THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
The first sixty or seventy years of the nineteenth century saw the
art of the seaman at its highest state of perfection. There was never
anything to equal it either before or since in the achievements
rendered by the sailors who manned the famous “wooden walls” of
Nelson’s time, who took the stately East Indiaman backwards and
forwards with so much ceremony and safety, or hurried along the tea
clipper at a continuous rate which has never since been surpassed by
any fleet of sail-propelled ships.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were royal dockyards
at Chatham, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Deptford, Woolwich, and Sheerness;
and here His Majesty’s ships were generally moored in the piping times
of peace. The first three of these yards were governed by a resident
commissioner, who superintended all the musters of the officers,
artificers, and labourers employed in the dockyard. He controlled
the payments, examined the accounts, contracts, etc., and generally
regulated the dockyard. Large ships, such as those mighty wooden walls
which could carry a hundred guns, were usually built in dry dock,
with strong flood gates to prevent the tide from coming in. When
the time came for launching, and it was spring tides, the gates were
opened and the ship floated out. But small craft, such as frigates
and corvettes, were built on the slips, and then launched by means of
a cradle which sped down the ways, the latter having been previously
greased with soap or tallow.
[Illustration: LAUNCHING A MAN-OF-WAR IN THE YEAR 1805.]
The oak of which these craft were built usually came from the Forest
of Dean, Gloucestershire, and the New Forest, Hants. But as ships
were built out in the open, the weather got into the wood and rotted
it, so that sometimes a ship was condemned before she was ever put in
commission; and, in any case, the life of some wooden walls was under
ten years. Others lasted for a long period, as, for instance, Nelson’s
_Victory_, which was built in the year 1765. The method of building
was curiously medieval, and almost Viking-like in its simplicity. The
timbers were secured by treenails to the planking. They were preferred
to spike-nails or bolts, as the latter were liable to rust with the sea
water and get loose. The thickness of the treenail was proportioned to
the length of the ship, one inch being allowed to every hundred feet.
In the Royal Navy and in the East India Service ships were always
sheathed with copper to protect the hull against worms. The copper was
quite thin, brown paper being inserted between the sheathing and the
oak. Other ships than these two classes had thin deal boards nailed
over the outside of the bottom for the same purpose.
After the new ship had been floated out of her dock she was taken
alongside a sheer-hulk. The latter was an old man-o’-war, which had
been dismantled and refitted with one very high mast, strengthened with
shrouds and stays to secure the sheers which served as the arm of a
crane for hoisting ships’ masts in or out, and getting the yards on
to the new vessel. Her sails were bent, her guns and ammunition taken
aboard, and away she went for her first commission. Not one of these
“wooden walls” carried any canvas above royals. They could not travel
fast through the water even on a wind, for they were bulky, clumsy,
and cumbrous. Their lines were not sweet, they had a huge, heavy body
to drive through the water; they were slow in stays, and they were
not easy to handle. They rolled so badly, that in heavy weather they
sometimes rolled their masts out.
With a hundred guns aboard and most of a thousand men, a three-decker
was certainly an interesting sight. Her guns were arranged in rows
along her decks. The lower gun-deck was little above the water-line. A
100-gun ship in Nelson’s time cost over £67,000, and these three decks
ran from stem to stern, besides a forecastle and a quarter-deck, the
former of which extended aft from the stem to the belfry, where the
ship’s bell was suspended under a shelter. The quarter-deck extended
from aft to the mainmast. There was also a poop-deck, and another deck
below the lower gun-deck, called the orlop, where the cables were
coiled and the sails stowed. The gun-room was on the after end of the
lower gun-deck, and partly used by the gunner; but in frigates and
smaller vessels, where it was below, it was used by the lieutenants as
a mess-room. The ward-room was over the gun-room, where the superior
officers messed and slept.
[Illustration: SHEER-HULK.
After the etching by E. W. COOKE.]
In action the guns were run out, by means of side tackles, till their
muzzles were well outside the port, so that the flash of the gun might
not set the ship’s side on fire. These ports were fitted with heavy
square lids. In bad weather it was impossible to open the lower-deck
ports lest the sea should swamp the ship. There was a kind of shutter
also, called a half-port, with a circular hole in the centre large
enough to go over the muzzle of the gun, and furnished with a piece of
canvas nailed round its edge to tie on the gun and prevent the water
entering the port, although the gun remained run out. These were used
chiefly on the main deck. Ropes were made fast to the outside of the
lids attached to a tackle within, by which the port-lids could be drawn
up.
There was but little light ’tween decks in these ships even by day, and
the glimmer of a purser’s dip was the only illumination. The magazines,
however, were lighted through what was termed a “light-room.” The
latter was a small apartment with double-glass windows towards the
magazine. No candle could, of course, be taken into the latter, so the
gunner and his assistants filled their cartridges with powder by the
candles shining through the windows. In the bigger men-o’-war there
were two light-rooms; one attached to the after magazine, and the other
which gave light to the fore or great magazine. The after magazine
contained just enough supply of cartridges for the after guns during
action, but the great magazine had enough powder for the ship for a
long period.
The cables were usually of 120 fathoms and made of hemp, bass, or
Indian grass, though the biggest ships used hemp exclusively for their
heavy anchors. The change from hemp to chain cables came in 1812, and
these were much appreciated as saving a great deal of valuable space
below. For the hemp cables when coiled down in a frigate’s cable-tier
filled nearly a quarter of her hold, and when it is remembered that
a 1000-ton ship had a cable measuring over 8 inches in diameter, and
that a 2⅛-inch chain was just as strong--the breaking strain exceeded
65 tons--but took up less space, we can well understand that hemp was
not altogether an advantage, notwithstanding that in bad weather these
heavy, bluff ships would ride far easier to the rope than the chain.
The largest anchor used weighed five tons. It had a wooden stock and
broad palms.
Because these hemp cables were so thick there must needs be very
large hawse-pipes. Now these ships not only rolled; they pitched
in a sea-way, and consequently they took in a great deal of water
through these pipes. In order to prevent the water getting adrift all
over the ship, there was a large compartment fitted up just abaft
the hawse-pipes and called the manger. This stretched athwart the
deck, separated on the after part by the manger-board, which was a
strong bulkhead, the water being allowed to return to the sea through
scuppers. Leather pipes were nailed round the outside of the lower-deck
scuppers, which, by hanging down, prevented the water from entering
when the ship heeled under a press of canvas.
The cables led in through the hawse-pipes below deck to the bitts. To
bitt the cable was to put it round the bitts, which were frames of
strong timbers fixed perpendicularly into the ship. The “bitter end”
was that part of the cable which was abaft the bitts, and not allowed
to run out. Hence the common expression “to the bitter end” has no
reference to the other meaning of the word spelt in a similar way.
These cables were in lengths of 40 fathoms, and then spliced to make
the 120 fathoms. Naturally a heavy ship such as a 100-gun first-rate
carried a great deal of way. When, therefore, the anchor was let go,
the friction of the cable passing through the hawse-pipe was something
enormous, and the hemp became so hot that the tar on its surface often
took fire, therefore men were always stationed to stand by with buckets
of water. Likewise, the bitts and timbers round the heated hawse-pipes
had to be attended to. Another drawback to a rope cable was that it
chafed a great deal. In coral-bottomed waters it was customary to arm
with chains that part which was likely to be worn; and the cable was
also sometimes buoyed with casks lashed at intervals, so as to float
safely above the rough bottom of the sea-bed.
[Illustration: H.M.S. “PRINCE.”
A first-rate of 110 guns, showing the stern balconies as built before
the close sterns were introduced.]
There is an interesting passage in a letter written by Captain Duff
of H.M.S. _Mars_, in 1805, to his wife, in which the following words
occur: “October 10th. I am sorry the rain has begun to-night, as it
will spoil my fine work, having been employed for this week past to
paint the ship _à la_ Nelson, which most of the fleet are doing.”
That, of course, was just a few days before Trafalgar. And there is
a phrase in a letter written by a young midshipman to his father, in
1794, telling him all about the Glorious First of June battle. “The
French ... called us the little devil, and the little black ribband,
as we have a black streak painted on our side.” The explanation of
these two passages is as follows. Up to the beginning of the nineteenth
century it was left to a captain’s own taste to paint his ship whatever
colours he liked. There was no uniformity as to-day, but generally a
ship was painted with a wide black streak along the water-line just
above the copper sheathing. This streak ran right round the ship, and
in depth reached to the lower gun-deck. Above this the hull was painted
a brownish yellow, but sometimes it was more a lemon-colour. The after
upper works above the gun-decks and the outer sides of the poop above
the quarter-deck guns were painted a vivid red or blue.
This bright band of colour gradually faded until, by the time Trafalgar
was fought, it became a dull, deep blue--almost black. Round the
forecastle ran a band of scarlet or pale blue edged with gold, and
continued down the beak to the figurehead. The outsides of the
port-lids were a brownish yellow like the sides, and the stern walks
were decorated with elaborate gilt carvings, cherubs and dolphins and
mermaids, the royal arms, and wreaths, etc. Round the stern of each
ship, outside the glazed windows of the cabin, ran a quarter gallery
for the captain, while at the bows a figurehead was seen which was
regarded with a sentimental interest and kept in good condition. But
Nelson had his ships painted black, with a yellow streak along each
tier of ports, and the port-lids were painted black. This chequer
painting, then, was the method “_à la_ Nelson” to which Captain Duff
was referring.
