one rope communicates with the whole; if one end of the rope be fixed,
as in fig. 5. 6. and 7. in order to proportion the weight to the
resistance, the power applied must be to the weight, as one, to twice
the number of _sheaves_ in the moveable blocks: because, in the efforts
of a tackle, the velocity of the moving power is, to the velocity of the
rising or moving body, as twice the number of moveable sheaves to unity,
as appears in fig. 5. which consists of one fixed block _a_, and another
moveable as _e_. For since one rope operates on all the sheaves from _g_
to _f_, the part at _f_, lying beyond the fixed block, and called the
_fall_, cannot be drawn down and lengthened, unless the two parts _d_
and _c_, on each side of the moveable block, be at the same time equally
drawn up and shortened. Hence it is evident, that the part _a f_ will be
lengthened twice as much as either _d_ or _c_ is shortened, because
whatever is taken from each of those parts is added to the length of _a
f_; but the point _f_, to which the power is applied, descends as fast
as _a f_ is lengthened and the point _e_, to which the weight is
fastened, ascends as fast as _d_ or _c_ is shortened. If therefore, a
weight suspended at _f_, be to a weight suspended at _e_, as one to two,
they will balance each other, as being in the reciprocal ratio of their
velocities.
Whatever has been observed with regard to the tackles above mentioned,
is equally applicable to all others, and is in the same manner
demonstrable, viz. that the velocity with which the mechanical force
moves, in raising a weight, is to the velocity wherewith the weight
rises, as twice the number of moveable sheaves to unity.
A tackle wherein both the blocks are moveable, and communicate with a
runner, is represented by fig. 10. plate VIII. That part of the tackle
which is fixed to one of the blocks, &c. is called the standing part;
all the rest are called running parts; and that whereon the men pull
when employing the tackle, is called the _fall_. The application of the
tackle to mechanical purposes is termed _hoisting_ or _bowssing_. See
those articles.
_Ground_ TACKLE. See GROUND TACKLE.
TACK-TACKLE, a small tackle used occasionally to pull down the tack of
the principal sails of a ship to their respective stations. There is
also a tackle of this kind constantly fixed to the tacks of the
main-sail in _brigs_, _sloops_, and _schooners_, for the same purpose.
See the French term PALAN, and the phrases annexed thereto.
TAFFAREL, _couronnement_, the upper part of a ship’s stern, being a
curved piece of wood, expressed by F F, in fig. 1. plate X. and usually
ornamented with sculpture.
TAIL, a name given by sailors to the extremities of a hurricane, wherein
the violence is considerably exhausted.
TAIL-BLOCK, a small single block, having a short piece of rope attached
to it, by which it may be fastened to any object at pleasure; either for
convenience, or to increase the force applied to the said object, as
explained in the first part of the article TACKLE.
TAKING-IN, the act of brailing-up and furling the sails at sea,
particularly when the wind increases. It is generally used in opposition
to _setting_. See also FURL and SHORTEN.
TALLYING, _border_, a phrase used by the common sailors, implying the
act of pulling aft the _sheets_, or lower corners of the main-sail and
fore-sail.
TAR, a sort of liquid gum, of a blackish hue, which distils from pines
or fir-trees, either naturally or by incision; and being prepared by
boiling, is used to pay the sides of ships and boats, and their rigging,
in order to preserve them from the effects of the weather, by which they
would otherwise soon become cracked, split, or rotten.
TAR is also a figurative expression for a sailor of any kind.
TAR-PAWLING, _prélart_, a broad piece of canvas well daubed with tar,
and used to cover the hatchways of a ship at sea, to prevent the
penetration of the rain, or sea-water, which may occasionally rush over
the decks. See BATTENS.
TARTAN, (_tartana_, Ital.) a small coasting vessel navigated in the
Mediterranean sea, and having only one mast and a bowsprit, the
principal sail, which is extremely large, being extended by a
lateen-yard. See VESSEL.
TAUGHT, _roide_, (_dicht_, Dutch) the state of being extended or
stretched out. It is usually applied to a rope or sail, in opposition to
slack.
TAUNT, _foit_, an epithet used, in the sea-language, to signify high or
tall. It is peculiarly expressed of the masts when they are of an
extraordinary length, as _square_ is applied to the yards on the same
occasion.
TENDER, _patache_, a small vessel employed in the King’s service, on
various occasions; as, to receive volunteers and impressed men, and
convey them to a distant place; to attend on ships of war or squadrons;
and to carry intelligence or orders from one place to another, &c.
