DILLOSK. The dried leaves of an edible sea-weed. (_See_ DULCE and
PEPPER-DULSE.)
DILLY-WRECK. A common corruption of _derelict_ (which see).
DIME. An American silver coin, in value the tenth of a dollar.
DIMINISHED ANGLE. In fortification, that formed by the exterior side and
the line of defence.
DIMINISHING PLANK. The same as _diminishing stuff_ (which see).
DIMINISHING STRAKES. _See_ BLACK-STRAKE.
DIMINISHING STUFF. In ship-building, the planking wrought under the
wales, where it is thinned progressively to the thickness of the bottom
plank.
DIMINUTION OF OBLIQUITY. A slow approximation of the planes of the
ecliptic and the equator, at the present rate of 0.485" annually.
DIMSEL. A piece of stagnant water, larger than a pond and less than a
lake.
DING, TO. To dash down or throw with violence.
DING-DONG. Ships firing into each other in good earnest.
DINGHEY. A small boat of Bombay, propelled by paddles, and fitted with a
settee sail, the mast raking forwards; also, the boats in use on the
Hooghly; also, a small extra boat in men-of-war and merchant ships.
DINGLE. A hollow vale-like space between two hills. A clough; also, a
sort of boat used in Ireland, a coracle.
DINNAGE. _See_ DUNNAGE.
DIP. The inclination of the magnetic needle towards the earth. (_See_
DIPPING-NEEDLE.) Also, the smallest candle formerly issued by the
purser.
DIP, TO. To lower. An object is said to be dipping when by refraction it
is visible just above the horizon. Also, to quit the deck suddenly.
DIP OF THE HORIZON. The angle contained between the sensible and
apparent horizons, the angular point being the eye of the observer; or
it is an allowance made in all astronomical observations of altitude for
the height of the eye above the level of the sea.
DIPPED. The limb of the sun or moon as it instantly dips below the
horizon.
DIPPER. A name for the water-ousel (_Cinclus aquaticus_). A bird of the
Passerine order, but an expert diver, frequenting running streams in
mountainous countries.
DIPPING-LADLE. A metal ladle for taking boiling pitch from the cauldron.
DIPPING-NEEDLE. An instrument for ascertaining the amount of the
magnet's inclination towards the earth; it is so delicately suspended,
that, instead of vibrating horizontally, one end _dips_ or yields to the
vertical force. This instrument has been so perfected by Mr. R. W. Fox
of Falmouth, that even at sea in the heaviest gales of wind the dip
could instantly, by magnetic deflectors, be ascertained to _minutes_,
far beyond what heretofore could be elicited from the most expensive
instruments, observed over 365 days on shore.
DIPPING-NET. A small net used for taking shad and other fish out of the
water.
DIPS. _See_ LEAD-LINE.
DIP-SECTOR. An ingenious instrument for measuring the true dip of the
horizon, invented by Dr. Wollaston, and very important, not only where
the nature and quantity of the atmospherical refraction are to be
examined, but for ascertaining the rates of chronometers, and the exact
latitude in those particular regions where accidental refractions are
very great, for the difference between the calculated dip and that
observed by the sector may exceed three minutes. It is a reflecting
instrument, of small compass, but requiring patience and practice in its
use.
DIPSY. The float of a fishing-line.
DIRECT-ACTING ENGINE. A steam engine in which the connecting rod is led
at once from the head of the piston to the crank, thus communicating the
rotatory motion without the intervention of side-levers.
DIRECT FIRE. One of the five varieties into which artillerists usually
divide _horizontal fire_ (which see).
DIRECTION OR SET OF THE WIND AND CURRENT. These are opposite terms; the
direction of the winds and waves being named from the point of the
compass _whence_ they come; but the direction of a current is the point
_towards_ which it runs. A current running to leeward is said to have a
_leeward set_, the opposite is a _windward set_.
DIRECTION. _See_ ARC OF DIRECTION.
DIRECT MOTION. _See_ MOTION.
DIRK. A small _do-little_ sword or dagger, formerly worn by junior naval
officers on duty.
DIRT-GABARD. A large ballast-lighter.
DIRTY AULIN. A name for the arctic skua (_Cataractes parasiticus_), a
sea-bird, allied to the gulls.
DIRTY DOG AND NO SAILOR OR SOLDIER. A mean, spiritless, and utterly
useless rascal.
DISABLED. To be placed _hors de combat_ by the weather or an enemy.
DISAPPOINT. To counterwork an enemy's operations in mining.
DISARM. To deprive people of their weapons and ammunition.
DISBANDED. When the officers and men of a regiment are dismissed, on a
reduction of the army.
DISC, OR DISK. In nautical astronomy, the circular visible surface
presented by any celestial body to the eye of the observer.
DISCARCARE. [Ital.] An old term meaning to unlade a vessel.
DISCHARGED. When applied to a ship, signifies when she is unladen. When
expressed of the officers or crew, it implies that they are disbanded
from immediate service; and in individual cases, that the person is
dismissed in consequence of long service, disability, or at his own
request. When spoken of cannon, it means that it is fired off.