Internally the sides of the ships were still painted a blood-red,
for the reason already given in an earlier century. So also were the
inner sides of the port-lids. But after Trafalgar the interiors were
sometimes painted in other colours, such as green or yellow or even
brown, until, after the year 1840, white became uniform. Many internal
fittings such as the gun-carriages, and even the guns themselves, were
painted red or chocolate during the Nelson period. The lower masts were
painted a dull yellow, the topmasts and upper spars varnished a dark
brown, and the lower yards and gaffs painted black. The blocks, the
chains, the dead-eyes, the wooden and iron fittings for the rigging
were all tarred black, just as one often finds them to-day on some
old coaster or fishing smack. The masts of the British warships were
painted white usually before any engagement with the French, so as to
distinguish them from the Gallic masts, which were black.
[Illustration: AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY DESIGN FOR A MAN-OF-WAR’S
STERN.]
It was the superiority of the British gunnery which won most of our
battles against the French, even when the latter had better ships and
faster. The British directed their fire chiefly against the hull,
whereas the French aimed at the rigging. The cartridges were filled
in the magazines and handed up to the fighting decks above by the
powder-monkeys. Along the decks were arranged, at intervals, match-tubs
to receive the slow-matches used in firing the guns, whilst in the
cockpit of the ship the surgeon and his mates were busy attending to
the wounded. The ’tween decks were very cramped, and there was not
much air, and there was still a good deal of disease rampant among the
seamen. The surgeon’s mate messed in a space only six feet square in
the cockpit, “screened off with canvas, and shut in by chests, dark
as a dungeon, and smelling intolerably of putrefied cheese and rancid
butter.”
[Illustration: COURSE, TOPSAIL, AND TOPGALLANT SAIL OF AN EARLY
NINETEENTH-CENTURY SHIP.]
After the end of the eighteenth century, the salutary practice of
building ships under cover became general. Nowadays, of course, most
ships are constructed in the open air. But in the time we are speaking
of the ship--men built with wood and not steel. And when the weather
was not allowed to get inside and rot the wood, it was found that the
vessels lasted much longer than before. Furthermore, the method of
uniting two pieces of timber together by “scarfing” was introduced.
It was done either by letting the end of one piece of wood into the
end of the other, or by laying the two ends together and fastening
a third piece to them both. Thus, curved timbers could be made with
pieces of straight timber. This may seem quite a small matter to some,
but when it is stated that until this device was employed ships ready
for launching were sometimes detained on the stocks for a considerable
period until natural bent timbers could be found, it will be seen that
Sir Robert Seppings, the inventor, was performing an excellent service
to the Admiralty.
[Illustration: THE CIRCULAR-SHAPED STERN OF H.M.S. “ASIA.”
This 84-gun ship was in the engagement at the Battle of Navarino.]
And there were other improvements which were only justified. That
effusive gilt decoration--the scrolls, the allegorical figures, the
wreaths (which had come in during Caroline times), the heavy brackets
for the poop-lanterns were all to come under the chastening hand
of simplicity. The stern galleries became simpler in character and
fewer in number, the spritmast disappeared and the spritsail, though
the spritsail yard remained for some time. In the Merchant Service the
“Jimmy Green” continued till well into the nineteenth century; and the
yard of the lateen mizzen had long since been lopped off to become a
gaff, as also the triangular mizzen sail had become quadrilateral and
a boom had been added. Masts were made taller, but the bowsprit was
no longer a quasi-mast, as it had been since medieval days. Staysails
had come into use from Dutch origin, and royals--or, as Hutchinson
called them, “topgallant royals”--and studding-sails were already
well established during the latter part of the eighteenth century.
The triangular headsails were relied upon for getting the ship’s head
round, and consequently the foremast was no longer placed so far
forward as it had been in Tudor and Stuart times.
[Illustration: A BRIG OF WAR’S 12-POUNDER CARRONADE.]
During the reign of George III, a three-decker carried either 32- or
42-pounders on her lower gun-deck, 24-pounders on her middle deck,
and either 12- or 6-pounders on her upper deck. On the forecastle and
quarter-deck 6-pounders were fired. It was the 32-pounders which began
to be recognised as the largest satisfactory gun for the first-rates,
and so continued till about 1840. In place of the old Elizabethan
powder-horn and linstock, gun-locks and firing-tubes were introduced,
and the system of ventilating ships, introduced during the eighteenth
century by Dr. Hales, made for the improved health of both ships and
crews.
Many of those who emigrated from these shores to the United States
of America can still remember the sailing ships which carried them
through gales with safety. That was the time when the ship’s deck
was like a veritable farmyard. There were no condensed foods, no
patent refrigerating arrangements, no water-condensers; so the
ship’s long-boat, stowed securely on deck, became filled with pens
of sheep and pigs, while cackling ducks and quacking geese reminded
the agricultural emigrants of the homes they had just left. There
was a cow-house on deck, and on some ships there was even a small
kitchen-garden in boxes filled with earth, which reposed in the
jolly-boat. In those smaller ships carrying no passengers, the pigs and
poultry had practically the whole run of the ship. Milk was obtained
from the goats and cows, but occasionally, when the wild Atlantic made
a clean sweep of the deck, this article of food was impossible till the
next port was reached.
The eighteenth-century transatlantic ships used to make only two trips
a year, taking four months for the round voyage and back. The quickest
trip was the homeward one to England, for there was a favourable
westerly wind to run before. But even with a head wind, these old
packets made good their 40 knots a day. And so matters went on till the
volume of trade and the number of emigrants had so much increased as
to create a demand for the bigger ships of about 800 tons that came in
1840.
[Illustration: A WEST INDIAMAN IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION.]
I hope on another occasion to tell at greater length the story of that
fine class of ship known as the East Indiaman, which has long since
disappeared from the sea. I have but little space left here to deal
with a species of ship that was scarcely inferior to many of those in
His Majesty’s service. Although nominally merchantmen, yet they so much
enjoyed the patronage of the Government, that to be officer in the East
India Company’s service was almost the equivalent of a commission in
the Royal Navy. So well paid were the East India captains and their
staff, and so many handsome emoluments besides were there attached to
their posts, that you are not altogether surprised to find, as you
look down the names of these officers, men of title and the younger
sons of some of the best English families.
[Illustration: A THREE-DECKER ON A WIND.]
Promotion was made by seniority, and a captain was assigned to his
ship even before she was launched, so that he had an opportunity of
knowing every timber and every plank in her hull. He superintended
her fitting out, and when she was at last complete with her spars and
sails, her complement of passengers, her cargo and her crew, she put
to sea, but she was in no tremendous hurry to get to the Orient. Her
voyaging was to be safe and sure, like her captain’s remuneration. For
he was allowed by the directors 56½ tons of space for carrying cargo
on his own account, the rates of freights then varying from £35 to £40
a ton. Captains did their own chartering, and in one way and another
accumulated very large perquisites. A conservative estimate places the
income of some of these skippers as from £6000 to £10,000 a year; and
the mates and petty officers managed to feather their own nests very
amply as well.
The discipline of these ships was founded on the prevailing custom
in the Royal Navy. They flew the Navy’s long pendant. They were
built like some of the Admiralty frigates, they were fitted out on
similar lines, and they were handled in like manner. But they were
slightly fuller-bodied than the Admiralty ships in order to carry
plenty of cargo. The accommodation for passengers was, considering
the times, luxurious. At the end of each homeward voyage these ships
were entirely dismantled and given a complete refit, the passengers
selling their state-room furniture by auction on board before going
ashore. The directors looked well after the men as well as holding
out encouragement to the officers. Seamen of eight years’ service
were permitted pensions. The crews were divided into two watches, the
officers having three watches--four hours on and eight hours off. The
men messed in batches of eight, their allotted space being between the
guns in the ’tween decks. Here also were their mess-utensils and their
sea-chests, and here were slung their hammocks. Every Sunday morning
after the crew had been inspected they were, by the regulations of the
Company, to attend Divine service, the captain acting as chaplain. If a
commander’s log-book was found to have omitted this duty he was liable
to a fine of two guineas. He wore a uniform consisting of a blue coat
having black velvet lapels with cuffs and collar. There was plenty of
gold embroidery and gilt buttons with the Company’s device thereon. The
breeches were buff, he wore a black stock or neckcloth, and a cocked
hat and side-arms completed the picture.
[Illustration: THE BRIG “WOLF,”
Formerly in the Royal Navy, hove-to off Dover waiting for the pilot to
come out.]
So also the crews were constantly drilled at their guns and trained to
handle cutlass, musket, and boarding pike. There were two men to every
job, there was plenty of food, and there was no cause for grumbling
at overwork. There was plenty of rum, there were good quarters and
good prospects. And yet for all that there were reckless fellows who
could not realise their good fortune. When they had offended they were
brought before the ship’s court-martial in true naval fashion and
sentenced to the cat-o’-nine-tails. And no man could complain that
the commander was “driving” his ship; for every evening, no matter
how fine the weather looked, the royals and all light sails such as
studding-sails were stowed, and the royal yards sent down on deck.
