mud or ooze, or when it is stiff and unwieldy; in both of which cases it
is very difficult to stretch it back from the windlass by hand, which
however is done with facility and expedition, by means of the jigger, as
follows: the end of the rope, to which the sheave is fastened by a knot,
is passed round the cable close to the windlass, and the hind part of
the rope coming over the sheave, is stretched aft by means of another
rope passing through the jigger-block. As soon as the last rope is
extended, the turn of the former about the cable is firmly retained in
its position, by the compression of its hind part under the sheave,
acting upon what may be called the neck of the jigger. But as the cable
continues to be heaved into the ship, it is evident that the jigger,
which is fastened on a particular part thereof, stretching it back, will
be removed further aft, by every turn of the windlass, and the effort of
the jigger will be lessened in proportion to its distance from the
windlass: this circumstance renders it necessary to _fleet_ it, or
replace in a proper state of action, as occasion requires. The man who
performs this office accordingly calls out, fleet, jigger! one of the
men, at the windlass, instantly fixes his handspec between the deck and
the cable, so as to _jam_ the latter to the windlass, and prevent it
from running out till the jigger is refixed.
JIGGER-TACKLE, a light small tackle, consisting of a double and single
block, and used on sundry occasions by seamen. See TACKLE.
IN, _dedans_, the state of any of a ship’s sails, when they are furled
or stowed. It is used in this sense also in opposition to _out_, which
implies that they are _set_, or extended to assist the ship’s course.
INSURANCE, _assurance_, a certain contract, by which an individual, or
company, agrees to indemnify whatever losses or damages may happen to a
ship or cargo, during a voyage, provided they are not occasioned by
default of the person insured. For this agreement the latter pays a
certain sum in advance, called the _præmium_, which accordingly falls to
the insurer, in case the ship arrives in a safe harbour; but if the ship
is lost, the insurer renders the stipulated sum to the merchant.
JOURNAL, in navigation, a sort of diary, or daily register of the ship’s
course, winds, and weather; together with a general account of whatever
is material to be remarked in the period of a sea-voyage.
In all sea-journals, the day, or what is called the 24 hours, terminates
at noon, because the errors of the dead-reckoning are at that period
generally corrected by a solar observation. The daily compact usually
contains the state of the weather; the variation, increase, or
diminution of the wind; and the suitable shifting, reducing, or
enlarging the quantity of sail extended; as also the most material
incidents of the voyage, and the condition of the ship and her crew;
together with the discovery of other ships or fleets, land, shoals,
breakers, soundings, &c.
The form of keeping journals is very different in merchant-ships; but
one method appears to be invariably pursued in the navy, which
nevertheless is certainly capable of improvement, because no form can be
properly called perfect, that leaves as great a space for one day’s
work, the matter of which may be contained in very few lines, as for
another that abounds with important incidents, so as to occupy ten times
the space. If therefore there be any such thing as propriety of method
on this occasion, it seems to imply, that the space containing, should
conform to the matter contained, which will necessarily be greater or
less, according to circumstances.
IRON-WORK, _ferrure_, a general name for all the pieces of iron, of
whatsoever figure or size, which are used in the construction of a ship:
as bolts, boom-irons, nails, spikes, chains and chain-plates,
block-strops, cranks, braces, pintles, and googings.
The most material of these articles are explained in their proper
places; but as the article _bolt_, of which the figures are represented
in plate II. was accidentally omitted in the proper place, according to
the plan of this work, it may not be improperly introduced here.
A bolt then is generally a cylindrical pin of iron, of which there are
various sorts, used for sundry occasions in ship-building.
The bolts are principally employed either to unite several members of a
ship’s frame into one solid piece, or to fasten any moveable body on a
particular occasion. Those which are calculated for the former purpose
have commonly small round heads, somewhat flatted, as in fig. 1 & 2.
plate II. On the contrary, the bolts which are intended for the latter
use, have either a large round head, as those of the chains, fig. 4. or
an eye, with or without a ring in the same place, fig. 5, 6, and 39, as
those which are designed to secure the great guns, the _jears_ of the
main-sail and fore-sail, the stoppers of the cables, &c.
The bolts are short or long, according to the thickness of the timber
wherein they are to be lodged: they penetrate either quite through the
pieces into which they are driven, or to a certain determinate depth.
