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- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Bildung
- Sprache: Englisch
William Falconer's "An Universal Dictionary of the Marine" stands as a seminal work in maritime literature, encapsulating a wealth of knowledge relevant to the naval and shipping industries of the 18th century. Through a meticulous and systematic examination of nautical terminology, Falconer's dictionary serves not only as a reference for sailors and shipbuilders but also as a commentary on the intricacies of marine life and navigation. Written in a clear and accessible style, the diction reflects both the technicalities of the sea and the poetic elements of maritime adventures, showcasing the rich tapestry of seafaring culture during his time. Falconer, a distinguished naval officer and poet, drew upon his own extensive experiences at sea to compile this comprehensive work. His background provided him with firsthand insights into the maritime lexicon, enabling him to bridge the gap between practical knowledge and literary expression. His earlier contributions to maritime poetry also influenced the descriptive and engaging manner in which he presents scientific and technical information in the dictionary. This dictionary is highly recommended for scholars, maritime historians, and enthusiasts of nautical literature alike. It serves as an invaluable resource, illuminating the language of the sea and providing context for understanding maritime practices and culture in a pivotal historical era. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes. - The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists. - A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing. - A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings. - Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life. - Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance. - Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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An Universal Dictionary of the Marine
Table of Contents
Introduction
To master the sea, one must first master the words that make it intelligible. An Universal Dictionary of the Marine presents itself as a navigational chart in language, a comprehensive lexicon built for readers who want to understand the ships, practices, and environments of the Age of Sail. Compiled by William Falconer, it gathers the specialized terms that structure life afloat and ashore, from the anatomy of a vessel to the choreography of seamanship. Rather than narrative, it offers orientation: definitions, explanations, and distinctions that turn a bewildering technical world into a map of concepts, inviting entry into a craft that once defined global exchange and power.
Situated in the tradition of technical reference, the work emerged in the late eighteenth century, when voyages, commerce, and warfare depended on a shared maritime vocabulary. Falconer—known as both seaman and poet—compiled his dictionary amid a culture eager to codify knowledge for practical use. Issued in Britain during the height of sail-powered enterprise, it belongs to a moment when classification itself was a tool of safety and efficiency. Its genre is utilitarian and authoritative, oriented toward shipbuilders, mariners, and informed readers on land who sought a reliable guide to the objects, operations, and conditions that organized oceanic life.
The premise is straightforward: arrange the sea’s working language so readers can find, compare, and apply the right terms. The experience is one of precision and clarity—entries that delineate parts of a ship, describe maneuvers, outline procedures, and distinguish related concepts that might otherwise be conflated. Its voice is practical and confident, shaped by firsthand familiarity with maritime practice. The mood is studious rather than dramatic, yet the accumulation of details forms its own narrative of labor and risk. Read consecutively or consulted selectively, the book turns the ship into an intelligible system of names, functions, and disciplined motion.
Key themes include the power of nomenclature, the ethics of exactness, and the translation of embodied skill into portable knowledge. Language here is not adornment but equipment; precise terms reduce ambiguity, support coordination, and foster safety amid changeable elements. The dictionary embodies an Enlightenment commitment to classification, while also acknowledging that order at sea is hard won. It preserves distinctions that matter: between similar spars and sails, between routine operations and emergency responses. In doing so, it raises perennial questions about expertise: how it is learned, shared, and standardized, and how words shape attention when conditions demand swift, collective action.
For contemporary readers, the book serves multiple roles. It is a key for unlocking historical documents, logbooks, and literature set afloat in the same linguistic waters. It supports careful reading of maritime narratives by clarifying equipment, practices, and stakes that might otherwise pass unnoticed. Historians, modelers, and enthusiasts can trace how professional vocabularies stabilized, while general readers gain a grounded sense of how ships worked as machines and communities. Beyond utility, its relevance lies in a reminder: complex systems depend on shared definitions. In an era of specialized fields, Falconer’s project exemplifies how clarity underwrites coordination, safety, and the transmission of skill.
Approached today, the dictionary rewards both browsing and targeted consultation. One can move alphabetically through the fabric of a ship—rigging, hull, and gear—or pursue a theme, such as navigation, gunnery, or maintenance. The style is concise but not cryptic, and its terminology reflects period usage, making it a reliable guide to contemporary writings. Readers may encounter variant spellings or terms eclipsed by later practice; these are not obstacles but clues to historical context. The cumulative effect is an education in maritime thinking, where each definition is a component in a larger architecture of movement, control, and survival at sea.
An Universal Dictionary of the Marine endures because it preserves a working world with fidelity and purpose. By fixing a shared vocabulary, Falconer gives readers a means to perceive the ship not as a romantic emblem but as an intricate, collaborative technology. The book’s authority stems from use: it is a record built for doing, and thus for understanding. In its pages, the ocean’s vastness meets the discipline of craft, and expertise becomes legible across time. For anyone drawn to how knowledge is made practical, this dictionary remains an exemplar—clear, exact, and capacious enough to steady one’s course through complexity.
Synopsis (Selection)
An Universal Dictionary of the Marine by William Falconer is an eighteenth-century reference work that compiles the vocabulary, practices, and material culture of seafaring. Written by a professional mariner, it aims to define and standardize terms used across the Royal Navy and the merchant service. The book opens with a statement of purpose and scope, then proceeds alphabetically through entries supported by illustrative plates. It addresses shipbuilding, rigging, navigation, seamanship, naval warfare, and maritime commerce. Designed for officers, shipwrights, merchants, and learners, the work assembles dispersed knowledge into a single, accessible source, clarifying usage and offering concise explanations grounded in contemporary British maritime practice.
Falconer’s introductory material sets out his method: direct observation at sea and in dockyards, consultation with experienced practitioners, and collation of earlier authorities. He emphasizes consistent terminology, careful measurement, and practical utility over speculative theory. The arrangement is alphabetical but internally cross-referenced, enabling readers to navigate from a general heading to more specific operations or parts. Plates and tables accompany many descriptions to render complex structures legible. The preface outlines the intended breadth—from the timber yard to the quarterdeck—and notes the inclusion of both specialized jargon and common phrases whose meanings shift aboard ship, thereby reducing ambiguity and miscommunication.
The early entries establish the foundations of naval architecture and hull construction. Falconer defines the principal structural elements—keel, stem, sternpost, frames, beams, knees, planking, decks, and ports—and explains how they combine to produce strength, buoyancy, and stability. He describes measurement systems such as tonnage, burden, draught, and freeboard, and distinguishes among ship types by form and service. Terms connected to the building process, tools, fastenings, and materials are detailed alongside dockyard practices and stages of construction. The Dictionary also delineates differences among ships of the line, frigates, sloops, cutters, and merchant vessels, noting the features that govern their intended employment and performance.