TENDING, the movement by which a ship turns or swings round her anchor
in a tide-way, at the beginning of the flood or ebb. Thus, if the flood
sets northerly, it is evident that the ship, unless when moored head and
stern, will fall into the line of the current, turning her head to the
southward. But as the reflux will for the same reason set to the
southward, the ship will of necessity turn about at the change of the
tide, and carry her head to the northward; and the transition from one
situation to the other is called tending or swinging.
TENON, the end of a piece of timber cut smaller to enter into a mortise.
THIMBLE, _cosse_, a sort of iron ring, whose outer surface is hollowed
throughout its whole circumference, in order to contain, in the channel
or cavity, a rope which is spliced about it, and by which it may be hung
in any particular station. See plate XII. fig. 1. It is used to guide
the direction of some running rope, which passes through it, from one
place to another. See Span.
THOLES, (_tholet_, Fr.) certain small pins driven perpendicularly into
the upper edge of a boat, as expressed by _e_, fig. 1, plate III. In the
exercise of rowing, the oar is contained between the two tholes, in the
space which is called the _row-lock_. Sometimes there is only one pin to
each oar, as in the boats navigated on the Mediterranean sea. In that
case the oar is hung upon the pin by means of a strop; and indeed this
method is much more ancient than the former. See the article ROWING.
THROAT, a name given to the inner end of a _gaff_, or to that part which
is next to the mast. It is opposed to _peek_, which implies the outer
extremity of the said gaff, or that part of it which extends the sail
behind. Hence the ropes employed to hoist up, and lower a gaff, being
applied to those parts of it, are called the throat and peek haliards.
See _Haliards_.
THUS! the order by which the pilot directs the helmsman to keep the ship
in her present situation when sailing with a _scant_ wind; so that she
may not approach too near the direction of the wind, and thereby shiver
her sails, nor fall to leeward, and run farther out of her course. See
STEERING.
THWART, _banc_, the seat or bench of a boat whereon the rowers sit to
manage the oars.
THWART-SHIPS, across the ship. See the article ATHWART.
TIDE, _marée_, (_tyd_, Sax.) a regular periodical current of the water,
setting alternately in a flux and reflux, produced by the influence of
the moon.
If the ocean were equally deep in every place, the ebbing and flowing of
the tide would be universally regular and equal; but the shallowness of
the water in many places, and the streightness of the channels, by which
the tides may be considerably interrupted in some parts, and propagated
in others, occasion a great diversity in their force and quantity.
Hence, without an exact knowledge of all the circumstances of the
several places where they happen to run, as of the position of the land,
the breadth and depth of channels; it is impossible to account for this
diversity.
The theory of the tides is concisely described by a great author, in
these words: “That motion of the water called tides is a rising and
falling of the sea: the cause of this is the attraction of the moon,
whereby the part of water in the great ocean which is nearest the moon,
being most strongly attracted, is raised higher than the rest; and the
part opposite to it being least attracted, is also higher than the rest;
and these two opposite elevations of the surface of the water in the
great ocean, following the motion of the moon from est to west, and
striking against the large coasts of the continents, from thence
rebounds back again, and so makes floods and ebbs in narrows, seas, and
rivers.” _Locke._
With regard to the relative force of the tide on a ship floating
therein, it is already explained in the article CURRENT.
TIER, _batterie_, a name given to the range of cannon mounted on one
side of a ship’s deck. See the articles DECK and CANNON.
TIER _of the cable_, is a range of the _fakes_ or windings of the cable,
which are laid within one another in an horizontal position, so as that
the last becomes the innermost. See COILING.
_Cable_-TIER is the hollow space in the middle of a cable, when it is
_coiled_.
TIGHT, (_dicht_, Dutch) the quality whereby a vessel resists the
penetration of any fluid, whether compressing its surface, or contained
within it. Hence a ship is said to be tight, when her planks are so
compact and solid as to prevent the entrance of the water in which she
is immersed: and a cask is called tight, when the staves are so close
that none of the liquid contained therein can issue through or between
them. In both senses it is opposed to _leaky_, which see.
TILLER, _timon_, or _barre de gouvernail_, the bar or lever employed to
turn the rudder in steering. See the article HELM.
