quickly, as row chearly in the boats! lower away chearly! i. e. row
heartily, lower speedily, &c.
CHEEKS _of the mast_, _jottereaux_, the faces or projecting parts on
each side of the masts, used to sustain the frame of the top, together
with the top-mast, which rests immediately upon them.
CHESTREES, _taquets d’ amure_, two pieces of wood bolted
perpendicularly, one on the starboard, and the other on the larboard
side of the ship. They are used to confine the _clue_, or lower corners
of the main-sail; for which purpose there is a hole in the upper part
through which the rope passes that usually extends the clue of the sail
to windward. See the article TACK.
The chess-trees are commonly placed as far before the main-mast as the
length of the main-beam.
_Clerk of the_ CHECK, an officer in the royal dock-yards, who keeps a
muster or register of all the men employed aboard his majesty’s ships
and vessels, and also of all the artificers and others in the service of
the navy at the port where he is settled.
_To_ CHINSE, is to thrust oakum into a seam or chink with the point of a
knife or chissel. This is chiefly used as a temporary expedient when
calking cannot be safely or conveniently performed.
CHOCK, a sort of wedge used to confine a cask, or other weighty body, in
a certain place, and to prevent it from fetching way when the ship is in
motion, &c.
CLAMPS, _bauquieres_, thick planks in a ship’s side, used to sustain the
ends of the beams. See the article MIDSHIP FRAME.
The clamps extend from the stem to the fashion-pieces of the stern,
including the whole interior range of the side. They are placed close
under each deck so as to be securely fayed to all the timbers, to which
they are fastened by nails driven through the clamp, and penetrating two
thirds of the thickness of the timbers.
The clamps of the lower and second decks ought to be equal in thickness
to half the corresponding timbers in that part, and as broad as can be
procured. In their disposition it is essentially necessary to avoid
their being wounded by the ports, as the strength and firmness of a ship
greatly depend on the substance and solidity of those pieces which lie
horizontally in her frame.
CLAMPS are also small crooked plates of iron, fore-locked upon the
trunnions of the cannon, to keep them steddy in their carriages at sea.
These, however, are more properly termed cap-squares. See CANNON.
Clamps of the latter sort are likewise frequently used to fasten the
masts or bowsprits of small vessels or boats.
CLAWING, or CLAWING-OFF, _chicaner_, in navigation, the act of _beating_
or turning to windward from a lee-shore, so as to acquire a sufficient
distance from it, to escape the dangers of shipwreck, which often attend
so hazardous a situation.
CLEAR, as a naval term, is variously applied to the weather, the
sea-coasts, cordage, navigation, &c. The weather is said to be clear
(_fin_) when it is fair and open, as opposed to cloudy or foggy.
The sea-coast is called clear (_saine_) when the navigation is not
interrupted, or rendered dangerous by rocks, sands, or breakers, &c.
It is expressed of cordage, cables, &c. when they are unembarrassed or
disentangled so as to be ready for immediate service. It is usually
opposed to _foul_, in all those senses.
CLEATS, _taquets_, pieces of wood of different shapes, used occasionally
to fasten ropes upon in a ship: some of them have one, and some two
arms, fig. 17, _a_, plate II. others are hollowed in the middle, and
have no arms at all, fig. 17, _b_: these are nailed to the deck or sides
to fasten any thing to.
CLINCH, that part of a cable, or other rope, which is fastened to the
ring of the anchor.
CLINCHER-WORK, _bordée à quoin_, the disposition of the planks in the
side of any boat or vessel, when the lower edge of every plank over-lays
the next under it, like the slates on the top of a house.
CLOSE-HAULED, in navigation, _au plus pres_, the general arrangement or
trim of a ship’s sails, when she endeavours to make a progress in the
nearest direction possible towards that point of the compass from which
the wind bloweth.
In this manner of sailing the _keel_ commonly makes an angle of six
points with the line of the wind; but sloops, and some other small
vessels, are said to sail almost a point nearer. All vessels, however,
are supposed to make nearly a point of _lee-way_, when close-hauled,
even when they have the advantage of a good sailing-breeze and smooth
water. The angle of lee-way, however, enlarges in proportion to the
increase of the wind and sea.