No risks were run unnecessarily, and if the weather looked at all
threatening the t’gallant sails and mainsail were stowed and a single
reef tucked into the topsails. The aim was to combine safety with
comfort, and so they snugged down every night, and by day whenever
there was the least temptation. But the East India was a fine service
and a splendid school for British seamanship, a calling that has so
considerably died out during the last forty years. In the year 1832
the valuable monopoly which the East India Company had enjoyed for so
long a time was put an end to. Commerce was thrown open, competition
entirely altered the previous conditions, and at last this fine fleet
was sold and disbanded.
[Illustration: A FRIGATE UNDER ALL SAIL.]
[Illustration: MAN IN THE CHAINS HEAVING THE LEAD ON AN OLD WOODEN
SAILING SHIP.
(From a contemporary lithograph.)]
But it was the period of the clipper which simultaneously brought
seamanship to unheard-of attainment, and chanted its swan-song. The
period is covered roughly by the years 1840 to 1870. It was introduced
owing to a demand for the more rapid delivery of goods, especially tea,
which does not improve by remaining in a ship’s hold. It was given a
strong impetus by the discovery of gold in California, and the eager
rush of prospectors to reach that part quickly. The rush to Australia
in like manner was a still further impetus to the development of the
clipper ship at the middle of the nineteenth century. The China tea
trade in the ’fifties and ’sixties caused these ships to be improved
and developed and handled to the utmost limits, until the opening of
the Suez Canal in 1869 gave it its death-blow. For a time it lingered,
yet the collateral encouragement of the steamship made it impossible
for the sailing ship to pay her way across the ocean. But there never
have been such smart ocean passages so continuously maintained as by
the China clippers of the ’sixties. There never were better sailing
ships built of wood, and there never were captains who “cracked on”
or crews who could work such big canvas-propelled craft with such
distinction. This was the period when a ship was not content with
t’gallants and royals, but must needs set sky sails and moonrakers.
[Illustration: H.M.S. “CLEOPATRA” ENDEAVOURING TO SAVE THE CREW OF THE
BRIG “FISHER,” 200 TONS, ON OCTOBER 26, 1835.
This incident occurred 82 miles N. ¼ W. off Flamborough Head in a
strong S. W. gale with heavy squalls. The brig had lost her mainmast,
and hailed the _Cleopatra_ for assistance. A boat was therefore lowered
on the _Cleopatra’s_ lee quarter, but stove in and lost. A buoy was
veered astern, but the brig could not pick it up. During the night
the brig foundered with all hands. Liardet in his book on seamanship
suggested that in such an incident as this the best thing would be to
get to windward of the wreck, let down ropes from the lee side, then
signal to the wreck your intention of drifting down to her. The men
could then rescue themselves by the ropes.]
A very fine type of clipper was built in 1859 by Messrs. Robert Steel
and Son, at Greenock, to which class belonged such famous ships as the
_Falcon_ and _Fiery Cross_. They were beautifully designed craft and
splendidly built, with ample deck space for working the ship and small
deck-houses, and were kept up almost as smartly as a modern sailing
yacht with polished brass-work, holystoned decks, and well-found gear.
The clipper _Seaforth_, which was built in 1863, brought about
quite a revolution in the sailing ship’s equipment, for she was the
first sailing vessel to have steel spars and wire rigging. Her lower
masts, her topmasts, and her topsail yards and bowsprit were all steel
likewise.
[Illustration: H.M.S. “HASTINGS,” 74 GUNS.
Lying “in Ordinary” in the Medway.]
In one respect these old tea clippers were curiously medieval, though
the practice continued also in the ships of the Royal Navy till well on
into the nineteenth century. This was in the matter of loose ballast.
These tea clippers carried about 300 tons of shingle ballast laid
evenly along the bottom of the ship, and upon this shingle were laid
the chests of tea, and considerable dunnage was put in as well. These
ships had a registered tonnage of about 700 tons, and could carry
about 1000 tons of tea. They were worked by a crew of about thirty;
they were captained by skippers of the utmost ability and prudence,
who, unlike the East Indiaman captains, did not worry about snugging
down at nightfall, but first and foremost were bent on getting the
cargo to the London river in the least possible time. They “cracked
on” and undertook risks in gales of wind which would have terrified
many another commander. But it was to their interests to make smart
passages. Some of them were part-owners, and there was a premium of
ten shillings a ton to the skipper who landed the first cargo of a
season’s tea. Thus, in addition to his other emoluments, there was a
chance of making an extra £500 after a quick voyage. Many of the crews
had served their time in sailing ships of the Royal Navy, so a captain
could rely on getting the best out of his fine ship. Some of these
skippers retired with large fortunes; but the premium system led to a
great deal of jealousy and unpleasantness. For it might happen--it did,
in fact, occur--that one ship might make the fastest sailing passage
to Dungeness and yet get her package of tea ashore some time after
the second vessel, simply because the latter had been fortunate in
picking up a more powerful tug to tow her from Dungeness to London. So,
eventually, this premium method had to be abandoned.
When we remember that such vessels as the _Taeping_ and other clippers
have been known to maintain for long periods an average of 13 knots
an hour, we may well regret that the coming of the steamship was not
delayed a century later, to give these ships a complete epoch of their
own. Perhaps in the course of events time will wreak its revenge, and
give us back once more a period of true seamanship and a recurrence of
the most interesting ways of a ship.
[Illustration: MODEL OF FULL-RIGGED SHIP “CARMARTHENSHIRE.”
Built of wood, with iron beams, in the year 1865. The double topsail
yards and stuns’l booms are discernible. She was of 812 tons register;
length, 174·6 ft.; beam, 32·7 ft.; depth, 20·5 ft.]
GLOSSARY
BITTACLE (Binnacle). See pp. 214 and 253.
BITTS. Posts on a deck to which cables, etc., could
be fastened.
BOLT-ROPES. Ropes round the edge of a sail to prevent
tearing.
BONNETS. See p. 158.
BOXHAULING. See p. 252.
BRAILS. Small ropes used for the purpose of shortening
a ship’s canvas.
CAREEN. To lay a ship over on to her side for the
purpose of cleaning, caulking, etc.
CATHEADS. Short projecting beams serving as a bracket to
suspend the anchor clear of the bows.
DRABLER. Canvas laced on the bonnet of a sail to give
it more drop.
DRIVER. A large squaresail set occasionally upon the
mizzen-yard or gaff.
DUNNAGE. Loose wood or other material packed in the
hold with the cargo to prevent it from
shifting.
FOTHERING. See p. 262.
GAFF. A spar used for extending the upper edge of a
fore-and-aft rectangular sail.
GRIPE, to. To come up into the wind in spite of the helm.
GRIPE of a ship. 1. The sharpness of her stern under the water.
2. A projection added to the keel.
GRIPES. Lashings securing a boat in its place.
GROUND-TACKLE. Ropes and tackle used in connection with
anchors and mooring apparatus generally.
HAWSE-PIPES. The metal linings to the hawse-holes or holes
in a ship’s bows through which the cable
passes.
HOG, to. To scrub a ship with flat scrubbing brooms
called hogs.
MANGER. A small apartment made in the ship’s bows to
catch the water flowing through the
hawse-holes.
MIZZEN. The aftermost mast of a vessel with two or
more masts. Sometimes called a jigger. In
medieval four-masters the aftermost mast was
called the bonaventure mizzen, and the one
immediately forward of this the main mizzen.
MOONRAKERS. Sails above the sky-sails.
PARRAL. A band for keeping the end of a yard to the
mast.
PINCH, to. To sail close-hauled.
QUANT, to. To propel a craft along shallow water-ways by
means of a long pole.
RHUMB-LINE. The line (cutting all the meridians at the
same angle) which is followed by a ship
sailing on one course.
SCARFING. See p. 282.
SCUPPERS. Gutters or channels along the outer edge of a
deck by which water runs off.
SNATCH-BLOCKS. Iron-bound blocks with an opening in which the
bight of a rope may be laid without
threading the end of the rope through.
STRINGER. A strip of timber running round a ship
internally in line with the deck.
SWATCH-WAY. A narrow sound or channel of water among
sand-banks.
TABERNACLE. The socket or hinged post for a mast that can
be lowered at will to pass under bridges,
etc.
TRESTLE-TREES. See p. 207.
TUMBLE-HOME. The incline inwards of a ship’s sides above
the level of its extreme breadth.
WARE. To veer.
