Descriptionary

deck hand in the merchant navy, a rank below chief officer and boatswain.

deck officer in the merchant navy, an officer who keeps watch on the bridge.

efficient deck hand a deck hand over the age of

18 who has passed a competency test and who has served for at least one year.

first mate chief officer ranking just below master on a merchant navy vessel.

foretopman a seaman whose station is the fore top­mast.

helmsman the seaman who steers the vessel. Also known as the quartermaster, wheelman, or steerman.

lady of the gunroom Royal Navy slang for seaman responsible for the gunner's stores.

lamp trimmer a seaman responsible for maintain­ing all oil lamps on a vessel.

lee helmsman the assistant to the helmsman who stands at the lee side of the wheel.

master the commander of a merchant navy vessel. Short for master mariner.

master at arms officer in charge of maintaining law and order on board.

mate first rank below the master. The mate is responsible for organization and navigation. Same as first mate.

midshipman the lowest-ranking commissioned officer.

ordinary seaman seaman who has not yet qualified for able seaman status.

petty officer a noncommissioned naval officer.

quartermaster in the merchant navy, the helmsman. In the Royal Navy, a supervisor of the helmsman.

sailmaker a crew member who constructs and repairs sails and other items made of canvas.

steward crew member in charge of catering, provi­sioning, and maintaining the living quarters.

storekeeper crew member in charge of stores and their issuance to crew.

supercargo short for superintendent of cargo; the owner or representative of the owner of a ship's cargo who travels on board a merchant vessel.

warrant officer in the Royal Navy, a senior rank­ing, noncommissioned officer.

yeoman in the Royal Navy, an assistant to the navi­gator. Also, an assistant to a storekeeper.

Sailing Terms of the 18th and 19th Centuries

badge an ornamental window or likeness of a win­dow decorated with marine figures near the stern of a sailing vessel.

barbarising swabbing a deck with sand and cleanser.

belay it much-used saying for "stop it" or "shut up."

bilboes iron bars on the deck to which prisoners were shackled on some warships.

blood money money paid to innkeepers or a board­ing house for finding men to fill vacancies on a ship's crew.

bluff bowed a vessel having a broad bow that pushes through the water instead of slicing through it.

broken backed a worn-out or structurally weak­ened vessel with a dropping bow and stern.

caboose a chimney housing in the cook's galley on a merchant ship. Also, the galley itself.

close quarters wooden barriers on a deck, behind which crew could fight off and shoot at enemy board­ers.

coach on a large man-of-war, a stern compartment used as captain's quarters.

cobbing disciplinary action practiced by the Brit­ish navy, specifically tying a man down on deck and spanking him with a board.

cockpit in a man-of-war, an emergency medical compartment under the lower gundeck.

cod's head and mackerel tail slang describing a vessel having a bluff bow and a narrow or tapering stern.

company the crew of a ship.

cuddy a cabin in the fore of a vessel.

cut of his jib sailor slang for the way a person char­acteristically looks or behaves.

dead door a wooden shutter sealing a window.

dog watch deck watch from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

ducking disciplinary action in which a man was dunked repeatedly in the sea while being hung from a yardarm, a practice abandoned at the end of the 17th century.

graveyard watch deck watch from midnight to 4 a.m.

grog rum diluted with water, a ration of the Royal Navy.

hardtack slang for ship's biscuits.

keel hauling disciplinary action in which a man was pulled underneath the keel of a ship by ropes from one side to another, a practice abandoned in the 19 th century.

lady's hole a small storage compartment.

lazarette a quarantine room for persons with con­tagious diseases. Also used as a holding room for troublemakers or as a storeroom.

magazine on a man-of-war, a storeroom for gun­powder and other explosives.

marry the gunner's daughter to be flogged on a Royal Navy vessel.

mess deck a deck on which the crew took its meals; also, a mess room.

monkey poop a low poop deck.

mustering calling a crew together for a drill or inspection.

piping the side sounding the boatswain's whistle as a salute to an arriving or departing officer of high rank.

portage seaman's wages for one voyage.