In this disposition of the sails, they are all extended sideways on the
ship, so that the wind, as it crosses the ship obliquely toward the
stern from forwards, may fill their cavities. But as the current of wind
also enters the cavities of the sails in an oblique direction, the
effort of it, to make the ship advance, is considerably diminished: she
will, therefore, make the least progress when sailing in this manner.
The ship is said to be close-hauled, because at this time her _tacks_,
or lower corners of the principal sails, are drawn close down to her
side to windward; the sheets hauled close aft; and all the bow-lines
drawn to their greatest extension, in order to keep the sails steddy.
CLOSE-QUARTERS, certain strong barriers of wood stretching across a
merchant-ship in several places. They are used as a place of retreat
when a ship is boarded by her adversary, and are therefore fitted with
several small loop-holes, through which to fire the small arms, whereby
the ship’s crew may defend themselves and annoy the enemy. They are
likewise furnished with several small caissons, called powder-chests,
which are fixed upon the deck, and filled with powder, old nails, &c.
and may be fired at any time from the close-quarters upon the boarders.
We have known an English merchant-ship, of sixteen guns, and properly
fitted with close-quarters, defeat the united efforts of three French
privateers who boarded her in the late war, after having engaged at some
distance nearly a day and a half with very few intervals of rest. Two of
the cruisers were equipped with twelve guns each, and the other with
eight. The French sailors were, after boarding, so much exposed to the
continued fire of musquetry, and coehorns charged with granadoes, that a
dreadful scene of carnage ensued, in which the decks were soon covered
with the dead bodies of the enemy, several of which the boarders, in
their hurry to escape, had left behind.
CLUE _of a sail_, _point_, the lower corner, and hence
CLUE-GARNETS, _cargues point_, are a sort of tackles fastened to the
_clues_, or lower corners of the mainsail and foresail, to truss them up
to the yard as occasion requires, which is usually termed _clueing-up_
the sails.
CLUE-LINES are for the same purpose as clue-garnets, only that the
latter are confined to the courses, whereas the clue-lines are common to
all the square sails. See these ropes, as represented in the article
SAIL.
COACH, or COUCH, a sort of chamber or apartment in a large ship of war
near the _stern_. The floor of it is formed by the aftmost part of the
quarter-deck, and the roof of it by the poop: it is generally the
habitation of the captain.
COAMINGS _of the hatches_, certain raised borders about the edge of the
hatches of a ship, to prevent the water which may flow in upon the deck
at sea, from running down into the lower apartments. They are
represented in the DECK, plate III. as enclosing their respective
hatchways.
COASTING, in navigation, _aller terre à terre_, the act of making a
progress along the sea-coast of any country. The principal articles
relating to this part of navigation are, the observing the time and
direction of the tide; knowledge of the reigning winds; of the roads and
havens; of the different depths of the water, and qualities of the
ground.
COASTING-PILOT, _cotier_, a pilot, who by long experience has become
sufficiently acquainted with the nature of any particular coast, and of
the requisites mentioned in the preceding article, to conduct a ship or
fleet from one part of it to another.
COAT, _braye_, a piece of tarred canvas nailed round that part of the
masts and bowsprit which joins to the deck, or lies over the stem of a
ship. It is used to prevent the water from running down into the hold,
or between the decks.
Besides those above mentioned, there is a coat for the rudder nailed
round the hole where the rudder traverses in the ship’s counter. This
hole is represented at the upper part of the stern-post, exhibited in
plate X.
COAT, _suage_, also implies the materials or _stuff_ with which the
ship’s sides or masts are varnished, to preserve them from the sun and
weather, as turpentine, tar, &c. In this sense we say, “Give her a good
coat of tar.”
COBBING, a punishment sometimes inflicted at sea. It is performed by
striking the offender a certain number of times on the breech with a
flat piece of wood called the cobbing-board. It is chiefly used as a
punishment to those who quit their station during the period of the
night-watch.
COBOOSE, _fogone_ (_kambuis_, Dutch), a sort of box or house to cover
the chimney of some merchant-ships. It is somewhat resembling a
centry-box, and generally stands against the barricade on the fore part
of the quarter-deck.
COCK-PIT _of a ship of war_, the apartments of the surgeon and his
mates, being the place where the wounded men are dressed in the time of
battle, or otherwise. It is situated under the lower-deck.
