tying the points of the courses in the same manner; that is to say, the
after-end of the point should be thrust forward between the head of the
sail and the yard; and the fore-leg of the said point should come aft
over the head of the sail, and also under the yard: and thus crossed
over the head of the sail, the point should be extended, and the two
ends brought over the yard, and tied on the upper side of it as strait
as possible.
When a sail is reefed at the bottom, it is done by _knittles_, which
being thrust through the eyelet-holes thereof, are tied firmly about the
space of canvas of which the reef is composed, and knotted on the lower
side of the bolt-rope. These knittles are accordingly removed as soon as
the reef is let out.
Besides the manner above described, there are other methods of reducing
a sail to the storm, as explained in the articles GOOSE-WING and
BALANCE.
REEF-TACKLE, a rope which passes from the deck to a _block_ at the
topmast-head, and thence to another block at the topsail-yard-arm, where
it communicates with another rope, called its _pendant_, that runs
downwards through a hole in the yard, and is afterwards attached to a
_cringle_, a little below the lowest reef, as exhibited by fig. 1. plate
IX. where _b_ is the reef-tackle, and _i_ the pendant thereof. It is
used, as we have already observed, to pull the skirts of the reefs close
up to the extremities of the topsail-yards, in order to lighten the
sail, the weight of which would otherwise render it very difficult to
perform this operation.
REEL _of the log_. See the article LOG.
_To_ REEVE, is to pass the end of a rope through any hole, as the
channel of a block, the cavity of a thimble, cleat, ring-bolt, &c.
RECKONING. See DEAD-RECKONING.
REFITTING, is generally understood to imply the repairing any damages,
which a ship may have sustained in her sails or rigging, by battle or
tempestuous weather; but more particularly by the former. See ENGAGEMENT
and REPAIR.
REIGNING-WINDS, a name given to the winds which usually prevail on any
particular coast or region, the knowledge of which is essentially
necessary to every pilot who is charged with the navigation in those
seas.
RELIEVING-TACKLES, two strong tackles, used to prevent a ship from
overturning on the _careen_, and to assist in bringing her upright after
that operation is compleated.
The relieving-tackles are furnished with two strong _guys_, (_attrapes_)
or _pendants_, by which their efforts are communicated, under the ship’s
bottom, to the opposite side, where the ends of the guys are attached to
the lower gun-ports. The other ends of the tackles are hooked to the
wharf, or _pontoon_, by which the vessel is careened. Thus if the ship
is first to be laid down on the larboard-side, which is nearest the
wharf, the relieving-tackles are passed under her bottom from the said
wharf, and attached to the starboard-side, by which they will restrain
her from falling lower than is necessary. See _Righting_.
RELIEVING-TACKLE, is also a name sometimes given to the train-tackles of
a gun-carriage. See CANNON and EXERCISE.
RENDERING, as a sea-term, is generally understood to be the effect of
yielding, or giving way, without resistance, to the efforts of some
mechanical power. It is usually expressed of a complicated tackle,
_laniard_, or _lashing_, when the effect of the power applied is
communicated with facility to all the parts, without being interrupted
in its passage. It is therefore used in contra-distinction to sticking
or jamming.
RENDEVOUS, the port, or place of destination, where the several ships of
a fleet or squadron are appointed to rejoin the whole, in case of a
separation, occasioned by tempestuous weather, or other unforeseen
accident.
REPAIR, _radoub_, the operation of amending any injuries, or supplying
any deficiencies, which a ship may have received by age, battle,
tempestuous weather, &c.
The repair is necessarily greater or smaller, in proportion to the loss
which the vessel has sustained. Accordingly a suitable number of the
_timbers_, _beams_, or _planks_, or a sufficient part of either, are
removed, and new pieces fixed in their places. The whole is completed by
_breaming_, _calking_, and _paying_ the body with a new composition of
stuff. See DOCKING.
REPRISE, a ship which is retaken from the enemy, soon after the first
capture; or at least before she has arrived in any neutral or hostile
port.
If a vessel, thus retaken, has been twenty-four hours in the possession
of the enemy, it is deemed a lawful prize; but if it be retaken within
that time, it is to be restored to the proprietor, with every thing
therein, upon his allowing one-third to the vessel who made the reprise.