TILT, _tendelet_, (_tyld_, Sax.) a small canopy or awning of canvas, or
other cloth, extended over the stern-sheets of a boat, and supported by
small pillars, or broad laths of flexible wood incurvated into arches.
It is used to cover the passengers from the rain or sunshine. See BOAT.
TIMBERS, _couples_, the ribs of a ship, or the incurvated pieces of
wood, branching outward from the keel in a vertical direction, so as to
give strength, figure, and solidity to the whole fabric.
It has been observed in the article _Naval_ ARCHITECTURE, that one
timber is composed of several pieces united into one frame, which is
accordingly called a frame of timbers by the artificers. These different
pieces are exhibited in plate I. PIECES of the HULL, by U, V, and W. The
head of the lower piece, called the _floor_-timber, being cut square, to
join the heel of the next above it. To support the connection of the
timber in that place, another assemblage of pieces are formed, and
joined in the same manner; so that when both the sets are fastened
together, the joinings in one set will be nearly opposite to the middle
of the pieces in the other. Hence it is evident, that the mould which
serves for the lowest piece will conform to the under part of the
corresponding piece above it: and thus the mould, appropriated to every
division of a timber, will determine, or answer to the figure of the
next adjoining thereto.
The timbers whose areas or _planes_ are perpendicular to the _keel_, are
called square timbers; and those which are placed obliquely on the keel,
as at the extremities of a ship, are called cant-timbers. The foremost
of those pieces on the ship’s _bow_, are called the knuckle-timbers; and
the hindmost on the quarter are called the fashion-pieces.
The outlines, or _bends_ of the principal timbers of the ship are
geometrically delineated in the plane of projection, plate I. as also in
plate IV. fig. 11. and plate X. fig. 2.: and their particular stations
in the ship’s length are represented in the horizontal plane, and that
of the elevation, plate I. In order to give a more comprehensive idea of
their figures and dimensions, we have exhibited a perspective view of
the carcase of a small vessel, in plate XII. fig. 2. consisting only of
the _keel_ A, the _stern-post_ B, the _stem_ C, the _transoms_ K L M,
and the _ribbands_ F F.
TIMBER AND ROOM, or _room and space_, is the alliance betwixt the
moulding edge of two adjoining timbers, which must always contain the
breadth of two timbers; and sometimes two or three inches between them.
It must be observed, that one mould serves for two timbers; the fore
side of the one being supposed to unite with the after side of the
other, and so make only one line; which is actually the case in all the
frames, which in some ships are every third, and in others every fourth
timber. The frames are first put up, and fastened to the ribbands, and
afterwards the others are put up, which are called fitting-timbers.
_Murray’s ship-building._
TIMONEER, (_timonier_, Fr.) the helmsman, or person who manages the helm
to direct the ship’s course. See the article STEERING.
In a ship of war the quarter-masters and timoneers are usually chosen by
the master, to _cun_ and steer the ship; as also, to stow the provisions
in the hold, coil the cables, regulate the watch, &c. See
QUARTER-MASTER.
TOGETHER! _accord_, the order given to the men in the exercises of
_heaving_, rowing, holding, &c. to act all in concert, or at the same
instant.
TOGGEL, _cabillot_, a small wooden pin, about five or six inches in
length, and usually tapering from the middle towards the extremities. It
is used to fix transversely in the lower part of a tackle, in which it
serves as an hook whereby to attach the tackle to a strop, slings, or
any body whereon the effort of the tackle is to be employed.
There are also toggels of another kind, employed to fasten the
top-gallant sheets to the _span_, which is knotted round the cap at the
top-mast-head. For as the lifts of the topsail-yard are out of use when
the topsail is hoisted, they are always converted into top-gallant
sheets, to render the rigging at the mast-heads as light and simple as
possible. Before the topsail-yards can be lowered so as to be sustained
by their lifts, it therefore becomes necessary to transfer that part of
the lift to the top-mast-head, that so the whole weight of the yard may
be sustained by its mast-head, and no part thereof by the
top-gallant-yard, which would otherwise be the case. This is performed
by fixing the double part, or bight of the lift, within the eye of the
span above mentioned, and inserting the toggel through the former, so as
to confine it to the latter, which operation is amongst sailors called
putting the sheets in the _beckets_.
TOMPION, (_tampon_, Fr.) a sort of bung or cork used to stop the mouth
of a cannon. At sea this is carefully encircled with tallow or putty, to
prevent the penetration of the water into the bore, whereby the powder
contained in the chamber might be damaged or rendered incapable of
service.
