for this purpose hooked in an eye-bolt driven into the cap. See CAP.
The clue-garnet blocks are used to draw the clues, or lower-corners of
the _courses_, up to the yard, and are consequently fastened to the
clues of those sails. See CLUE-GARNET. The use of the shoulder on the
lower-end, is to prevent the strop from being fretted or chafed by the
motion of the sail, as the ship rolls or pitches.
BOARD, in navigation, (_bordée_, Fr.) the space comprehended between any
two places where the ship changes her course by tacking; or the line
over which she runs between tack and tack, when she is turning to
windward, or sailing against the direction of the wind. See the articles
BEATING and TACKING.
_She makes a good_ BOARD, i. e. sails nearly upon a streight line,
without deviating to leeward when she is close-hauled. See CLOSE-HAULED.
BOARDING, _abordage_, an assault made by one ship upon another, by
entering her in battle with a detachment of armed men; either because
the efforts of the artillery and musquetry have proved ineffectual, or
because she may have a greater number of men, and be better equipped for
this attack than the enemy who defends herself against it.
This stratagem, however, is chiefly practised by privateers upon
merchant-ships, who are not so well provided with men, and rarely
attempted in the royal navy; the battle being generally decided in men
of war by the vigorous execution of a close cannonade.
An officer should maturely consider the danger of boarding a ship of war
before he attempts it; and be well assured that his adversary is weakly
manned: for perhaps he wishes to be boarded, and if so, a great
slaughter will necessarily follow.
The swell of the sea ought also to be considered, because it may run so
high as to expose both the ships to the danger of sinking.
There is perhaps very little prudence in boarding a ship of equal force;
and when it is attempted, it may be either to windward or to leeward,
according to the comparative force or situation of the ships. If there
be any swell, or sea, it may be more adviseable to lay the enemy aboard
on the lee-side, as the water is there the smoothest; besides, if the
boarder is repulsed in that situation, he may more easily withdraw his
men, and stand off from his adversary. But as the weather-ship can
generally fall to leeward at any time, it is perhaps more eligible to
keep to windward, by which she will be enabled to rake her antagonist,
or fire the broadside into her stern as she crosses it, in passing to
leeward, which will do great execution amongst her men, by scouring the
whole length of the deck.
Boarding may be performed in different places of the ship, according to
the circumstances, preparation and position of both: the assailant
having previously selected a number of men armed with pistols and
cutlasses. A number of powder-flasks, or flasks charged with gun-powder
and fitted with a fuse, are also provided, to be thrown upon the enemy’s
deck immediately before the assault. Besides this, the boarder is
generally furnished with an earthen shell, called a stink-pot, which on
that occasion is suspended from his yard-arms or bow-sprit-end. This
machine is also charged with powder, mixed with other inflammable and
suffocating materials, with a lighted fuse at the aperture. Thus
prepared for the action, and having grappled his adversary, the boarder
displays his signal to begin the assault. The fuses of the stink-pot and
powder-flasks being lighted, they are immediately thrown upon the deck
of the enemy, where they burst and catch fire, producing an intolerable
stench and smoke, and filling the deck with tumult and distraction.
Amidst the confusion occasioned by this infernal apparatus, the
detachment provided rush aboard sword in hand, under cover of the smoke,
on their antagonist, who is in the same predicament with a citadel
stormed by the besiegers, and generally overpowered, unless he is
furnished with extraordinary means of defence, or equipped with
close-quarters, to which he can retreat with some probability of safety.
See the article CLOSE-QUARTERS.
BOAT (_bæt_, Sax. _boot_, Belg.) a small open vessel, conducted on the
water by rowing or sailing. The construction, machinery, and even the
names of boats, are very different, according to the various purposes
for which they are calculated, and the services on which they are to be
employed.
Thus they are occasionally slight or strong; sharp or flat-bottomed;
open or decked; plain or ornamented; as they may be designed for
swiftness or burthen; for deep or shallow water; for sailing in a
harbour or at sea; and for convenience, or pleasure.
The largest boat that usually accompanies a ship is the long-boat,
_chaloupe_, which is generally furnished with a mast and sails: those
which are fitted for men of war, may be occasionally decked, armed, and
equipped, for cruising short distances against merchant-ships of the
enemy, or smugglers, or for impressing seamen, &c.