Subsequent sections address masting and rigging, describing spars, their proportions, and their relationship to the hull. Entries define standing rigging—shrouds, stays, and backstays—and running rigging—braces, halyards, sheets, and tacks—with the blocks and tackles that transmit force. Falconer explains the arrangement of sails on square-rigged and fore-and-aft vessels, the function of each sail, and the adjustments used to balance the ship. He codifies knots, seizings, and splices, with notes on maintenance and replacement. The accompanying tables and plates clarify nomenclature and position, allowing users to translate abstract terms into their precise locations within the mast, yard, and sail plan.
The Dictionary then turns to seamanship, cataloging operations essential to handling a vessel. Falconer defines evolutions such as tacking, wearing, heaving-to, reefing, and furling, noting the sequence of orders and effects on ship motion. He covers anchoring and mooring, weighing by capstan or windlass, boat work, towing, and warping. Entries describe watch organization, roles during evolutions, and the signals used to coordinate actions. Equipment—capstan, windlass, pumps, anchors, cables, and various deck fittings—is explained through function and arrangement. The combined coverage presents the vocabulary of everyday practice, linking terms for gear, commands, and procedures within a coherent operational framework.
Navigation and pilotage entries outline instruments, methods, and hydrographic concepts. Falconer defines the compass and its variation, the log and lead for estimating speed and depth, and astronomical tools employed for latitude and, in limited circumstances, longitude. He explains dead reckoning, currents, tides, and the interpretation of charts and coastal marks. Terms relating to harbors, channels, shoals, and beacons are organized to assist practical approach and departure. Signals for communication at sea are enumerated with their purposes. The material serves both as a lexicon and as a guide to the processes by which mariners plot courses, avoid hazards, and make safe landfalls under prevailing conditions.
Further entries treat naval armament, discipline, and administrative order. The Dictionary defines guns by caliber and carriage, ammunition and stores, and the mechanical arrangements for recoil and run-out. It describes drills for loading and firing, measures for fire and damage control, and the equipment of magazines. Falconer outlines tactical terms, including formations and evolutions used by squadrons. He catalogs ranks, petty officers, and artisans, clarifying duties such as those of the master, boatswain, gunner, and carpenter. Topics like victualling, stores, and allotment of space and provisions are addressed to show how resources are organized and accounted for during voyages and operations.
Commercial and legal aspects of maritime activity are incorporated with definitions related to trade, charter, and salvage. Entries explain documentation such as manifests and bills of lading, procedures for convoy and quarantine, and port services including docking, careening, and repair. Falconer notes standard practices regarding freight, insurance, and average. The work also supplies terms for coastal features, winds, and weather, supporting the mariner’s interaction with environment and port authorities. Cross-references tie specialized legal or mercantile vocabulary to shipboard procedures. Tables and plates supplement entries with proportions, comparative measures, and visual guides to complex arrangements and fittings.
Concluding the alphabetical scope, Falconer’s Dictionary presents a consolidated terminology for an era when Britain’s maritime institutions depended on shared technical language. Its organization and cross-referencing enable quick consultation while retaining context across construction, rigging, navigation, seamanship, warfare, and commerce. The work’s central message is practical clarity: to fix definitions, unify practice, and make specialized knowledge accessible to practitioners and learners. By assembling dispersed expertise into a single, systematic reference, it offers a comprehensive portrait of eighteenth-century seafaring and ship management, equipping readers to understand, communicate, and execute the duties required aboard naval and merchant vessels.
Historical Context
An Universal Dictionary of the Marine (London, 1769) was compiled at the height of Britain’s eighteenth‑century naval power, when imperial commerce and war made the sea the kingdom’s principal arena. William Falconer, a Scottish mariner and poet born in 1732, drew on years in merchant vessels and later Royal Navy service to codify the language of ships, sailors, and seamanship. The book belongs to the dockyards and chart rooms of Portsmouth, Chatham, Deptford, and Woolwich, and to the commercial Thames and the Mediterranean and Atlantic circuits that sustained Britain’s empire. Composed just after the Seven Years’ War and on the eve of global exploratory voyages, it translates lived maritime practice into a systematic lexicon.
The Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) decisively shaped the world Falconer addressed. A global conflict from North America to the Caribbean, Europe, West Africa, and India, it hinged on control of sea lanes. British naval victories at Lagos (19 August 1759) under Edward Boscawen and Quiberon Bay (20 November 1759) under Edward Hawke crippled the French fleet, while Caribbean and Canadian campaigns depended on secure convoys, amphibious landings, and blockade. Administrative change accompanied operations: Admiral Lord Anson, as First Lord of the Admiralty (1757–1762), pressed for tighter organization, while the Articles of War (revised 1749) were applied with ferocity—most notoriously in Admiral John Byng’s execution at Portsmouth in 1757—for failing to “do his utmost.” The Navy more than doubled its ships of the line in commission by 1762, and dockyards rationalized rigging, gunnery stores, and hull maintenance. In this environment, the need for standardized technical vocabulary was urgent: signals, orders, and construction terms had to be unambiguous across a rapidly expanding fleet and a heterogeneous labor force. Falconer, who had sailed in the Mediterranean trades and later served as a naval purser, responded by fixing meanings for spars, sails, maneuvering commands, artillery fittings, and administrative offices. His dictionary thus mirrors wartime professionalization: it encodes the shared language required for fleet coordination, courts‑martial evidentiary precision, ship design under the Surveyor of the Navy, and the logistics of global campaigning. The Treaty of Paris (10 February 1763) ended hostilities, but it left Britain responsible for policing an enlarged empire, reinforcing the value of a reference work that could be consulted from quarterdecks to dockyard lofts.
Mid‑century breakthroughs in navigation transformed practice at sea. The Longitude Act of 1714 established prizes for a practical solution; John Harrison’s H4 sea watch was tested on the voyage to Jamaica in 1761–1762 and, despite institutional resistance, was recognized by the Board of Longitude in 1765. In parallel, Nevil Maskelyne issued the first Nautical Almanac in 1767, enabling lunar‑distance calculations. Instruments evolved from the Hadley octant (c. 1730) to improved sextants by John Bird (c. 1757). Falconer includes terms for these devices, for astronomical observations, and for piloting, embodying the period’s fusion of artisanal seamanship with precision science and providing a common lexicon for both deck and observatory.
