the swell of the sea renders tacking impracticable. It is performed by
putting the helm _a-lee_, to throw the head up to windward, where
meeting with great resistance from the repeated shocks of the waves on
the weather bow, it _falls off_, or turns to leeward, with a quicker
effort, and without advancing. The aftermost sails are at this time
diminished, or perhaps altogether deprived of their force of action, for
a short time, because they would otherwise counteract the sails forward,
and prevent the ship from turning. They are, however, extended as soon
as the ship, in veering, brings the wind on the opposite quarter, as
their effort then contributes to assist her motion of wheeling.
BOX-HAULING is generally performed when the ship is too near the shore
to have room for veering in the usual way. See VEERING.
BOXING, an operation in sailing somewhat similar to box-hauling. It is
performed by laying the head-sails, or the sails in the fore-part of the
ship, aback, to receive the greatest force of the wind in a line
perpendicular to their surfaces, in order to throw the ship’s head back
into the line of her course, after she had inclined to windward of it by
neglect of the helmsman, or otherwise.
BRACE, _bras_, a rope employed to wheel, or traverse the sails upon the
mast, in a direction parallel to the horizon, when it is necessary to
shift the sails that they may correspond with the direction of the wind
and the course of the ship. Braces are, for this purpose, fastened to
the extremities of the yards, which are called the _yard-arms_.
All the braces of the yards are double, except those of the top-gallant,
and spritsail-topsail yards. The mizen-yard is furnished with _fangs_,
or vangs, in the room of braces. See the article MIZEN.
BRACKETS, _consoles_, short crooked timbers resembling knees. They are
fixed under the galleries and frame of a ship’s head, to support the
gratings.
BRAILS, _cargues_, (_breuils_, Fr.) certain ropes passing through
pullies on the mizen-mast, and afterwards fastened, in different places,
on the hinder, or aftmost ridge of the sail, in order to truss it up to
the mast, as occasion requires. See MIZEN.
BRAILS, is likewise a general name given to all the ropes which are
employed to _haul up_, or collect to their yards, the bottoms, lower
corners, and skirts of the other great sails, for the more ready
_furling_ them whenever it is necessary. The operation of thus drawing
them together, is called brailing them up, or hauling them up in the
brails. See the article SAIL.
BRAKE, _brimbale_, the handle, or lever, by which a common ship-pump is
usually managed. It operates by means of two iron bolts thrust through
the inner end of it; one of which resting across two cheeks or ears, in
the upper-end of the pump, serves as a fulcrum for the brake, supporting
it between the cheeks. The other bolt connects the extremity of the
brake to the pump-spear, which draws up the _box_ or piston, charged
with the water in the tube. See the article PUMP.
BREADTH, _largeur_, the measure of a ship from side to side in any
particular place: it is usually distinguished into extreme-breadth,
_ligne du fort_, main-breadth, and top-timber-breadth. See the
explanation of the plane of projection, in the article _Naval_
ARCHITECTURE.
As the sides of the ship are formed by a variety of ribs, called
timbers, and the areas of those timbers being of different breadths
above and below, it is necessary to distinguish them in the
construction, in order to form their several curves, and fix the
corresponding pieces with more accuracy and precision. The part of every
timber which encloses the greatest space from the middle-line of the
ship’s length, is therefore called the _main_-breadth; and the distance
between the upper-part of the same timber and the middle-line of the
ship’s length, is called the top-timber-breadth.
As the ship is also broader at the midship-frame than in any other point
of her length, the distance between her sides in the main-breadth of
that timber, is called the extreme-breadth of the ship.
BREADTH-SWEEP, the radius of the arch which forms part of the curve of a
ship’s timber; as explained in the horizontal plane. See _Naval_
ARCHITECTURE.
BREAKERS, _brisans_, a name given by sailors to those billows that break
violently over rocks lying under the surface of the sea. They are
distinguished both by their appearance and sound, as they cover that
part of the sea with a perpetual foam, and produce a hoarse and terrible
roaring, very different from what the waves usually have in a deeper
bottom.
When a ship is unhappily driven amongst breakers, it is hardly possible
to save her, as every billow that heaves her upwards, serves to dash her
down with additional force, when it breaks over the rocks or sands
beneath it.
