by Dean King
sternpost A more or less upright BEAM, rising from the after end of the KEEL of a vessel and supporting the RUDDER.
sternsheets The rear of an open boat or small ship and the seats with which the after portion of a boat is furnished. The area is so named because this is where the SHEET of the sail was worked.
sternway Movement of a ship in the direction of the STERN, to the rear.
stertor Heavy snoring.
stertorous Characterized by noisy inspiration or snoring.
stew A brothel. In plural, a district of brothels.
steward A seaman who does the catering for the captain or in the officers’ MESS.
stile A set of steps or rungs or some other contrivance that allows a person to get over or through a fence but keeps animals in.
stilt Any of several wading birds of the widely distributed genus Himantopus, having long spindly legs and a thin sharp bill and inhabiting ponds and marshes. The black-necked stilt, Himantopus mexicanus, is the common North American species. It has black feathers above and white below, and its reddish legs trail well behind its white tail when it is in flight. It nests from Oregon to the WEST INDIES, as well as in Brazil and Peru.
Stilton cheese A rich, blue-veined semihard cheese made at various places in Leicestershire since 1750, so called from having been sold mostly to travelers at an inn in the town of Stilton.
stingo Strong beer or ale.
stinkpot An earthenware jar filled with combustibles that create smoke and an intolerable stench, used in sea combat to create confusion on the deck of an enemy ship, much as tear gas is used today.
stink-pot petrel A PETREL that is known for its offensive odor. The term is sometimes used by sailors to refer to any petrel.
stirabout A porridge of Irish origin made by stirring oatmeal or cornmeal into boiling water or milk.
stirrup In a SQUARE-RIGGED vessel, one of the short ropes hanging from the YARD with an EYE at its end, through which a FOOT-ROPE, or HORSE, passes. The stirrups support the foot-ropes, on which TOPMEN walk when FURLing and unfurling sails.
stiver A Dutch coin of small value, originally silver. Something of little value. “Not a stiver”: nothing.
stoat The European ermine, especially in its brown summer coat. A treacherous man. A lecher.
stock A stiff cloth or band worn around the neck by men, now generally only by those in the army.
stock and fluke The whole thing, the reference being to either end of an anchor, as in “head to toe.”
stock-fish A fish, such as cod, cured by being split open and dried in the air without salt.
Stockholm tar A tar made from the resin of pine trees and used as a preservative for RIGGINGS and ropes. Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, was a major exporter of tar made in the Baltic.
stocking A bandage for a horse’s leg.
stockjobbing Stockbroking, usually implying rash or dishonest speculation, especially with reference to abuses in England in the early 18th century, such as those that led to the SOUTH SEA STOCK scandal.
stocks The framework supporting a ship or boat during construction. A ship on the stocks is one still being built.
Stoic A member of the school of Greek philosophers founded by Zeno in about 308 B.C. The Stoics believed that one should be free from passions and submit readily to divine will; hence, one who is unaffected by or indifferent to pleasure or pain, one who practices patient endurance.
stomacher A heavily embroidered and often jeweled covering for the chest formerly worn on the front of a bodice, especially by women.
stone A unit of weight commonly used in Britain, especially for people and large animals, and usually equal to 14 pounds AVOIRDUPOIS but varying with different commodities from eight to 24 pounds. In The Wine Dark Sea it is stated that Jack Aubrey weighed 16 or 17 stone (224 to 238 pounds) while Stephen Maturin weighed “barely” nine (126 pounds).
stone, cutting for LITHOTOMY, accomplished by cutting through the skin and bladder above the pubic area. Although many therapeutic successes, including those of Dr. Maturin, are recorded, they were probably outnumbered by postoperative deaths caused by infection or by the shock resulting from the pain of the incisions.
stone-dresser One who dresses, or prepares, stones to be used in building.
stone-horse A stallion.
stone-pine Any of various pine trees with edible seeds common in southern Europe and the LEVANT.
stop Of a CABLE, to check it in order to prevent it from running out too fast. Of a sail, to secure it lightly with SPUNYARN SO that it can be used quickly. Square sails already hoisted and in stops can be brought into action in an instant.