DISCHARGE-TICKET. On all foreign stations men are discharged by _foreign
remove-tickets_, and in other cases by _dead_, _sick_, or _unserviceable
ticket_, whether at home or abroad.
DISCHARGE-VALVE. In the marine engine, is a valve covering the top of
the barrel of the air-pump, opening when pressed from below.
DISCIPLINARIAN. An officer who maintains strict discipline and obedience
to the laws of the navy, and himself setting an example.
DISCOURSE, TO. An old sea term to traverse to and fro off the proper
course.
DISCOVERY SHIP. A vessel fitted for the purpose of exploring unknown
seas and coasts. Discovery vessels were formerly taken from the merchant
service; they have latterly been replaced by ships of war, furnished
with every improved instrument, and acting, on occasion, as active
pilots leading in war service.
DISCRETION. To surrender at discretion, implies an unconditional
yielding to the mercy of the conquerors.
DISEMBARK. The opposite of embark; the landing of troops from any vessel
or transport.
DISEMBAY. To work clear out of a gulf or bay.
DISEMBOGUE. The fall of a river into the sea; it has also been used for
the passage of vessels across the mouth of a river and out of one.
DISGUISE. Ships in all times have been permitted to assume disguise to
impose upon enemies, and obtain from countries in their possession
commodities of which they stand in need.
DISH, TO. To supplant, ruin, or frustrate.
DISLODGE. To drive an enemy from any post or station.
DI-SLYNG. _See_ SLYNG.
DISMANTLED. The state of a ship unrigged, and all her stores, guns, &c.,
taken out, in readiness for her being laid up in ordinary, or going into
dock, &c. &c. To dismantle a gun is to render it unfit for service. The
same applies to a fort.
DISMASTED. State of a ship deprived of her masts, by gales or by design.
DISMISS. Pipe down the people. To dismiss a drill from parade is to
break the ranks.
DISMISSION. A summary discharge from the service; which a court-martial
is empowered to inflict on any officer convicted of a breach of special
laws, though it cannot for minor offences which formerly carried death!
DISMOUNT, TO. To break the carriages of guns, and thereby render them
unfit for service. Also, in gun exercise, to lift a gun from its
carriage and deposit it elsewhere.
DISMOUNTED. The state of a cannon taken off a carriage, or when, by the
enemy's shot, it is rendered unmanageable. Also, cavalry on foot acting
as infantry.
DISOBEDIENCE. An infraction of the orders of a superior; punishable by a
court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offence.
DISORDER. The confusion occasioned by a heavy fire from an enemy.
DISORGANIZE, TO. To degrade a man-of-war to a privateer by irregularity.
DISPART, OR THROW OF THE SHOT. The difference between the semi-diameter
of the base-ring at the breech of a gun, and that of the ring at the
swell of the muzzle. On account of the dispart, the line of aim makes a
small angle with the axis; so that the elevation of the latter above the
horizon is greater than that of the line of aim: an allowance for the
dispart is consequently necessary in determining the commencement of the
graduations on the tangent scale, by which the required elevation is
given to the gun.
DISPARTING A GUN. To bring the line of sight and line of metal to be
parallel by setting up a mark on the muzzle-ring of a cannon, so that a
sight-line, taken from the top of the base-ring behind the touch-hole,
to the mark set near the muzzle, may be parallel to the axis of the
bore. (_See_ GUN.)
DISPART-SIGHT. A gun-sight fixed on the top of the second
reinforce-ring--about the middle of the piece--for point-blank or
horizontal firing, to eliminate the difference of the diameters between
the breech and the mouth of the cannon.
DISPATCH. All duty is required to be performed with diligence.
DISPATCHES. Not simply letters, but such documents as demand every
effort for their immediate delivery. "Charged with dispatches" overrides
all signals of hindrance on a voyage.
DISPLACEMENT. The centre of gravity of the displacement relates to the
part of the ship under water, considered as homogeneous. The weight of
water which a vessel displaces when floating is the same as the weight
of the ship. (_See_ CENTRE OF CAVITY.)
DISPOSED QUARTERS. The distribution when the camp is marked about a
place besieged.
DISPOSITION. A draught representing the several timbers that compose a
ship's frame properly disposed with respect to ports and other parts.
Also, the arrangement of a ship's company for watches, quarters,
reefing, furling, and other duties. In a military sense it means the
placing of a body of troops upon the most advantageous ground.
DISRANK, OR DISRATE. To degrade in rank or station.
DISREPAIR. A bar to any claim on account of sea-unworthiness in a
warrantry.
DISTANCE. The run which a ship has made upon the log-board. In speaking
of double stars, it is the space separating the centres of the two
stars, expressed in seconds of arc. (_See_ LUNAR DISTANCES.)
DISTILLING SEA-WATER. Apparatus for the conversion of sea-water into
potable fresh water have long been invented, though little used; but of
late the larger ships are effectively fitted with adaptations for the
purpose.
DISTINCTION. Flags of distinction, badges, honourable note of
superiority.
