WHAT SHIP IS THAT? A question often put when a _jaw-breaking_ word has
been intrusively uttered by _savants_.
WHAT WATER HAVE YOU? The question to the man sounding, as to the depth
of water which the lead-line gives.
WHAUP. The larger curlew, _Numenius arquatus_.
WHEAT. An excellent article for sea-diet; boiled with a proportion of
molasses, it makes a most nutritious breakfast. As it stows well, and
would even yield nearly the same weight in bread, it should be made an
article of allowance.
WHEEL. A general name for the helm, by which the tiller and rudder are
worked in steering the ship; it has a barrel, round which the
tiller-ropes or chains wind, and a wheel with spokes to assist in moving
it.
WHEEL AND AXLE. A well-known mechanical power, to which belong all
turning or wheel machines, as cranes, capstans, windlasses, cranks, &c.
WHEEL-HOUSE. A small round-house erected in some ships over the
steering-wheel for the shelter of the helmsman.
WHEEL-LOCK. A small machine attached to the old musket for producing
sparks of fire.
WHEEL-ROPES. Ropes rove through a block on each side of the deck, and
led round the barrel of the steering-wheel. Chains are also used for
this purpose.
WHEELS. _See_ TRUCKS.
WHEFT. More commonly written _waft_ (which see). Although _wheft_ is
given in the official signal-book, bibliophilists ignore the term.
WHELK. A well-known shell-fish, _Buccinum undatum_.
WHELPS. The brackets or projecting parts which rise out of the barrel or
main body of the capstan, like buttresses, to enlarge the sweep, so that
a greater portion of the cable, or whatever rope encircles the barrel,
may be wound about it at one turn without adding much to the weight of
the capstan. The whelps reach downwards from the lower part of the
drumhead to the deck. The pieces of wood bolted on the main-piece of a
windlass, or on a winch, for firm holding, and to prevent chafing, are
also called whelps.
WHERE AWAY? In what bearing? a question to the man at the mast-head to
designate in what direction a strange sail lies.
WHERRY. A name descended from the Roman _horia_, the _oare_ of our early
writers. It is now given to a sharp, light, and shallow boat used in
rivers and harbours for passengers. The wherries allowed to ply about
London are either scullers worked by one man with two sculls, or by two
men, each pulling an oar. Also, a decked vessel used in fishing in
different parts of Great Britain and Ireland: numbers of them were
notorious smugglers.
WHETHER OR NO, TOM COLLINS. A phrase equivalent to, "Whether you will or
not, such is my determination, not to be gainsaid."
WHICH WAY DOES THE WIND LIE? What is the matter?
WHIFF. The _Rhombus cardina_, a passable fish of the pleuronect genus.
Also, a slight fitful breeze or transient puff of wind.
WHIFFING. Catching mackerel with a hook and line from a boat going
pretty fast through the water.
WHIFFLERS. The old term for fifers, preceding the body of archers who
cleared the way, but more recently applied to very trifling fellows.
Smollett named Captain Whiffle in contempt.
WHIMBREL. The smaller species of curlew, _Numenius phaeopus_.
WHIMSEY. A small crane for hoisting goods to the upper stories of
warehouses.
WHINYARD. A sort of hanger, serving both as a weapon and a knife. An
archaism for a cutlass. See the Gentleman in the _Cobler of
Canterburie_, 1590:--
"His cloake grew large and sid,
And a faire winniard by his side."
WHIP. A single rope rove through a single block to hoist in light
articles. Where greater and steadier power is demanded, a block is
added, and the standing part is made fast near the upper block. Thus it
becomes _a double whip_.--_To whip._ To hoist by a whip. Also, to tie
twine, whipping fashion, round the end of a rope to prevent its
untwisting.
WHIP, OR WHIP-STAFF. A strong staff fastened into the helm for the
steersman to move the rudder thereby.
WHIP-JACK. An old term, equivalent to fresh-water sailor, or a
sham-shipwrecked tar. (_See_ TURNPIKE-SAILORS.)
WHIPPERS. Men who deliver the cargoes of colliers in the river Thames
into lighters.
WHIPPING-TWINE. Used to whip the ends of ropes.
WHIP-RAY. A ray with a long tail ending in a very fine point. It is
armed with a dangerous serrated spine, jagged like a harpoon. Called
also _sting-ray_ and _stingaree_.
WHIP-SAW. The largest of that class of useful instruments, being that
generally used at the saw-pit.
WHIP UPON WHIP. A sort of easy purchase, much used in colliers. It
consists of one whip applied to the falls of another.
WHIRL, OR ROPE-WINCH. Small hooks fastened into cylindrical pieces of
wood which communicate by a leather strap with a spoke-wheel, whereby
three of them are set in motion at once. Used for spinning yarn for
ropes. Now more commonly made of iron.
WHIRLER, OR TROUGHTON'S TOP. An ingenious instrument invented by
Troughton, and intended to serve as an artificial horizon at sea; but it
was found that its centrifugal force was incapable of counteracting the
ordinary motion of a ship.
WHIRLPOOL. An eddy or vortex where the waters are continually rushing
round. In rivers they are very common, from various accidents, and are
usually of little consequence. In the sea they are more dangerous, as
the classical Charybdis, and the celebrated Maelstrom and Saltenstrom,
both on the coast of Norway.
WHIRLWIND. A revolving current of wind of small diameter that rises
suddenly, but is soon spent.
WHISKERS. Two booms, half-yards, or iron spars projecting on each side
before the cat-heads; they are for spreading the guys of the jib-boom,
instead of having a spritsail-yard across. In many vessels the
sprit-sail (then termed spread-yard) is lashed across the forecastle so
as to rest before the cat-heads on the gunwale, and the guys rove
through holes bored in it, and set up in the fore-channels.