parts, to salute the persons of any admirals, commanders in chief, or
captains of ships of war of foreign nations, and foreign noblemen or
strangers of quality, as also the factories of the king’s subjects,
coming on board to visit the ship; and the number of guns is left to the
commander, as shall be suitable to the occasion, and the quality of the
persons visiting; but he is nevertheless to remain accountable for any
excesses in the abuse of this liberty. If the ship visited be in company
with other ships of war, the captain is not to make use of the
civilities allowed in the preceding article, but with leave and consent
of the commander in chief, or the senior captain.
‘Merchant-ships, whether foreigners, or belonging to his Majesty’s
subjects, saluting the admiral of the fleet, shall be answered by six
guns less; when they salute any other flag-ships, they shall be answered
by four guns less; and if they salute men of war commanded by captains,
they shall be answered by two guns less. If several merchant-ships
salute in company, no return is to be made, till all have finished, and
then by such a number of guns as shall be thought proper; but though the
merchant-ships should answer, there shall be no second return.——
‘None of his Majesty’s ships of war shall salute any of his Majesty’s
forts or castles in Great Britain or Ireland, on any pretence
whatsoever.’ _Regulations and Instructions for the Sea-service._
SAMSONS-POST, _piedroit_, a sort of pillar erected in a ship’s hold,
between the lower deck and the _kelson_, under the edge of a hatchway,
and furnished with several notches that serve as steps to mount or
descend, as occasion requires.
This post being firmly driven into its place, not only serves to support
the beam, and fortify the vessel in that place, but also to prevent the
cargo or materials contained in the hold from shifting to the opposite
side, by the rolling of the ship in a turbulent and heavy sea.
SAUCER. See the article CAPSTERN.
SCALING _the guns_, _soufler_, the act of cleaning the inside of a
ship’s cannon, by the explosion of a small quantity of powder; which
effectually blows out any dirt or scales of iron which may adhere to the
interior surface.
SCANTING, _addoner_, the variation of the wind by which it becomes
unfavourable to a ship’s course, after having been _fair_ or _large_. It
is distinguished from a foul wind, as in the former, a ship is still
enabled to sail on her course, although her progress is considerably
retarded; but in the latter she is obliged to deviate from the line of
her course, as explained in the article TACKING.
SCANTLING, the dimensions of any piece of timber with regard to its
breadth and thickness.
SCARF, _empature_, (_scherven_, Dutch) a particular method of uniting
two pieces of timber together by the extremities.
When two pieces of timber are joined together, so that the end of one
goes over the end of the other, being tapered so that the one may be let
into the other, and become even, they are said to be scarfed: such are
the keel-pieces. But when the ends of the two pieces are cut square, and
put together, they are said to _butt_ to one another; and when another
piece is laid upon, and fastened to both, as is the case in all the
frame-timbers, this is called scarfing the timbers; and half the piece
which fastens the two timbers together is reckoned the length of the
scarf. _Murray’s Ship-building._
SCHOONER, a small vessel with two masts, whose main-sail and fore-sail
are suspended from _gaffs_ reaching from the mast towards the stern; and
stretched out below by booms, whose foremost ends are hooked to an iron,
which clasps the mast so as to turn therein as upon an axis, when the
after ends are swung from one side of the vessel to the other.
SCOOP, _écoupe_, a little hollowed piece of wood, employed to throw
water out of a boat into the sea, which is usually called bailing the
boat.
SCRAPING, the act of shaving off the dirty surface of the plank, in a
ship’s side or decks, particularly after a voyage, or when the _seams_
have been covered with a new composition of melted pitch or rosin. The
instrument with which this is performed is accordingly called a scraper,
and is represented in fig. 4. plate IX.
After the sides of a ship are sufficiently scraped, they are varnished
over with turpentine, or a mixture of tar and oil, or such materials;
which preserves the planks from being rent or split by the sun and wind,
and gives the ship a more gay and spendid appearance on the water.
SCUDDING, (_Skutta_, Swedish) the movement by which a ship is carried
precipitately before a tempest.
As a ship flies with amazing rapidity through the water, whenever this
expedient is put in practice, it is never attempted in a contrary wind,
unless when her condition renders her incapable of sustaining the mutual
effort of the wind and waves any longer on her side, without being
exposed to the most imminent danger. See the article TRYING.