INDEX
Ægean Sea, 33
Africa, circumnavigation of, by the Phœnicians, 21;
in early map, 124;
geographical knowledge of, 130
Agricola, 67
Alectus, 78
Alfred, sailors in time of, 17
Algiers, pirates of, 224
Amber, Phœnicians and, 26
Ambleteuse, 73
America, North, the Vikings and, 90, 91
Amundsen, Capt. Roald, 204
Amyntas III and shipbuilding materials, 46
Anchor work, 258
Anchors, metal, Athenian Navy, 44;
of the king’s galleys, middle ages, 146;
Spanish iron for, 180;
of men-o’-war, early 19th century, 278
Andersen, Capt. Magnus, 90
Anglo-Dutch wars, 208, 229, 230, 235, 237–40, 267
Anne, Queen, seamen in days of, 249
Anson’s voyage round the world, 131, 251
Antipater of Sidon quoted, 32
Antiphilus quoted, 33
Arabians, the, as navigators, 122
Arctic Circle, voyaging to, 116
Argand lamp, 244
Armada, the great, and seamanship, 184;
wages of seamen at time of, 208;
tactics against, 218;
the pirate and, 222
Arthur’s, King, conquests, 116
Artillery introduced, 180;
knowledge of, 181;
of an Elizabethan ship, 191;
17th century, 228;
18th century, 261;
on men-o’-war, 276, 283
Asia, kings of, build large warships, 43
_Askoma_, 31
Assyrian sculptures, Phœnician biremes in, 19
Assyrians, the, and the sea, 16
Astrolabe, the, need for, 172;
its origin and name, 172;
its use described, 173;
improved for the sea, 174;
and Columbus, 175;
importance of those who could use it, 175;
superseded, 212
Astronomers, the ancients as, 115
Astronomical measurements in navigation, 27
Athenian Navy, the, 44;
inventories of Athenian dockyards, 47
Atlantic, the, Arab name for, 154
Atlas, the first (Wagenaer’s), 214
Audley, Thomas, “Book of Orders,” 182
Augustus, 68
Australia, rush to, 288
Avery, David, 244
Ayscue, Sir George, 239, 242
Azores, the, 212, 217
Baffin’s Bay, 88
Bailak Kibdjaki, 150
Ballast in ancient Greek ships, 32;
loose ballast, 289
Baltimore, piracy at, 223
Barometer, the, 259
Bayeux tapestry, ships in the, 137, 138
Beachy Head, battle of, 243
Beacons, 243
Beaver, Lieut. Philip, 267
Beazley, Mr. Raymond, quoted, 126
Bedford, Duke of, First Lord of Admiralty, and naval uniforms, 272
Behaim, Martin, improves the astrolabe, 174
Bells, ships’, 215, 254
Benbow, Admiral John, 266
“Better to break owners than orders,” 263
Birds, observations by, 88
Biremes, Phœnician, 19;
succeeded by trireme, 38;
number of oars, 40
Biscay, the Bay of, 117
“Bittacle” (i.e. binnacle), 214, 253
“Bitter end,” the, 278
Bitts, 278
Bitumen caulking, 19
“Black Book of the Admiralty,” 183
Black Deeps, the, 227
Blaeu, Wm. J., “The Sea Mirrour,” 215
Blake, Admiral Robert, and Tunisian pirates, 224;
sea commander, 229;
and discontent on his ships, 236;
defects in his ships, 237;
tactics, 238, 239;
battle off Portland, 240, 241
Boarding in naval warfare, 62, 183, 218
Boatswain, 146
Böckh’s “Corpus Inscriptionum Atticarum,” 47
Booms in Ancient Rhodes, 53
Borough, Admiral William, 217
Boteler’s “Dialogues,” 230
Boulogne (Gesoriacum), 67, 70, 72, 79
Bourne, William, on the cross-staff, 175;
“Arte of Shooting,” 191;
“Inventions or Devises,” 193;
“Regiment for the Sea,” 209;
first English book on navigation 211;
on the earth as a globe, 213;
“Treasure for Traueilers,” 216;
method of registering speed, 216
Bowline, to sail on a, 168
Boxhauling, 252
Bridport, Lord, 267
Brigg’s logarithms, 248
Bristol Channel pilot cutters, 31
Britain, Roman invasion of, 72–7
British fleet in Roman times (Classis Britannica), 67
British Navy, reorganised in 1618, 224;
under the Commonwealth, 229;
fashionable, 229;
captain’s pay at end of 17th century, 230;
probable strategy of to-day, 238;
ballast, 289.
_See also_ Elizabethan, Tudor
British seamanship and British supremacy, 219
Buoys, 214, 226, 244
Burgh, Hubert de, 143
Bushnell, Edmund, “Complete Ship-Wright,” 224
Bytharne, Jehan, “Book of War,” 183
Cables of Viking ships, 108;
hemp and chain, 277, 278
Cabot, Sebastian, 133
Cadiz, 235;
mutiny of, 267
Cæsar and the invasion of Britain, 5;
and his fleet, 69;
its tactics, 70;
invasion of England, 70–7;
seamanship, 74;
landing, 76;
knowledge of Gaul and Britain, 77
Calais, 72
Calicut, 135
California gold rush, 288
Caligula, 81
Callis (pirate), 222
Cambridge, Trinity College, MS. of pilgrim voyage, 147
Canary Isles, 118, 121
Cannon. _See_ Artillery
Cape Barfleur, 138
Cape Blanco, 134
Cape Bojador, 134
Cape Nun, 134
Cape of Good Hope, Vasco da Gama and, 22;
doubled, 134;
named, 136
Cape St. Vincent (Holy Promontory), 125, 127, 217
Cape Verde Islands, 134
Captains, tyrannical, 249
Carausius, 78, 79
Carpenter, 146
Cartagena, 266
Carthaginian fleet, the, 62
Cartography. _See_ Map-making
Catholic Church, the Portuguese and the, 131
Catteville, the race of, 138
Chain cables, 277
Chanca, Dr., of Columbus’s fleet, 165
Chaplains on Elizabethan ships, 199;
of French Navy, 230;
18th century, 249
Charles I, mutinies of the Navy, 236
Charles II, Navy in time of, 229;
officers, 230;
and sea charts, 243
Charles V, 133, 170
Charts, compilation of, 171;
Wagenaer’s, 214, 219;
Charles II and James II and, 243;
of British coast, 18th century, 256;
English, 257
Chatham, 184;
dockyard, 226, 274
Chavez, Alonso and Hieronymo de, 138, 171
Chelsea pensioners on Anson’s voyage, 251
China tea trade, 288–9
Chinese, the, and the compass, 119;
voyages of, 119
Chios, battle of, 52
Chronometer, the coming of the, 178, 254
Church services in Navy, 17th century, 227
Cinque Ports, 140
Circle, great, sailing, 178, 211, 213
Civil War, the Navy during the, 236
Classis Britannica, 67, 79
Claudius, 67
Clerk, John, “Naval Tactics,” 269
Clinton (pirate), 222
“Close-fights,” 188
Clothing, seamen’s, 18th century, 264
Cockpit, 282
“Code de la Mer,” 151
Colbert, Jean B., 230
Colliers, London, of the 18th century, 251
Collins, Greenville, 243
Colonies, the, and seamanship, 230
Colosseum, the, 69
Colours of men-o’-war, 279;
internal, 246, 280
Columbus, Bartolomeo, 156
Columbus, Christopher, effect of Prince Henry’s work, 131;
his place, 136;
his log, 155;
his ships and navigation, 155;
his studies, 156;
and the Vikings, 156;
sets sail on first voyage, 157;
speed, 158;
his helmsman, 158;
reckonings, 159;
sights land, 160;
homeward bound, 160;
wreck of the _Santa Maria_, 161;
details of the ship, 163–4;
food, 164;
crew, 164;
religious atmosphere, 165;
subsequent voyages, 165;
third voyage, 166;
on the shape of the earth, 166;
fourth voyage, 167;
and navigating, 167;
as seaman and navigator, 169;
his achievements, 169;
reckoning by tonnage, 197
Compass, the, use by the Chinese, 119;
by Arabians, 119;
introduced to Europe, 119;
suspension of the needle, 120;
the fleur-de-lys, 120;
its early use, 124;
liquid compass anticipated, 150;
variation recorded by Columbus, 158;
variation, 212, 213;
Elizabethan names for the, 214
“Confessio Amantis,” 146
Congo River, 135
Constable, 146
Constantinople, 152
Cook, Capt., 263
Copper sheathing, 275
Corinth, triremes built at, 42;
shipbuilding at, 46
Corn-ships of Egypt, 57
Cortes, Martin, 171, 211
Court-martial instituted, 218
Craft, the working of, 5
Cretan pirates, 53
Crew, ship’s, of the 13th century, 141, 146
Cross-staff, the, 174;
its use described, 176;
improved, 212
Crusades, the, 117, 119, 121;
Crusaders’ journey from Dartmouth, 138–40
Cyprus, temple in, commemorating a large ship, 43
Dartmouth, 138
Davis, John, as navigator, 155;
and circle sailing, 178;
nautical expressions in his logs, 203;
extracts from his “Traverse-Booke,” 205;
“Seaman’s Secrets,” 210
Davis’s quadrant, 246
Davits, 226
Deal, Cæsar’s landing at, 73, 74
Deane, Admiral, 240
Decks, 142
Deptford, seamen’s guild, 133, 171;
dockyard, 181, 226, 274
Diaz, Bartholomew, 135
Dock, dry, the first, 180
Docks at Rome, 62
Dockyards, Royal, 181, 226, 274
Dover, 67, 72, 76;
Roman Pharos, 243
Dover, Straits of, 72, 77
Drake, Sir Francis, 5;
influence of Prince Henry the Navigator, 131;
as navigator, 155;
Cadiz expedition, 217;
as strategist, 217
“Drift-sail,” 226
Duff, Capt., of H.M.S. _Mars_, 279
Duncan, Admiral, 267, 270
Dungeness, 77, 236, 289, 290
Dungeness beacon, 243
Dunnage, 289
Dutch as shipbuilders, 231
Dutch and English seamen, 16th century, 206
Dutch wars. _See_ Anglo-Dutch wars
East India Company’s service, 284–287;
monopoly abolished and fleet disbanded, 287
Ecnomus, battle of, 43, 62
Eddystone Lighthouse destroyed, 272
Edgar, King, 116
Edward II, 144
Edward III, poem on pilgrim ship of the time of, 147
Edward VI, 133
Egyptian corn-ships, 4, 57
Egyptian kings of the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. build large
warships, 43
Egyptians, the ancient, and the sea, 11, 12;
Egyptian ships, 13;
and naval warfare, 14;
navigation of, 14;
ships and boats in the life of the people, 14;
shipbuilding, 15;