The barges are next in order, which are longer, slighter, and narrower:
they are employed to carry the principal sea-officers, as admirals, and
captains of ships of war, and are very unfit for sea. See the article
BARGE.
Pinnaces exactly resemble barges, only that they are somewhat smaller,
and never row more than eight oars; whereas a barge properly never rows
less than ten. These are for the accommodation of the lieutenants, &c.
Cutters of a ship, _bateaux_, are broader, deeper, and shorter than the
barges and pinnaces; they are fitter for sailing, and are commonly
employed in carrying stores, provisions, passengers, &c. to and from the
ship. In the structure of this sort of boats, the lower-edge of every
plank in the side over-lays the upper-edge of the plank below, which is
called by shipwrights clinch-work.
Yawls, _canots_, are something less than cutters, nearly of the same
form, and used for similar services; they are generally rowed with six
oars.
The above boats more particularly belong to men of war; as
merchant-ships seldom have more than two, viz. a long-boat and yawl:
when they have a third, it is generally calculated for the countries to
which they trade, and varies in its construction accordingly.
Merchant-ships employed in the Mediterranean find it more convenient to
use a lanch, which is longer, more flat-bottomed, and better adapted
every way to the harbours of that sea than a long-boat. See LANCH.
A wherry, _diligence_, is a light sharp boat, used in a river or harbour
for carrying passengers from place to place.
Punts, _flette_, are a sort of oblong flat-bottomed boats, nearly
resembling floating stages; they are used by shipwrights and caulkers,
for breaming, caulking, or repairing a ship’s bottom.
A moses is a very flat broad boat, used by merchant-ships amongst the
Caribbee-islands, to bring hogsheads of sugar off from the sea-beach to
the shipping which are anchored in the roads.
A felucca is a strong passage-boat used in the Mediterranean, from ten
to sixteen banks of oars. The natives of Barbary often employ boats of
this sort as cruisers.
For the larger sort of boats, see the articles CRAFT, CUTTER, PERIAGUA,
and SHALLOP.
Of all the small boats, a Norway yawl seems to be the best calculated
for a high sea, as it will often venture out to a great distance from
the coast of that country, when a stout ship can hardly carry any sail.
_Trim the_ BOAT! _barque-droit!_ the order to sit in the boat in such a
manner as that she shall float upright in the water, without leaning to
either side.
_To bale the_ BOAT, is to throw out the water which remains in her
bottom or the well-room.
_Moor the_ BOAT! the order to fasten a boat with two ropes, so as that
the one shall counter-act the other.
For a representation of some of the principal boats of a ship of war,
see plate III. where fig. 1. exhibits the elevation, or side view, of a
ten-oared barge; a a, its keel; b, the stern-post; c, the stem; b c, the
water-line, which separates what is under the surface of the water from
what is above it; e, the row-locks, which contain the oars between them;
f, the top of the stern; g, the back-board; f g, the place where the
cockswain stands or sits while steering the boat; l, the rudder, and m,
the tiller, which is of framed iron.
Fig. 2. represents the plan of the same barge, where d is the ‘thwarts,
or seats where the rowers sit to manage their oars; f, i, h, the
stern-sheets; i k, the benches whereon the passengers sit in the
stern-sheets: the rest is explained in fig. 1.
Fig 3. is a stern view of the same barge, with the projection of all the
timbers in the after-body; and fig. 4, a head view, with the curves of
all the timbers in the fore-body.
Having thus explained the different views of the barge, the reader will
easily comprehend the several corresponding parts in the other boats;
where fig. 5 is the plan, and fig. 6 the elevation of a twelve-oared
cutter that rows double banked: which, although seldom employed unless
in capital ships, because requiring twelve rowers, is nevertheless a
very excellent boat, both for rowing and sailing. Fig. 7 and 8 are the
head and stern of this boat.
Fig. 9 is the plan of a long-boat, of which fig. 10 is the elevation, 11
the stern-view, and 12 the head-view.
BOAT-HOOK, an iron hook with a sharp point on the hinder part thereof,
to stick into a piece of wood, a ship’s-side, &c. It is stuck upon a
long pole or shaft, (pl. III. fig. 1 n.) by the help of which a person
in the boat may either hook any thing to confine the boat in a
particular place, or push her off by the sharp point attached to the
back of the hook.