A ship either scuds with a sail extended on her fore mast, or, if the
storm is excessive, without any sail, which in the sea-phrase is called
scudding under _bare poles_, _aller à sec_. In sloops and schooners, and
other small vessels, the sail employed for this purpose is called the
square-sail, _voile de fortune_. In large ships, it is either the
foresail, at large, _reefed_, or with its _goose-wings_ extended,
according to the degree of the tempest; or it is the fore top-sail
close-reefed, and lowered on the _cap_: which last is particularly used
when the sea runs so high as to _becalm_ the foresail occasionally; a
circumstance which exposes the ship to the danger of _broaching-to_.
The principal hazards incident to scudding are generally, a _pooping_
sea; the difficulty of steering, which exposes the vessel perpetually to
the risk of broaching-to; and the want of sufficient sea-room. A sea
striking the ship violently on the stern may dash it inwards, by which
she must inevitably _founder_. In broaching-to suddenly, she is
threatened with being immediately overturned; and, for want of sea-room,
she is endangered by shipwreck on a lee-shore; a circumstance too
dreadful to require explanation!
SCUPPERS, _dalots_, (_schoepen_, Dutch, _to draw off_) certain channels
cut through the water-ways and sides of a ship, at proper distances, and
lined with plated lead, in order to carry the water off from the deck
into the sea.
The scuppers of the lower deck of a ship of war are usually furnished
with a leathern pipe, called the scupper-hoase, which hangs downward
from the mouth or opening of the scupper. The intent of this is to
prevent the water from entering when the ship inclines under a weight of
sail.
SCUTTLE, (_écoutille_, Fr.) a small hatchway cut for some particular
purpose through a ship’s deck, or through the coverings of her
hatchways, and being furnished with a lid which firmly encloses it
whenever necessary. See DECK and HATCHWAY.
SCUTTLING, the act of cutting large holes through the bottom or sides of
a ship, either when she is _stranded_ or overset, and continues to float
on the surface. The design of this expedient is usually to take out the
whole or a part of the cargo, provisions, stores, &c. with all possible
expedition.
SEA, _mer_, (_sæ_, Sax. _zee_, Dutch) is known to be a great
congregation of waters, which is either universal or local; as
surrounding the whole earth, or flowing on the coast of some particular
country.
This term, however, is variously applied by sailors, to a single wave;
to the agitation produced by a multitude of waves in a tempest; or to
their particular progress or direction. Thus they say, a heavy sea broke
over our _quarter_, or we _shipped_ a heavy sea; there is a great sea in
the _offing_; the sea sets to the southward. Hence a ship is said to
head the sea, when her course is opposed to the _setting_ or direction
of the surges.
A long sea implies an uniform and steddy motion of long and extensive
waves; on the contrary, a short sea is when they run irregularly,
broken, and interrupted; so as frequently to burst over a vessel’s side
or quarter.
SEA-BOAT, _vaisseau beau de mer_, a vessel that bears the sea firmly,
without labouring heavily, or straining her masts and rigging.
SEA-COAST, the shore of any country; or that part which is washed by the
sea.
SEA-FARING, the occupation of a mariner or sailor.
SEAMAN, _homme de mer_, a mariner or person trained in the exercise of
fixing the machinery of a ship, and applying it to the purposes of
navigation.
The principal articles required in a common sailor to intitle him to the
full wages, are, that he can steer, sound, and manage the sails, by
extending, _reefing_, and furling them, as occasion requires. When he is
expert at these exercises, his skill in all other matters relative to
his employment is taken for granted.
SEA-MARK, a point or conspicuous place distinguished at sea.
Sea-marks are of various kinds, as steeples, promontories, piles of
ruins, groupes of trees, &c. and are very necessary to direct vessels on
the coast of their situation. See also BEACON and BUOY.
SEA-ROOM, _belle derive_, implies a sufficient distance from the coast,
as well as from any rocks or shallows, whereby a ship may drive or scud
without danger of shipwreck.
SEA-WEEDS, _sarts_, a sort of herbs or tangles floating on the surface
of the sea, or washed upon the sea-coast. See the French term MER, and
the phrases which follow in order.
SEAMS, _coutures_, the intervals between the edges of the planks in the
decks and sides of a ship; or the places where the planks join together.
These are always filled with a quantity of _oakum_, and covered with hot
pitch, to prevent the entrance of the water. See the article CALKING.
SEIZING, _amarrer_, the operation of fastening any two ropes, or
different parts of one rope together, with a small line or cord: also
the cord (_ammarage_) which fastens them.