Also if the reprise has been abandoned by the enemy, either in a
tempest, or from any other cause, before it has been led into any port,
it is to be restored to the proprietor.
RETREAT, the order or disposition in which a fleet of French men of war
decline engagement, or fly from a pursuing enemy[52].
RHOMB-LINE, a line prolonged from any point of the compass on a nautical
chart, except the four cardinal points.
RIBBANDS, _lisses_, (from _rib_ and _bend_) in naval architecture, long
narrow flexible pieces of timber, nailed upon the outside of the ribs,
from the _stem_ the _stern-post_, so as to envelop the ship lengthways,
and appear on her side and bottom like the meridians on the surface of
the globe.
The ribbands, being judiciously arranged with regard to their height and
distance from each other, and forming regular sweeps about the ship’s
body, will compose a kind of frame, whose interior surface will
determine the curve of all the intermediate, or filling-timbers, which
are stationed between the principal ones. As the figure of the ship’s
bottom approaches to that of a conoid, and the ribbands having a limited
breadth, it is apparent, that they cannot be applied to this convex
surface without forming a double curve, which will be partly vertical
and partly horizontal; so that the vertical curve will increase by
approaching the stem, and still more by drawing near the stern-post. It
is also evident, that by deviating from the middle line of the ship’s
length, as they approach the extreme breadth at the _midship-frame_, the
ribbands will also form an horizontal curve. The lowest of these, which
is terminated upon the stem and stern-post, at the height of the
_rising-line of the floor_, and answers to the upper part of the
floor-timber upon the midship-frame, is called the _floor_-ribband. That
which coincides with the _wing-transom_, at the height of the lower-deck
upon the midship-frame, is termed the _breadth_-ribband: all the rest,
which are placed between these two, are called intermediate ribbands.
From this double curve it results, that the ribbands will appear in
different points of view, when delineated upon different planes of the
same ship. To conceive this, let us suppose the skeleton of a ship upon
the stocks, as in plate IV. fig. 11. and plate X. fig. 2. with the
ribbands represented by dotted lines upon her bottom, If a spectator is
placed opposite to the stem or stern-post, on a line prolonged from the
keel, he will only view the projection of the ribbands on the plane of
the midship-frame, in which the horizontal curve is very little
perceived; he will discover part of the vertical curve, which rises
continually from the extreme breadth towards the stem and stern, so that
they must be drawn upon the plane of projection as oblique lines, which
terminate upon the midship-frame at the point where the ribband touches
it, and upon the stem and stern-post at the point where their ends are
lodged.
If the spectator were to change his position, and perceive the
projection of the ribbands upon a plane, supposed to be elevated upon
the length of the keel, he would also discover their vertical curve, as
it is sometimes expressed in the sheer-draught, without distinguishing
the horizontal one.
But if we imagine the eye of the spectator placed considerably above the
ship, on a line perpendicular to the middle of the keel, he will then
discover the projection of the ribbands upon the plane of the ground
beneath the ship, and view the horizontal curve, (see the _horizontal
plane_, plate I.) without perceiving the perpendicular one.
In order to give the reader as distinct an idea as possible of the
ribbands, we have, besides the above representations, exhibited a
perspective view of them in the frame or skeleton of a small vessel,
referred to, from the article TIMBER.
RIBS _of a ship_, a figurative expression for the timbers. See that
article.
RIBS _of a parrel_. See PARREL.
RIDERS, a sort of interior ribs, fixed occasionally in a ship’s hold
opposite to some of the principal timbers, and reaching from the kelson
to the beams of the lower-deck, and sometimes higher, in order to
strengthen her frame. They are bolted to the other timbers, to support
them when it is apprehended the ship is not sufficiently strong in the
part where they are fixed; which is generally amidships.
The riders have also their floor-pieces and futtocks, and sometimes
their top-pieces, all of which are scarfed to each other in the same
manner as in the timbers.
The riders ought to be stationed so as to lie between two ports of the
lower deck, and to correspond with the timbers to which they are
attached, in such a manner, as that the scarfs of the riders may be
clear of those of the timbers. They are scored upon the kelson, clamps,
and thick-stuff of the bottom. They are secured by bolts, which are
driven from without, so as to penetrate the outside planks, the timbers,
the clamps, and the riders; on the inside of which last they are
fore-locked. See those articles.
