling the braces of a drum.
To stream theBuoy, is to let it fall from the ship’s side into the water, which is always done before they let go the anchor, that it may not be retarded by the buoy-rope as it sinks to the bottom.
BURTHEN, orBurden,port, (byrthen, Sax.) the weight or measure of any species of merchandize that a ship will carry when fit for sea.
To determine the burthen, or, in other words, the tonnage, of a ship, it is usual to multiply the length of the keel into the extreme breadth of the ship within-board, taken along the midship-beam, and multiply the product by the depth in theholdfrom the plank joining to thekelsonupwards, to the main-deck, and divide the last product by 94, then will the quotient be the burden required, in tons.
BURTON,bredindin, a sort of small tackle, formed by two blocks or pullies, till the rope becomes three or four fold, and acquires an additional power in proportion.
It is generally employed to tighten the shrouds of the top-masts, but may be otherways used to move or draw along any weighty body in thehold, or on thedeck, as anchors, bales of goods, large casks, &c.
BUSS,buche, (busse, Germ.) a ship of two masts, used by the English and Dutch in their herring fisheries. It is generally from fifty to seventy tons burthen; being furnished with two small sheds or cabins, one at the prow and the other at the stern; the former of which is employed as a kitchen.
BUTT,about, the end of any plank in a ship’s side which unites with the end of another, continuing its length: when a plank is loosened at the end by the ship’s weakness or labouring, she is said to have started or sprung a butt.
BUTTOCK, the convexity of a ship behind, under the stern; it is terminated by the counter above, and by the after part of the bilge below, by the rudder in the middle, and by the quarter on the side.
BUTTONS. See the articleBonnet.
CABIN,cabane, a room or apartment in a ship where any of the officers usually reside.
There are many of these in a large ship; the principal of which is designed for the captain, or commander. In ships of the line, this chamber is furnished with an open gallery in the ships stern, as also a little gallery on each quarter. The apartments where the inferior officers or common sailors sleep and mess, are usually called births; which see.
The bed-places built up for the sailors at the ships side in merchantmen, are also called cabins.
CABLE, (cable, Fr.) a large, strong rope of a considerable length, used to retain a ship at anchor in a road, bay, or haven.
Cables are of various sorts and sizes. In Europe they are usually manufactured of hemp; in Africa they are more frequently composed of bass, which is a sort of long straw or rushes; and in Asia of a peculiar sort of Indian grass.
Cables, of what thickness soever, are generally formed of three ropes twisted together, which are then calledstrands: each of these is composed of three smaller strands; and those last of a certain number of rope-yarns. This number is therefore greater or smaller in proportion to the size of the cable required.
There are some cables, however, manufactured of four strands; which are chiefly the production of Italy and Provence.
All ships ought to be furnished with at least three good cables; thesheetcable, and the twobowers; best and small.
All cables ought to be one hundred and twenty fathoms in length; for which purpose the threads or yarns must be one hundred and eighty fathoms; inasmuch as they are diminished one third in length by twisting. Besides this length, it is necessary to splice at least two cables together, in order to double the length when a ship is obliged to anchor in deep water. For although it is not common to anchor in a greater depth than forty fathoms, yet if there is only one cable, and the ship rides in a storm and tempestuous sea, the anchor will of necessity sustain the whole weight and violent jerking of the ship, in a direction too nearly perpendicular. By this effort it will unavoidably be loosened from its hold, and dragged by the ship, which thus driven from her station, is in immediate danger of being wrecked on the nearest rocks or shallows; whereas it is evident, that if the cable, by its great length, were to draw more horizontally on the anchor, it would bear a much greater force. SeeAnchor.
The long cable is not so apt to break as the short one; because it will bear a great deal more stretching before it comes to the greatest strain: it therefore resembles a sort of spring, which may be very easily extended, and afterwards recovers its first state, as soon as the force which extended it is removed. Besides all this, a ship will ride much smoother with a long cable, and be less apt topitch, or plunge deep in the water with her fore-part.
On the contrary, the short cable, being too nearly vertical to the anchor, cannot bear such a strain, because it is charged with a greater effort; and, as it will not bear stretching, may break at the first violent tug. The ship also rides with much greater difficulty, labours extremely, and often plunges all her fore-part under water.
By what has been said on this subject, we may see how very necessary it is to furnish a ship with sufficiency of cables, or what is called ground-tackle; and what an inconsiderate policy it is in merchants to expose their vessels to such evident dangers from the want of them. For we may venture to assert, without violation of truth, that many good ships have been lost only on account of a deficiency in this important article.
A cable ought neither to be twisted too much or too little; as in the former state it will be extremely stiff, and difficult to manage; and in the latter, it will be considerably diminished in its strength.
All cables are to each other as the cubes of their diameters.