The East India Company’s rapid expansion reoriented British maritime priorities. After the Battle of Plassey (1757) and the victory at Buxar (1764), the Mughal emperor granted the Company the diwani (1765), greatly increasing traffic to Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. Royal Navy cruisers escorted convoys through monsoonal routes and pirate‑prone waters of the Indian Ocean. Falconer’s final appointment as purser to HMS Aurora, a 32‑gun frigate launched in 1766, connected him directly to this sphere: Aurora sailed for India via the Cape of Good Hope in September 1769 and vanished in early 1770, likely in the western Indian Ocean. The dictionary’s attention to monsoons, lateen rigs, and convoy procedures reflects this imperial, Indo‑Atlantic reality.
Ship design and dockyard practice in the 1750s–1760s supplied another crucial backdrop. Sir Thomas Slade, Surveyor of the Navy (1755–1771), produced influential designs, including HMS Victory (laid down 1759, launched 1765), representing the maturation of the British 74‑gun and first‑rate paradigms. Experimentation addressed fouling and shipworm: HMS Alarm received copper sheathing in 1761, inaugurating a path toward fleet‑wide adoption later in the century. Ropewalks, mast ponds, and block‑making streamlined rigging supply at Chatham and Portsmouth. Falconer fixes the names of timbers, fastenings, spars, and fittings—futtocks, knees, deadeyes, catheads—thereby mapping a dockyard’s tacit knowledge and enabling consistent specification and repair across yards and private contractors.
Naval manpower and discipline—central social questions of the era—also frame the work. Wartime impressment surged in the 1750s, provoking disorder from the Knowles Riot in Boston (1747) to disturbances in British port towns during the Seven Years’ War, as merchants and families resisted press gangs. Pay lagged behind merchant rates, and shipboard life was regulated by watches, rations, and the threat of flogging under the Articles of War. James Lind’s 1753 scurvy treatise began to alter medical practice only slowly. Falconer’s precise definitions of ranks, duties, and routine—boatswain, gunner, purser, topman—encode the hierarchical and disciplinary world that kept fleets at sea despite chronic shortages and social strain.
Global exploration in the late 1760s heightened the demand for consistent hydrographic language. James Cook’s first voyage (1768–1771) in Endeavour observed the transit of Venus at Tahiti (3 June 1769) and charted New Zealand and Australia’s east coast (1770), while Alexander Dalrymple’s publications (from 1769) synthesized South Pacific intelligence. Such enterprises required standardized terms for winds, currents, reefs, and coastal morphology, as well as for the boats and anchors used in surveying. Falconer’s dictionary supplies this taxonomy—of trade winds, monsoons, soundings, shoals—furnishing the semantic toolkit for journals, charts, and Admiralty instructions that translated reconnaissance into navigable knowledge.
Falconer’s work functions as a quiet social and political critique by insisting that maritime power rests on clear knowledge rather than patronage or mystique. By stabilizing the meanings of commands, ranks, and equipment, it exposes how ambiguous orders and inconsistent practice imperiled common seamen while protecting elites through discretionary blame. Its meticulous accounts of stores, victualling, and shipboard labor highlight the dependence of imperial strategy on underpaid, coerced crews and on honest administration in an office—such as the purser’s—often maligned for corruption. The dictionary’s standardization implicitly argues for professional merit, safety, and accountability within a navy that policed global commerce yet wrestled with class divides and administrative opacity.
An Universal Dictionary of the Marine
PREFACE.
The following work has engaged my utmost application for some years. Several performances on the same subject have already appeared; as Sir H. Manwaring’s Seaman’s Dictionary; Boteler’s Sea Dialogues; Guillet’s Gentleman’s Dictionary, and Blanckley’s Naval Expositor, &c. Far from exhibiting an enlarged and comprehensive view of naval affairs, these productions are extremely imperfect, according to the very circumscribed plan which their authors have adopted. There are besides, the Dictionaire de Marine of M. Aubin, published in Holland; and that of M. Saverien, published in France. These are indeed voluminous, but very deficient in the most necessary articles. Besides a circumstantial detail of the local oeconomy of different marine departments, they are swelled out with astronomy, navigation, hydrography, natural history, &c. all of which are abundantly better treated in other compositions. Of the machinery of a ship; the disposition of the rigging on her masts and yards; and the comparative force of her different mechanical powers, their accounts however are often vague, perplexed, and unintelligible.
With regard to her internal government in action; to the general regulations of the line of battle; and to the principal movements in sailing, they are almost totally silent. Had any of these works been executed with tolerable success, it might have rendered mine unnecessary; or probably have introduced it in the form of a translation.
I acknowledge with great pleasure the advantages I have derived in the prosecution of this work, from several authors of distinguished reputation: in reality however none of those above-mentioned are of the number. In that part which is dedicated to the theory and art of ship-building, I owe considerable obligations to the ingenious M. Du Hamel. The principal pieces used in the construction of a ship, together with their combination and disposition, are copiously and accurately described in his Elements of Naval Architecture: and his general account of the art itself is perspicuous and comprehensive. Many of his explanations I have therefore implicitly adopted.
In treating of the artillery, I have occasionally consulted Le Blond, Muller, and Robins, besides selecting some valuable materials from the manuscripts of officers of long experience and established reputation in that service. Whatever relates to the rigging, sails, machinery, and movements of a ship; or to the practice of naval war, is generally drawn from my own observations; unless where the author is quoted.
As there are abundance of books professedly written on astronomy, and the theory of navigation, I have totally omitted the terms of the former, as foreign to my plan; and slightly passed over the latter: because no reader could acquire a sufficient idea of those sciences from so partial a description. Many of the least important parts of a ship, as well as of her rigging, are very generally defined. To explain the track of every particular rope, through its different channels, would be equally useless and unintelligible to a land reader: to mariners it were superfluous: and even the youths who are trained to the sea, would reap little advantage from it; because their situation affords them much better opportunities of making these minute discoveries.
I have in general endeavoured to give the etymology of the most material expressions, unless when their evident analogy to common words rendered this unnecessary. Many reasons may be alledged for introducing the French sea-terms and phrases; particularly that obvious one, of understanding their pilots, when we may have occasion for their assistance. Wherever it was found necessary to explain one technical term by another, the latter is usually printed in italics the first time it is mentioned; so that the reader may refer to it for a further explanation.
As the plates of this publication were intended to illustrate the various objects to which they refer, they are little ornamented; but have in general the recommendation of simplicity and geometrical truth. In this part I have been particularly favoured with many original drawings, which are usually considered amongst the inaccessible arcana of ship-building. They are much more numerous, useful, and correct, than what has hitherto appeared in any work of the kind. In fine, I have endeavoured, to the best of my judgment, to retrench the superfluities, and supply the deficiences of former writers on the same subject, as well as to digest and methodise whatever appeared loose or inaccurate therein.