SELVAGEE, a sort of hank or skein of rope-yarn tied together at several
distances. It is used to fasten round any rope, as a shroud or stay, so
that a tackle may be hooked in it, to extend the said shroud or stay,
which is called setting it up.
SENDING, the act of pitching precipitately into the hollow or interval,
between two waves.
SENNIT, _garcettes_, (from _seven_ and _knit_) a sort of flat braided
cordage, formed by platting five or seven rope-yarns together.
SERVING, _fourrer_, winding any thing round a rope, to prevent it from
being rubbed. The materials used for this purpose, and which are
accordingly called _service_, _fourrure_, are generally small lines,
leather, _plat_ canvas, &c.
SETTEE, _scitie_, a ship of two masts, equipped with triangular sails,
commonly called lateen sails. These vessels are peculiar to the
Mediterranean sea, and are generally navigated by Italians, Greeks, or
Mahometans.
SETTING, the act of observing the situation of any distant object by the
compass, in order to discover the angle which it makes with the nearest
meridian; as, at seven in the evening, we set the Tower of Arabia near
the port of Alexandria, and it bore S. S. E. distant four leagues by
estimation. See BEARING.
SETTING also denotes the direction of the wind, current, or sea, but
particularly the two latter: as, the tide which sets to the south, is
opposed to a swelling sea setting to the north-west.
SETTING, when applied to the sails, is the loosening and expanding them,
so as to move a ship along the water, after she had been for some time
at rest; or to accelerate her velocity when she is already moving, and
perhaps give a new direction to her motion. It is used in
contradistinction to taking-in the sails, as loosing or heaving-out is
opposed to furling or stowing them.
SETTING-UP, the act of extending the _shrouds_, _stays_, and
_back-stays_, to secure the masts, by the application of mechanical
powers, as tackles, &c. See DEAD-EYE, LANIARD, &c.
SETTLED, lowered in the water; as, we have settled the land, or sunk it
lower, by sailing farther out to seaward. This phrase is usually opposed
to raising; the former being occasioned by departing from the object
understood, and the latter by approaching it: however, the sense is more
commonly expressed _laying_.
SEWED, the situation of a ship which rests upon the ground till the
depth of water sufficient to float her is diminished by the reflux of
the tide. Thus if a ship runs aground on the tide of ebb, and it be
required to know if she has sewed, the water-line or mark on her side,
stem, or stern-post, where the surface of the water reaches when she is
afloat, is examined, and this mark being found above the water, she is
said to be sewed by as much as is the difference.
SHAKES, _ébaroui_, a name given by shipwrights to the cracks or rents in
a plank, occasioned by the sun or weather.
SHANK, the beam or shaft of an _anchor_. See that article.
SHANK-PAINTER, a short rope and chain which hangs the shank and flukes
of the anchor up to the ship’s side, as the _stopper_ fastens the ring
and stock to the cathead.
_To_ SHAPE _the course_, _commander à la route_, to direct or appoint
the track of a ship, in order to prosecute a voyage.
SHARP. See BOTTOM.
SHEATHING, _doublage_, a sort of casing or covering laid on the outside
of a ship’s bottom, to protect the planks from the pernicious effects of
the worms: particularly in hot climates, as between the tropics.
Sheathing either consists of a number of boards or deals of fir, or of
sheets of lead or copper; which last is a very late invention, having
been only experienced on a few of his Majesty’s frigates: it seems,
however, to answer the purpose much better than the fir-planks. When the
sheathing is performed with boards, there is a quantity of hair and tar
inserted between the outside of the bottom and the inner surface of the
boards.
SHEAVE, _rouet_, (_schijf_, Dutch) a solid cylindrical wheel, fixed in a
channel, and moveable about an axis, as being used to raise or increase
the mechanical powers applied to remove any body.
The sheaves are either fixed in blocks, or in channels cut through the
masts, caps, cat-heads, or sides of a ship. See those articles.
SHEEP-SHANK: a sort of knot or hitch cast on a rope, to shorten it as
occasion requires: particularly to increase the sweep or length of a
tackle by contracting its _runner_. By this contrivance the body to
which the tackle is applied may be hoisted much higher, or removed much
farther, in a shorter time.
Thus if any weighty body is to be hoisted into a ship, and it be found
that the blocks of the tackle meet before the object can reach the top
of the side, it will be necessary to lower it again, or hang it by some
other method, till the _runner_ of the tackle is sheep-shanked, by which
the blocks will again be separated to a competent distance.