DISTINGUISHING PENDANT. In fleets and squadrons, instead of hoisting
several flags to denote the number of the ship on the list of the Navy,
pendants are used. Thus ten ships may be signalled separately. If more,
then, as one answers, her pendant is hauled down, and then two pendants
succeed. (_See_ SIGNALS.)
DISTRESS. A term used when a ship requires immediate assistance from
unlooked-for damage or danger. (_See_ SIGNAL OF DISTRESS.)
DISTRICT ORDERS. Those issued by a general commanding a district.
DISTURBANCE. _See_ SPANISH DISTURBANCE.
DITCH. In fortification the excavation in front of the parapet of any
work, ranging in width from a few feet in field fortification to thirty
or forty yards in permanent works, having its steep side next the
rampart called the escarp: the opposite one is the counterscarp. Its
principal use is to secure the escarp as long as possible. There are wet
ditches and dry ones, the former being less in favour than the latter,
since a dry ditch so much facilitates sorties, counter-approaches, and
the like. That kind which may be made wet or dry at pleasure is most
useful.
DITTY-BAG. Derives its name from the _dittis_ or Manchester stuff of
which it was once made. It is in use among seamen for holding their
smaller necessaries. The ditty-bag of old, when a seaman prided himself
on his rig, as the result of his own ability to fit himself from clue to
earing, was a treasured article, probably worked in exquisite device by
his lady-love. Well can we recollect the pride exhibited in its display
when "on end clothes" was a joyful sound to the old pig-tailed tar.
DITTY-BOX. A small caddy for holding a seaman's stock of _valuables_.
DIURNAL ARC. That part of a circle, parallel to the equator, which is
described by a celestial body from its rising to its setting.
DIURNAL PARALLAX. _See_ PARALLAX.
DIVE, TO. To descend or plunge voluntarily head-foremost under the
water. To go off deck in the watch. A ship is said to be "_diving into
it_" when she pitches heavily against a head-sea.
DIVER. One versed in the art of descending under water to considerable
depths and abiding there a competent time for several purposes, as to
recover wrecks of ships, fish for pearls, sponges, corals, &c. The diver
is now a rating in H.M. ships; he may be of any rank of seaman, but he
receives L1, 10_s._ 5_d._ per annum additional pay--one penny a-day for
risking life! Also, a common web-footed sea-bird of the genus
_Colymbus_.
DIVERGENT. A stream flowing laterally out of a river,
contradistinguished from convergent.
DIVERSION. A man[oe]uvre to attract, wholly or partially, the enemy's
attention away from some other part of the operations.
DIVIE-GOO. A northern term for the _Larus marinus_ or black-backed gull.
DIVINE SERVICE. Ordered by the articles of war, whenever the weather on
a Sunday will allow of it.
DIVING-APPARATUS. Supplied to the flag-ship, and also a man with the
title of diver, to examine defects below water.
DIVING-BELL. Used in under-water operations for recovering treasure,
raising ships, anchors, &c.
DIVING-DRESS. India-rubber habiliments, the head-piece is of light metal
fitted with strong glass eyes, and an attached pliable pipe to maintain
a supply of air. The shoes are weighted.
DIVISION. A select number of ships in a fleet or squadron of men-of-war,
distinguished by a particular flag, pendant, or vane. A squadron may be
ranged into two or three divisions, the commanding officer of which is
always stationed in the centre. In a fleet the admiral divides it into
three squadrons, each of which is commanded by an admiral, and is again
divided into divisions; each squadron had its proper colours (now
distinguishing mark) according to the rank of the admiral who commanded
it, and each division its proper mast. The private ships carried
pendants of the same colour with their respective squadrons at the masts
of their particular divisions, so that the ships in the last division of
the blue squadron carried a blue pendant at their main topgallant-mast
head, the vane at the mizen. All these are superseded by the abolition
of the Red and Blue. The St. George's white ensign flag and pendant
alone are used.
DIVISIONS. The sub-classification of a ship's company under the
lieutenants. Also, a muster of the crew. Also, of an army, a force
generally complete in itself, commanded by a major-general, of an
average strength of eight or ten thousand men: it is itself composed of
several brigades, each of which again is composed of several battalions,
besides the complement of artillery, transport-corps, and generally also
of cavalry, for the whole. Of a battalion, a term sometimes used in
exercise, when the companies of a battalion have been equalized as to
strength, for one of such companies.
DJERME. _See_ JERME.
DOA. A Persian trading vessel.
DOASTA. An inferior spirit, often drugged or doctored for unwary sailors
in the pestiferous dens of filthy Calcutta and other sea-ports in India.
DOB. The animal inhabiting the razor-shell (_solen_), used as a bait by
fishermen.
DOBBER. The float of a fishing-line.
DOBBIN. A phrase on our southern coasts for sea-gravel mixed with sand.
DOCK. An artificial receptacle for shipping, in which they can discharge
or take in cargo, and refit.--A _dry dock_ is a broad and deep trench,
formed on the side of a harbour, or on the banks of a river, and
commodiously fitted either to build ships in or to receive them to be
repaired or breamed. They have strong flood-gates, to prevent the flux
of the tide from entering while the ship is under repair. There are
likewise docks where a ship can only be cleaned during the recess of the
tide, as she floats again on the return of the flood. Docks of the
latter kind are not furnished with the usual flood-gates; but the term
is also used for what is more appropriately called a _float_ (which
see). Also, in polar parlance, an opening cut out of an ice-floe, into
which a ship is warped for security.
