Trident
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heel: the tilt of a ship/boat to one side; a ship normally heels in the wind.
helm: the wheel of a ship or the tiller of a boat.
holystone: a block of sandstone used to scour the wooden decks of a ship.
idler: the name of those members of a ship’s crew that did not stand night watch because of their work, example cook, carpenters.
jetty: a manmade structure projecting from the shore.
jib: a triangular sail attached to the headstay.
John Company: nickname for the Honourable East India Company
jolly boat: a small workboat.
jonathan: British nickname for an American.
keel: a flat surface (fin) built into the bottom of the ship to reduce the leeway caused by the wind pushing against the side of the ship.
ketch: a sailboat with two masts. The shorter mizzen mast is aft of the main, but forward of the rudder post.
knot: one knot equals one nautical mile per hour. This rate is equivalent to approximately 1.15 statute miles per hour.
larboard: the left side of a ship or boat.
lee: the direction toward which the wind is blowing. The direction sheltered from the wind.
leeward: pronounced loo-ard. Downwind.
Letter of Marque: a commission issued by the government authorizing seizure of enemy
property.
luff: the order to the steersman to put the helm towards the lee side of the ship, in order to sail nearer to the wind.
mainmast: the tallest (possibly only) mast on a ship.
mast: any vertical pole on the ship that sails are attached to.
mizzenmast: a smaller aft mast.
moor: to attach a ship to a mooring, dock, post, anchor.
nautical mile: one minute of latitude, approximately 6076 feet – about 1/8 longer than the statute mile of 5280 feet.
pitch: (1) a fore and aft rocking motion of a boat. (2) a material used to seal cracks in wooden planks.
privateer: a privateer is a captain of a privately owned ship with a Letter of Marque which allows a captain to plunder any ship of a given enemy nation. A privateer was supposed to be above being tried for piracy.
prize: an enemy vessel captured at sea by a warship or privateer. Technically these ships belonged to the crown, but after review by the Admiralty court and condemnation, they were sold and the prize money shared.
powder monkey: young boy (usually) who carried cartridges of gunpowder from the filling room up to the guns during battle.
quadrant: instrument used to take the altitude of the sun or other celestial bodies in order to determine the latitude of a place. Forerunner to the modern sextant.
quarterdeck: a term applied to the afterpart of the upper deck. The area is generally reserved for officers.
quarter gallery: a small, enclosed balcony with windows located on either side of the great cabin aft and projecting out slightly from the side of the ship. Traditionally contained the head, or toilet, for use by those occupying the great cabin.
rake: a) a measurement of the top of the mast’s tilt toward the bow or stern. b) to fire along the length of a ship from bow to stern (or stern to bow). Raking a ship is particularly devastating, and limits return fire from the raked vessel.
rate: Ships were rated from first to sixth rates based on their size and armament:
First rate line of battle: 100 or more guns on 3 gundecks
Second rate line of battle: 90 to 98 guns on 3 gundecks
Third rate line of battle: 80, 74 or 64 guns on 2 gundecks
Fourth rate below the line: 50 guns on 1 or 2 gundecks
Fifth rate frigates: 32 to 44 guns on 1 gundeck
Sixth rate frigates: 20 to 28 guns on 1 gundeck
ratline: pronounced ratlin. Small lines tied between the shrouds, horizontal to the deck, forming a sort of rope ladder on which the men can climb aloft.
reef: to reduce the area of sail. This helps prevent too much sail from being in use when the wind gets stronger (a storm or gale).
roll: a side-to-side motion of the ship, usually caused by waves.
schooner: a North American (colonial) vessel with two masts the same size.
scuppers: Drain holes on deck, in the toe rail, or in bulwarks that allows water to run into the sea.
scuttle: any small, generally covered, hatchway through a ship’s deck.
sextant: a navigational instrument used to determine the vertical position of an object such as the sun, moon or stars.
ship’s bell: the progress of the watch was signaled by the ship’s bells:
1 bell ½ hour 5 bells 2 ½ hours
2 bells 1 hour 6 bells 3 hours
3 bells 1 ½ hours 7 bells 3 ½ hours
4 bells 2 hours 8 bells 4 hours
ship’s day: the ship’s day at sea began at noon; the twenty-four day is divided into watches measured by a four-hour sandglass.
12:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. - Afternoon watch
4:00 P.M. to 8:00P.M. – Dog watch (this is broken into 2 separate sections called the first and last dog watch. This allows men on watch to eat their evening meal).
8:00 P.M. to 12:00 A.M. – First watch
12:00 A.M. to 4:00 A.M. – Middle watch
4:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M. – Morning watch
8:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. – Forenoon watch
shoal: shallow, not deep.
shrouds: heavy ropes leading from a masthead aft and down to support the mast when the wind is from abeam or farther aft.
skiff: a small boat.
skylark: to frolic or play, especially up in the rigging.
skylight: a glazed window frame, usually in pairs set at an angle in the deck to give light and ventilation to the compartment below.
slew: to turn (something) around on its own axis; to swing around
spar: any lumber/pole used in rigging sails on a ship.
starboard: the right side of a ship or boat.
stern: the aft part of a boat or ship.
stern chasers: cannons directed aft to fire on a pursuing vessel.
tack: to turn a ship about from one tack to another, by bringing her head to the wind.
taffrail: the upper part of the ship’s stern, usually ornamented with carved work or bolding.
thwart: seat or bench in a boat on which rowers sit.
topgallant: the mast above the topmast, also sometimes the yard and sail set on it.
transom: the stern cross-section/panel forming the after end of a ship’s hull.
veer: a shifting of the wind direction.
waister: landsman or unskilled seaman who worked in the waist of the ship.
wear: to turn the vessel from one tack to another by turning the stern through the wind.
weigh: to raise, as in to weigh anchor.
windward: the side or direction from which the wind is blowing.
yard: a spar attached to the mast and used to hoist sails.
yard arm: the end of a yard.
yawl: a two-masted sailboat/fishing boat with the shorter mizzen mast placed aft of the rudder post. Similar to a ketch.
yellow admiral: a term used in Britian to denote a post-captain promoted to rear admiral and placed on the retired list on the following day. The yellow admiral was created after the Napoleonic War.
zephyr: a gentle breeze. The west wind.
About the Author
Michael Aye is a retired Naval Medical Officer. He has long been a student of early American and British Naval history. Since reading his first Kent novel, Mike has spent many hours reading the great authors of sea fiction, often while being “haze gray and underway” himself. This is his sixth novel in the Fighting Anthonys series.
Acknowledgments
To Nancy and David, my former publishers, for sticking with a novice and teaching him how it should be done.
To Don, David, and Justin—I felt you should at least have your names in print for all the advice and help you’ve given me.
To HMC
M Bob Cornish, USN Retired, former classmate and still my shipmate. Our thoughts are still one.