BOATSWAIN, _Contre-maitre_, the officer who has the boats, sails,
rigging, colours, anchors, and cables committed to his charge.
It is the duty of the boatswain particularly to direct whatever relates
to the rigging of a ship, after she is equipped from a royal dock-yard.
Thus he is to observe that the masts are properly supported by their
shrouds, stays, and back-stays, so that each of those ropes may sustain
a proportional effort when the mast is strained by the violence of the
wind, or the agitation of the ship. He ought also to take care that the
blocks and running-ropes are regularly placed, so as to answer the
purposes for which they are intended; and that the sails are properly
fitted to their yards and stays, and well furled or reefed when occasion
requires.
It is likewise his office to summon the crew to their duty; to assist
with his mates in the necessary business of the ship; and to relieve the
watch when it expires. He ought frequently to examine the condition of
the masts, sails, and rigging, and remove whatever may be judged unfit
for service, or supply what is deficient: and he is ordered by his
instructions to perform this duty _with as little noise as possible_.
BOB-STAY, _sous-barbe_, a rope used to confine the bowsprit of a ship
downward to the stem, or cut-water. It is fixed by thrusting one of its
ends through a hole bored in the fore-part of the cut-water for this
purpose, and then splicing both ends together so as to make it two-fold,
or like the link of a chain: a _dead-eye_ is then seized into it, and a
_laniard_ passing through this and communicating with another dead-eye
upon the bowsprit, is drawn extremely tight by the help of mechanical
powers. See BOWSPRIT.
The use of the bob-stay, is to draw down the bowsprit, and keep it
steddy; and to counter-act the force of the stays of the fore-mast,
which draw it upwards. The bowsprit is also fortified by shrouds from
the bows on each side; which are all very necessary, as the foremast and
the upper-part of the main-mast are stayed and greatly supported by the
bowsprit. For this reason, the bob-stay is the first part of a ship’s
rigging which is drawn tight to support the masts. To perform this task
more effectually, it is usual to suspend a boat, anchor, or other
weighty body, at the bowsprit-end, to press it downwards during this
operation.
BOLSTERS, a sort of small cushions or bags, filled with tarred canvas,
laid between the collars of the stays and the edge of some piece of wood
on which they lie: they are used to preserve the stays from being chafed
or galled by the motion of the masts, as the ship rocks or pitches at
sea.
BOLT-ROPE, _ralingue_, a rope to which the edges or skirts of the sails
are sewed, to strengthen, and prevent them from rending. Those parts of
the bolt-rope which are on the perpendicular or sloping edges, are
called leech-ropes; that at the bottom, the foot-rope; and that on the
top or upper edge, the head-rope. Stay-sails, whose heads are formed
like an acute angle, have no head-rope. To different parts of the
bolt-rope are fastened all the ropes employed to contract or dilate the
sails. The figure and position of the bolt-rope is exhibited in the
plate referred to from the article SAIL.
BOMB. See the articles MORTAR and SHELL.
BOMB-VESSEL, a small ship particularly calculated to throw bombs into a
fortress. They are said to be invented by M. Reyneau, and to have been
first put in action at the bombardment of Algiers. Till then it had been
judged impracticable to bombard a place from the sea. See a particular
description of these ships in the article KETCH.
BOOM, _estacade_, _barre_, (from _boom_, a tree, Dutch) in marine
fortification, a strong chain or cable, on which are fastened a number
of poles, bars, &c. extending athwart the mouth of a harbour or river,
to prevent the enemies ships of war from entering. It may be
occasionally sunk, or drawn up to the surface of the water, by
capsterns, and other mechanical powers.
BOOMS, _boute dehors_, certain long poles run out from different places
in the ship to extend the bottoms of particular sails. Of these there
are several sorts; as the jib-boom, studding-sail-booms, ring-tail-boom,
driver-boom, main-boom, and square-sail-boom; the two last, however, are
only appropriated to small ships of one or two masts. See JIB, &c.