not instinctively seamen, 16
Einar Thambarskelfir, 108
Elizabethan galleons, 5
Elizabethan Navy, training of the seamen, 184;
seamanship, 186;
supremacy and colonial expansion, 186;
clumsy warships, 186;
types of vessels, 186;
obstacles to boarding, 188;
the tumble-home, 188;
colours of ships, 188;
steering, 189;
arrangements of the ships, 188–91;
sails, 190;
armament, 191–4;
the captain, 194;
punishments of seamen, 194;
the lieutenant, 194;
duties of the crew, 195;
watches, 196;
food, 198–202;
health, 198;
chaplain and trumpeter, 199;
life on board, 199;
contemporary account of sailing, 199;
sea terms in Elizabethan literature, 203;
their slowness, 206;
life of a captain, 207;
neglect of the seamen’s comfort, 207;
bad treatment, 208;
wages at time of the Armada, 208;
men of the service, 208;
flag saluting, 208;
cause of the impetus of the time, 209;
navigation books, 211–16;
instruments, 211, 212;
strategy, tactics, and discipline, 217;
court-martial, 218;
fleet tactics, 218;
seamanship, 219–20
Elizabethan seamen as nautical experts, 171
Emigration sailing ships to U.S.A., 283, 284
English as shipbuilders, 231
English Channel, winds, 72;
the Romans in the, 72;
tides, 74, 76;
John Davis and, 211;
piracy, 222
Equator, the, 178
Eric, son of Hakon, 109
Ericson, Thorstein, 87
Erith Dockyard, 181
Erling Askew, 94, 101
Erling Skialgson, 94
Eruli, 91
Espagnols sur Mer, Les, battle of, 144
Eudoxus, 27
Euphrates, shipbuilding on the, 17
Euripides, terms in, 36
Eustace the Monk, 143
Exmouth, Admiral Lord, and pirates of Algiers, 224
Exploration, claims in, 121
Faroe Isles, 116
Fenner, Capt., 217
Fighting instructions, 270
Fighting tops, 110
Figureheads, 102, 280
Fire, braziers of, used by Rhodians, 53
Fireships, 53
Flag, national, use of, by ancient Greeks, 48
Flag saluting, 208
Flamborough, 243
Flamstead, John, 212
Flemming (pirate), 222
Fleur-de-lys on the compass, 120
Flintshire, 243
Flogging, 265, 286
Fog signalling, 228
Forelands, beacons on the, 243
Forest of Dean, 275
“Fothering,” 262
Francesco da Barberino, 151
Fraser, Edward, “Greenwich Royal Hospital,” 272
French as shipbuilders, 231
French Government and longitude, 254
Froissart quoted, 145
Galiotæ (galley-men), 141, 146
Gama, Vasco da, 22, 131, 132, 134, 136
Gambia, River, discovered, 134
Gaul, Cæsar and, 77
Genoa and the Genoese, 118, 121, 156, 180
Geography, Phœnician influence on Greek geography, 26;
Pytheas and geographical knowledge, 27;
Greek and Roman, 114;
Ptolemy and, 116
George II establishes Naval Academy, 250;
and naval uniform, 272
Germany, 238
Gibson, Richard, 240
Gillianez, 134
Gillingham Reach, 184
“Glorious First of June,” A.D. 1794, 270, 271, 279
Gloucester, 67
Gnomon, the, 27
Gogstad Viking ship replica, 90
Gonzales, A., 134
Goodwin Sands, 77
Grapnels for boarding, 63, 101, 103
Greece, Phœnician losses at invasion of, 20
Greek fire, 142
Greek ships, galley, 5;
how built, 29, 35;
warships and ramming, 30, 32;
colouring and sails, 30;
warships, oar-propelled, 31, 37;
ballast, 32;
their shape, 34;
timber employed, 35;
other details, 35–7;
sailing seasons, 37;
manning of warships, 37;
biremes and triremes, 38–40;
anchors, 44;
quickly built, 46;
materials for, 46;
shipbuilding yards, 46;
naval tactics, 47;
seamen, 47;
_diekplous_ and _periplous_, 48;
admiral’s ships, 48;
signalling, 49;
seamanship, 50;
officers, 50;
a penteconter, 50–1;
summary, 51
Greek words used in connection with ships, 34–7, 39–41
Greeks, Phœnician influence on the, 26
Greenland, Venetian voyage to, 122
Greenwich Observatory founded, 230
Gregory, ship of, 101
Guilds, seamen’s, 133, 171
Gulf Stream, the, 88
Gunnery at time of Armada, 219;
at time of French wars, 280.
_See also_ Artillery
Gunnstein, 109
Gunpowder, 262
Gunter’s scale, 248
Haddock, Capt., 242
Hadley’s quadrant, 254
Hadrian’s wall, 67
Hair, human, for ropes, 54
Hakluyt, Richard, quoted, 116, 171, 212
Hakon, King, 98, 101, 109, 110
Hales, Dr., 283
Halogaland, 97;
the Halogalanders as seamen, 105
Halley, Edmund, on lead, latitude, and look-out, 253;
quadrant, 212
Hamblyn, Robert, 244
Hammocks introduced by Columbus, 164
Hannibalian War, slaves as oarsmen, 64
Hanseatic League, 180
Harald, King, 93, 98, 112
Harald Hairfair, 93
Harek of Thiotta, 94, 100
Harrison, John and William, invent the chronometer, 254
Harwich beacon, 243
Hatsopsitu’s, Queen, expedition to Punt, 12
Hawke, Lord, 230, 268, 273
Hawkins, Sir John, and payment for his men, 222
Hawse-pipes, 278
Heave to, 160
Heimskringla, the, 105
Hellespont, bridge of boats across the, 23
Henry VII, 170;
encourages shipbuilding, 179
Henry VIII, 133, 170;
decoration of his ships, 181, 182
Henry, Prince, the Navigator, 6;
and Madeira, 122, 134;
his influence, 126, 132, 133;
settles at Sagres, 127;
and the reaching of India, 127;
his naval college, 128;
his work, 129;
sea route to India, 127, 129, 130;
and the spread of the Catholic Church, 130;
the results of his work, 131;
the work of his pupils, 132;
his discoveries, 134
Herodotus on the Phœnicians, 21
Hiero II of Syracuse, mosaics on ship of, 52
Hipparchus, 115, 175
Holland, States of, and longitude, 254
Holmes, Mr. T. Rice, quoted, 69
Homer, references in, to ships, 34;
ship of Homer, 35
Hood, Admiral, 265, 270
Houlding, Capt., 241
Hour-glass, Vikings and the, 89;
hour and half-hourly glasses, 215, 254
Howard, Lord, of Effingham, tactics of, 218;
and the plague on his ships, 222
Howe, Lord, tactics of, 270, 271
Hull, Kingston-on-, 133;
seamen’s guild, 171
Hutchinson, William (“Practical Seamanship”), on a tyrannical
captain, 249;
on seamanship, 250;
on the men of the merchant service, 251;
on colliers, 252, 257;
on boxhauling, 252;
on the steering wheel, 256;
on the barometer, 259;
on squaresails, 260;
pilots, 260;
method of stopping leaks, 263;
of scrubbing ship’s bottoms, 263;
sails, 264
Hynmers, Richard, 215
Hypozomata, 30
Iceland, 116
India, sea path to, 118;
Prince Henry the Navigator and sea route to, 127, 129, 130;
the opening of the sea route to, 134;
Portuguese expeditions to, 135;
Vasco da Gama’s voyage, 136;
Drake and the East Indian trade, 217
Indian Ocean, 119
Ingi, King, 93
Irish Sea, pirates in the, 223
Jamaica trade, 249
James, St., shrine of, 147
James I and pirates, 223, 224;
ships of his time, 228
James II, Navy in the time of, 229;
and sea charts, 243
Jervis, Admiral. _See_ St. Vincent, Lord
“Jimmy Green,” 265, 283
Jordaine, Sir Joseph, 242
Kempenfelt, Capt., 269
Keppel, Admiral, 266
Kingsdown, 76
Kingston-upon-Hull. _See_ Hull
Knut, King, 94, 98, 106
_Korumba_, 46
L’s, the five, 252
Lagos, 127, 128
Lanterns, poop, of Stuart vessel, 246
Launching, 17th century, 225;
of the _Prince Royal_, 232 _et seq._;
cf. “wooden walls,” 275
Laws, maritime, of Rhodes, 55;
Medieval codes, 151;
Venetian, 153
Lawson, Sir John, 241
Leaks, methods of stopping, 262
Lebanon timber for Phœnician ships, 18
Leif, son of Eric the Red, 91
Leonidas of Tarentum quoted, 33
Lestock, Richard, 266
Levant, The, 118
Liburnians, the, of Dalmatia, 66
Lieutenants, 17th century, 229;
18th century, 251
“Light of Navigation, The,” 228
Lightbody, James, “Mariner’s Jewel,” 189, 225;
on bittacles, 214
Lighthouses, ancient Greek, 45;
beacons, 243;
the Argand lamp, 244
Lights on promontories in the Middle Ages, 145, 243
Lightships, 244
Line of battle, 242
Lisbon, 156
Live stock on sailing ships, 283
Liverpool pilots, 260
Loadstone, the, 115
Log-book, 256
Log-line, introduction of the, 178, 216;
patent log, 217
Longitude, 211, 253;
rewards for instruments, 254;
by lunar observations, 254;
the chronometer invented, 254
Look-out, the, 228
Lotus plant, the, in Egyptian ships, 15
Lowestoft, battle of, 242;
beacon, 243
Lucian, 3, 57
Lulli, Raymond, 129
Macedonia, King of, builds large warships, 43
Macham, discoverer of Madeira, 122
Machico, 122
Madeira, discovery of, 122;
rediscovery, 134
Magazines on men-o’-war, 277
Magellan, Ferdinand, 131
Magister, 146
Magnus, ship of, 112
Magnusson, Dr. Eirikr, quoted, 105, 107
Mahan, Admiral, quoted, 268
Malaga, battle of, 267
Malocello, 118, 121
Man, Isle of, 243
Manger, 278
Map-making, Ptolemy and, 116;
early Venetian, 124;
portolani, 124
Marinelli (mariners), 141, 146
Maritime arts only among seafaring people, 11
Maritime discovery, the ancients and, 114
Maritime progress, Prince Henry the Navigator and, 133
Markham, Sir Clements, quoted on Seville training in navigation, 178
Martin V, Pope, 134
Maskelyne, Dr., Astronomer Royal, 254
Maspero, Prof., on the Egyptians and the sea, 11
Masts, length of, 17th century, 225
Match-tubs, 282
Matthews, Admiral Thomas, 266
Mediterranean, the, Egyptian ships on the, 12;
Phœnicians in the, 22
Medway, the, 184
Melinda, 136
Men-o’-war. _See_ Wooden walls.