The last of these, called a rag-bolt, is retained in its situation by
means of several barbs, fig. 3. which, fastening into the timbers,
prevent the bolt from loosening from its station by the working of the
ship. The first, after being driven through the pieces it is intended to
unite, is confined by a flat iron wedge, called the forelock, which is
thrust through a narrow hole in the small end of the bolt, where it is
hardened home by a hammer; and to prevent the forelock from cutting the
wood-work in this position, a little iron ring is fixed over the end of
the bolt, between the forelock and the timber.
Those bolts, which have the largest of the round-heads, are called
fender-bolts, being driven into the wales, stem, or sides of some small
vessels of burthen, as lighters, beancods, prames, &c. to defend their
timber-work from the shock of any other vessels which may fall aboard by
accident.
A boom-iron is composed of two iron rings, formed into one piece, so as
nearly to resemble the figure of 8. It is employed to connect two
cylindrical pieces of wood together, when the one is used as a
continuation of the other; such is the jib-boom to the bowsprit; and
such are the _studding-sail_ booms to the respective yards from whose
extremities they are prolonged. The rims, or circles of the boom-irons,
are broad and flat; and one of them, which is firmly driven upon the
main, or fore-yard-arm, is somewhat larger than the other, as exhibited
in fig. 7. plate II. The studding-sail-boom usually rests in the small
ring, through which it is occasionally thrust outwards from the
yard-arm, when the studding-sail is to be set. Every boom of this kind
has, or ought to have, two boom-irons, one of which is fixed on the
extremity of the yard, and the other further inward. The former of these
is frequently framed of one ring only, which projects from the end of
the yard, where it is fastened by a strong iron bar, opening into a sort
of fork or crotch that slides upon the yard lengthwise, where it is
fastened by nails driven from above and below.
ISLAND of ICE, a name given by sailors to a great quantity of ice
collected into one huge solid mass, and floating about upon the seas
near or within the arctic circle.
Many of these fluctuating islands are met with on the coasts of
Spitzbergen, to the great danger of the shipping employed in the
Greenland fishery.
JUNK, _bouts de cable_, a name given to any remnants or pieces of old
cable, which is usually cut into small portions for the purpose of
making points, mats, gaskets, sennit, &c. See POINTS, &c.
JURY-MAST, a temporary or occasional mast, erected in a ship to supply
the place of one which has been carried away by tempest, battle, or the
labouring of a ship in a turbulent sea.
K.
KAICLING, or KECKLING, a name given to any old ropes, which are wound
about a cable, with a small interval between the turns, and used to
preserve the surface of the cable from being fretted, when it rubs
against the ship’s bow, or _fore-foot_. See also ROUNDING and SERVICE.
KEDGE, _ancre de touei_, a small anchor, used to keep a ship steddy
whilst she rides in a harbour or river, particularly at the turn of the
tide, when she might otherwise drive over her principal anchor, and
entangle the stock or flukes with her slack cable, so as to loosen it
from the ground. This is accordingly prevented by a kedge-rope, that
restrains her from approaching it.
The kedges are also particularly useful in _transporting_ a ship, _i.
e._ removing her from one part of the harbour to another, by means of
ropes, which are fastened to these anchors. They are generally furnished
with an iron stock, which is easily displaced, for the convenience of
stowing them. See the articles ANCHOR and WARP.
KEEL, the principal piece of timber in a ship, which is usually first
laid on the blocks in building.
If we compare the carcase of a ship to the skeleton of the human body,
the keel may be considered as the back-bone, and the timbers as the
ribs. It therefore supports and unites the whole fabric, since the stem
and stern-post, which are elevated on its ends, are, in some measure, a
continuation of the keel, and serve to connect and enclose the
extremities of the sides by transoms; as the keel forms and unites the
bottom by timbers.
The keel is generally composed of several thick pieces, (A, plate I.
PIECES of the HULL) placed lengthways, which, after being scarfed
together, are bolted, and clinched upon the upper side. When these
pieces cannot be procured large enough to afford a sufficient depth to
the keel, there is a strong thick piece of timber bolted to the bottom
thereof, called the _false keel_, which is also very useful in
preserving the lower-side of the main keel. In our largest ships of war,
the false keel is generally composed of two pieces, which are called the
upper and the lower false keels. See MIDSHIP-FRAME.
The lowest plank in a ship’s bottom, called the _garboard-streak_, has
its inner-edge let into a groove, or channel, cut longitudinally on the
side of the keel: the depth of this channel is therefore regulated by
the thickness of the garboard-streak.