This undertaking was first suggested to me by my worthy and ingenious friend George Lewis Scott, Esq; who considered it as a work of extensive utility, Indeed, in a country whose principal sources of strength are derived from the superiority of her marine, it is evidently wanted. I have the pleasure also to know that Sir Edward Hawke, and several officers of respectable abilities in our navy, are of the same opinion. To this may be added, what the celebrated M. Du Hamel lately observed, in a letter to me, s. I mention this expressly, because some sea-officers have considered the work unnecessary. It is however submitted, with all possible deference, to superior judges; to men of science and letters, who know the difficulty of explaining the parts of a mechanical system, when the readers are unacquainted with the subject.
A LIST of the SUBSCRIBERS.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland.
Right Hon. Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, as a Board.
A
C
apt. Abdy, of the Navy
John Adam, Esq;
Robert Adam, Esq;
James Adam, Esq;
William Adam, Esq;
Alex. Anderson, Esq;
Capt. Alwright, of the Navy
Capt. Antrobus, ditto
Mr. Richard Atkinson,
2 copies
London Assurance Office
Royal Exchange Assurance Office
B
His Grace the Duke of Beaufort
Right Hon. Earl of Berkeley
Right Hon. Lord Bottetourt
Right Hon. John Buller, Lord of the
Admiralty.
Col. Bendyshe
Hon. George Berkeley
The Rev. Dr. Blair
Capt. Bentinck, of the Navy
Capt. George Bowyer, of ditto
Mr. Robert Baynes
Edward Hugh Boscawen, Esq;
William Glanville Boscawen, Esq;
John Boddington, Esq;
John Blair, Esq; Calcutta
Lieut. Henry Baynes
Lieut. T. P. Braithwaite
Lieut. James Bradley
Mr. J. Bourgh
Lieut. Geo. Baker
Capt. Brisac
Mr. Robert Bogle
Mr. William Brymer
Mr. James Barwell
Mr. William Berry
Mr. Burrel
Mr. Thomas Barwis
Charles Boddam, Esq;
Mr. Burgh
Mr. Robert Brown
John Bullock, Esq;
Theobal Burke, Esq;
C
Right Hon. Lord Cochran
Hon. H. S. Conway, Lieut. Gen. of the Ordnance, &c.
John Campbell, Esq; F.R.S. Capt. in the Navy
John Carter, Esq; Deal
John Cartwright, Esq;
Charles Cartwright, Esq;
Capt. Collin
Alexander Craufurd, Esq;
Lieut. R. P. Cooper
Mr. Henry Crawford
John Henry Cochran, Esq;
Henry Cort, Esq;
William Crighton, Esq;
General Clerk
Mr. Thomas Clerk
Mr. Duncan Clerk
Capt. John Campbell
D
Rear Admiral Sir James Douglas
Mr. Dalrymple
Mr. Robert Dallas,
2 copies
George Dempster, Esq;
2 copies
Lieut. George Dawson
Lieut. Richard Douglas
Mr. Duncan Davidson
Major Deaker
Mr. Edward Downes
Mr. John Delaton
Thomas Dunkerley, Esq;
Stillingfleet Durnford, Esq;
E
Right Hon. Earl of Edgcumbe
Right Hon. Earl of Egmont
Right Hon. Lord Elibank
Sir John Elwill
General Ellison
Arthur Edie, Esq;
Mr. John Ewer
F
Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. Vice-Admiral of the Red Squadron
Capt. Fanshaw
Sir Robert Fletcher, Kt.
Charles Ferguson, Esq;
Sir Adam Ferguson
Mr. John Finch
Mr. Francis Farrar
G
Right Hon. Earl of Gainsborough
Charles Gore, Esq;
Mr. John Gathorne
James Gordon, Esq;
2 copies
Mr. Arch. Gairdner
John Gray, Esq;
Alexander Geddes, Esq;
Mr. William Gemmell
H
Right Hon. Earl of Home
Right Hon. Lord Viscount Howe
Right Hon. Sir Edw. Hawke, K. B. first Lord of the Admiralty, &c. &c.
Thomas Hanway, Esq; Commissioner of the Navy
Capt. John Hay, of the Navy
Mr. Samuel Hannay,
4 copies
Sir Thomas Hesketh, Bart.
Col. Hale
Warren Hastings, Esq;
The Rev. Wm. Hirst, A.M. F.R.S.
2 copies
John Hope, Esq;
Lieut. Charles Hope
Capt. Horne, of the East India Company
Capt. Hume, of ditto
John Hume, Esq;
Mr. John Hunter, of Lisbon
Lieut. Edmond Hawker
Lieut. Harry Harmood
Adam Hayes, Esq;
Dr. Harris
Mr. Hall
Mr. Hutton
Lieut. Harris
I
The Court of Directors of the East India Company
William Innis, Esq;
George Johnstone, Esq;
4 copies
John Johnstone, Esq;
Mr. James Johnston
Lieut. Judd
K
Hon. Augustus Keppel, Rear Admiral of the blue squadron
Mr. Daniel Kemp
Mr. John Kendrick
L
Hon. Capt. Leveson
Sir John Lindsay, Capt. in the Navy
Lieut. Charles Logie
Francis Lucas, Esq;
William Lascelles, Esq; of the Inner Temple
Mr. S. Cousgarne Lloyd
Dr. Lawrence
Capt. Lauder, of the East India Company
Mr. Liddel
Mr. Lennox
M
Capt. Macbride, of the Navy
Mr. Colin Mackenzie,
2 copies
Mr. Majendie
Major Mills
Richard Maitland, Esq;
Lieut. David Maitland
Lieut. James Macnamara
Lieut. Thomas Montagu,
2 copies
Edward Meadows, Esq;
James Montresor, Esq;
Robert Mure, Esq;
Mr. James Mason
Mr. Mackworth
Mr. Robert Man
Mr. James Mather
Mr. William Myrtle
Mr. Money
James Mill, Esq;
Mr. John Mackintosh
N
The principal Officers and Commissioners of his Majesty’s Navy
Valentine Neville, Esq;
Mr. Francis Newton
Mrs. Sarah Norton
O
Charles Ogilvie, Esq;
Capt. Ommanney, of the Navy
Mr. Ousnam
P
Right Hon. Earl of Plymouth
Right Hon. Lord Palmerston, Lord of the Admiralty
Right Hon. Lord Pigot
Capt. Hugh Pigot, of the Navy
Mr. Simon Parry
Edward Payne, Esq;
The Rev. Hugh Panton, L. L. B.