stop-cleat A wooden wedge attached on its long side to a SPAR to prevent a line from slipping, for example on YARDARMS to secure the RIGGING and the GAMMONING and on MASTS to hold COLLARS.
stopper A short rope usually secured at one or both ends and used either to suspend something heavy or to temporarily hold a CABLE, SHROUD, or other part of the RIGGING. The anchor hangs at the CATHEAD by a stopper.
stop-water A softwood plug used between the KEEL and an adjoining timber, such as the STEM, to block seepage through the joint.
storeship A government ship used to transport stores for the use of the Army or Navy.
storge Natural affection, especially of a parent for a child (Greek).
storm petrel See PETREL. Used figuratively, somebody or something that will cause trouble, as this bird was believed to augur a storm.
storm sail or storm canvas A smaller-than-normal sail of especially strong, heavy canvas used in a GALE, for example, a storm-STAYSAIL.
storm trysail A triangular or quadrilateral FORE-AND-AFT sail, loose-footed (set without a BOOM), used alone in foul weather when there is too much wind for the working sails, even REEFED, to be used.
stove Past particle of STAVE.
stow To fill the hold of a vessel with cargo; to load a ship. This task requires expert skill and judgment to ensure that the cargo doesn’t shift, which could cause the ship to list, and that it doesn’t break loose and damage the ship. Certain kinds of cargo also must be isolated to keep them from tainting others. Also, to fit up a ship.
Strachan, Sir Richard John (1760-1828) In 1805, while commanding a SQUADRON in the BAY OF BISCAY after the Battle of TRAFALGAR, Strachan defeated and captured four French ships (including the third-rate Scipion) that had escaped from the British fleet. For this action, he received a hero’s welcome in England and a promotion to Rear-Admiral.
strait-waistcoat A straitjacket.
strake Each of the continuous lines of planks running from STEM to STERN in the side of a vessel, from the KEEL up to the top of the hull. The breadth of a plank used as a vertical measure: a ship HEELS a strake when a whole plank’s breadth rises above the water on one side and falls below on the other.
strand One of the parts of a rope. Also, the land bordering a body of water, the coast or shore; the part of a shore between the tidemarks. To strand means to run aground or be driven ashore.
strangury The slow and painful emission of urine, caused most often by bladder stones or an enlarged prostate.
strangulated hernia A hernia so constricted that blood flow to the segment extruded into the scrotum is cut off.
strap-bound, or strap-bored, block A single BLOCK entirely enclosed except for holes left on each side for the rope to pass through. Used with sails to prevent fouling.
Strasburg pie A pie or pate made from fatted goose liver.
stray line The roughly ten or 12 FATHOMS of unmarked LOG-LINE between the LOG-SHIP and the first MARK, allowing the log-ship to get beyond the eddy of the ship’s wake before the GLASS was turned and the measuring began.
streak or touch, of the tar-brush Said in derision of a person of mixed white and black (or Indian, etc.) origin.
stream (or stern) anchor A light anchor stored in the STERN and used with a BOWER anchor when MOORed in narrow waterways where there is no room for the ship to swing fre
ely with the tide.
stretcher A piece of wood across the bottom of a boat against which the rowers brace their feet. A short piece of wood used to spread a hammock.
stridulation A shrill creaking noise, especially that made by certain insects, such as the cricket or grasshopper.
stroke-oar The oarsman sitting nearest the STERN of the boat, whose stroke sets the time for the other rowers.
Stromboli An Italian island off the northeastern coast of Sicily and an active volcano located there. Also, the stage of a volcanic eruption in which repeated explosions of moderate force are accompanied by the ejection of gases and bombs of lava. See illustration.