BOOT-TOPPING, the act of cleaning the upper-part of a ship’s bottom, or
that part which lies immediately under the surface of the water, and
daubing it over with tallow, or with a _coat_ or mixture of tallow,
sulphur, resin, &c.
BOOT-TOPPING is chiefly performed where there is no dock, or other
commodious situation for breaming or careening; or when the hurry of a
voyage renders it inconvenient to have the whole bottom properly trimmed
and cleansed of the filth which gathers to it in the course of a
sea-voyage. It is executed by making the ship lean to one side, as much
as they can with safety, and then scraping off the grass, slime, shells,
or other material, that adheres to the bottom, on the other side, which
is elevated above the surface of the water for this purpose, and
accordingly daubed with the coat of tallow and sulphur. Having thus
finished one side, they make the ship lean to the other side, and
perform the same operation, which not only preserves the bottom from the
worm, but makes the ship slide smoothly through the water. See CAREEN
and DOCK.
BORE. See the article CANNON.
BOTH SHEETS AFT, _entre deux écoutes_, the situation of a ship that
sails right afore the wind, or with the wind right astern.
BOTTOM, _carene_, (_botm_, Sax. _bodem_, Belg.) as a sea-term, is either
used to denote the bottom of a ship, or that of the water: thus in the
former sense we say, a clean or a foul bottom; a British, French, or
Dutch bottom: and in the latter sense, a rocky, sandy, or oozy bottom.
The bottom of a ship, as we have described in the article _Naval_
ARCHITECTURE, comprehends all that part which is under water when the
ship is laden; the figure of it must therefore be determined by the
qualities required in the ship, and the purposes for which the is
designed.
It has been remarked, that a ship of war should carry her lowest tier of
cannon sufficiently above the surface of the water to be used when
necessary. If this quality is neglected, a small ship will have the
advantage of a large one, inasmuch as the latter cannot open her lower
battery in a fresh side-wind, without being exposed to extreme danger,
by receiving a great quantity of water in at her ports between-decks.
A ship should be duly poised, so as not to dive or pitch heavily, but go
smoothly and easily through the water, rising to the waves when they run
high, or when the vessel has reduced her sail to the storm. If she is
deficient in this article, the seas will frequently burst aboard, and
strain the decks or carry away the boats. The masts are also greatly
endangered from the same cause.
A ship should sail well when large, or before the wind; but particularly
when _close-hauled_, or sailing with a side-wind. She should also be
enabled in the latter situation to keep her wind, without deviating much
to leeward; to work and tack easily, and lie in a turbulent sea without
straining violently.
Many of our shipwrights have considered it extremely difficult, if not
impracticable, to make a ship carry her cannon well, bear a competent
sail, and advance swiftly through the water; because a very full bottom
is necessary to acquire the two first qualities; whereas a sharp floor
is better fitted to procure the latter. But when it is remembered, that
a full ship will carry a much greater force of sail than a sharp one, a
good artist may form the body so as to unite all these three qualities
with the additional one of steering easily, by paying a proper attention
to the following general rules.
To make a ship carry a good sail. A flat floor-timber somewhat long, or
the lower-futtocks pretty round, a streight upper-futtock, the
top-timber to throw out the breadth aloft; at any rate to carry the
main-breadth as high as the lower-deck. Now if the rigging be well
adapted to such a body, and the upper-works lightened as much as
possible, so that the whole contributes to lower the center of gravity,
there will be no reason to doubt of the ship’s carrying a good sail.
To make a ship steer well, and answer the helm readily. If the
fashion-pieces be well formed, the tuck, or spreading-parts under the
stern, carried pretty high; the midship-frame well forward; a
considerable additional depth in the draught of water abaft more than
forward; a great rake forward and none abaft; a snug quarter-deck and
forecastle: all these will greatly facilitate the steerage; and a ship
that sails well will always steer easily.
To make a ship carry her guns well out of the water. A long
floor-timber, and not of great rising; a very full midship-frame, and
low tuck, with light upper-works.
To make a ship go smoothly through the water, and prevent her from
pitching heavily. A long keel, a long floor, not to rise too high afore
and abaft; but the area, or space contained in the fore-body, according
to the respective weight it is destined to carry: all these are
necessary to make a ship pass easily through the sea.