These pieces are rarely used in merchant-ships, because they would be
extremely inconvenient in the hold, besides occupying too large a space
thereof; neither are they always used in vessels of war, at least till
after the ship is enfeebled by several cruizes at sea.
RIDGE, a long assemblage of rocks, lying near the surface of the sea, so
as to intercept the passage of a ship under sail. See also REEF and
SHALLOW.
RIDING, when expressed of a ship, is the state of being retained in a
particular station, by means of one or more cables with their anchors,
which are for this purpose sunk into the bottom of the sea, &c. in order
to prevent the vessel from being driven at the mercy of the wind or
current. See MOORING.
RIDING _athwart_, the position of a ship which lies across the direction
of the wind and tide, when the former is so strong as to prevent her
from falling into the current of the latter.
RIDING _between the wind and tide_, the situation of a vessel at anchor,
when, the wind and tide act upon her in direct opposition; in such a
manner as to destroy the effort of each other upon her hull; so that she
is in a manner balanced between their reciprocal force, and rides
without the least strain on her cables.
When a ship does not labour heavily, or feel a great strain when
anchored in an open road or bay, she is said to ride easy. On the
contrary, when she pitches violently into the sea, so as to strain her
cables, masts, or hull, it is called riding hard, and the vessel is
termed a bad roader.
A ship is rarely said to ride when she is fastened at both the ends, as
in a harbour or river, that situation being comprehended in the article
MOORING.
RIGGING, a general name given to all the ropes employed to support the
masts; and to extend or reduce the sails, or arrange them to the
disposition of the wind.
The former, which are used to sustain the masts, remain usually in a
fixed position, and are called _standing_ rigging; such are the
_shrouds_, _stays_, and _back-stays_. The latter, whose office is to
manage the sails, by communicating with various blocks, or pullies,
situated in different places of the _masts_, _yards_, _shrouds_, &c. are
comprehended in the general term of _running_-rigging. Such are the
_braces_, _sheets_, _haliards_, _clue-lines_, _brails_, &c.
In rigging a mast, the first thing usually fixed upon its head, is a
circular wreath of rope, called the _grommet_, or collar, which is
firmly beat down upon the top of the _hounds_. The intent of this is to
prevent the shrouds from being fretted or worn by the _tressel-trees_,
or shoulders of the mast; after this are laid on the two _pendants_,
from whose lower ends the main, or fore-tackles are suspended; and next,
the _shrouds_ of the starboard and larboard side, in pairs, alternately.
The whole is covered by the _stays_, which are the largest ropes of the
rigging.
When a yard is to be rigged, a grommet is also driven first on each of
its extremities: next to this are fitted-on the _horses_, the _braces_;
and, lastly, the _lifts_, or _top-sail sheet_-blocks: all of which are
explained in their proper places.
The principal objects to be considered in rigging a ship appear to be
strength, convenience, and simplicity; or the properties of affording
sufficient security to the masts, yards, and sails; of arranging the
whole machinery in the most advantageous manner, to sustain the masts,
and facilitate the management of the sails; and of avoiding perplexity,
and rejecting whatever is superfluous or unnecessary. The perfection of
this art then consists in retaining all those qualities, and in
preserving a judicious medium between them.
RIGGING-OUT _a boom_, the operation of running out a pole upon the end
of a yard, or bowsprit, to extend the foot of a sail. These booms are
confined in those places by double rings, formed like a figure of 8, one
part of which is fastened to the respective yard-arm, or bowsprit-end,
and the other receives the boom, which is occasionally rigged out, or
drawn in through it. The rings used in this service are termed
_boom-irons_.
RIGHTING, _relever_, the act of restoring a ship to her upright
position, after she has been laid on a _careen_, by the mechanical
powers usually applied in that operation.
This is generally the natural effect of casting loose the careening
pullies by which she had been drawn down. It is however necessary
sometimes to apply mechanical powers to right the ship in such a
situation. The principal of these are the relieving-tackles. See that
article.
A ship is also said to right at sea when she rises, with her masts
erected, after having been prest down on one side by the effort of her
sails, or a heavy squall of wind.
RIGHTING, when expressed of the helm, implies the replacing it in the
middle of the ship, after having produced the required effect, of
wheeling her to the right or left, as much as appeared necessary.
RIM, or BRIM, a name given to the circular edge of any of the _tops_.