KEEL is also a name given to a low flat-bottomed vessel, used in the
river Tyne to bring the coals down from Newcastle, and the adjacent
parts, in order to load the colliers for transportation.
_Upon an even_ KEEL, the position of a ship when her keel is parallel to
the plane of the horizon, so that she is equally deep in the water at
both ends.
KEEL-HAULING, a punishment inflicted for various offences in the Dutch
navy. It is performed by plunging the delinquent repeatedly under the
ship’s bottom on one side, and hoisting him up on the other, after
having passed under the keel. The blocks, or pullies, by which he is
suspended, are fastened to the opposite extremities of the main-yard,
and a weight of lead or iron is hung upon his legs to sink him to a
competent depth. By this apparatus he is drawn close up to the yard-arm,
and thence let fall suddenly into the sea, where, passing under the
ship’s bottom, he is hoisted up on the opposite side of the vessel. As
this extraordinary sentence is executed with a serenity of temper
peculiar to the Dutch, the culprit is allowed sufficient intervals to
recover the sense of pain, of which indeed he is frequently deprived
during the operation. In truth, a temporary insensibility to his
sufferings ought by no means to be construed into a disrespect of his
judges, when we consider that this punishment is supposed to have
peculiar propriety in the depth of winter, whilst the flakes of ice are
floating on the stream; and that it is continued till the culprit is
almost suffocated for want of air, benumbed with the cold of the water,
or stunned with the blows his head receives by striking the ship’s
bottom.
_To_ KEEP, a term used on several occasions in navigation: as,
_To_ KEEP _the land aboard_, is to keep within sight of land as much as
possible. See also HOLD.
_To_ KEEP _the luff_, to continue close to the wind, _i. e._ sailing
with a course inclined to the direction of the wind, as much as
possible, without deviating to leeward. This is also called, _keeping
the wind_. See CLOSE-HAULED.
_To_ KEEP _off_, _alargeer_, _tenir le largue_, to sail off, or keep at
a distance from the shore. See also OFFING.
_Boat_-KEEPER, one of the rowers, who remains as a centinel in his turn,
to take care of any boat and her contents, either when she lies by the
shore, or along-side of the ship; or when she is towed astern of her.
KELSON, _contre quille_, a piece of timber, which may be properly
defined the interior, or counter-part of the keel, as it is laid upon
the middle of the floor-timbers, immediately over the keel, and, like
it, composed of several pieces, scarfed together, represented by X,
plate I. PIECES of the HULL. In order to fit with more security upon the
floor-timbers and crotches, it is notched about an inch and a half deep,
opposite to each of those pieces, and thereby firmly scored down upon
them to that depth, where it is secured by spike-nails. The pieces of
which it is formed are only half the breadth and thickness of those of
the keel.
The kelson serves to bind and unite the floor-timbers to the keel. It is
confined to the keel by long bolts, which, being driven from without
through several of the timbers, are fore-locked or clinched upon rings
on the upper side of the kelson.
KETCH, a vessel equipped with two masts, viz. the main-mast and
mizen-mast, and usually from 100 to 250 tons burthen.
KETCHES are principally used as yachts, or as bomb-vessels, the former
of which are employed to convey princes of the blood, ambassadors, or
other great personages from one part to another; and the latter are used
to bombard citadels, or towns, or other fortresses.
The bomb-ketches are therefore furnished with all the apparatus
necessary for a vigorous bombardment. They are built remarkably strong,
as being-fitted with a greater number of _riders_ than any other vessel
of war; and indeed this reinforcement is absolutely necessary to sustain
the violent shock produced by the discharge of their mortars, which
would otherwise, in a very short time, shatter them to pieces. See
MORTAR and SHELL.
KEVELS, _taquets_, a frame composed of two pieces of timber, whose lower
ends rest in a sort of step or foot, nailed to the ship’s side, from
whence the upper ends branch outward into arms or horns, serving to
belay the great ropes by which the bottoms of the main-sail and
fore-sail are extended. These are represented by fig. 3. plate V.
KEY, _quai_, a long wharf, usually built of stone, by the side of a
harbour or river, and having several store-houses for the convenience of
lading and discharging merchant-ships. It is accordingly furnished with
posts and rings, whereby they are secured; together with cranes,
capsterns, and other engines, to lift the goods into, or out of, the
vessels which lie along-side.