Lieut. Henry Gibson Panton
Mr. Thomas Poynting
Mr. Paterson
Mr. John Perriman
Mr. Pitchford
Q
His Grace the Duke of Queensbury and Dover
R
Capt. Lockhart Ross, of the Navy
Capt. Joseph Rowley, of ditto
Capt. Reynolds, of the Navy
Dr. Charles Richardson
Capt. George Richardson, of the East India Company
S
Hon. Sir Charles Saunders, K. B. Vice-Admiral of the Blue Squadron
George Lewis Scott, Esq; F.R.S.
2 copies
Robert Stewart, Esq;
Edward Salway, Esq;
Gordon Skelly, Esq;
Capt. Stott
Lieut. Patrick Stewart
Henry Smith, Esq;
Capt. Peter Stokes, of the East India Company
T
The Corporation of Trinity House
Capt. Tonyn, of the Navy
Lieut. Henry Tuite
Mr. William Trotter
Mr. Tais
Mr. Taulbert
Mr. William Tennant
Mr. Thomas Trower
Thomas Townshend, Esq;
V
The Commissioners for Victualling his Majesty’s Navy, as a Board
Hon. Capt. Raby Vane
His Excellency Count San-Vincent, Rear Admiral of Portugal
Henry Vansittart, Esq;
George Vandeput, Esq; Capt. in the Navy
W
Mr. Thomas Walker
Mr. John Way
Andrew Wilkinson, Esq;
Capt. Williams
Mr. William Wigginton, of Bristol
Capt. John Waddell, of the East India Company
Lieut. George Robinson Walters
Y
Rear Admiral Young
ANUNIVERSAL DICTIONARYOF THE MARINE.
A.
ABACK, coeffé, the situation of the sails when their surfaces are flatted against the masts by the force of the wind.
The sails are said to be taken aback, when they are brought into this situation, either by a sudden change of the wind, or by an alteration in the ship’s course. They are laid aback, to effect an immediate retreat, without turning to the right or left; or, in the sea-phrase, to give the ship stern-way, in order to avoid some danger discovered before her in a narrow channel; or when she has advanced beyond her station in the line of battle, or otherwise.
The sails are placed in this position by slackening their lee-braces, and hauling in the weather ones; so that the whole effort of the wind is exerted on the fore-part of their surface, which readily pushes the ship astern, unless she is restrained by some counter-acting force. See Backing, and Bracing.
It is also usual to spread some sail aback near the stern, as the mizen-top-sail, when a ship rides with a single anchor in a road, in order to prevent her from approaching it so as to entangle the flukes of it with her slackened cable, and thereby loosen it from the ground. See Anchor.
Fig. 1. Plate III. discovers the plan of a ship, a b, with her main-top-sail, c d, aback; in which the curved dotted line expresses the cavity of it, as blown back by the wind on each side of the mast. The fore-top-sail, which is full, is exhibited by the line e f. Fig. 3. represents a perspective view of the ship in the same situation; and the dart shews the direction of the wind upon both.
Lay all flatAback, the order to arrange all the sails in this situation.
ABAFT, arriere, (abaftan, Sax. behind) the hinder part of a ship, or all those parts both within and without, which lie towards the stern, in opposition to afore; which see.
Abaft, arriere de, is also used as a preposition, and signifies further aft, or nearer the stern; as, the barricade stands abaft the main mast, i. e. behind it, or nearer the stern.
ABOARD (à bord, Fr. abordo, Ital.) the inside of a ship: hence any person who enters a ship is said to go aboard: but when an enemy enters in the time of battle, he is said to board. A phrase which always implies hostility. See the article Boarding.
To fall Aboard of, aborder, to strike or encounter another ship, when, one or both are in motion; to be driven upon a ship by the force of the wind or current.
Aboard-main-tack!amure la grande voile! the order to draw the main-tack, i. e. the lower corner of the main-sail, down to the chess-tree. See Chess-tree.
ABOUT, reviré, (abutan, Sax.) the situation of a ship immediately after she has tacked or changed her course by going about, and standing on the other tack. See Tacking.
About-Ship!adieu-va! the order to the ship’s crew to prepare for tacking.
ABREAST, par le travers (of breost, Sax.), side by side, or opposite to; a situation in which two or more ships lie, with their sides parallel to each other, and their heads equally advanced.
This term more particularly regards the line of battle at sea, where, on the different occasions of attack, retreat, or pursuit, the several squadrons, or divisions of a fleet, are obliged to vary their dispositions, and yet maintain a proper regularity by sailing in right or curved lines. When the line is formed abreast, the whole squadron advances uniformly, the ships being equally distant from, and parallel to each other, so that the length of each ship forms a right angle with the extent of the squadron or line abreast. The commander in chief is always stationed in the center, and the second and third in command in the centers of their respective squadrons. See this farther illustrated in the article Line.
Abreast, within the ship, implies on a line with the beam, or by the side of any object aboard; as, the frigate sprung a leak abreast of the main hatch-way, i. e. on the same line with the main hatch-way, crossing the ship’s length at right angles, in opposition to afore or abaft the hatch-way. See Abaft.
We discovered a fleet Abreast of Beachy-Head, i. e. off, or directly opposite thereto.
ACORN, pomme de girouette, a little ornamental piece of wood, fashioned like a cone, and fixed on the uppermost point of the spindle, above the vane, on the mast-head. It is used to keep the vane from being blown off from the spindle in a whirlwind, or when the ship leans much to one side under sail. See plate I. fig. 1. where a represents the acorn, b the vane and stock, c the spindle, and d the mast-head.
ADMIRAL, amiral, an officer of the first rank and command in the fleet, and who is distinguished by a flag displayed at his main-top-mast-head. Also an officer who superintends the naval forces of a nation, and who is authorised to determine in all maritime causes.
The origin and denomination of this important office, which seems to have been established in most countries that border on the sea, have given rise to a great variety of opinions. Some have borrowed them from the Greek, others from the Arabic, while a third sort, with greater probability, derive both the title and dignity from the Saracens.[1] But since no certain conclusions have been deduced from these elaborate researches, and as it rather appears the province of this work to give the reader an idea of the office and duty of an admiral at sea, than to furnish an historical or chronological detail of the rank and power with which admirals have been invested in different nations, we shall contentedly resign this task to the ingenious lexicographers who have so repeatedly entertained us with such critical investigations.