DOCK-DUES. The charges made upon shipping for the use of docks.
DOCKERS. Inhabitants of the town which sprang up between the docks and
the town of Plymouth. Dock solicited and obtained the royal license, in
1823, to be called Devonport--a very inappropriate name, Plymouth being
wholly within the county of Devon, while Hamoaze is equally in Devon and
Cornwall.
DOCK HERSELF, TO. When a ship is on the ooze, and swaddles a bed, she is
said to dock herself.
DOCKING A SHIP. The act of drawing her into dock, and placing her
properly on blocks, in order to give her the required repair, cleanse
the bottom, and cover it anew. (_See_ BREAMING.)
DOCK UP, OR DUCK UP. To clue up a corner of a sail that hinders the
helmsman from seeing.
DOCKYARD DUTY. The attendance of a lieutenant and party in the arsenal,
for stowing, procuring stores, &c.
DOCKYARD MATIES. The artificers in a dockyard. In former times an
established declaration of war between the mates and midshipmen _versus_
the maties was hotly kept up. Many deaths and injuries never disclosed
were hushed up or patiently borne. It terminated about 1830.
DOCKYARDS. Arsenals containing all sorts of naval stores and timber for
ship-building. In England the royal dockyards are at Deptford, Woolwich,
Chatham, Sheerness, Portsmouth, Devonport, Pembroke. Those in our
colonies are at the Cape of Good Hope, Gibraltar, Malta, Bermuda,
Halifax, Jamaica, Antigua, Trincomalee, and Hong Kong. There Her
Majesty's ships and vessels of war are generally moored during peace,
and such as want repairing are taken into the docks, examined, and
refitted for service. These yards are generally supplied from the north
with hemp, pitch, tar, rosin, canvas, oak-plank, and several other
species of stores. The largest masts are usually imported from New
England. Until 1831 these yards were governed by a commissioner resident
at the port, who superintended all the musters of the officers,
artificers, and labourers employed in the dockyard and ordinary; he also
controlled their payment, examined their accounts, contracted and drew
bills on the Navy Office to supply the deficiency of stores, and,
finally, regulated whatever belonged to the dockyard. In 1831 the
commissioners of the Navy were abolished, and admirals and captains
superintendent command the dockyards under the controller of the Navy
and the Admiralty.
DOCTOR. A name which seamen apply to every medical officer. Also, a
jocular name for the ship's cook.
DOCTOR'S LIST. The roll of those excused from duty by reason of illness.
DODD. A round-topped hill, generally an offshoot from a higher mountain.
DODECAGON. A regular polygon, having twelve sides and as many angles.
DODECATIMORIA. The anastrous signs, or twelve portions of the ecliptic
which the signs anciently occupied, but have since deserted by the
precession of the equinoxes.
DODGE. A homely but expressive phrase for shuffling conduct, or cunning
of purpose. Also, to watch or follow a ship from place to place.
DODMAN. A shell-fish with a hod-like lump. A sea-snail, otherwise called
_hodmandod_.
DOFF, TO. To put aside.
DO FOR, TO. A double-barrelled expression, meaning alike to take care of
or provide for an individual, or to ruin or kill him.
DOG. The hammer of a fire-lock or pistol; that which holds the flint,
called also _dog-head_. Also, a sort of iron hook or bar with a sharp
fang at one end, so as to be easily driven into a piece of timber, and
drag it along by means of a rope fastened to it, upon which a number of
men can pull. _Dog_ is also an iron implement with a fang at each end,
to be driven into two pieces of timber, to support and steady one of
them while being dubbed, hewn, or sawn.--_Span-dogs._ Used to lift
timber. A pair of dogs linked together, and being hooked at an extended
angle, press home with greater strain.
DOG-BITCH-THIMBLE. An excellent contrivance by which the
topsail-sheet-block is prevented making the half cant or turn so
frequently seen in the clue when the block is secured there.
DOG-BOLT. A cap square bolt.
DOG-DRAVE. A kind of sea-fish mentioned in early charters.
DOG-FISH. A name commonly applied to several small species of the shark
family.
DOGG. A small silver coin of the West Indies, six of which make a bitt.
Also, in meteorology, _see_ STUBB.
DOGGED. A mode of attaching a rope to a spar or cable, in
contradistinction to racking, by which slipping is prevented;
half-hitched and end stopped back, is one mode.
DOGGER. A Dutch smack of about 150 tons, navigated in the German Ocean.
It is mostly equipped with a main and a mizen mast, and somewhat
resembles a ketch or a galliot. It is principally used for fishing on
the Dogger Bank.
DOGGER-FISH. Fish bought out of the Dutch doggers.
DOGGER-MEN. The seafaring fishermen belonging to doggers.
DOGS. The last supports knocked away at the launching of a ship.
DOG'S-BODY. Dried pease boiled in a cloth.