KEYS, _attalons_, are also certain sunken rocks, lying near the surface
of the water, particularly in the West-Indies.
KINK, a sort of twist or turn in any cable or other rope, occasioned by
its being very stiff or close-laid; or by being drawn too hastily out of
the roll or tier, when it lies coiled. See the article COILING.
KNEE, _courbe_, a crooked piece of timber, having two branches, or arms,
and generally used to connect the beams of a ship with her sides or
timbers.
The branches of the knees form an angle of greater or smaller extent,
according to the mutual situation of the pieces which they are designed
to unite. One branch is securely bolted to one of the deck-beams, whilst
the other is in the same manner attached to a corresponding timber in
the ship’s side, as represented by E in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, plate VII.
Besides the great utility of knees in connecting the beams and timbers
into one compact frame, they contribute greatly to the strength and
solidity of the ship, in the different parts of her frame to which they
are bolted, and thereby enable, her, with greater firmness, to resist
the effects of a turbulent sea.
In fixing of these pieces, it is occasionally necessary to give an
oblique direction to the vertical, or side-branch, in order to avoid the
range of an adjacent gun-port, or, because the knee may be so shaped as
to require this disposition; it being sometimes difficult to procure so
great a variety of knees as may be necessary in the construction of a
number of ships of war.
In France, the scarcity of these pieces has obliged their shipwrights
frequently to form their knees of iron.
KNEES are either said to be _lodging_ or _hanging_. The former are fixed
horizontally in the ship’s frame, having one arm bolted to the beam, and
the other across two or three timbers, as represented by F in the DECK,
plate III. The latter are fixed vertically, as we have described above.
See also BUILDING, DECK, and MIDSHIP-FRAME.
KNEE _of the head_, _poulaine_, a large flat piece of timber, fixed
edgways upon the fore-part of a ship’s stem, and supporting the
ornamental figure or image, placed under the bowsprit. See the article
HEAD.
The knee of the head, which may properly be defined a continuation of
the stem, as being prolonged from the stem forwards, is extremely broad
at the upper-part, and accordingly composed of several pieces united
into one, Y Y, plate I. PIECES of the HULL. It is let into the head, and
secured to the ship’s _bows_ by strong knees fixed horizontally upon
both, and called the _cheeks of the head_, Z Z, plate IV. fig. 10. The
heel of it is scarfed to the upper end of the fore-foot, and it is
fastened to the stem above by a knee, called a _standard_, expressed by
&, in plate I. PIECES of the HULL.
Besides supporting the figure of the head, this piece is otherwise
useful, as serving to secure the boom, or _bumkin_, by which the
fore-tack is extended to windward; and, by its great breadth, preventing
the ship from falling to leeward, when _close-hauled_, so much as she
would otherwise do. It also affords a greater security to the bowsprit,
by increasing the angle of the bob-stay, so as to make it act more
perpendicularly on the bowsprit.
The knee of the head is a phrase peculiar to shipwrights; as this piece
is always called the _cut-water_ by seamen, if we except a few, who
affecting to be wiser than their brethren, have adopted this expression
probably on the presumption that the other is a cant phrase, or
vulgarism. It appears a material part of the province of this work to
call the several articles contained therein by their proper names, and
to reject those which are spurious, however sanctified by the authority
of official dulness, or seconded by the adoption of dignified ignorance.
Accordingly we cannot help observing, that when a term of art has been
established from time immemorial, and besides being highly expressive,
produces the testimony of foreign nations[36] to its propriety, nothing
more certainly betrays a superficial understanding, than the attempt to
change it, without being able to assign the shadow of a reason for this
alteration. For although _knee of the head_, being invariably used by
the artificers, is of course explained in this work as a term of naval
architecture, wherein practice has indeed rendered it natural and
intelligible; it is nevertheless very rarely used by seamen, especially
in common discourse, unless when it is intended to impress the hearer
with an idea of the speaker’s superior judgment.
KNIGHT-HEAD, or BOLLARD-TIMBER. See the article HEAD.
KNIGHT-HEADS, two strong pieces of timber, fixed on the opposite sides
of the main-deck, a little behind the fore-mast, in a merchant-ship.
They are used to support and inclose the ends of the windlass, which
accordingly is turned therein as upon an axis. As each of the
knight-heads is formed of two pieces, they may be occasionally separated
in order to take off the turns of the cable from the windlass, or
replace them upon it. They are sometimes called the _bits_, and in this
sense their upper-parts only are denominated knight-heads, which being
formerly embellished with a figure designed to resemble a human head,
gave rise to the name they have ever since retained. See the article
WINDLASS.