COCKSWAIN, or COXEN, the officer who manages and steers a boat, and has
the command of the boat’s crew. It is evidently compounded of the words
_cock_ and _swain_, the former of which was anciently used for a yawl or
small boat, as appears by several authors[5]; but it has now become
obsolete, and is never used by our mariners.
COIL, (_cueillir_, Fr.) the manner in which all ropes are disposed
aboard ships for the conveniency of stowage, because
COILING, _rouer_, implies a sort of serpentine winding of a cable or
other rope, that it may occupy a small space in the ship. Each of the
windings of this sort is called a _fake_, and one range of fakes upon
the same line is called a _tier_; there are generally from five to seven
fakes in a tier; and three or four tiers in the whole length of the
cable. This, however, depends on the extent of the fakes. The smaller
ropes employed about the sails are coiled upon _cleats_ at sea, to
prevent their being entangled amongst one another in traversing,
contracting, or extending the sails.
COLLAR, _collier d’ etai_, a name given to the lower part of any of the
principal stays of the masts, or the part by which the stay is confined
at its lower end. Thus the collar of the main-stay connects the lower
end of the stay to the ship’s stem. See the article STAY.
COLOURS, the flags or banners which distinguish the ships of different
nations. See the articles ENSIGN, JACK, and PENDANT.
COLLIERS, certain vessels employed to carry coals from one port to
another, chiefly from the northern parts of England to the capital, and
more southerly parts, as well as to foreign markets. This trade is known
to be an excellent nursery for seamen, although they are often found,
from the constitution of their climate, to be not so well calculated for
southern navigation.
COMMAND, in the royal navy, implies the rank and power of an officer who
has the management of a ship of war, of whatever kind, under twenty
guns, as sloops of war, armed ships, or bomb-vessels. He is intitled
_master_ and _commander_, _capitaine du petit état_, and ranks with a
major in the king’s army.
COMMANDER is also expressed of a large wooden mallet used on sundry
occasions in a ship.
COMMISSIONERS _of the navy_, certain officers appointed to superintend
the affairs of the marine, under the direction of the lord-high-admiral,
or lords commissioners of the admiralty.
The duty of these officers does not extend to the internal government of
ships invested with a military command, either at sea or in the port. It
is more immediately concerned in the building, docking, repairing, and
cleaning of ships in the dock-yards. In consideration of this, all ships
of war are commissioned from a report of their qualities presented to
the Admiralty by the Navy-board.
They have also the appointment of some of the inferior sea-officers, as
surgeons, and masters of ships.
The principal officers and commissioners residing at the board are, 1,
The comptroller. 2, Two surveyors, who are shipwrights. 3, Clerk of the
acts. 4. Comptroller of the treasurer’s accounts. 5. Comptroller of the
victualling accounts. 6. Comptroller of the store-keeper’s accounts. 7.
An extraordinary commissioner. Besides these, there are three resident
commissioners, who manage the affairs of the _dock-yards_ at Chatham,
Portsmouth, and Plymouth, under the direction of the board at the
Navy-office.
COMMODORE, _chef d’ escadre_, a general officer in the British marine,
invested with the command of a detachment of ships of war destined on
any particular enterprise; during which time he bears the rank of
brigadier-general in the army, and is distinguished from the inferior
ships of his squadron by a broad red pendant tapering towards the
outer-end, and sometimes forked. The word is corrupted from the Spanish
_comendador_.
_Commodore_ is also a name given to some select ship in a fleet of
merchantmen, who leads the van in time of war, and carries a light in
his top, to conduct the rest and keep them together.
COMPANION, a sort of wooden porch placed over the entrance or stair case
of the master’s cabin in a merchant-ship.
COMPANY, the whole crew of any ship, including her officers.