See that article.
RING-BOLT, _cheville à boucle_, an iron bolt, with an eye at one end,
wherein is fitted a circular ring, as expressed in fig. 3. and 4. plate
II. The ring bolts are for several uses, but particularly to hook the
_tackles_, by which the cannon of a ship are managed and secured:
accordingly there is one fixed in the deck opposite to every cannon,
represented by Z, plate III. DECK: and they are, for the same purpose,
fixed in the edges of the gun-ports, as expressed in the MIDSHIP-FRAME,
plate VII. They are driven through the plank and the corresponding beam,
or timber, and retained in this position by a small pin thrust through a
hole in the small end, as appears in fig. 39, plate II.
RING-ROPES, short pieces of rope, tied occasionally to the ring-bolts of
the deck, to fasten the cable more securely when the ship rides in a
tempest, or turbulent sea, or rapid current. They are, however, more
particularly necessary in veering away the cable gradually in those
circumstances, in order to _freshen the hause_; as, without this
precaution, it would be extremely difficult to check the cable, which,
being then charged with a great effort, might be drawn violently out of
the ship at random.
RING-TAIL, a small triangular sail, extended on a little mast, which is
occasionally erected for that purpose on the top of a ship’s stern. The
lower part of this sail is stretched out by a boom, which projects from
the stern horizontally. This sail is only used in light and favourable
winds, particularly in the Atlantic ocean.
RING-TAIL is also a name given to a sort of _studding-sail_, hoisted
beyond the after-edge, or skirt of those main-sails which are extended
by a _boom_ and gaff; as in all _sloops_, _brigs_, and _schooners_: this
ring-tail is accordingly of the same depth with that part of the
main-sail upon which it borders. See SAIL.
RIPPLING, a broken and interrupted noise, produced by a current on or
near the sea-coast.
RISING-LINE, a name given by shipwrights to an incurvated line, which is
drawn on the plane of elevation, to determine the height of the ends of
all the _floor-timbers_ throughout the ship’s length, and which
accordingly ascertains the figure of the bottom, with regard to
sharpness and flatness.
ROAD, (_rade_, Fr.) a bay, or place of anchorage, at some distance from
the shore, on the sea-coast, whither ships or vessels occasionally
repair to receive intelligence, orders, or necessary supplies; or to
wait for a fair wind, &c.
The excellence of a road consists chiefly in its being protected from
the reigning winds, and the swell of the sea; in having a good
_anchoring-ground_, and being at a competent distance from the shore.
Those which are not sufficiently enclosed are termed open roads.
ROADER, a vessel riding at anchor in a road, bay, or river. If a vessel
under sail strikes against any roader, and damages her in passing, the
former is obliged by law to make good the damages sustained by the
latter.
The roaders attentively observe to anchor, or moor, at a competent
distance from each other; and that those which arrive last shall not
moor in the tract of the shipping which anchored before, so as to
intercept their passage when they are ready to depart.
ROBANDS, or ROPE-BANDS. See ROPE-BAND.
ROGUES-YARN, a name given to a rope-yarn, of a particular construction,
which is placed, in the middle of every _strand_, in all cables and
cordage in the king’s service. It differs from all the rest, as being
untarred, and twisted in a contrary manner, by which it is easily
discovered. The use of this contrivance is to examine whether any
cordage, supposed to be stolen or embezzled, has been formed for the
king’s service.
ROLLER, a cylindrical piece of timber, fixed either horizontally or
perpendicularly above a ship’s deck, so as to revolve about an axis. It
is used to prevent the _cables_, _hausers_, &c. from being chafed by the
friction which their surfaces would otherwise encounter, from bearing
against that part of the ship, where the roller is placed, whilst they
are drawn into the ship, &c. by mechanical powers.
ROLLERS, are also moveable pieces of wood, of the same figure, which are
occasionally placed under planks, or long pieces of timber, in order to
move them with greater facility either in the _dock_-yards, or in lading
and delivering merchant-ships.
ROLLING, the motion by which a ship rocks from side-to side like a
cradle, occasioned by the agitation of the waves.
ROLLING, therefore, is a sort of revolution about an imaginary axis,
passing through the center of gravity of a ship: so that the nearer the
center of gravity is to the keel, the more violent will be the
rolling-motion; because the center about which the vibrations are made,
is placed so low in the bottom, that the resistance made by the keel to
the volume of water which it displaces in rolling, bears very little
proportion to the force of the vibration above the center of gravity,
the radius of which extends as high as the mast-heads.