A polacca with a view of the small volcanic island Stromboli (from Sevres’s Liber Nauticus)
strong fives No such diagnosis was used in regular 18th-century medical practice. O’Brian found the term, along with MARTHAMBLES, in a pamphlet published by a London quack to promote his panacea.
strop A ring or band of wire or rope used for a variety of purposes on board ship, including surrounding the shell of a BLOCK to form an EYE at the bottom, forming a sling for lifting heavy articles, and doubling around a rope or HAWSER to make an eye into which a TACKLE can be hooked for greater advantage. Also, to furnish (a block) with a strop.
studdingsail or stunsail (pronounced “stuns’l”) An extra sail set outside the square sails of a ship during a fair wind.
stuff A fabric used for clothing, especially a woolen fabric.
stuffing-box An enclosure packed with fluid-tight elastic material to prevent leakage around a moving machine part.
stuiver See STIVER.
stump The lower portion of a MAST when the upper part has been broken off or shot away. In cricket, each of the three (formerly two) upright sticks that form the base of a wicket.
stunsail See STUDDINGSAIL.
stupor mundi The marvel of the world; an object of awe and wonder. The phrase was originally used by the 13th-century English monastic historian Matthew Paris to describe Frederick II, king of Sicily (1197-1250) and later Holy Roman Emperor (1220-1250).
styptic An astringent applied topically to stop bleeding, usually after shaving.
suave mare magno The full quotation from Lucretius is: Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis, e terra magnum alterius spectare laborem. It is pleasant to watch from the land the mighty struggle of another in a sea made great by turbulent winds (Latin).
subaltern or subaltern officer An Army officer of junior rank, just below that of Captain.
subclavian Located beneath the clavicle. Subclavian artery: the principal artery of the root of the neck, being the main trunk of the arterial system of the upper extremity. Subclavian vein: the continuation of the axillary vein from the first rib until it joins the internal jugular vein.
sub Deo By God (Latin).
subfusc Of drab or somber hue.
Sublime Porte The Ottoman court at Constantinople; the Turkish government.
subsultus tendinum Twitching of tendons, often noticeable at the wrist during low-grade fevers.
subtend In geometry, to be opposite to and to extend under, especially used for a line or side of a figure opposite an angle, or for a chord or angle opposite an arc.
subvention Assistance or financial support.
sudation Sweating, perspiration.
sudor insignis Remarkable sweating (Latin).
suet The hard fat around the loins and kidneys of cattle and sheep, which is used in cooking, and, when rendered, makes tallow.
suet pudding A boiled or steamed pudding made from flour, eggs, sugar, bread crumbs, milk, and SUET.
Suez, Gulf of The northwest arm of the RED SEA between the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt. At the north end of the gulf was the city of Suez, an ancient port and Ottoman naval base that declined after the Suez Canal was built (1859-1869). Napoleon had seen the possibility of building a canal through the narrow isthmus but abandoned the idea when he was defeated at the Battle of the NILE in 1798.
Suffren de Saint Tropez, Pierre Andre de (1729-1788) One of France’s greatest admirals, he served with Admiral Jean-Baptiste d’Estaing in American waters during the American Revolution and fought in five actions against the British fleet under Sir Edward Hughes in the EAST INDIES from 1782 to 1783 without ever losing a ship.
suite A train of followers or attendants; a retinue.
sulphureous ether Ether, taken internally as a general remedy or applied externally to stimulate the circulation locally. It was not used as a general anesthetic until 1846.
summat Somewhat or something.
summum bonum The highest good (Latin); in an ethical system, the determining principle.
Sunda Strait A strait, 16 miles wide at its narrowest point, separating the islands of Sumatra and Java in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). It links the Indian Ocean and the Java Sea.
sun-dog A mock sun, parhelion. Also, a small rainbow or fragment of one.
sup A small quantity of liquid; a mouthful, a sip.
Superb, H.M.S. A ship name that saw much use in the Royal Navy during the 17th and early 18th centuries. The first ship by this name was a 60-gun French PRIZE taken in 1710 that later participated in the victory over the Spanish fleet off Cape Passaro in 1718, among other actions. The third Superb, a third rate of 74 guns, was launched in 1760 and served as the FLAGSHIP at PORTSMOUTH from 1763 to 1770. In 1782 she served well as Sir Edward Hughes’s flagship in the EAST INDIES. The fifth ship of the name, also a 74-gun third rate, was built in 1798 and fought at Algeciras in 1801, San Domingo in 1806, and COPENHAGEN in 1807. She served as Rear-Admiral R. G. Keats’s flagship until 1810 and saw action at the bombardment of ALGIERS in 1816. She was broken up in 1821.