COMPASS, an instrument employed to determine the ship’s course at sea,
and consisting of a card and two boxes. The card, which is calculated to
represent the horizon, is a circle divided into thirty-two equal parts,
by lines drawn from the center to the circumference, called points or
rumbs. The intervals between the points are also subdivided into equal
parts called degrees, 360 of which complete the circle; and consequently
the distance or angle comprehended between any two rumbs is equal to
11°, 15´ The four principal rumbs are called the _cardinal points_,
deriving their names from the places to which they tend; viz. the two
which extend themselves under the meridian, opposite to each other,
pointing to the north and south, are called the _north_ and _south_
points. That which is towards the right hand as we look north is termed
_east_, and its opposite the _west_ point. The names of all the inferior
ones are compounded of these, according to their situation. Along the
north and south-line is fixed a steel needle, which being touched by the
load-stone acquires a certain virtue that makes it hang nearly in the
plane of the meridian, and consequently determine the direction of the
other points toward the horizon.
The compass being of the utmost importance to the purposes of
navigation, it is reasonable to expect that the greatest attention
should be used in its construction, and every attempt to improve it
carefully examined, and adopted, if proper. Great errors and
irregularities, however, have been found incident to the construction of
common compasses, arising from the shape of their needles, by which they
have not only turned from the true direction, but from that of each
other[6]. To remedy these inconveniencies, the learned Dr. Knight was
induced to contrive a new sea-compass, which is now used aboard all our
vessels of war[7]. The needles of the other instruments were generally
composed of two pieces of steel wire, bent in the middle, and
approaching each other towards the ends, where they met. Others were
made of one piece of steel of a spring temper, and broad towards the
ends, but tapering towards the middle; but the needle in Dr. Knight’s
compass is quite straight, and square at the ends, and consequently has
only two poles, although the curves are a little confused about the hole
in the middle. Needles of this construction, after vibrating a long
time, will always point exactly in the same direction; and if drawn ever
so little on one side, will return to it again, without any sensible
difference.
In order to illustrate the above description, we have exhibited a view
of the several parts of the compass, plate II. where fig. 19, is the
card, with the needle N S, and its cap fixed upon it.
Fig. 21, is the pedestal that supports the card, containing a sewing
needle fixed in two small grooves to receive it, by means of a collet C,
in the manner of a port crayon. D, the stem, is filed into an octogon,
that it may the more easily be unscrewed.
A B, fig. 20, is the box in which the compass hangs in the binacle.
C D, is the ring that supports the inner box.
E F, is the inner box, which contains the card and needle.
G H, one of its axes, by which it is suspended on the ring C D.
I, is a place cut out in the wood, serving as an handle.
The magnet or needle appears passing though the center, together with a
small brace of ivory that confines the cap to its place.
The card is a single varnished paper, reaching as far as the outer
circle of figures, which is a circle of thin brass; the edge whereof is
turned down at right angles to the plane of the card, in order to
stiffen it.
The compass is retained in the binacle at sea, as exhibited in plate I.
fig. 6. For the other parts of the compass represented in the figure,
see the article AZIMUTH.
COMPASSING, _devers_, a name given by shipwrights to such pieces of
timber as are incurvated into the figure of an arch, whether circular,
elliptical, or otherwise.
COMPTROLLER _of the navy_, one of the principal officers of the
Navy-board, at which he presides, to direct the inferior and civil
department of the marine, as the admiralty superintends the superior and
military operations of it.
CONVOY, _conserve_, (_convoyer_, Fr.) a fleet or navy of merchant-ships
bound on a voyage to some particular part or general rendezvous.
CONVOY also implies the ship or ships appointed to conduct and defend
them on their passage thither.
CORDAGE, (_cordage_, Fr.) a general term for the running _rigging_ of a
ship, or all that part of her rigging which is employed to extend,
contract, or traverse the sails; or which lies in reserve to supply the
place of such as may be rendered unserviceable. See the article RIGGING.
CORPORAL _of a ship of war_, an officer under the master at arms,
employed to teach the sailors the exercise of small arms, or musketry;
to attend at the gangway, or entering-ports, and observe that no
spirituous liquors are brought into the ship, unless by particular leave
from the officers. He is also to extinguish the fire and candles at
eight o’clock in winter, and nine in summer, when the evening gun is
fired; and to walk frequently down in the lower decks in his watch, to
see that there are no lights but such as are under the charge of proper
centinels.