The Admiral, or commander in chief of a fleet, being frequently invested with a great charge, on which the fate of a kingdom may depend, ought certainly to be possessed of abilities equal to so important a station and so extensive a command. His fleet is unavoidably exposed to a variety of perplexing situations in a precarious element. A train of dangerous incidents necessarily arise from those situations. The health, order, and discipline of his people, are not less the objects of his consideration, than the condition and qualities of his ships. A sudden change of climate, a rank and infectious air, a scarcity, or unwholsomness of provisions, may be as pernicious to the former, as tempestuous weather or dangerous navigation to the latter. A lee-shore, an injudicious engagement with an enemy greatly superior, may be equally fatal to both. He ought to have sufficient experience to anticipate all the probable events that may happen to his fleet[1q] during an expedition or cruise, and, by consequence, to provide against them. His skill should be able to counter-act the various disasters which his fleet may suffer from different causes. His vigilance and presence of mind are necessary to seize every favourable opportunity that his situation may offer to prosecute his principal design; to extricate himself from any difficulty or distress; to check unfortunate events in the beginning, and retard the progress of any great calamity. He should be endued with resolution and fortitude to animate his officers by the force of example, and promote a sense of emulation in those who are under his command, as well to improve any advantage, as to frustrate or defeat the efforts of his ill fortune.
The most essential part of his duty, however, appears to be military conduct. As soon as the fleet under his command puts to sea, he is to form it into the proper order of battle, called the Line. In this arrangement he is to make a judicious distribution of strength from the van to the rear, throwing the principal force into the center, to resist the impression of the enemy’s fleet; which might otherwise, at some favourable opportunity, break through his line, and throw the van and rear into confusion.
A competent knowledge of the seas, weather, and reigning winds, of the coast or region where he is stationed, is also requisite, as it will greatly facilitate his plans on the enemy. It will enable him to avoid being improperly embayed, where he might be surprised in a disadvantageous situation; and to judge whether it will be most expedient to attack his adversary, or lie prepared to receive his assault. When his fleet is forced by stress of weather or otherwise to take shelter in a road or bay, it will likewise suggest the necessary conduct of keeping a sufficient number of cruisers at sea, to bring him early intelligence, that they may be ready to cut or slip the cables when they are too much hurried to weigh their anchors.
As the forming a complete, strong, and uniform line is a very material article in naval war, the admiral ought frequently to arrange the fleet under his command into this order, that the inferior officers may observe to bring their ships, with greater dexterity and alertness, into their several stations, and maintain the regularity of the line when they tack, veer, or sail abreast. See Line.
When the admiral intends a descent on an enemy’s coast, or other attack which may be attended with complicated and unforeseen incidents, his orders should be delivered or drawn up with the greatest accuracy and precision: they should be simple, perspicuous, direct, and comprehensive; they should collect a number of objects into one point of view, and, foreseeing the effects of success or defeat, appoint the proper measures to be adopted in consequence thereof. History and experience confirm the necessity of this observation, and present us with a variety of disasters that have happened on such occasions, merely by a deficiency in this material article. In the commanding officer, inattention, barrenness of expedient, or a circumscribed view of the necessary effects of his enterprize, may be equally pernicious. And general orders ought to be utterly free from pedantry and perplexity, which always betray a false taste and confused imagination, besides the probability of producing many fatal consequences.
When an admiral conquers in battle, he should endeavour to improve his victory, by pushing the advantages he has acquired as far as prudence directs; a conduct which merits his attention as much as any in the action! When he is defeated, he ought to embrace every opportunity of saving as many of his ships as possible, and endeavour principally to assist those which are disabled. In short, it is his duty to avail himself of every practicable expedient rather than sink under his misfortune, and suffer himself to become an easy prey to the enemy.
He should be sufficiently acquainted with civil law, to judge with propriety of the proceedings of courts-martial, and to correct the errors, and restrain the abuses which may happen therein by mistake, or ignorance, or inattention.
As secret treaties, propositions, or schemes of the enemy, may occasionally be submitted to his inspection, or fall into his possession by capture; and which it might be improper to discover to any person near him, he ought to have a competent knowledge of the modern languages, or at least, those of the countries against whom his military operations are directed, to be able to comprehend with facility the full scope and purport of such papers.
He ought to be well versed in geometry, to order proper and correct surveys of unknown coasts, roads, or harbours to be made, and to judge of their accuracy, and detect their errors. To ascertain the situation and longitude of different places, he should be also sufficiently skilled in astronomy, and the method of taking observations, which indeed is essentially necessary to the profession of a sea-officer, although too much neglected.
By his orders the admiral is likewise to assist at all councils of war that relate to naval affairs: to visit, as often as convenient, the other ships of his squadron: to enquire particularly into their condition, and observe the men mustered, taking care that no supernumeraries are borne on the books. He is directed to acquaint the secretary of the admiralty of all his proceedings relating to the service, for the information of the lord-high-admiral, or lords commissioners of the admiralty; and to attend him or them, on his return home, with an account of his voyage or expedition, and to transmit a copy of his journal to their secretary.
Much more might be observed on this occasion. It appears however by the general outline which we have sketched, that the office and duty of an admiral requires greater skill and more comprehensive abilities than is generally supposed necessary to the command of a naval armament. And that he ought to be duly qualified, at least in this kingdom, to assist at the councils of his sovereign, and enter into the enlarged system of protecting his country from an invasion by sea, or of meditating a descent on an enemy’s coast; as well as to improve navigation, and open new channels of commerce. For further particulars of his charge, see the articles Engagement, Line, Squadron.
Admiralof the fleet, the highest officer under the admiralty of Great-Britain: when he embarks on any expedition, he is distinguished by the union flag at the main-top-mast-head.
Vice-Admiral, vice-Amiral, the officer next in rank and command to admiral; his flag is displayed at the fore-top-mast-head.
Rear-Admiral, contre-amiral, lieutenant-général des armées navales, the officer next in rank and command to the vice-admiral, and who carries his flag at the mizen-top-mast-head.
There are at present in England, besides the admiral of the fleet, three admirals of the white squadron, and four of the blue. Three vice-admirals of the red, three of the white, and four of the blue. Four rear-admirals of the red, four of the white, and five of the blue squadron: besides twenty-two rear-admirals that have carried no flag, who are superannuated upon half-pay.
Vice-Admiral is also a civil officer appointed by the lords-commissioners of the admiralty. There are several of these officers established in different parts of Great-Britain, with judges and marshals under them, for executing jurisdiction within their respective districts. Their decisions, however, are not final, an appeal lying to the court of admiralty in London.
ADMIRALTY, Amirauté, the office of lord-high-admiral, whether discharged by one single person, or by joint commissioners, called Lords of the Admiralty.
ADVICE-BOAT, pacquet d’ avis, a small vessel employed to carry expresses or orders with all possible dispatch.
ADRIFT (from a and drift, Sax.) the state of a ship or vessel broke loose from her moorings, and driven without controul at the mercy of the wind, seas, or current, or all of them together.
AFLOAT, (à flot, Fr.) floating on the surface of the water: a ship is said to be afloat when there is a volume of water under her bottom of sufficient depth to buoy her up from the ground.
AFORE, avant, (fore, Sax.) all that part of a ship which lies forward, or near the stem.