Mercator, Gerard, “Mappemonde,” 219;
chart, 248
Meridians, converging, Ptolemy and, 116
Messahala on the astrolabe, 175
Meteorology. Virgil’s description of weather, 83–4
Midshipmen, 18th century, 251
Minnes, Vice-Admiral, 242
Misenum, 66
Missionaries as geographical discoverers, 117
Monck, Admiral, 229, 241
Monson, Sir William, “Naval Tracts,” 194, 198, 226
Moon-dial, the, 248
Moore’s “Midshipman’s Vocabulary,” 263
Moorish pirates, 223
Mozambique, 136
Mutinies at Spithead, the Nore, etc., 267
Mykenæans, the, and decorated sails, 51
Myonnesos, battle of, 52
Nansen, Dr., on Pytheas, 28;
on the Vikings, 85, 90, 92
Napier, John, and logarithms, 224
Narrow Seas, the, 214, 219
Nature, man and the forces of, 10
Naumachia, 68
Nautæ (sailors), 141, 146
“Nautical Almanac,” 254
Nautical words. _See_ Sea terms
Naval Academy, Portsmouth, 250
Naval education in Portugal, 128 _et seq._;
in England, 229;
in France, 230;
17th century, 248;
18th century, 250
Naval warfare in England, early, 144;
as a science, 182;
18th-century tactics, 267, 268.
_See also_ Tactics
Navigation, the beginning of, 5;
of the ancient Egyptians, 14;
of the Phœnicians, 19, 22;
Pytheas and, 27;
as described by Virgil, 83;
by instinct, 86;
of the Vikings, 86–90;
the ancients and, 114;
the Arabians and, 122;
Prince Henry the Navigator and, 128 _et seq._;
first book on, by an Englishman, 211;
early English books, 211–16;
instruments of the Elizabethans, 211, 212;
in the 17th century, 224;
in the 18th century, 253;
methods of 18th-century coasters, 257
Navy, Royal. _See_ British Navy
Neco, King of Egypt, and the circumnavigation of Africa, 21
Nelson, Lord, signal at Trafalgar, 271;
the battle of St. Vincent, 271;
the _Victory_, 275;
cost of a man-o’-war in his time, 276;
colours of his ships, 280
Nemi, Lake, Roman boats, 78, 81
Nesiar, battle of, 101
New Forest, 275
Newcastle colliers, 230, 251, 256
Newcastle-on-Tyne Seamen’s Guild, 133, 171
Nile, the, 12
Nile barge, huge, 43
Nocturnal, the, 248
Nore Lightship, 244
Nore, mutiny at the, 267
Norse discoveries, 117
Norsemen, the, and navigation, 2.
_See also_ Vikings
North Foreland, battle off the, 242
North-West Passage, 204
Norwood, Richard, “Seaman’s Practice,” 216
Nunez, Pedro, 178
Oak for men-o’-war, 275
Oarsmen on triremes, 39 _et seq._;
on Viking ships, 112
Octher, 116
Officers of Navy of 18th century, 266
Olaf Tryggvason, King, 94, 96, 100, 101, 103
Oleron, laws of, 151
Oppenheim, Mr. N., quoted, 182, 188
Orfordness, 243
Ostend, 241
Palinurus, the pilot, 83
Palos, 156
Pavia University, Columbus at, 156
Pay of Navy, mutinies, 267
Pedro, Prince, 127
Peloponnesian War, 38
Penn, Admiral Sir William, 241
_Pentekontoroi_ (Greek warships), 37, 50, 51
Pepys, Samuel, 229
Petrie, Prof. Flinders, on shipbuilding in Egypt, 15, 51
Pett, Sir Phineas, 231
Petts, the, as shipbuilders, 231
Philip II, neglect of, in saluting, 209
Philip III of Spain, 254
Phœnicians, the, as seamen, 12, 16;
build a fleet for Sennacherib, 17;
a race of seamen, 18;
their ships and crews, 18;
their navigation, 19, 22;
biremes, 19;
their losses, 20;
piracy, 20;
their voyages, 21;
circumnavigation of Africa, 21;
the first great seamen, 23;
engineers, 23;
Xenophon’s record of their ships, 23;
influence on the Greeks, 26
Pilgrim ship of Edward III, 147
Pilgrims as discoverers, 117
Pilot, grand, of England, 133, 226
Pilot major, 133, 170
Pilots, 170; “loadsmen,” 172;
Mersey, 260;
Tyne, 260
Piracy, Phœnician, 20;
in Roman times, 66;
in Tudor times, 184
Pirates, Mediterranean, 152;
in Elizabethan times, 222;
17th century, 223;
Moorish, 223;
Tunisian, 224;
Algerian, 224
Plymouth Dockyard, 274
Plymouth Sound, brig in, 257
Pole, North, Pytheas and the, 27
Polo, Marco, 130
Popham, Admiral Edward, 229
Popham’s, Sir Home, code, 271
Portland, battle off, 1653, 240
Portland beacon, 243
Portolani, 124
Portsmouth, first dry dock at, 180;
dockyard established, 181;
ships from, wintered on Medway, 184;
dockyard, 226, 274;
Naval Academy, 250
Portuguese, their maritime knowledge, 125, 128;
influence of, on seamanship, 133;
concession to the King of Portugal, 134;
their discoveries, 134, 135;
discoverers able to keep at sea, 154;
enterprise in shipbuilding, 219;
as navigators, 219
Post, Roman imperial, 57
Powder-monkeys, 282
Premiums on speed of tea clippers, 289
Pressgang, the, 251
Prester John, 135
Privateering in Tudor times, 184;
in 18th century, 261;
tactics, 262
Prize, division of, Elizabethan times, 197
Provisioning by live stock, 283
Ptolemy, 115, 116
Ptolemy Philopator builds huge ship, 43
Punic Wars, 62, 64
Punt, Land of, 12
Purser, 146
Pursser (pirate), 222
Pytheas of Massilia, the pioneer of navigation, 6, 27;
his voyages of discovery, 28
Quadrant, Davis’s, 212;
Flamstead’s, 212;
Halley’s, 212
Quadriremes and quinquiremes, 38, 42–3
Rameses II, galleys of, 12
Ramming, Greek warships and, 30, 41;
method of, by Rhodians, 52;
in the Middle Ages, 143
Raud the Unchristened, 104
Ravenna, 66
Ravens used by the Vikings, 87
Rawlinson, Professor George, on biremes, 19;
on Phœnician navigation, 22
Reckonings, 256
Rectores (masters), 141, 146
Red Sea, the, 12
Reef, 145
Renaissance, the, and cartography, 124;
and shipping, 170
Rhodes, ancient, ships of, 52;
celoces, 52;
naval tactics, 52;
ramming, 52;
naval organisation, 53;
shipbuilding, 53;
sea prowess, 54;
as a port, 54;
sea law, 55;
“Code Navale des Rhodiens,” 151
Rhumb-lines, 213
Richard I and his Crusader fleet, 139;
his naval tactics, 143
Richardson, Wm., “A Mariner of England,” 264
Rigging, wire, 289
Rochelle, action off, 273
Rodney, Admiral Lord, 230;
signals, 266;
Battle of the Saints, 268;
victories of, 270
Roman boat found at Westminster, 78–81
Roman galley, 5;
shipowners, 56–7;
merchants and barge-owners, 57;
corn-ships, 57;
warships, 61, 65;
docks, 62;
the fleets, 62, 66, 67;
naval warfare, 62;
squadrons, 64;
standing navy abolished, 64;
Romans not seamen, 64;
naval officers, 64;
piracy, 66;
the classiarii, 67;
influence of the navy on land, 68;
Cæsar’s fleet, 69;
its tactics, 70;
invasion of Britain, 72–7;
as shipwrights, 77–82;
Romano-British ships, 79;
boat found at Westminster, 78–81;
Lake Nemi boats, 78, 81–2;
Virgil’s descriptions, 82–4
Roman pharos at Dover, 243
Rome, victualling of, 56;
docks at, 62
Romney Marsh, 77
Ropes, ancient Greek, 31
“Rosa Solis,” 207
Royal Naval College, 250
Royal Navy. _See_ British Navy
Rudders of Viking ships, 107;
change of position of rudders, 146, 152
Rupert, Prince, 242
Ruyter’s, Admiral de, 242
Sagas, descriptions from the, 92 _et seq._
Sagres, 127–9
Sailing season, 151
Sailors. _See_ Seamen
Sails, ancient Greek, 30;
in the Middle Ages, 137, 145;
of the Elizabethan ships, 190;
18th century, 264;
spritsails, 265;
beginning of the 19th century, 283
St. Albans (Aldhelm’s) Head light, 145, 243
St. Andrew’s cross, 209
St. George’s ensign, 183, 209
St. Vincent, Admiral Lord, 230, 270
St. Vincent, battle of, 271
Saints, Battle of the (1782), 265, 268, 270
Salamis, battle of, triremes at, 38
Saluting by flag, 208
Sandgate, 76
Sandwich, Earl, 240, 242
Sandwich, 276
Scandinavians as sailors, 93
“Scarfing,” 282
Schey, Rear-Admiral, 243
Scribes on Mediterranean ships, 153
Scuppers, 278
Sea, humanity’s debt to the, 6;