supercargo Short for a cargo superintendent, the representative of the owner on board a merchant ship who oversees the cargo and the commercial transactions of the voyage. Also, formerly, an agent in charge of a merchant’s business in a foreign country.
supererogation The doing of good works beyond what God commands or requires, held to constitute a surplus of merit that the Church could dispense to others to make up for their lack of it. Doing more than is required by duty, obligation, or expectation.
superfetation A second conception occurring when a fetus is already present in the uterus. Superabundant production or accumulation; an additional product, an accretion, a superfluous addition.
supernumerary A sailor (or LANDSMAN) in excess of a ship’s complement.
superstructure The part of the ship above the UPPER DECK.
suppressio veri Misrepresentation of the truth by concealing essential facts. (Latin)
suppurate To form or secrete pus; to bring to a head.
surcingle A belt or girth passing around the body of a horse to bind a saddle to the horse’s back.
surd In mathematics, an irrational number, one not expressible by an ordinary finite fraction.
surge To let go or stop pulling, as with a rope being wound around a CAPSTAN.
Surgeon-Major A seldom-used rank for a Surgeon high in the military chain of command.
Surinam toad A large flat toad, the pipa, in which the male fertilizes the eggs on the back of the female, and her skin forms cellules in which the eggs are hatched and in which the young pass their tadpole state. Surinam, formerly called Dutch Guiana, is a country in South America.
surplice A loose-fitting white vestment with wide, flowing sleeves worn, usually over a cassock, by clergy, choir members, and others participating in church services.
Surprise, H.M.S. This sixth-rate, 24-gun warship, originally the French Unite, was captured in the Mediterranean on April 20, 1796, by H.M.S. Inconstant and her name changed to H.M.S. Surprise. The Surprise was involved in a famous incident at Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, in 1799, when her Captain, Edward Hamilton, recaptured the former British ship Hermione. The Spanish counted over 200 men killed and wounded, while the British had only 10 wounded. (See HERMIONE for an account of the battle.) Hamilton
received a knighthood for the exploit, and the Hermione was restored to the British Navy. The Surprise was sold by the Royal Navy in 1802, making it readily available for service in Patrick O’Brian’s naval tales.
swab A mop made of old rope used for cleaning and drying the deck of a ship. In slang usage, a disagreeable, clumsy person. Also, a slang expression for the epaulet of a naval officer.
swag-bellied Having a sagging paunch.
swain A country youth, especially a shepherd. A lover, wooer, sweetheart, especially in pastoral poetry.
sward Ground covered with grass or other herbage; lawn.
sway up To HOIST or raise up (especially a YARD or TOPMAST).
sweep A long, heavy oar used to propel small sailing vessels and to steer barges. To row with sweeps.
sweet biscuit A cookie.
sweetening-cock See SEA-COCK.
sweetmeat A dessert or other food that contains a lot of sugar, as candy or candied fruits.
sweet oil An oil that has a pleasant or mild taste; olive oil.
swift Any of numerous small, dark birds resembling the swallow but related to the hummingbird and noted for their swiftness of flight. To “swift the shrouds” means to make use of SWIFTERS.
swifter A rope securing the ends of the CAPSTAN bars; a rope snaked back and forth between the lower SHROUDS to temporarily tighten up the RIGGING; also the foremost or aftermost (authorities are divided on which) lower shroud. The word derives from the Dutch verb zwichten, or schwichten, meaning “to tighten up.”
Swiftsure, H.M.S. A third-rate ship of 74 guns that was launched at BUCKLER’S HARD, the shipbuilding port in Hampshire, in 1804. She fought at TRAFALGAR in 1805 under Captain William Rutherford and was sold in 1845.
swing clear To ride at anchor without colliding with anything.
swingeing Great or superb; large, immense.
swing out To move something over the ship’s side horizontally before lowering, said of an anchor or a boat.
swing the lead To idle, shirk, or malinger (slang).
swipes Poor, weak, or spoiled beer. Also, beer in general.
swivel-gun or swivel A gun or cannon, usually a small one, mounted on a swivel so that it can be aimed in any direction.