KNIGHT-HEADS, _sep de drisse_, was also a name formerly given to the
lower jear-blocks, which were then no other than bits, containing
several sheaves, and nearly resembling our present top-sail-sheet bits.
KNITTLE, _eguillette_, (_from knit_) a small line, which is either
plaited or twisted, and used for various purposes at sea; as to fasten
the service on the cable, to reef the sails by the bottom, and to hang
the hammocs between decks, &c.
KNOT, a large knob formed on the extremity of a rope, by untwisting the
ends thereof, and interweaving them regularly amongst each other. There
are several sorts of knots, which differ in their form and size,
according to the uses for which they are designed: the principal of
these are the diamond-knot, the rose-knot, the wall-knot or walnut, some
of which are single, and others double.
The knots are generally used to fasten one rope to another, by means of
a small cord attached to the neck of the knot, called the _laniard_,
which is firmly tied about both ropes. They are also designed to prevent
the end of a rope from sliding through an _eye_, which the knot is
intended to confine in a particular situation. See BECKETS.
L.
_TO_ LABOUR, _travailler_, as a sea-term, implies to roll or pitch
heavily in a turbulent sea; an effect, by which the masts and hull of
the ship are greatly endangered, because by the rolling motion the masts
strain upon their shrouds with an effort, which increases as the sine of
their obliquity: and the continual agitation of the vessel gradually
loosens her joints, and often makes her extremely leaky.
LADDER, _echelle_, a well-known convenience, of which there are a great
number in a ship, formed of two pieces of plank joined together by
crosspieces, which serve as steps, whereby to mount or descend from one
deck to another.
The ladders derive their names from the several hatchways, or other
parts of a ship, wherein they are situated. Besides these, there are, of
a particular construction, the accommodation-ladder and the
quarter-ladders.
_Accommodation_-LADDER, is a sort of light stair-case, occasionally
fixed on the gangway of the admiral, or commander in chief, of a fleet.
It is furnished with rails and entering-ropes, covered with red bays,
and the lower-end of it is retained at a competent distance from the
ship’s side by iron bars, or braces, to render the passage more
convenient to those who enter or depart from the ship. See the article
GANGWAY.
_Quarter_-LADDERS, two ladders of rope, depending from the right and
left side of a ship’s stern, whereby to descend into the boats which are
moored astern, in order to bring them up along-side of the ship; or to
use them for any other occasion.
LADEN, _chargée_, the state of a ship when she is charged with a weight
or quantity of any sort of merchandizes, or other materials, equal to
her tonnage or burthen. If the cargo with which she is laden is
extremely heavy, her burthen is determined by the weight of the goods;
and if it is light, she carries as much as she can _stow_, to be fit for
the purposes of navigation. As a ton in measure is generally estimated
at 2000 lb. in weight, a vessel of 200 tons ought accordingly to carry a
weight equal to 400,000 lb. when the matter of which the cargo is
composed is specifically heavier than the water in which she floats; or,
in other words, when the cargo is so heavy that she cannot float high
enough, with so great a quantity of it, as her hold will contain.
LADEN _in bulk_, the state of being freighted with a cargo which is
neither in casks, boxes, bales, or cases, but lies loose in the hold;
being defended from the moisture, or wet of the hold, by a number of
mats and a quantity of _dunnage_. Such are usually the cargoes of corn,
salt, or such materials.
LAID-UP, the situation of a ship when she is either moored in a harbour
during the winter season, or laid by, for want of employment: or when by
age and craziness she is rendered incapable of further service.
LANCH, a peculiar sort of long-boat, used by the French, Spanish, and
Italian shipping; and in general by those of other European nations,
when employed in voyaging in the Mediterranean sea.
A lanch is proportionably longer, lower, and more flat-bottomed than the
long-boat; it is by consequence less fit for sailing, but better
calculated for rowing and approaching a flat shore. Its principal
superiority to the long-boat, however, consists in being, by its
construction, much fitter to under-run the cable, which is a very
necessary employment in the harbours of the Levant sea, where the cables
of different ships are fastened across each other, and frequently render
this exercise extremely necessary.
LANCH is also the movement by which a ship or boat descends from the
shore, either when she is at first built, or at any time afterwards.