CORPOSANT, _feu St. Elme_ (_corpo santo_, Ital.), a sort of volatile
meteor, or _ignis fatuus_, often beheld in a dark and tempestuous night
about the decks or rigging of a ship, but particularly at the
extremities, as the mast-heads, and yard arms: it is most frequent in
heavy rain, accompanied with lightning. “They usually wander with
uncertain motion from place to place, sometimes appearing to cleave
close to the sails and masts; but they frequently leap up and down with
intermission, affording an obscure flame, like that of a candle burning
faintly. They are produced by some sulphureous and bituminous matter,
which being beat down by the motion of the air above, and gathering
together, is kindled by the agitation of the air, as butter is gathered
together by the agitation of the cream. And from this appearance we
infer that storms come from sulphureous spirits that rarify the air, and
put it into a motion.” _Varenius_.
CORSAIR, (_corsair_, Fr.) a name commonly given to the piratical
cruisers of Barbary, who frequently plunder the merchant-ships of
European nations with whom they are at peace.
COTT, a particular sort of bed-frame, suspended from the beams of a
ship, for the officers to sleep in between the decks. This contrivance
is much more convenient at sea than either the hammocks or fixed cabins,
being a large piece of canvas sewed into the form of a chest, about six
feet long, one foot deep, and from two to three feet wide: it is
extended by a square wooden frame with a canvas bottom, equal to its
length and breadth, to retain it in an horizontal position.
COVE, _anse_, a small creek or bay, where boats or little vessels may
ride at anchor sheltered from the wind and sea.
COUNTER, _contre-arcasse_, an arch or vault whose upper-part is
terminated by the bottom of the _stern_, and the lower part by the
wing-transom and buttock, being expressed by the letters KG, in the
elevation, plate I. as likewise by the same letters in fig. 1, plate X.
and the figure referred to from the article QUARTER.
There is also another counter above, parallel to this, but not vaulted;
it extends from the upper-part of the lower, or vaulted counter, to the
moulding which terminates the windows of the cabin or ward-room below.
This latter is usually called the upper or second counter.
COUNTER-BRACING. See this operation fully explained in the article
TACKING.
COURSE, _route_, in navigation, the angle contained between the nearest
meridian and that point of the compass upon which a ship sails in any
particular direction.
COURSES, _pacfis_, a name by which the principal sails of a ship are
usually distinguished, viz. the main-sail, fore-sail, and mizen: the
mizen-stay-sail and fore-sail are also sometimes comprehended in this
denomination, as are the main-stay-sails of all brigs and schooners. See
the article SAIL.
CRAB, a sort of wooden pillar, whose lower end, being let down through a
ship’s decks, rests upon a socket like the capstern; and having in its
upper-end three or four holes, at different heights, thro’ the middle of
it, above one another, into which long bars are thrust, whose length is
nearly equal to the breadth of the deck. It is employed to wind in the
cable, or to purchase any other weighty matter which requires a great
mechanical power. This differs from a capstern, as not being furnished
with a _drum-head_, and by having the bars to go intirely through it,
reaching from one side of the deck to the other; whereas those of the
capstern, which are superior in number, reach only about eight inches or
a foot into the drum-head, according to the size thereof. This machine
is represented in plate II. by fig. 10, and 13. See also CAPSTERN.
CRADLE, _slee_, a frame placed under the bottom of a ship, in order to
conduct her smoothly and steddily into the water when she is to be
lanched; at which time it supports her weight whilst she slides down the
descent, or sloping passage called the _ways_, which are for this
purpose daubed with soap and tallow. This frame is exhibited by fig. 23,
plate II.
CRAFT, a general name for all sorts of vessels employed to load or
discharge merchant-ships, or to carry along-side, or return the stores
of men of war: such are lighters, hoys, barges, prames, &c. See those
articles.
CRANK, _coté-foible_, the quality of a ship, which for want of a
sufficient quantity of _ballast_ or cargo, is rendered incapable of
carrying sail without being exposed to the danger of overturning. See
the articles BALLAST and TRIM.
CRANK, is also an iron brace which supports the lanthorns on the
poop-quarters, &c.
CRAWL, _bouchot_, a sort of pen, or place of confinement, formed by a
barrier of stakes and hurdles on the sea-coast, to contain any sort of
fish within it.
CREEPER, an instrument of iron resembling a grappling, having a _shank_
and four hooks or claws, fig. 24, plate II. It is used to throw into the
bottom of any river or harbour, with a rope fastened to it, to hook and
draw up any thing from the bottom which may have been lost.