To make a ship keep a good wind and drive little to leeward. A good
length by the keel; not too broad, but pretty deep in the hold, which
will occasion her to have a short floor-timber and a very great rising.
As such a ship will meet with great resistance in driving sideways, and
feel very little, in advancing or going ahead, she will fall very little
to leeward.
Being thus furnished with the methods to qualify a ship for the
different purposes of navigation, the only difficulty remains to apply
them properly in the construction, which must, in a great measure, be
left to the judgment of the artist. The whole art then is evidently to
form the body in such a manner, as that none of these qualities shall be
entirely destroyed; and in giving the preference to that which is
principally required in the service for which the ship is destined. As
it therefore appears possible to unite them all in one vessel so that
each of them may be easily discerned, a neglect of this circumstance
ought to be attributed to the incapacity of the shipwright, who has not
studied the principles of his art with proper application. See _Naval_
ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING, and SHIP.
BOTTOMRY, _bomerie_, (from _bottom_) a contract for borrowing money on
the keel or bottom of a ship; so that the commander binds the ship
herself, that if the money be not paid at the time appointed, the
creditors shall have the ship.
BOTTOMRY is also where a person lends money to a merchant or adventurer
who wants it in traffic, and the lender is to be paid a much greater sum
at the return of the ship, standing to the hazard of the voyage.
Although the interest on this account be greater than the law commonly
allows, it is yet not esteemed usury; because the money being supplied
at the lenders risk, if the ship perishes, he shares in the loss
thereof.
BOW, _epaule_, in ship-building, the rounding part of a ship’s side
forward, beginning at the place where the planks arch inwards, and
terminated where they close at the stem or prow. See the article Head,
where the bow of a ship is represented at large. It is proved by a
variety of experiments, that a ship with a narrow bow is much better
calculated for sailing swiftly, than one with a broad bow; but is not so
well fitted for a high sea, into which she always _pitches_, or plunges,
her fore-part very deep, for want of sufficient breadth to repel the
volume of water, which she so easily divides in her fall. The former of
these is called by seamen a _lean_, and the latter a _bluff_ bow.
“The bow which meets with the least resistance in a direct course, not
only meets with the least resistance in oblique courses, but also has
the additional property of driving the least to leeward; which is a
double advantage gained by forming the bow so as to give it that figure
which will be the least opposed in moving through any medium.”
_Bouguer’s Traité du Navire._
_On the_ BOW, in navigation, an arch of the horizon, comprehended
between some distant object, and that point of the compass which is
right-ahead, or to which the ship’s stem is directed. This phrase is
equally applicable, when the object is beheld from the ship, or
discovered by trigonometrical calculation: as, we saw a fleet at
day-break bearing three points _on the starboard bow_; that is, three
points, from that part of the horizon which is right ahead, towards the
right hand. See also the article BEARING.
BOWER. See the article ANCHOR.
BOWLINE, _bouline_, a rope fastened near the middle of the leech, or
perpendicular edge of the square sails, by three or four subordinate
parts, called bridles. It is only used when the wind is so unfavourable
that the sails must be all braced sideways, or _close-hauled_ to the
wind: in this situation the bowlines are employed to keep the weather,
or windward, edges of the principal sails tight forward and steddy,
without which they would be always shivering, and rendered incapable of
service. See the articles BRIDLE, CLOSE-HAULING, and SAIL.
_To check the_ BOWLINE, is to slacken it, when the wind becomes large.
_To_ BOWSE, _palanquer_, to draw on any body with a tackle, or
complication of pullies, in order to remove it, or otherwise alter its
state or situation: this is chiefly practised when such alteration or
removal cannot be conveniently effected without the application of
mechanical powers. This term is pronounced _bowce_.
BOWSPRIT, _beaupré_, (from _bow_ and _sprit_) a large boom or mast,
which projects over the stem, to carry sail forward, in order to govern
the fore part of a ship, and counter-act the force of the sails extended
behind, or, in the _after_ part. It is otherways of great use, as being
the principal support of the fore-mast, by confining the _stays_ whereby
it is secured, and enabled to carry sail: these are great ropes
stretching from the mast-head to the middle of the bowsprit, where they
are drawn tight. See the articles STAY and DEAD-EYE.
BOXES _of the pump_. See the article PUMP.