BREAKING-BULK, the act of beginning to unlade a ship; or of discharging
the first part of the cargo.
_To_ BREAK-UP, _déchirer_, to rip off the planks of a ship, and take her
to pieces, when she becomes old and unserviceable.
BREAK-WATER, the hulk, or hull, of some old ship or vessel, sunk at the
entrance of a small harbour, to break off, and diminish the force of the
waves, as they advance towards the vessels moored within.
BREAK-WATER is also a sort of small buoy, fastened to a large one in the
water, when the buoy-rope of the latter is not long enough to reach from
the anchor, lying on the bottom, to the surface of the water. The use of
this break-water is therefore to shew where the buoy swims. See BUOY.
_To_ BREAM, _chauffer_ (from _broom_) to burn off the filth, such as
grass, ooze, shells, or sea-weed, from a ship’s bottom, that has
gathered to it in a voyage, or by lying long in a harbour. This
operation is performed by holding kindled furze, faggots, or such
materials, to the bottom, so that the flame incorporating with the
pitch, sulphur, &c. that had formerly covered it, immediately loosens
and throws off whatever filth may have adhered to the planks. After
this, the bottom is covered anew with a composition of sulphur, tallow,
&c. which not only makes it smooth and slippery, so as to divide the
fluid more readily, but also poisons and destroys those worms which eat
through the planks in the course of a voyage. Breaming may be performed
either when the ship lies aground after the tide has ebbed from her, by
_docking_, or by _careening_, which see; as also COAT and STUFF.
BREAST-FAST, a sort of hawser, or large rope, employed to confine a ship
sideways to a wharf or key, or to some other ship; as the head-fast
confines her forward, and the stern-fast, abaft.
BREAST-HOOKS, _guirlandes_, (from _breast_ and _hook_) are thick pieces
of timber, incurvated into the form of knees, and used to strengthen the
fore-part of the ship, where they are placed at different heights
directly across the stem, so as to unite it with the bows on each side.
The breast-hooks are strongly connected to the stem and hawse-pieces by
tree-nails, and by bolts, driven from without, through the planks and
hawse-pieces, and the whole thickness of the breast-hooks, upon whose
inside those bolts are forelocked, or clinched, upon rings. They are
usually about one third thicker, and twice as long, as the knees of the
decks which they support.
There are generally four or five of these pieces in the hold between the
kelson and the lower-deck, in the form of R, (plate I. PIECES _of the_
HULL), upon the uppermost of which the planks of that deck are rabitted.
There are two placed between the lower and the second decks, in the form
of S, (plate I.), one of which is immediately beneath the hawse-holes,
and the other under the second deck, whose planks are inlaid thereon,
and upon which the inner-end of the bowsprit frequently rests.
The fore-side of the breast-hook, which is convex, is formed so as to
correspond with the place in which it is stationed, that is to say, it
conforms exactly to the interior figure of that part of the bow where it
ought to be fayed: accordingly the branches, or arms, of the
breast-hooks, make a greater angle as they are more elevated above the
keel, whilst the lower ones are more incurvated, and are almost figured
like the crotches.
As it is not necessary that the inner, or concave side of these pieces,
should retain a regular form, the artificers frequently let them remain
as thick as possible, to give additional support to the ship’s
fore-part, where she sustains the whole shock of resistance in dividing
the fluid, or in plunging down into it.
It is evident that the connexion and solidity of the ship in this place
will be reinforced in proportion to the strength and extent of the
breast-hooks, so that they may cover a greater number of the
head-timbers.
BREAST-WORK, _fronteau_, a sort of balustrade or fence, composed of
rails or mouldings, and frequently decorated with sculpture. It is used
to terminate the quarter-deck and poop at the fore-ends, and to inclose
the forecastle both before and behind.
BREECHING, _brague_, (from _breech_) a rope used to secure the cannon of
a ship of war, and prevent them from recoiling too much in the time of
battle.
It is fixed by fastening the middle of it to the hindmost knob or
cascabel of the gun, which sailors call the pomiglion, or pummelion; the
two ends of it are afterwards inserted through two strong rings on the
sides of the carriage, and fastened to other bolts in the ship’s sides.