Afore, as a preposition, likewise implies further forward, or nearer the prow; as, the manger stands afore the fore-mast, i. e. further forward, or nearer the stem. In both these senses afore is used in contradistinction to abaft. See the article Abaft.
AFT, arriere, (from æfter, or abaft) behind, or near the stern of the ship; being opposed to fore; as, run out the guns fore and aft! i. e. from one end of the ship to the other; and whence,
AFTER, de l’arriere, (æfter, Sax.) a phrase applied to any object situated in the hinder-part of the ship; as, the after-hatchway, the after-capstern, the after-sails, &c.
The After-Sails usually comprehend all those which are extended on the mizen-mast, and on the stays between the mizen and main-masts. They are opposed to the head-sails, which include all those that are spread on the fore-mast and bowsprit; and both by their mutual operation on the opposite ends of the ship, duly balance her when under sail. See the article Trim.
AGENT-Victualler, avitalleur, an officer stationed at a royal port, to regulate the victualling of the king’s ships, under the directions of the commissioners for victualling the navy. He receives all the provisions from the victualling-office in London, and distributes them to the ships in the harbour. He also receives into his store-houses such as may be returned by ships after the expiration of their voyage, and renders an account thereof to the said commissioners.
AGROUND, echoué, (from a and ground) the situation of a ship whose bottom, or any part of it, hangs or rests upon the ground, so as to render her immoveable till a greater quantity of water floats her off; or till she is drawn out into the stream, by the application of mechanical powers.
AHEAD, avant, au devant, (from a and head, Sax.) further onward than the ship, or at any distance before her, lying immediately on that point of the compass to which her stem is directed. It is used in opposition to astern, which expresses the situation of any object behind the ship. See Astern.
To run Ahead of one’s reckoning, depasser, to sail beyond the place shewn erroneously in the dead-reckoning as the ship’s station.
LineAhead. See the article Line.
A-HULL, à sec; à mats, & à cordes (from a and hull) the situation of a ship when all her sails are furled on account of the violence of the storm, and when having lashed her helm on the lee-side, she lies nearly with her side to the wind and sea, her head being somewhat inclined to the direction of the wind. See this further explained in the article Trying.
AIM, the direction of a cannon, or other fire-arm, to its object, or the point to which it is directed; whence,
To takeAim, prendre sa mire, (from esmer, Fr.) is to point a gun to its object according to the point-blank range. See Cannon and Range.
ALEE, envoié, (from a and lee) the situation of the helm when it is pushed down to the lee side of the ship, in order to put the ship about, or lay her head to the windward.
ALL in the wind, the state of a ship’s sails when they are parallel to the direction of the wind, so as to shake and shiver, by turning the ship’s head to windward, either by design, or neglect of the helm’s man.
All’s well! an acclamation of safety or security pronounced by a centinel, and repeated by all the others who are stationed in different places of a ship of war, at the time of striking the bell each half-hour during the period of the night watch.
Allhands high, or Allhands hoay! tout le monde haut! the call or order by which all the ship’s company are summoned upon deck by the boatswain.
ALOFT, en haut, (loffter, to lift up, Dan.) up in the tops, at the mast-heads, or any where about the higher yards or rigging.
ALONG-side, bord à bord, flanc & flanc, side by side, or joined to a ship, wharf, &c. and lying parallel thereto.
To lay Along-side, alonger, to arrange a ship by the side of another.
Along-shore, along the coast; this phrase is commonly applied to coasting-navigation, or to a course which is in sight of, and nearly parallel to, the shore.
LyingAlong, à la bande, (au longe, Fr.) the state of being pressed down sideways by a weight of sail in a fresh wind that crosses the ship’s course either directly or obliquely.
ALOOF, lof, this has frequently been mentioned as a sea-term, but whether justly or not we shall not presume to determine; it is known in common discourse to imply, at a distance; and the resemblance of the phrases, keep aloof, and keep a luff, or keep the luff, in all probability gave rise to this conjecture. If it was really a sea-phrase originally, it seems to have referred to the dangers of a lee-shore, in which situation the pilot might naturally apply it in the sense commonly understood, viz. keep all off, or quite off: it is, however, never expressed in that manner by seamen now. See Luff. It may not be improper to observe, that, besides using this phrase in the same sense with us, the French also call the weather side of a ship, and the weather clue of a course, le lof.
AMAIN, cale-tout, (from main, or maigne, old French) at once, suddenly; as, let go amain! i. e. let it run at once. This phrase is generally applied to any thing that is hoisted or lowered by a tackle, or complication of pullies.
AMIDSHIPS, the middle of the ship, either with regard to her length or breadth. Example in the first sense; The enemy boarded us amidships, i. e. in the middle, between the stem and stern. Example in the second sense; Put the helm amidships, i. e. in the middle, between the two sides.
ANCHOR, ancre (anchora, Lat. from αγκυρα, Greek) a heavy, strong, crooked instrument of iron, dropped from a ship into the bottom of the water, to retain her in a convenient station in a harbour, road, or river.
The most ancient anchors are said to have been of stone, and sometimes of wood, to which a great quantity of lead was usually fixed. In some places baskets full of stones, and sacks filled with sand, were employed for the same use. All these were let down by cords into the sea, and by their weight stayed the course of the ship. Afterwards they were composed of iron, and furnished with teeth, which being fastened to the bottom of the sea, preserved the vessel immoveable; whence ὀδοντες and dentes are frequently taken for anchors in the Greek and Latin poets. At first there was only one tooth, whence anchors were called ἐτερόστομοι; but in a short time the second was added by Eupalamus, or Anacharsis, the Scythian philosopher. The anchors with two teeth were called ἀμφίβολοι, or ἀμφίστομοι, and from ancient monuments appear to have been much the same with those used in our days, only the transverse piece of wood upon their handles (the stock) is wanting in all of them. Every ship had several anchors, one of which, surpassing all the rest in bigness and strength, was peculiarly termed ἱηρὰ, or sacra, and was never used but in extreme danger; whence sacram anchoram solvere, is proverbially applied to such as are forced to their last refuge. Potter’s Antiquities of Greece.
The anchors now made are contrived so as to sink into the ground as soon as they reach it, and to hold a great strain before they can be loosened or dislodged from their station. They are composed of a shank, a stock, a ring, and two arms with their flukes. The stock, which is a long piece of timber fixed across the shank, serves to guide the flukes in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the ground; so that one of them sinks into it by its own weight as soon as it falls, and is still preserved steadily in that position by the stock, which, together with the shank, lies flat on the bottom. In this situation it must necessarily sustain a great effort before it can be dragged through the earth horizontally. Indeed this can only be effected by the violence of the wind or tide, or of both of them, sometimes increased by the turbulence of the sea, and acting upon the ship so as to stretch the cable to its utmost tension, which accordingly may dislodge the anchor from its bed, especially if the ground be soft and oozy or rocky. When the anchor is thus displaced, it is said, in the sea phrase, to come home.