SHEER, _relevement_, the longitudinal curve of a ship’s deck or sides.
SHEERING, in navigation, the act of deviating or straying from the line
of the course, either to the right or left, so as to form a crooked and
irregular path through the water. It is commonly occasioned by the
ship’s being difficult to steer, but very often from the negligence or
incapacity of the helmsman. Hence, to _sheer off_ is to remove at a
greater distance.
SHEERS, _machine à mater_, an engine used to hoist-in or displace the
lower masts of a ship. See the article MAST.
The sheers employed for this purpose in the royal navy are described
under the article _hulk_. In merchant-ships this machine is composed of
two masts or props, erected in the same vessel wherein the mast is to be
planted, or from whence it is to be removed. The lower ends of these
props rest on the opposite sides of the deck, and their upper parts are
fastened across, so as that a _tackle_, which depends from the
intersection, may be almost perpendicularly above the station of the
mast, to which the mechanical powers are applied. These sort of sheers
are secured by stays, which extend forward and aft to the opposite
extremities of the vessel.
SHEET, _écoute_, a rope fastened to one or both the lower corners of a
sail, to extend and retain it in a particular station. See CLUE and
SAIL.
When a ship sails with a lateral wind, the lower corner of the main and
fore sail are fastened by a tack and a sheet; the former being to
windward and the latter to leeward: the tack, however, is entirely
disused with a stern-wind; whereas the sail is never spread without the
assistance of one or both of the sheets.
The stay-sails and studding-sails have only one tack and one sheet each:
the stay-sail-tacks are always fastened forward, and the sheet drawn
_aft_; but the studding-sail-tack draws the outer clue of the sail to
the extremity of the boom; whereas the sheet is employed, to extend the
inmost.
_To haul home the_ SHEET. See HOME.
SHEET-ANCHOR. See the article ANCHOR.
SHELL, in artillery. See MORTAR and RANGE.
SHELL _of a block_, the outer frame or case, wherein the _sheave_ or
wheel is contained, and traverses about its axis. See BLOCK.
SHELVES, _écueils_, (_schylf_, Sax.) a general name given to any
dangerous shallows, sand-banks, or rocks lying immediately under the
surface of the water, so as to intercept any ship in her passage, and
expose her to destruction.
SHIFTED, _desarrimée_, the state of a ship’s ballast or cargo when it is
shaken from one side to the other, either by the violence of her
_rolling_ in a turbulent sea, or by an extraordinary inclination to one
side when under a great pressure of sail. This circumstance, however,
rarely happens, unless to those cargoes which are stowed in _bulk_, as
corn, salt, or such materials. See LADEN and TRIM.
SHIFTED, _sauté_, when expressed of the wind, implies altered.
SHIFTER, _detrempeur_, a person appointed to assist the ship’s cook,
particularly in washing, steeping, and shifting the salt provisions.
SHIFTING _a tackle_, the act of removing the blocks of a tackle to a
greater distance from each other, on the object to which they are
applied, in order to give a greater scope or extent to their purchase.
This operation is otherwise called fleeting. See that article.
SHIFTING _the helm_, _rencontrer_, is the alteration of its position, by
pushing it towards the opposite side of the ship. See HELM.
SHIFTING _the voyal_, _depasser_, changing its position on the capstern
from the right to the left, and _vice versa_.
SHIP, _vaisseau_, (_scip_, Sax.) a general name given by seamen to the
first rank of vessels which are navigated on the ocean.
Amongst people who are unacquainted with marine distinctions, this term
is of very vague and indiscriminate acceptation: and indeed sailors
themselves, submitting occasionally to the influence of custom, receive
it according to this general idea. In the sea-language, however, it is
more particularly applied to a vessel furnished with three masts, each
of which is composed of a lower mast, top-mast, and top-gallant-mast,
with the usual machinery thereto belonging.
The design of this work being professedly to treat of the construction,
mechanism, furniture, movements, and military operations of a ship, we
may properly consider the present article as a general recapitulation of
the whole subject.
The plans, elevations, and sections used in the construction of a ship;
the principal pieces of which she is composed, and the qualities
requisite to answer the several purposes of navigation, are described,
or referred to, in _Naval_ ARCHITECTURE: and the application of this
theory to practice is treated in the article _Ship_-BUILDING.