DOG-SHORES. Two long square blocks of timber, resting diagonally with
their heads to the cleats. They are placed forward to support the
bilge-ways on the ground-ways, thereby preventing the ship from starting
off the slips while the keel-blocks are being taken out.
DOG-SLEEP. The uncomfortable fitful naps taken when all hands are kept
up by stress.
DOG'S TAIL. A name for the constellation Ursa Minor or Little Bear.
DOG-STOPPER. Put on before all to enable the men to bit the cable,
sometimes to fleet the messenger.
DOG-TONGUE. A name assigned to a kind of sole.
DOG-VANE. A small vane made of thread, cork, and feathers, or buntin,
fastened on the end of a half-pike, and placed on the weather gunwale,
so as to be readily seen, and show the direction of the wind. The term
is also familiarly applied to a cockade.
DOG-WATCH. The half-watches of two hours each, from 4 to 6, and from 6
to 8, in the evening. By this arrangement an uneven number of watches is
made--seven instead of six in the twenty-four hours; otherwise there
would be a succession of the same watches at the same hours throughout
the voyage or cruise. Theodore Hook explained them as _cur-tailed_.
(_See_ WATCH.)
DOIT. A small Dutch coin, valued at about half a farthing; formerly
current on our eastern shores.
DOLDRUMS. Those parts of the sea where calms are known to prevail. They
exist between and on the polar sides of the trade-winds, but vary their
position many degrees of latitude in the course of the year, depending
upon the sun's declination. Also applied to a person in low spirits.
DOLE. A stated allowance; but applied to a scanty share or portion.
DOLE-FISH. The share of fish that was given to our northern fishermen as
part payment for their labour.
DOLING. A fishing-boat with two masts, on the coasts of Sussex and Kent;
each of the masts carries a sprit-sail.
DO-LITTLE, OR DO-LITTLE SWORD. The old term for a dirk.
DOLLAR. For this universally known coin, see PIECE OF EIGHT.
DOLLOP. An old word for a lump, portion, or share. From the Gaelic
_diolab_.
DOLPHIN. Naturalists understand by this word numerous species of small
cetaceous animals of the genus _Delphinus_, found in nearly all seas.
They greatly resemble porpoises, and are often called by this name by
sailors; but they are distinguished by having a longer and more slender
snout. The word is also generally, but less correctly, applied to a
fish, the dorado (_Coryphaena hippuris_), celebrated for the changing
hues of its surface when dying. Also, a small light ancient boat, which
gave rise to Pliny's story of the boy going daily to school across the
Lucrine lake on a dolphin. Also, in ordnance, especially brass guns, two
handles nearly over the trunnions for lifting the guns by. Also, a
French gold coin (_dauphine_), formerly in great currency. Also, a
stout post on a quay-head, or in a beach, to make hawsers fast to. The
name is also given to a spar or block of wood, with a ring-bolt at each
end, through which a hawser can be rove, for vessels to ride by; the
same as _wooden buoys_.
DOLPHIN OF THE MAST. A kind of wreath or strap formed of plaited
cordage, to be fastened occasionally round the lower yards to prevent
nip, or as a support to the puddening, where the lower yards rest in the
sling, the use of which is to sustain the fore and main yards by the
jeers, in case the rigging or chains, by which those yards are
suspended, should be shot away in action. (_See_ PUDDENING.)
DOLPHIN-STRIKER. A short perpendicular gaff spar, under the
bowsprit-end, for guying down the jib-boom, of which indeed it is the
chief support, by means of the martingales. (_See_ MARTINGALE.)
DOLVER. The reclaimed fen-grounds of our eastern coasts.
DOMESTIC NAVIGATION. A term applied to coasting trade.
DOMINIONS. It is a settled point that a conquered country forms
immediately a part of the king's dominions; and a condemnation of ships
within its harbours as droits of admiralty, is valid, although the
conquest may not yet have been confirmed by treaty.
DON. A general name for Spaniards. One of the "perfumed" terms of its
time.--_To don._ To put on.
DONDERBASS. _See_ BOMBARD.
DONEY. The doney of the Coromandel coast is about 70 feet long, 20 feet
broad, and 12 feet deep; with a flat bottom or keel part, which at the
broadest place is 7 feet, and diminishes to 10 inches in the siding of
the stem and stern-post. The fore and after bodies are similar in form
from midships. Their light draught of water is about 4 feet, and when
loaded about 9 feet. These unshapely vessels in the fine season trade
from Madras and Ceylon, and many of them to the Gulf of Manar, as the
water is shoal between Ceylon and the southern part of the continent.
They have only one mast, and are navigated by the natives in the rudest
way; their means for finding the latitude being a little square board,
with a string fast to the centre, at the other end of which are certain
knots. The upper edge of the board is held by one hand so as to touch
the north star, and the lower edge the horizon. Then the string is
brought with the other hand to touch the tip of the nose, and the knot
which comes in contact with the tip of the nose tells the latitude.
DONJON. The keep, or place of retreat, in old fortifications. A redoubt
of a fortress; the highest and strongest tower.