The breeching is of sufficient length to let the muzzle of the cannon
come within the ship’s side to be charged.
The use of the breeching, as it checks the recoil of the cannon, is
shewn in plate III. DECK, where it is expressed by e e, passing through
the ring-bolts, f, on the side of the carriage, g, being fastened to the
cascabel, h. It is also exhibited in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, where it is
employed to lash the cannon when it is _housed_ during the course of a
voyage. See the article CANNON.
BREWING, the appearance of a collection of black and tempestuous clouds
arising gradually from a particular part of the hemisphere, as the
fore-runner of a storm.
BRIDLES, the upper-part of the moorings laid in the king’s harbours to
ride ships or vessels of war. See the article MOORINGS.
BRIDLES _of the bowline_, _pattes_, the legs by which the bowline is
fastened to different places on the edge or skirt of a large sail.
We have already explained the use of the _bowline_; that it is employed
to confine or keep steddy the windward or weather edges of the principal
sails when they are braced for a side-wind. For as the current of air
enters the cavity of the sail in a direction nearly parallel to its
surface, it follows that the ridge of the sail must necessarily be
shaken by the wind, unless it is kept tight forward; but as a single
rope has not been found sufficient to confine the whole skirt of the
sail, inasmuch as it only draws upon one part thereof, it became
necessary to apply bridles or legs spreading out from the bowline. They
are represented in the figures annexed to the article SAIL.
BRIG, or BRIGANTINE, a merchant-ship with two masts. This term is not
universally confined to vessels of a particular construction, or which
are masted and rigged in a method different from all others. It is
variously applied, by the mariners of different European nations, to a
peculiar sort of vessel of their own marine.
Amongst English seamen, this vessel is distinguished by having her
main-sail set nearly in the plane of her keel; whereas the main-sails of
larger ships are hung athwart, or at right angles with the ship’s
length, and fastened to a yard which hangs parallel to the deck: but in
a brig, the foremost edge of the main-sail is fastened in different
places to hoops which encircle the main-mast, and slide up and down it
as the sail is hoisted or lowered: it is extended by a _gaff_ above, and
by a boom below.
_To_ BRING _by the lee_. See _To_ BROACH-TO.
_To_ BRING-TO, in navigation, _caposer_, to check the course of a ship
when she is advancing, by arranging the sails in such a manner as that
they shall counter-act each other, and prevent her either from
retreating or moving forward. In this situation the ship is said to
lie-by, or lie-to, having, according to the sea-phrase, some of her
sails _aback_, to oppose the force of those which are _full_; or having
them otherwise shortened by being _furled_, or _hauled up in the
brails_.
BRINGING-TO, is generally used to detain a ship in any particular
station, in order to wait the approach of some other that may be
advancing towards her: or to retard her course occasionally near any
port in the course of a voyage.
_To_ BRING-UP, a provincial phrase peculiar to the seamen in the
coal-trade, signifying to anchor, &c.
_To_ BROACH-TO, in navigation, to incline suddenly to windward of the
ship’s course when she sails with a large wind; or, when she sails
directly before the wind, to deviate from the line of her course, either
to the right or left, with such rapidity as to bring the ship’s side
unexpectedly to windward, and expose her to the danger of oversetting.
It is easy to conceive that a ship will carry much more sail before the
wind than when she makes a progress with her side to its direction;
because when the current of wind acts nearly endways on her hull, the
pressure of it on the masts must be considerably diminished as she
yields to its impulse and flies before it; and that if she carries a
great sail at this time, it can only press her fore-part lower down in
the water. But if, when she carries a great extension of sail, her side
is suddenly brought to the wind, it may be attended with the most fatal
consequences, as the whole force of it then pours like a torrent into
the cavities of the sails. The masts therefore unavoidably yield to this
strong impression, acting like levers on the ship sideways, so as nearly
to overturn her, unless she is relieved by some other event, which may
be also extremely pernicious, such as the sails rending to pieces, or
the masts being carried away.
It is generally occasioned by the difficulty of steering the ship; by
the negligence or incapacity of the helmsman; or by some disaster
happening to the helm or its machinery, which renders it incapable of
governing the ship’s course.