fear of the, 11
Sea sayings, 263
Sea sense, the, 8
Sea terms in Homer, etc., 35 _et seq._;
in Elizabethan literature, 203;
in current use, 206
Seamanship becoming a lost art, 4;
slowness of advance in early times, 120;
of the Middle Ages, 137 _et seq._;
first book on, 151;
of time of Columbus, 160;
early treatises on, 171;
East India Company’s service and, 287;
in the 19th century, 274
Seamen, hardships of, 3, 7;
the want of consideration for, 7;
the seaman character, 8;
bond between, 8;
of the 18th century, 251, 266
Sennacherib and his fleet, 16
Senofern and shipbuilding in ancient Egypt, 15
Seppings, Sir Robert, 282
Sesostris, sacred barge of, 16;
huge Nile barge, 43
Seville, Contractation House, 170
Seville training in navigation, 178
Sextant, the, 174, 254
Seyffert, Dr. Oskar, and Greek ships, 38
Shakespeare and sea terms, 203
Sheathing with copper, 226, 275
Sheer hulk, 275
Sheerness Dockyard, 274
Ship of the 13th century described, 140;
fighting methods, 142
Shipbuilding in ancient Egypt, 15;
earliest English book on, 224;
of wooden ships under cover, 282
Shipowners, Roman, servants of the State, 52–3
Ships, ancient Egyptian, 13–16
Ships, measuring of, 224;
construction of, 17th century, 227;
painted red internally, 246, 280
Ship’s bottoms, scrubbing, 263
Ships named:
_Association_, 273
_Assurance_, 240
_Bison_, 103
_Blanche Nef_, 138
_Capitana_, 165
_Centaur_, 82
_Chimæra_, 82
_Crane_, 96, 101, 104
_Dorsetshire_, 273
_Dragon_, 104
_Eagle_, 273
_Edinburgh_, 273
_Elizabeth_, 204
_Fairfax_, 241
_Falcon_, 288
_Fiery Cross_, 288
_George_, 237
_Goddess Isis_, 59
_Great Harry_, 181
_Helene_, 204
_Long Worm_, 96, 101
_Marigalante_, 197
H.M.S. _Mars_, 279
_Mary_ (Charles II), 5, 241
_Mauretania_, 4
H.M.S. _Minerva_, 264
_Nina_, 155, 157 _et seq._
_Olympic_, 4
_Pinta_, 155, 157 _et seq._
_Prince Royal_, 231–5
_Pristis_, 82
_Radians_, 79
_Red Lion_, 204
_Royal James_, 242
_Ruby_, 241
_San Felipe_, 217, 218
_Santa Maria_, 155 _et seq._;
described, 163
_Scylla_, 82
_Seaforth_, 289
_Short Worm_, 97, 101, 103, 104
_Sovereign of the Seas_, 244
_Speaker_, 241
_Sunneshine_, 204
_Swiftsure_, 237
_Taeping_, 290
_Triumph_, 240, 241
_Vanguard_, 241
_Victory_ (Nelson’s), 275
_Worm_, 97, 101, 103, 104
Ships, types of, named:
Aphraktos, 65
Barque, 204
Bireme, 19, 40, 66
Brig, 252, 257
Carabela (caravel), 128, 137, 157, 168
Carack, 219
Celox, 52
Ceol, 110
Clipper, 274, 288, 289
Cock-boat, 199
Collier, 251, 256
Dieres, 52
Dragon, 96, 112
Dromon, 94
East Indiaman, 249, 274, 284
Frigate, 276
Galleon, 199
Galley, 12, 46
Kataphraktos, 65
Kaupskip, 95
Keel, 110
Knörr, 95
Lateener, 168
Lembus, 65, 66
Liburnian, 66
Man-o’-war, “high charged,” 186;
“wooden walls,” 274
Navis aperta, 66
Navis tecta, 65
Pentekontoros, 37, 38, 50, 51, 65
Penteres, 52
Pinnace, 190
Privateer, 261
Quadrireme, 42, 51, 65
Quinquireme, 38, 43, 51, 62, 64–6
Skeid, 95
Skuta, 95
Snekkja, 95
Tea clipper, 274, 288, 289
Three-decker, 276, 283
Tetreres, 52
Triemiolia, 52
Triremes, 24, 38–40, 50, 51, 54, 62, 65, 66, 79
Shoreham, battle of, 183
Shovel, Sir Cloudesley, wreck of, 254;
on Great Storm, 272
Sicily, King of, builds large warships, 43
Sidney, Sir Philip, 190
Sidon, sailors of, 17, 20, 22
Signal book, 270
Signalling, ancient Greek, 49;
in Tudor times, 183;
17th century, 227
Signals, Rodney’s, 266, 268
Sigurd, King, 93, 95, 100, 106
Sigurd, Bishop, 104
“Skipper,” 206
Skopti, 109
Slave trade, Phœnician, 20
Sluys, battle of, 144
Smith, Capt. John, “Accidence,” 195;
account of life aboard an Elizabethan ship, 199;
on pirates, 222
Sofala, 136
Solebay, battle of, 242
Sounding lead, Vikings use, 89
South Pole, 204
Southampton Water, 263
Spain and iron supplies, Tudor times, 180;
jealousy of, in Elizabethan days, 209
Spaniards and gunnery, Armada, 219
Spanish warships, sailors cook for themselves on board, 153;
signalling in the, 183
Spars, steel, 289
Speed recording without log, 158
Spithead, mutiny at, 267
Spritmast, 283
Squaresails, 260
Starboard, 108
Statham’s “Privateers and Privateering,” 261
Steel, Robert, and Son, Greenock, 288
Steering wheels, 256, 272–3
Sterns, decorated, 280, 282
Stokes Bay, 239
Storm, great, of 1703, 272
Strabo on the Sidonian navigation, 22
Stuart seamanship, 235
Stuart warships, 244;
rig and sails, 244;
decks and armament, 245–6;
workmanship and decoration, 245–8
Sturmanni (steersmen), 141, 146
Suez Canal, 288
Surgeons, 282
Svein, King, 93, 101, 108
Swearing, 265
Swin Channel, 214, 258
Syria, 152
Tacking, the art of, 10
Tactics, naval, 17th century, 238;
in Anglo-Dutch war, 239;
line-ahead, 239;
schools of, 240;
18th century, 268;
French, 268;
Clerk’s “Naval Tactics,” 269;
Lord Howe’s changes, 270;
Jervis’s tactics, 271
Tampion’s portable barometer, 259
Tartaglia, Nicholas, “Arte of Shooting,” 216
Tea clippers, 288, 289
Tetricus the Elder, 78
Texel, mutiny off the, 267
Thames estuary, 77, 214, 258
Thames, Roman boat found in the, 78–81
Thames waterman as seaman, 12
Thanet, 77
Themistocles and a navy, 38
Thole-pins, 35
Thorburg Shavehewer, 96, 97
Thorleif the Sage, 109
Thorowgood, Capt. Thomas, 236
Tides, the, Pytheas and, 28;
in the English channel, 74, 76
Tigris, shipbuilding on the, 17
Tillers, steering, in use, 1703, 272
Timber of ancient Greek vessels, 35
Time as recorded by Elizabethans, 215
Tin, Phœnicians and, 21, 26
Tonnage, reckoning by, 197
Torr, Mr. Cecil, quoted, 45, 49, 54
Torres, Capt. Antonio de, 197
Torrington, Lord, 243
Tower of London, 184
Trade routes, ancient, and the Phœnicians, 26
“Trade” wind, 207
Trafalgar, battle of, 279;
Nelson’s signal, 271
“Trani, Loi de,” 151
Travel, desire for, 121
Traverse board, 256
Trestle-trees, 207
Triremes, Greek, 38;
arrangement of, 39;
number of oars, 40;
rigging, 42
Tristan, 134
Tromp, Marten, 238, 239
Trumpeter on Elizabethan ships, 199
Tudor colours, the, 181
Tudor period, sailors in the, 17
Tudor ships, life on, 179;
victualling, 179;
health, 179;
shipbuilding, 180;
naval weapons, 180;
foreign shipbuilding for Henry VIII, 180;
artillery, 181;
decorated ships, 181, 182;
crew of the _Great Harry_, 181;
rate of pay, 182;
fleet orders, 182;
signalling, 183;
tactics, 183
Tunisian pirates, 224
Tyne, the, 257;
Tyne pilots, 260
Uniforms originate in France, 230;
adopted in English Navy, 271;
how blue and white originated, 272
Union Jack, 245
United States, emigration sailing ships to, 283;
length of voyage, 284
Veneti, the, 69
Venetian maps, 124;
shipping season restricted, 152;
shipping laws, 153;
and the Atlantic, 154;
position on the sea, 154;
decline, 154
Venetians, the, 118, 122
Venice, Arsenal at, 180
Ventilation of ships, 283
Vikings, the, ships, 4, 5;
as seamen, 16;
as warriors and explorers, 85;
their sea sense, 86;
sense of time, 87;
navigation methods, 87–90;
and discovery of North America, 90;
replica of Gogstad ship’s voyage, 90;
extent of voyages, 90;
provisioning, 91;
descriptions from the Sagas, 92–5;
moving of ships, 93;
winter sailing, 92, 93;
species of craft, 95;
building a ship, 96;
fitting-out season, 100;
naval tactics, 101;
sails, 105;
steering, 107;
cables, 108;
precedence for berthing, 109;
row-boats, 109;
mooring, 110;
fighting tops, 110;
awnings, 110;
messing, 111;
bailing, 112;
oarsmen, 112;