The number of threads also, of which each cable is composed, being always proportioned to its length and thickness, the weight and value of it are determined by this number. Thus a cable of ten inches in circumference, ought to consist of four hundred and eighty-five threads; and weigh one thousand nine hundred and forty pounds: and on this foundation is calculated the following table, very useful for all persons engaged in marine commerce, who equip merchant-ships on their own account, or freight them for the account of others.
Stream-Cable, a hauser, or rope, something smaller than the bowers, and used to moor the ship in a river or haven, sheltered from the wind and sea, &c.
To bit theCable. See the articleBits.
To serve theCable, is to bind it round with ropes, leather, or other materials, to prevent it from being galled, or fretted in the hawse by friction.
Heave in theCable! the order to draw it into the ship by winding about the capstern or windlass.
Pay away theCable! slacken it, that it may run out of the ship. This phrase is the same withveer awaythe cable. See the French termcable, and the phrases following it.
Cable’slength, a measure of 120 fathoms, or of the usual length of the cable.
ToCALK, orCaulk,calfater, (probably fromcalage, Fr. hemp) to drive a quantity of oakum, or old ropes untwisted and drawn asunder, into the seams of the planks, or into the intervals where the planks are joined to each other in the ship’s decks or sides, in order to prevent the entrance of water. After the oakum is driven very hard into these seams, it is covered with hot melted pitch or resin, to keep the water from rotting it.
Amongst the ancients, the first who made use of pitch in calking, were the inhabitants of Phæacia, afterwards called Corsica. Wax and resin appear to have been commonly used previous to that period; and the Poles at this time use a sort of unctuous clay for the same purpose, on their navigable rivers.
CALL,sifflet, a sort of whistle, or pipe, of silver or brass, used by the boatswain and his mates to summon the sailors to their duty, and direct them in the different employments of the ship.
As the call can be sounded to various strains, each of them is appropriated to some particular exercise; such as hoisting, heaving, lowering, veering away, belaying, letting-go a tackle, &c. The act of winding this instrument is calledpiping, which is as attentively observed by sailors, as the beat of the drum to march, retreat, rally, charge, &c. is obeyed by soldiers.
CALM, the state of rest which appears in the air and sea when there is no wind stirring.
That tract of the Atlantic ocean, situated between the tropic of Cancer and the latitude of 29° north; or the space that lies between thetradeand the variable winds, is frequently subject to calms of very long duration: and hence it has acquired, amongst seamen, the name of the Calm Latitudes.
A long calm is often more fatal to a ship than the severest tempest, because if the ship is tight and in good condition, she may sustain the latter without much injury; whereas in a long calm, the provision and water may be entirely consumed, without any opportunity of obtaining a fresh supply. The surface of the sea in a continued calm is smooth and bright as a looking-glass.
CAMBERED-DECK, the deck or flooring of a ship is said to be cambered, or to lie cambering, when it is higher in the middle of the ship’s length, and droops towards the stem and stern, or the two ends. Also when it lies irregular; a circumstance which renders the ship very unfit for war. See the articleBroken-backed.
CAN-BUOY. SeeBuoy.
CAN-HOOKS, an instrument used to sling a cask by the ends of the staves: it is formed by fixing a broad and flat hook at each end of a short rope, and the tackle by which the cask so slung may be hoisted or lowered, is hooked to the middle of the rope. See plateII. fig. 8 and 9. The canhooks commonly used ashore by brewers, &c. are all iron, the middle part being fitted with a chain in the place of a rope.
CANNON, a well known piece of artillery, mounted in battery on the decks of a ship, and used in all naval engagements.
This engine has already been so accurately described by a variety of authors, that it may seem unnecessary to give a particular description of it here. As it forms, however, so important an article in all the military operations of the marine, it cannot, consistently with our plan, be omitted in this place.
Cannonthen may be defined a long, conical fire-arm of brass or iron, concave within, and smaller at the muzzle, or face, than at the opposite end.
The principal parts of a sea-cannon, as represented in plateVII. fig. 3, are, 1st. The breech, A C, and its button, or cascabel, A h, called by seamen the pomiglion. The breech is generally understood to be the solid metal from the bottom of the concave cylinder to the cascabel, which is the extremity of the cannon opposite to its muzzle.
2d. The trunnions, T, which project on each side like arms, and serve to support the cannon near the middle of its length: on these it may be poised, and held almost inequilibrio. As the metal is thicker at the breech than towards the mouth, the trunnions are placed nearer to that end than the other.
3d. The bore, or caliber, which is comprehended between the dotted lines, and particularly expressed in the longitudinal section of a thirty-two-pounder, fig. 15. This represents the interior or concave cylinder, wherein the powder and shot are lodged with which the cannon is charged: the entrance of the bore is called the mouth.