DONKEY-ENGINE. An auxiliary steam-engine for feeding the boilers of the
principal engine when they are stopped; or for any other duties
independent of the ship's propelling engines.
DONKEY-FRIGATE. Those of 28 guns, frigate-built; that is, having guns
protected by an upper deck, with guns on the quarter-deck and
forecastle; ship-sloops, in contradistinction to corvettes and sloops.
DONNY. A small fishing-net.
DOOLAH. A passage-boat on the Canton river.
DOOTED. Timber rendered unsound by fissures.
DORADO. The _Coryphaena hippuris_, an oceanic fish; often called
"dolphin."
DOREY. A flat-floored cargo-boat in the West Indies, named after the
fish John Dory.
DORNICLE. A northern name for the viviparous blenny.
DORRA. From the Gaelic _dorga_; a crab-net.
DORSAL FIN. The median fin placed upon the back of fishes.
DORY. A fish, _Zeus faber_, commonly known as "John Dory," or truly
_jaune doree_, from its golden hues.
DOTTLE. The small portion of tobacco remaining unsmoked in the pipe.
DOUBLE, TO. To cover a ship with an extra planking, usually of 4 inches,
either internally or externally, when through age or otherwise she has
become loosened; the process strengthens her without driving out the
former fastenings. Doubling, however, is a term applied only where the
plank thus used is not less than 2 inches thick.--To _double_ a cape.
(_See_ DOUBLING A CAPE.)
DOUBLE-ACTING ENGINE. One in which the steam acts upon the piston
against a vacuum, both in the upward and downward movement.
DOUBLE-BANK A ROPE, TO. To clap men on both sides.
DOUBLE-BANKED. When two opposite oars are pulled by rowers seated on the
same thwart; or when there are two men labouring upon each oar. Also,
60-gun frigates which carry guns along the gangway, as was the custom
with Indiamen, are usually styled _double-bankers_.
DOUBLE-BITTED. Two turns of the cable round the bitts instead of one.
DOUBLE-BLOCK. One fitted with a couple of sheaves, in holes side by
side.
DOUBLE-BREECHING. Additional breeching on the non-recoil system, or
security for guns in heavy weather.
DOUBLE-CAPSTAN. One shaft so constructed as to be worked both on an
upper and lower deck, as in ships of the line, or in Phillips' patent
capstan.
DOUBLE-CROWN. A name given to a plait made with the strands of a rope,
which forms part of several useful and ornamental knots.
DOUBLE DECK-NAILS. _See_ DECK-NAILS.
DOUBLE DUTCH COILED AGAINST THE SUN. Gibberish, or any unintelligible or
difficult language.
DOUBLE EAGLE. A gold coin of the United States, of 10 dollars; value L2,
1_s._ 8_d._, at the average rate of exchange.
DOUBLE-FUTTOCKS. Timbers in the cant-bodies, extending from the
dead-wood to the run of the second futtock-head.
DOUBLE-HEADED MAUL. One with double faces; top-mauls in
contradistinction to pin-mauls.
DOUBLE-HEADED SHOT. Differing from bar-shot by being similar to
dumb-bells, only the shot are hemispherical.
DOUBLE-IMAGE MICROMETER. Has one of its lenses divided, and separable to
a certain distance by a screw, which at the same time moves an index
upon a graduated scale. When fitted to a telescope for sea use, as in
chase, it is called a _coming-up glass_.
DOUBLE INSURANCE. Where the insured makes two insurances on the same
risks and the same interest.
DOUBLE-IRONED. Both legs shackled to the bilboe-bolts.
DOUBLE-JACK. _See_ JACK-SCREW.
DOUBLE-LAND. That appearance of a coast when the sea-line is bounded by
parallel ranges of hills, rising inland one above the other.
DOUBLE-SIDED. A line-of-battle ship painted so as to show the ports of
both decks; or a vessel painted to resemble one, as used to be frequent
in the Indian marine.
DOUBLE-STAR. Two stars so close together as to be separable only with a
telescope. They are either optically so owing to their accidental
situation in the heavens, or physically near each other in space, and
one of them revolving round the other.
DOUBLE-TIDE. Working double-tides is doing extra duty. (_See_ WORK
DOUBLE-TIDES.)
DOUBLE UPON, TO. _See_ DOUBLING UPON.
DOUBLE WALL-KNOT. With or without a crown, or a double crown, is made by
intertwisting the unlaid ends of a rope in a peculiar manner.
DOUBLE-WHIP. A whip is simply a rope rove through a single block; a
double whip is when it passes through a lower tail or hook-block, and
the standing end is secured to the upper block, or where it is attached.
DOUBLING. (_See_ RANK.) Putting two ranks into one.
DOUBLING A CAPE. In navigation, is to sail round or pass beyond it, so
that the point of land separates the ship from her former situation.
DOUBLING-NAILS. The nails commonly used in doubling.
DOUBLING UPON. In a naval engagement, the act of inclosing any part of a
hostile fleet between two fires, as Nelson did at the Nile. The van or
rear of one fleet, taking advantage of the wind or other circumstances,
runs round the van or rear of the enemy, who will thereby be exposed to
great danger and confusion.