fighters and seamen, 113;
as discoverers, 117, 121
Virgil’s description of ships and sea, 82–4
Vivaldi, 118
Volusenus, 72
Voyages without navigational methods, 6
Wagenaer’s atlas, 214;
charts, 219
War and shipbuilding, 85
War vessels, ancient, 43, 44
Wars of the Roses, 85
“Watches” in Elizabethan ships, 196
Water-compass, 119
West Indies, 170. _See also_ Columbus
Westminster, Roman boat found at, 78–81
Whales, observations by, 88
Whipstaff, 189
William the Conqueror, 5, 138
Winds, waves, and tides, awe of, 10
Wissant, 75
Wolf the Red, 97
“Wooden walls,” 274;
oak for the, 275;
the life of, 275;
building, 275;
rig, description, and cost, 276;
cables, 277, 278;
colours of, 279, 280;
gunnery, 280
Woolwich Dockyard established, 181, 226, 274
Woolwich, launch at, in 1610, 232
Wright, Edward, “Haven-finding Art,” “Certaine Errors in
Navigation,” 212
Xenophon on Phœnician ships, 23
Xerxes and the Phœnicians, 23
Yarmouth Roads, 257
Young, Capt., and neglect of Dutch to salute, 208
Zamorano, Roderigo, 133, 171
Zeno, the brothers, 122
WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD.
PRINTERS, PLYMOUTH
[Illustration: I. BODY PLAN, ETC., OF AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY
74-GUN SHIP.]
[Illustration: II. A PORTABLE CRAB WINCH OF THE EARLY NINETEENTH
CENTURY.]
[Illustration: III. LONGITUDINAL PLAN OF AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY
74-GUN SHIP.]
[Illustration: IV. A 330-TON MERCHANT SHIP OF THE EARLY NINETEENTH
CENTURY.
Upper illustration shows method of framing. Lower illustration gives
plan of upper deck, indicating positions of windlass, masts, hatches,
capstan, pump, etc. (See Chapter X.)]
[Illustration: V. SHROUDS OF MAINMAST, EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY SHIP.]
[Illustration: VI. DESIGN OF THE STERN OF AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY
330-TON MERCHANT SHIP.]
[Illustration: VII. MIDSHIP SECTION OF 330-TON MERCHANT SHIP OF THE
EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY.]
[Illustration: VIII. LONGITUDINAL PLAN OF AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY
330-TON MERCHANTMAN.
Length between perpendiculars, 108 ft. 3¼ in. Extreme breadth, 27 ft. 6
in. Depth, 12 ft. Length on keel, 82 ft.]
[Illustration: IX. PLANS OF AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY 74-GUN SHIP.]
[Illustration: X. IRON CLIPPER SAILING SHIP “LORD OF THE ISLES.”
Length between perpendiculars, 185 ft. Extreme breadth, 29 ft. 1000
tons displacement.]
[Illustration: XI. THE WOODEN CLIPPER SHIP “SCHOMBERG.”
Length between perpendiculars, 262 ft. 6 in. Extreme breadth, 45 ft.
2600 tons burthen.]
FOOTNOTES
[1] “Phœnicia,” by George Rawlinson. London, 1889.
[2] I have availed myself of Mr. H. G. Dakyns’ excellent translation of
“The Works of Xenophon,” Vol. III, Part I. London, 1897.
[3] Given in “Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology,” by J. W.
Mackail. London, 1911.
[4] _Ibid._
[5] _Ibid._
[6] “A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities.” London, 1902.
[7] See Fig. 24 of “Sailing Ships and their Story.”
[8] Given on page 212 of Mackail, _ut supra_.
[9] Taken from Plate LII in “Peintures Antiques de Vases Grecs de la
Collection de Sir John Coghill, Bart.,” par James Millingen. Rome, 1817.
[10] “Journal of Hellenic Studies,” Vol. XII, p. 203.
[11] “Journal of Hellenic Studies,” Vol. XI, p. 193.
[12] “Rhodes in Ancient Times,” by Cecil Torr. Cambridge, 1885.
[13] “Six Dialogues of Lucian,” translated into English by S. T. Irwin.
London, 1894.
[14] “The Remains of Ancient Rome,” by J. H. Middleton. London, 1892.
[15] “Cæsar’s Conquest of Gaul,” by T. Rice Holmes. Oxford, 1911.
[16] “Sailing Ships and their Story.”
[17] See article in “The Yachting Monthly,” Vol. XII, p. 81, “The
Shipwrights of Rome.”
[18] “Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in Early Times,” by Fridtjof
Nansen, 2 vols. London, 1911.
[19] That is to say they were still existing about A.D. 1180.
[20] That is to say 148 feet: grass-lying means straight.
[21] See “The Saga Library,” edited by William Morris and Eirikr
Magnusson. London, 1905. I am indebted to this edition for the extracts
which I here make from the Sagas, and also for some valuable matter
given in the notes to that edition.
[22] “The Story of the British Navy.” London, 1911.
[23] Grieves.
[24] Haste.
[25] Arrange.
[26] “You’re standing too close beside your mate so that he cannot
haul.”
[27] Shout.
[28] Go aloft.
[29] Taylia = “tally aft the sheet”--“haul aft,” etc.
[30] Stow.
[31] “No nearer”--“don’t come any nearer to the wind.”
[32] “Thou failest”--“you’re slacking.”
[33] “Wartake” may mean “war-tackle,” but what exactly that signifies
no one to-day has been able to suggest.
[34] i.e. lay the cloth.
[35] “Pery” means “squall.”
[36] “Thow canst no whery” = “you mustn’t complain”--“you know nothing
about these matters.”
[37] Malmsey.
[38] Boiled nor roast.
[39] “My head will be cleft in three”--“my head is splitting.”
[40] “Gere” means “tools.” Lightly constructed cabins were knocked
together on these Viking-like ships by the ship’s carpenter to
accommodate passengers.
[41] Lie.
[42] Evidently some of the passengers had to sleep in the hold, whence
the stench of the bilge-water and the accumulation of filth made their
life very trying.
[43] “Dawn of Navigation,” in “Proceedings of the United States Naval
Institute,” Vol. XXXII. Annapolis, 1906.
[44] Far from having been expressly built for exploration, the _Santa
Maria_ had been constructed for the well-known trading voyages to
Flanders. The _Pinta_ and _Nina_ had been built for the Mediterranean
trade.
[45] Sir Clements Markham states that the bonnet was usually cut
one-third the size of the mizzen, or one-quarter of the mainsail, being
secured to the leach by eyelet holes.
[46] The italics are mine.
[47] i.e. “lie at hull”--the Elizabethan word for “heave to.”
[48] i.e. lie to a drift-sail or sea-anchor.
[49] i.e. an azimuth compass.
[50] This is thought to have been some instrument showing how the line
of the course cuts the several meridians, those meridians being drawn
upon their proper inclination.
[51] The derivation of the word _Flame_-borough or Flamborough at once
suggests a burning beacon.
[52] “Greenwich Royal Hospital,” by Edward Fraser.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they
were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation
marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left
unbalanced.
Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs
and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support
hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to
the corresponding illustrations.
In some of the original illustrations, details, particularly words,
were unreadable, and the image quality of a few originals was
significantly worse than the others.
The HTML version of this eBook can display larger versions of some of
the “Plan” diagrams found at the end of the book, but, when this eBook
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The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page
references.
Text uses both “lodestone” and “loadstone”, “a side” and “aside”.