The machinery and furniture with which she is equipped are variously
diffused throughout this work, and naturally spring from one another,
like a multitude of branches from one general trunk. See MAST, SAIL,
YARD, RIGGING, ANCHOR, &c.
The qualities by which she is enabled to encounter a tempestuous sea are
treated in the article BALLAST and TRIM; and her several movements
therein are explained under NAVIGATION, DRIFT, SAILING, TACKING, LEEWAY,
PITCHING, and ROLLING.
Considered as a moveable fortress or citadel, her military operations
are copiously described in CANNON, CANNONADE, ENGAGEMENT, LINE, and
RANGE; and as her efforts are occasionally like those of a mine, or
bombardment, the reader is also referred to the articles FIRE-SHIP and
MORTAR.
The vessels which are usually comprehended under the general name of
ship, besides those of the line of battle, are galleons, frigates,
hag-boats, cats, barks, pinks, and fly-boats; all of which are defined
in their proper places, except the hag-boat, that only differs from a
frigate-built ship in the figure of the stern, which has a great
resemblance to that of the _cat_, as being in a middle degree between
the former and the latter. See also the article QUARTER.
Ships of war are properly equipped with artillery, ammunition, and all
the necessary martial weapons and instruments for attack or defence.
They are distinguished from each other by their several ranks or
classes. See RATE.
SHIP _of the line_ is usually applied to all men of war mounting sixty
guns and upwards. Of late, however, our fifty-gun ships have been formed
sufficiently strong to carry the same metal as those of sixty, and
accordingly may fall into the line in cases of necessity. See LINE.
The ships of seventy-four cannon, and thereabouts, are generally
esteemed the most useful in the line of battle, and indeed in almost
every other purpose of war. It has therefore been judged conformable to
our design, to represent different views and sections of a ship of this
class. Thus plate IV. exhibits the head, together with the _bow_ or fore
part. Plate VII. shews a transverse section through the broadest part,
with the profile of her upper and lower deck batteries. Plate III.
contains an horizontal section at the lower deck, together with the plan
of the battery planted on one side thereof, and all the pieces by which
the deck is supported on the other. The quarter, and all the after part
of the ship, is exhibited in plate VIII. and the elevation of the stern
in plate X. all of which are on the same scale, _viz._ one fourth of an
inch to a foot, except the deck, which is one eighth of an inch to a
foot.
We have also, on a smaller scale, expressed an elevation or side-view of
a sixty-gun ship, in plate I. with the head thereof in plate IV. fig.
11. and the stern in plate X. fig. 2. both of which are viewed upon a
line on the continuation of the keel.
_Armed_ SHIP. See ARMED SHIP.
_Hospital_-SHIP, a vessel fitted up to attend on a fleet of men of war,
and receive their sick or wounded; for which purpose her decks should be
high, and her ports sufficiently large. Her cables ought also to run
upon the upper deck, to the end that the beds or cradles may be more
commodiously placed between decks, and admit a free passage of the air,
to disperse that which is offensive or corrupted.
_Leeward_ SHIP. See LEEWARD.
_Merchant_-SHIP, a vessel employed in commerce, to carry commodities of
various sorts from one port to another.
The largest merchant-ships are those employed by the different European
companies of merchants who trade to the East Indies. They are in general
somewhat larger than our forty-gun ships: they are mounted with twenty
cannon on their upper deck, which are nine pounders, and six on their
quarter-deck, which are six pounders. Plate IX. fig. 5. represents a
view of one of these vessels on the larboard bow, where _a_ is the
ensign-staff, A the mizen-mast, B the main-mast, C the fore-mast, K the
_poop_, L L an awning of wood extending across the after part of the
quarter-deck, M poop-ladder, N O steps of the gangway, P head of the
capstern on the quarter-deck, Q R the skeeds on the gangway, _r_ the
belfry on the forecastle, _s_ the timber-heads, _y_ the cut-water, with
a lion-head fixed upon it. The other parts of this ship represented in
the figure are referred to from the explanations of the head, plate IV.
and the quarter in plate VIII.
Fig. 6. plate IX. exhibits a quarter view of a foreign-built
East-Indiaman, with a _square tuck_, or perpendicular counter, and
having three poop-lanthorns fixed on her _taffarel_.
_Private_ SHIP _of war_. See PRIVATEER.
_Store_-SHIP, a vessel employed to carry artillery or naval stores for
the use of a fleet, fortress, or garrison.
_Transport_-SHIP is generally used to conduct troops from one place to
another.