But if the center of gravity is placed higher above the keel, the radius
of vibration will not only be diminished; but an additional force to
oppose the motion of rolling will be communicated to that part of the
ship’s bottom which is below the center of gravity.
So far as relates to the effect of rolling, when produced by the quality
or stowage of the ballast, and to the manner by which it may be
prevented, _viz._ a change of the quantity or disposition of the
ballast, we shall endeavour to explain under the article TRIM. It may,
however, be necessary to remark, that the construction of the ship’s
bottom may also contribute to diminish this movement considerably.
To illustrate this by an example, let us suppose the section of a ship
perpendicular to the keel to be exactly circular, plate VIII. fig. 8. it
is evident, that if this be agitated in the water, it will have nothing
to sustain it, because the rolling or rotation about its center
displaces no more water than when it remains upright: consequently the
rolling motion must be very great in a high sea. But if a plank is fixed
below it edgeways, or perpendicular to the surface, as low as _e_,
throughout the whole length of the ship, it is plain that the plank e
will displace a volume of water to the right, when the ship is inclined
to the left, which will retard her motion; and this obstruction will
always act contrary to her _heeling_ or inclination to one side, and
greatly diminish the vibration or rolling; although it will add very
little to her stiffness: For, admitting the ship to incline to one side,
as in fig. 8. the plank _d e_ would produce a very weak effort to bring
her upright. But the depth of the keel, the rising of the floors, and
the dead wood fore and aft, as in fig. 9. plate VIII. will answer the
same purpose as the plank _d e_.
Many fatal disasters have happened to ships, arising from a violent
rolling; as the loss of the masts, loosening of the cannon, and
straining violently on the decks and sides, so as to weaken the ship to
a great degree. See BALLAST, LABOURING, and PITCHING.
ROLLING-TACKLE, a pulley or purchase fastened to that part of a
sail-yard which is to the windward of the mast, in order to confine the
yard close down to the leeward, when the sail is furled.
It is used to prevent the yard from having a great friction against the
mast in a high sea, which would be equally pernicious to both.
ROPES, _cordes_, (_rap_, Sax. _reep_, Dutch) a general name given to all
sorts of cordage, above one inch in circumference, used in the rigging a
ship. See CABLE, HAUSER, TOWLINE, and WARP.
ROPES are either cable-laid or hauser-laid: the former are composed of
nine _strands_, viz. three great strands, each of which is composed of
three smaller strands; and the latter is made with three strands, each
of which contains a certain number of rope-yarns, in proportion to the
size of the rope required.
ROPE-BANDS, _rabans_, pronounced roebins, certain pieces of small rope,
or braided cordage, used to tie the upper edges of the great sails to
their respective yards. They are inserted through the eyelet-holes in
the head of the sail, being generally of a sufficient length to pass two
or three times about the said yard.
ROPE-YARN, _fil de caret_, the smallest and simplest part of any rope,
being one of the threads of which a _strand_ is composed; so that the
size of the latter, and of the rope into which it is twisted, are
determined by the number of rope-yarns.
ROVER, a pirate or free-booter. See PIRATE.
ROUGH-TREE, a name given in merchant-ships to any mast, yard, or boom,
placed as a rail or fence above the ship’s side, from the quarter-deck
to the fore-castle. It is, however, with more propriety, applied to any
mast, &c. which remains rough and unfinished.
ROUND-HOUSE, a name given, in East-Indiamen, and other large
merchant-ships, to a cabin or apartment built in the after part of the
quarterdeck, and having the poop for its roof. This apartment is usually
called the coach in our ships of war.
ROUNDING, certain old ropes wound firmly and closely about that part of
a cable which lies in the _hause_, or under the ship’s _bow_, or athwart
the stem. It is used to prevent the surface of the cable from being
chafed or fretted in those places. See the articles KAICLING and
SERVICE.
ROUNDING-IN generally implies the act of pulling upon any rope which
passes through one or more blocks, in a direction nearly horizontal; as,
round-in the weather-braces! &c. It is apparently derived from the
circular motion of the rope about the _sheave_ or pulley through which
it passes.