TONNAGE. See the article BURTHEN.
TOP, _hune_, a sort of platform, surrounding the lower mast-head, from
which it projects on all sides like a scaffold.
The principal intention of the top is to extend the top-mast shrouds, so
as to form a greater angle with the mast, and thereby give additional
support to the latter. It is sustained by certain timbers fixed across
the _hounds_ or shoulders of the mast, and called the tressel-trees and
cross-trees, the former of which are expressed by _k_, fig. 1. plate VI.
and the latter by _l, l_, fig. 2. The plan of the top is represented in
fig. 6. where _g g_ represents the holes through which the top-mast
shrouds communicate with those of the lower mast, as explained in the
article SHROUD.
Besides the use above mentioned, the top is otherwise extremely
convenient to contain the materials necessary for extending the small
sails, and for fixing or repairing the rigging and machinery, with more
facility and expedition. In ships of war it is used as a kind of
redoubt, and is accordingly fortified for attack or defence, being
furnished with swivels, musketry, and other fire-arms; and guarded by a
thick fence of corded _hammocs_. Finally, it is employed as a place for
looking out, either in the day or night.
The frame of the top is either close-planked like a platform, or open
like a grating. The former kind, which is exhibited in fig. 6. plate VI.
is generally stronger and more convenient; but the latter is much better
in tempestuous weather, as presenting a smaller surface to the wind when
the ship leans over to one side, and by consequence being less exposed
to its efforts.
In all ships of war, and in the largest merchantmen, the top is fenced
on the aft-side by a rail of about three feet high, stretching across,
and supported by stanchions, between which a netting is usually
constructed, as appears by fig. 2. plate VI. The outside of this netting
is generally covered with red bayze or red painted canvas, which is
extended from the rail down to the edge of the top, and called the
top-armour. By this name it seems to have been considered as a sort of
blind, behind which the men may conceal themselves from the aims of the
enemy’s fire-arms in time of action, whilst they are charging their own
muskets, carabines, or swivels.
The dimensions of tops in the royal navy are as follow. The breadth of
the top _athwart-ships_, _q q_, fig. 6. is one third of the length of
its corresponding top-mast. The length of all tops, from the foremost to
the after edge _p p_, is equal to three fourths of their breadth
athwart; and the square hole in the middle is five inches to a foot of
those dimensions. The tressel-trees and cross-trees extend nearly to the
edge of the tops. See those articles.
TOP-BLOCK. See BLOCK and MAST.
TOP-CHAIN. See the article CHAIN.
TOP-LANTHORN, _fanal de hune_, a large lanthorn placed in the after part
of the top, in any ship where an admiral or commodore is personally
aboard. It is supported on each side by iron braces _r_, as expressed in
fig. 3. plate VI.
TOP-MAST, _mât de hune_, the second division of a mast; or that part
which stands between the upper and lower pieces. See the article MAST.
TOP-ROPE, _guinderesse_, a rope employed to _sway-up_ a top-mast or
top-gallant mast, in order to fix it in its place; or to lower it in
tempestuous weather, or when it is no longer necessary. The rope used on
this occasion for the top-masts is, on account of their great weight,
furnished with an assemblage of pullies, at its lower end, called the
_top-tackle_, to hoist or lower the mast with greater facility. The
whole of this is particularly explained in the article MAST, and the
plate therein referred to.
TOP-SAILS, certain large sails extended across the top-masts, by the
top-sail-yard above, and by the yard attached to the lower mast beneath;
being fastened to the former by _robands_, and to the latter by means of
two great blocks fixed on its extremities, through which the
topsail-sheets are inserted, passing from thence to two other blocks
fixed on the inner part of the yard close by the mast: and from these
latter the sheets lead downwards to the deck, where they may be
slackened or extended at pleasure. See the article SAIL. _N. B._ The
top-gallant sails are expanded above the topsail-yard, in the same
manner as the latter are extended above the lower yard.
The several parts of the machinery by which the top-sails are managed,
as the _bowlines_, _braces_, _haliards_, _lifts_, and _sheets_, being
copiously defined in their proper places, it would be superfluous to
repeat their explanations.
TOPPING, _apiquer_, the act of pulling one of the extremities of a yard
higher than the other, by slackening one of the _lifts_, and pulling
upon the opposite one, so as to place the yard at a greater or lesser
obliquity with the mast.