The difference between broaching-to and bringing _by the lee_, may be
thus defined. Suppose a ship with a great sail set is steering south,
having the wind N.N.W. then is west the _weather_, and east the
_lee-side_.
If by some deficiency in the steerage her head turns round to the
westward, so as that her sails are all taken aback on the weather-side
before she can be made to return to the course from which she has
deviated, she is said to _broach-to_.
If otherwise her head, from the same cause, has declined so far eastward
as to lay her sails aback on that side which was the lee-side, it is
called bringing her by the lee.
BROADSIDE, _bordee_, in a naval engagement, the whole discharge of the
artillery on one side of a ship of war above and below; as,
We poured a broadside into the enemy’s ship, i. e. discharged all the
ship’s cannon on one side upon her.
She brought her broadside to bear on the castle; that is, disposed the
ship so as to point all her cannon to it within point-blank range.
A squall of wind laid the ship on her broadside; that is, pressed her
down in the water, so as nearly to overturn her.
BROKEN-BACKED, _arcqué_, the state or quality of a ship, which is so
loosened in her frame, either by age, weakness, or some great strain, as
to droop at each end.
This circumstance is more common amongst French than the English or
Dutch ships, owing partly to their great length, and to the sharpness of
the floor, whose breadth is not sufficiently carried from the middle
towards each end; and partly from being frequently obliged to have a
great weight in both ends, when they are empty in the middle, at the
time of discharging one cargo and taking in another. See CAMBERING.
BUCCANEER, a name given to certain piratical rovers of various European
nations, who formerly infested the Spanish coasts in America, and, under
pretence of traffic with the inhabitants, frequently seized their
treasure, plundered their houses, and committed many other depredations.
_Ship_-BUILDING may be defined the manner of constructing ships, or the
work itself, as distinguished from naval architecture, which we have
rather considered as the theory or art of delineating ships on a plane,
and to which this article may properly be understood as a supplement.
The pieces by which this complicated machine is framed, are joined
together in various places, by scarfing, rabitting, tenanting, and
scoring. See those articles.
During the construction of a ship, she is supported in the dock, or upon
a wharf, by a number of solid blocks of timber placed at equal distances
from, and parallel to, each other, as may be seen in the article
LANCHING; she is then said to be on the stocks.
The first piece of timber laid upon the blocks is generally the keel; I
say _generally_, because, of late, a different method has been adopted
in some of the royal dock-yards, by beginning with the floor-timbers;
the artists having found that the keel is often apt to rot during the
long period of building a large ship of war. The pieces of the keel, as
exhibited in plate I. are scarfed together, and bolted, forming one
entire piece, A A. which constitutes the length of the vessel below. At
one extremity of the keel is erected the _stem_. It is a strong piece of
timber incurvated nearly into a circular arch, or, according to the
technical term, _compassing_, so as to project outwards at the
upper-end, forming what is called the _rake_ forward. In small vessels
this is framed of one piece, but in large ships it is composed of
several pieces scarfed and bolted together, as expressed in the
explanation of plate I. PIECES _of the_ HULL, and in those terms
separately. At the other extremity of the keel, is elevated the
stern-post, which is always of one entire strait piece. The heel of it
is let into a mortise in the keel, and having its upper-end to hang
outwards, making an obtuse angle with the keel, like that of the stem:
this projection is called the _rake_ abaft. The stern-post, which ought
to support the stern, contains the iron-work or hinges of the rudder,
which are called _googings_, and unites the lower-part of the ship’s
sides abaft. See the connexion of those pieces in the ELEVATION, pl. I.
Towards the upper-end of the stern-post, and at right angles with its
length, is fixed the middle of the _wing-transom_, where it is firmly
bolted. Under this is placed another piece parallel thereto, and called
the deck-transom, upon which the after-end of the lower-deck is
supported. Parallel to the deck-transom, and at a proper distance under
it, another piece is fixed to the stern-post, called the first transom,
all of which serve to connect the stern-post to the _fashion pieces_.
Two more transoms, called the second and third, are also placed under
these, being likewise attached to the fashion pieces, into which the
extremities of all the transoms are let, as exhibited in plate X. fig.
1. The fashion-pieces are formed like the other timbers of the ship, and
have their heels resting on the upper-part of the kelson, at the after
extremity of the floor ribbands.