DOUBLOON. A Spanish gold coin, value 16 dollars: L3, 3_s._ to L3, 6_s._
English.
DOUGH-BOYS. Hard dumplings boiled in salt water. A corruption of
_dough-balls_.
DOUSE, TO. To lower or slacken down suddenly; expressed of a sail in a
squall of wind, an extended hawser, &c. Douse the glim, your colours,
&c., to knock down.
DOUT, TO. To put out a light; to extinguish; _do out_. Shakspeare makes
the dauphin of France say in "King Henry V.:"--
"That their hot blood may spin in English eyes,
And dout them."
DOUTER, OR DOUSER. An extinguisher.
D'OUTRE MER. From beyond the sea.
DOVER COURT BEETLE. A heavy mallet. There is an old proverb: "A Dover
court; all speakers and no hearers."
"A Dover court beetle, and wedges with steel,
Strong lever to raise up the block from the wheel."--_Tusser._
DOVE-TAIL. The fastening or letting in of one timber into another by a
dove-tailed end and score, so that they hold firmly together, and cannot
come asunder endwise. The operation of cutting the mortise is called
dove-tailing.
DOVE-TAIL PLATES. Metal plates resembling dove-tails in form, let into
the heel of the stern-post and the keel, to bind them together; and also
those used for connecting the stem-foot with the fore end of the keel.
DOWAL. A coak of metal in a sheave.
DOWBREK. A northern term for the fish also called spaerling or smelt.
DOWEL. A cylindrical piece of hard wood about three inches in diameter,
and the same in length, used as an additional security in scarphing two
pieces of timber together. Dowels are also used to secure the joinings
of the felloes, or circumferential parts of wheels; and by coopers in
joining together the contiguous boards forming the heads of
casks.--_Dowel_, or _dowel-bit_, is the tool used to cut the holes for
the dowels.
DOWELLING. The method of uniting the butts of the frame-timbers together
with a cylindrical piece or tenon let in at each end.
DOWN ALL CHESTS! The order to get all the officers' and seamen's chests
down below from off the gun-decks when clearing the ship for an
engagement.
DOWN ALL HAMMOCKS! The order for all the sailors to carry their hammocks
down, and hang them up in their respective berths in readiness to go to
bed, or to lessen top-weight and resistance to wind in chase.
DOWN ALONG. Sailing coastways down Channel.
DOWN EAST. Far away in that bearing. This term, as _down west_, &c., is
an Americanism, recently adopted into our vernacular.
DOWNFALLS. The descending waters of rivers and creeks.
DOWN-HAUL. A rope passing up along a stay, leading through cringles of
the staysails or jib, and made fast to the upper corner of the sail to
pull it down when shortening sail. Also, through blocks on the outer
clues to the outer yard-arms of studding-sails, to take them in
securely. Also, the cockpit term for a great-coat.
DOWN-HAUL TACKLES. Employed when lower yards are struck in bad weather
to prevent them from swaying about after the trusses are unrove.
DOWN IN THE MOUTH. Low-spirited or disheartened.
DOWN KILLOCK! Let go the grapnel; the corruption of keel-hook or anchor.
DOWN OARS! The order on shoving off a boat when the men have had them
"tossed up."
DOWNS. An accumulation of drifted sand, which the sea gathers along its
shores. The name is also applied to the anchorage or sea-space between
the eastern coast of Kent and the Goodwin Sands, the well-known
roadstead for ships, stretching from the South to the North Foreland,
where both outward and homeward-bound ships frequently make some stay,
and squadrons of men-of-war rendezvous in time of war. It is defended by
the castles of Sandwich, Deal, and Dover.
DOWN WIND, DOWN SEA. A proverbial expression among seamen between the
tropics, where the sea is soon raised by the wind, and when that abates
is soon smooth again.
DOWN WITH THE HELM! An order to put the helm a-lee.
DOWSING CHOCK. A breast-hook or piece fayed athwart the apron and lapped
on the knight-heads, or inside stuff, above the upper deck; otherwise
termed _hawse-hook_.
DOYLT. Lazy or stupid.
DO YOU HEAR THERE? An inquiry following an order, but very often
needlessly.
DRABLER. A piece of canvas laced on the bonnet of a sail to give it more
drop, or as Captain Boteler says--"As the bonnet is to the course, so in
all respects is the drabler to the bonnet." It is only used when both
course and bonnet are not deep enough to clothe the mast.
DRACHMA. A Greek coin, value sevenpence three farthings sterling; 14
cents. American or Spanish real.
DRAFT, OR DRAUGHT. A small allowance for waste on goods sold by weight.
DRAFT OF HANDS. A certain number of men appointed to serve on board a
particular man-of-war, who are then said to be _drafted_. A transfer of
hands from one ship to complete the complement of another.
DRAG. A machine consisting of a sharp square frame of iron encircled
with a net, and commonly used to rake the mud off from the platform or
bottom of the docks, or to clean rivers, or for dragging on the bottom
for anything lost. Also, a creeper.
DRAG FOR THE ANCHOR, TO. The same as _creep_ or _sweep_.