TOPPING-LIFT, _balancine de gui_, a large and strong tackle, employed to
suspend or _top_ the outer end of a gaff, or of the _boom_ of a
main-sail and fore-sail; such as are used in _brigs_, _sloops_, or
_schooners_. See SQUARE.
TORNADO, _travade_, a violent squall or gust of wind rising suddenly
from the shore, and afterwards veering round the compass like a
hurricane. These are very frequent on the coasts of Guinea and South
Barbary. See WIND.
TOUCHING, the state of a ship’s sails when they first begin to shiver,
with their edges in the direction of the wind. It is either occasioned
by a sudden alteration of the ship’s course, or by a change of the wind,
in which it blows more obliquely along the surface of the sails, instead
of falling into their cavities from behind, according to its usual
direction. See FULL AND BY.
TOUCHING-AT, implies the circumstance of stopping, or anchoring
occasionally, at some intermediate port, in the course of a voyage.
_To_ TOW, _remorquer_, (_teon_, _teohan_, Sax.) to draw a ship forward
in the water, by means of a rope attached to another vessel or boat,
which advances by the effort of rowing or sailing.
Towing is either practised when a ship is disabled, and rendered
incapable of carrying sail at sea; or when her sails are not fixed upon
the masts, as in a harbour: or when they are deprived of their force of
action by a cessation of the wind.
When a ship of war is dismasted, or otherwise disabled from carrying
sail at sea, she is usually towed by a cable reaching from her bow to
another ship a-head. In a harbour towing is practised by one or more
boats, wherein all the force of the oars are exerted to make her
advance.
TOW-LINE, a small hauser generally used to remove a ship from one part
of an harbour or road to another, by means of anchors, capsterns, &c. as
explained in the article WARPING. It is also employed occasionally to
moor a small vessel in a harbour, conveniently sheltered from the wind
and sea.
TOW-ROPE, a name given to any cable or other rope used in the exercise
of towing.
TRACING-LINE, _martinet_, a small cord generally passing through a block
or _thimble_, and used to hoist up any object to a higher station, in
order to render it less inconvenient. Such are the tracing-lines of the
_awnings_, and those of the _yard-tackles_, which, by hanging down in a
cavity or bight, would be aukward and incommodious.
TRACK _of a ship_. See the article WAKE.
TRACKING, the act of pulling any vessel or floating body along the
stream of a canal or river, by means of a rope extending from the
vessel, &c. to the adjacent shore, and drawn along the banks of the
river, by men or horses. Whence,
TRACK-SCOUT, a vessel employed to carry goods or passengers up and down
the rivers or canals in Holland, and the countries bordering on the
Baltic sea. It is usually tracked by a horse, who trots along the margin
to a limited distance, after which he is relieved by another.
TRADE-WINDS, certain regular winds blowing within or near the tropics,
and being either periodical or perpetual. Thus, in the Indian ocean,
they blow alternately from different points of the compass, during a
limited season; and, in the Atlantic ocean, continue almost without
intermission in the same direction. They are accordingly called
trade-winds, from their great utility in navigation and commerce. See
MONSOON and WIND.
TRAIN. See the articles CANNON and FIRE-SHIP.
TRANSOMS, _barres d’arcasse_, (_transenna_, Lat.) certain beams or
timbers extended across the _stern-post_ of a ship, to fortify her
after-part, and give it the figure most suitable to the service for
which she is calculated.
Transoms are here defined _beams_ or _timbers_, because they partake
equally of the form and purpose of those pieces. Thus the deck-transom
is the aftmost or hindmost beam of the lower deck, whereon all the
deck-planks are rabetted: and all the transoms are fixed athwart the
stern-post, in the same manner as the floor-timbers are laid upon the
keel. As the floor-timbers also, with regard to their general form and
arrangement, have a _rising_, by which, the bottom becomes narrower as
it ascends towards the extremities; so the arms of the transoms, being
gradually closer in proportion to their distance from the wing-transom
downwards, give a similar figure to that part of the ship, which
accordingly becomes extremely narrow, from the counter towards the keel;
and this general figure or curve is called the _flight_ of the transoms.
Although these pieces are therefore extremely different in their
figures, according to the extent of the angles formed by their branches
or horns, each of them has nevertheless a double curve, which is partly
vertical, and partly horizontal, with regard to its situation in the
ship. The former of these is called, by the artificers, the round-up,
and the latter the _round-aft_.