That the figure of this useful instrument may be more clearly understood, let us suppose a long massy beam of iron erected perpendicularly, Plate I. fig. 2. b c; at the lower end of which are two arms, de, of equal thickness with the beam (usually called the shank) only that they taper towards the points, which are elevated above the horizontal plane at an angle of thirty degrees; or inclined to the shank at an angle of sixty degrees: on the upper part of each arm (in this position) is a fluke, or thick plate of iron, g h, commonly shaped like an isosceles triangle, whose base reaches inwards to the middle of the arm. On the upper-end of the shank is fixed the stock transversely with the flukes: the stock is a long beam of oak, f, in two parts, strongly bolted, and hooped together with iron rings. See also fig. 3. Close above the stock is the ring, a, to which the cable is fastened, or bent: the ring is curiously covered with a number of pieces of short rope, which are twisted about it so as to form a very thick texture or covering, called the puddening, and used to preserve the cable from being fretted or chafed by the iron.
Every ship has, or ought to have, three principal anchors, with a cable to each, viz. the sheet, maitresse-ancre, (which is the anchora sacra of the antients) the best bower, second ancre, and small bower, ancre d’ affourche, so called from their usual situation on the ship’s bows. There are besides smaller anchors, for removing a ship from place to place in a harbour or river, where there may not be room or wind for sailing; these are the stream-anchor, ancre de touei; the kedge and grappling, grapin; this last, however, is chiefly designed for boats.
To drag theAnchors, chasser sur ses ancres, implies the effort of making the anchor come home, when the violence of the wind, &c. strains the cable so as to tear it up from the bed into which it had sunk, and drag it along the ground; as already explained.
Foul-Anchor: it is so called when it either hooks some other anchor, wreck, or cable, under the surface of the water; or when, by the wind suddenly abating, the ship slackens her strain, and straying round the bed of her anchor, entangles her slack cable about the upper fluke of it, and easily draws it out of its place, as soon as she begins to ride with a strain. To prevent this, it is usual, as she approaches the anchor, in light winds, to draw the slack cable into the ship as fast as possible.
ToAnchor, ancrer, mouiller, &c. is to let go the anchor, and to let the ship ride thereby.
TheAnchoris a cock-bill, ancre est àla vielle, implies that the shank-painter, or rope by which the flukes were hung to the ship’s bow, being cast off, the flukes drop down perpendicularly; whilst the anchor is suspended at the cat-head by its stopper, ready to be sunk from the bow at a moment’s warning.
AtAnchor, à l’ ancre, the situation of a ship which rides by her anchor in a road or haven, &c. Plate I. fig. 6. represents the fore-part of a ship, as riding in this situation.
TheAnchoris a peek. See the article Apeek.
TheAnchoris a-trip, or a-weigh. See those articles.
To back theAnchor. See Back.
To cat theAnchor, caponner l’ancre, is to hook a tackle called the cat to its ring, and thereby pull it up close to the cat-head, which see.
To fish theAnchor, to draw up the flukes upon the ship’s side after it is catted. See the articles Davit and Fish.
To sheer the ship to herAnchor, gouverner sur l’ancre, is to steer the ship’s head towards the place where the anchor lies when they are heaving the cable into the ship; that the cable may thereby enter the hause with less resistance, and the ship advance towards the anchor with greater facility.
To shoe theAnchor. See the article Shoe.
To weigh theAnchor, lever l’ancre, to heave the anchor out of the ground by its cable. See Capstern and Windlass.
To weigh theAnchorwith the long-boat, lever l’ancre avec la chaloupe, is to draw it up by applying mechanical powers to the buoy-rope, and thereby pull it up to the boat’s stem or stern.
To weigh theAnchorby the hair, is to weigh it by the cable in a boat, when the ship cannot approach it, or when the buoy rope is broke. See the French term Ancre, and the phrases which succeed in order.
Anchor-ground, fond de bonne tenue, is a bottom which is neither too deep, too shallow, nor rocky; as in the first the cable bears too nearly perpendicular, and is thereby apt to jerk the anchor out of the ground: in the second, the ship’s bottom is apt to strike at low water, or when the sea runs high, by which she is exposed to the danger of sinking: and in the third, the anchor is liable to hook the broken and pointed ends of rocks, and tear away its flukes; whilst the cable, from the same cause, is constantly in danger of being cut through as it rubs on their edges.
APEEK, (à pique, Fr.) perpendicular to the anchor; a ship is said to be in this situation, when the cable is drawn so tight into the bow as to, bring her directly over the anchor, so that the cable bears right down from the ship’s stem.
APRON, (from a and foran, Sax.) a platform, or flooring of plank, raised at the entrance of a dock, a little higher than the bottom, against which the dock gates are shut. See the article Dock.
Apron, contre etrave, in ship-building, a piece of curved timber fixed behind the lower part of the stem, immediately above the foremost end of the keel. See plate I. fig. H. in the Piecesof theHull.
The Apron conforms exactly to the shape of the stem, so that when the convexity of the former is applied to the concavity of the latter, it forms one solid piece, which serves to fortify the stem, and give it a firmer connexion with the keel.
As the apron is composed of two pieces scarfed together, and used to support she scarf of the stem, it is necessary that the scarf thereof should be at some distance from that of the stem. It is formed of the same thickness with the heel of the stem; but its thickness is equal throughout. Sometimes the piece immediately under the apron forms a curve, of which the horizontal part covers the dead-wood, whilst the vertical part corresponds with the inside of the stem, to which it is fayed, making the commencement of the apron.
Naval ARCHITECTUREPlate. i.
Apron, platine, is also a square piece of lead fastened over the touch-hole of the cannon, to keep the charge dry at sea or in rainy weather.
Naval ARCHITECTURE, or the science of ship-building, comprehends the theory of delineating marine vessels upon a plane; and the art of framing them upon the stocks, according to the proportions exhibited in a regular design.
All edifices, whether civil or military, are known to be erected in consequence of certain established plans, which have been previously altered or improved till they have arrived at the desired point of perfection. The construction of ships appears also to require at least as much correctness and precision as the buildings which are founded upon terra firma: it is therefore absolutely necessary that the mechanical skill of the shipwright should be assisted by plans and sections, which have been drawn with all possible exactness, examined by proper calculations, and submitted to the most accurate scrutiny.
NavalArchitecture, or ship-building, may be distinguished into three principal parts.