DRAGGING. An old word for dredging.
DRAGGING ON HER. Said of a vessel in chase, or rounding a point, when
she is obliged to carry more canvas to a fresh wind than she otherwise
would.
DRAG-NET. A trawl or net to draw on the bottom for flat-fish.
DRAGOMAN. The name for a Turkish interpreter; it is corrupted from
_tarij-man_.
DRAGON. An old name for a musketoon.
DRAGON BEAM OR PIECE. A strut or abutment.
DRAGONET. A sea-fish, the gowdie, or _Callionymus lyra_.
DRAGON-VOLANT. The old name for a gun of large calibre used in the
French navy, whence the term was adopted into ours.
DRAGOON. Originally a soldier trained to serve alike on horse or foot,
or as Dr. Johnson equivocally explains it, "who fights indifferently on
foot or on horseback." (_See_ TROOP.) The term is now applied to all
cavalry soldiers who have no other special designation.
DRAG-ROPES. Those used in the artillery by the men in pulling the gun
backwards and forwards in practice and in action.
DRAGS. Whatever hangs over the ship into the sea, as shirts, coats, or
the like; and boats when towed, or whatever else that after this manner
may hinder the ship's way when she sails, are called _drags_.
DRAG-SAIL. Any sail with its clues stopped so as when veered away over
the quarter to make a stop-water when veering in emergency. The
drag-sail formed by the sprit-sail course was frequently used in former
wars to retard the ship apparently running away until the enemy got
within gun-shot.
DRAG-SAW. A cross-cut saw.
DRAG THE ANCHOR, TO. The act of the anchors coming home.
DRAKE. An early piece of brass ordnance.
DRAKKAR. A Norman pirate boat of former times.
DRAUGHT, OR DRAFT. The depth of water a ship displaces, or of a body of
fluid necessary to float a vessel; hence a ship is said to draw so many
feet of water when she requires that depth to float her, which, to be
more readily known, are marked on the stem and stern-post from the keel
upwards. Also, the old name for a chart. Also, the delineation of a ship
designed to be built, drawn on a given scale, generally a quarter-inch
to the foot, for the builders. (_See_ SHEER-DRAUGHT.)
DRAUGHT-HOOKS. Iron hooks fixed on the cheeks of a gun-carriage for
dragging the gun along by _draught-ropes_.
DRAUGHTSMAN. The artist who draws plans or charts from instructions or
surveys.
DRAW. A sail _draws_ when it is filled by the wind. A ship _draws_ so
many feet of water.--_To let draw a jib_ is to cease from flattening-in
the sheet.--_Draw_ is also a term for halliards in some of the northern
fishing-boats.--_To draw._ To procure anything by official demand from a
dockyard, arsenal, or magazine.--_To draw up the courses._ To take
in.--_To draw upon a ship_ is to gain upon a vessel when in pursuit of
her.
DRAWBACK. An abatement or reduction of duties allowed by the
custom-house in certain cases; as for stores to naval officers in
commission.
DRAW-BELLOWS. A northern term for _limber-holes_ (which see).
DRAWING. The state of a sail when there is sufficient wind to inflate
it, so as to advance the vessel in her course.
DRAWING UP. Adjusting a ship's station in the line; the converse of
_dropping astern_.
DRAWING WATER. The number of feet depth which a ship submerges.
DRAWN BATTLE. A conflict in which both parties claim the victory, or
retire upon equal terms.
DRAW-NET. Erroneously used for _drag-net_.
DRAWN FOR THE MILITIA. When men are selected by ballot for the defence
of the country.
DRAW THE GUNS. To extract the charge of wad, shot, and cartridge from
the guns.
DREDGE. An iron scraper-framed triangle, furnished with a bottom of hide
and stout cord net above, used for taking oysters or specimens of shells
from the bottom.
DREDGER-BOAT. One that uses the net so called, for turbots, soles,
sandlings, &c.
DREDGING. Fishing by dragging the dredge.
DREDGING MACHINE. A large lighter, or other flat-bottomed vessel,
equipped with a steam-engine and machinery for removing the mud and silt
from the bottom, by the revolution of iron buckets in an endless chain.
DREDGY. The ghost of a drowned person.
DREINT. The old word used for drowned, from the Anglo-Saxon.
DRESS, TO. To place a fleet in organized order; also, to arrange men
properly in ranks; to present a true continuous line in front.--_To
dress a ship._ To ornament her with a variety of colours, as ensigns,
flags, pendants, &c., of various nations, displayed from different parts
of her masts, rigging, &c., on a day of festivity.
DREW. A name in our northern isles for the _Fucus loreus_, a narrow
thong-shaped sea-weed.
DRIBBLE. Drizzling showers; light rain.
DRIES. A term opposed to _rains_ on the west coast of Africa.
DRIFT. The altered position of a vessel by current or falling to leeward
when hove-to or lying-to in a gale, when but little head-way is made by
the action of sails. In artillery, a priming-iron of modern introduction
used to clear the vent of ordnance from burning particles after each
discharge. Also, a term sometimes used for the constant deflection of a
rifled projectile. (_See_ DEFLECTION.)