All these pieces, viz. the transoms, the fashion-pieces, and their
top-timbers, being strongly united into one frame, are elevated upon the
stern-post, and the whole forms the structure of the stern, upon which
the galleries and windows, with their ornaments, are afterwards built,
The stem and stern-post being thus elevated upon the keel, to which they
are securely connected by knees and arched pieces of timber bolted to
both; and the keel being raised at its two extremities by pieces of
dead-wood, the midship _floor-timber_ is placed across the keel, whereto
it is bolted through the middle. The floor-timbers before and abaft the
midship-frame are then stationed in their proper places upon the keel;
after which the _kelson_, which, like the keel, is composed of several
pieces scarfed together, is fixed across the middle of the
floor-timbers, to which it is attached by bolts driven through the keel,
and clinched on the upper-part of the kelson. The futtocks are then
raised upon the floor-timbers, and the _hawse-pieces_ erected upon the
cant-timbers in the fore-part of the ship. The top-timbers on each side
are next attached to the head of the futtocks, as already explained in
the article _naval_ ARCHITECTURE. The frames of the principal timbers
being thus completed, are supported by ribbands, as exhibited in the
plate referred to from the article RIBBANDS.
The ribs of the ship being now stationed, they proceed to fix on the
planks, of which the wales are the principal, being much thicker and
stronger than the rest; as is represented in the MIDSHIP-FRAME. The
harpins, which may be considered as a continuation of the wales at their
fore-ends, are fixed across the hawse-pieces, and surround the fore-part
of the ship. The planks that inclose the ship’s sides are then brought
about the timbers, and the _clamps_, which are of equal thickness with
the wales, fixed opposite to the wales within the ship; these are used
to support the ends of the beams, and accordingly stretch from one end
of the ship to the other. The _thick stuff_, or strong planks of the
bottom within-board, are then placed opposite to the several scarfs of
the timbers, to reinforce them throughout the ship’s length. The planks
employed to line the ship, called the _ceiling_, or _foot-waling_, is
next fixed in the intervals between the thick-stuff of the hold. The
_beams_ are afterwards laid across the ship to support the decks, and
are connected to the side by lodging and hanging knees; the former of
which are exhibited in their proper stations in plate III. F. and the
hanging ones, together with the breadth, thickness, and position of the
keel, floor-timbers, futtocks, top timbers, wales, clamps, thick-stuff,
planks within and without, beams, decks, &c. are seen in the
MIDSHIP-FRAME.
The cable-bits being next erected, the _carlings_ and _ledges_, which
are represented in plate III. and described in their proper places, are
disposed between the beams to strengthen the deck. The _water-ways_ are
then laid on the ends of the beams throughout the ship’s length, and the
spirketting fixed close above them. The upper-deck is then planked, and
the _string_ placed under the _gunnel_ or _plansheer_ in the waist. The
disposition of those latter pieces on the timbers, viz. the water-ways,
spirketting, upper-deck, string, and gunnel, are also represented in the
MIDSHIP-FRAME.
They proceed next to plank the quarter-deck and forecastle, and to fix
the _partners_ of the masts and capsterns with the _coamings_ of the
hatches. The _breast-hooks_ are then bolted across the stem and bow
within-board, the _step_ of the fore-mast placed on the kelson; and the
_riders_, exhibited in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, fayed on the inside of the
timbers to reinforce the sides in different places of the ship’s length.
The _pointers_, if any, are afterwards fixed across the hold diagonally
to support the beams; and the _crotches_ stationed in the after-hold to
unite the half-timbers. The _steps_ of the main-mast and capsterns are
next placed; the planks of the lower-decks and orlop laid; the _navel
hoods_ fayed on the hawse-holes; and the _knee of the head_, or
cutwater, connected to the stem. The figure of the head is then erected,
and the _trail-board_ and cheeks fixed on the sides of the knee.
The _taffarel_ and _quarter pieces_, which terminate the ship abaft, the
former above, and the latter on each side, are then disposed; and the
stern and quarter galleries framed and supported by their brackets. The
_pumps_, with their well, are next fixed in the hold; the
_limber-boards_ laid on each side of the kelson, and the _garboard_
strake fixed on the ship’s bottom next to the keel without.