Talk:Glossary of nautical terms
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--Jack-Tar-- added but no link to 'square rigged' to avoid confusing an excellent article. The hyphen is problematic? Fenton Robb 10:49, 19 October 2005 (UTC)
Possibly controversially, but I don't think this article belongs in an encyclopedia at all. Most of the entries in this list are one or two word terms which would be better defined in the Wiktionary. We would probably eliminate the entries that just link to Wikipedia articles (if you want to know what a coxswain is, you're going to search for "coxswain", not look up "nautical terms", find this list, and then find the right entry in the list). This set of two edits would leave a few phrases forming a more reasonable list of nautical phrases. Thoughts? BruceRD 16:49, 23 Jan 2005 (UTC)
The singular title doesn't seem right to me, and I propose moving this page to "nautical terms".
I agree, and I think "List of nautical terms" would be even better. Lawrence Lavigne 12:21, Oct 20, 2004 (UTC)
Yaw contains a nautical term not listed here. If it is real, it should probably be cut and pasted in this glossary. — Itai (f&t) 14:46, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] Brass monkeys
The term "brass monkeys" has nothing to do with cannon balls, because:
1. No one has ever produced evidence of such a gadget. 2. A ship rolling in the seas is no place for a collection of cannon balls that can be dislodged according to this story. A wooden shot garland was in fact used for such a purpose, but provided a more effective mechanism. 3. The relative coefficients of expansion of iron and brass are such that it would require an extreme rise in temperature to achieve the effect referred to in this myth.
Though I share your skepticism, it wouldn't be the differences in coefficients of linear expansion that would be key here. It would, however, be the specific heats. The thin brass would assume the temperature of the ambient air much faster than the heavy cannon balls.--Z07 19:07, 23 May 2007 (UTC)
Having said that, I'm not sure how to handle this entry. To delete it would just invite some other ill-informed person to add it later. And a statement that it is a myth is probably not appropriate in such a list.
Source: http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.htm http://www.piratesinfo.com/mysql/phorum/read.php?7,58017
From Marty.
In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried cannons. Those cannon fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck?
The best storage method devised was a square based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of thirty cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon.
There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with sixteen round indentations. But, if this plate was made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys."
Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!"
Reference: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/brassmonkeys.htm
This is a hard one to believe. The ready shot on a ship was kept in garlands made of wood. Those few balls were kept clean and regularly coated with slush from the galley to prevent rust. It would be very foolish to carry an abundance of shot on the gun deck or the main deck. Aside from the obvious hazard to the crew that at rolling shot presents on deck, the weight is best carried low. Therefore, the majority of the shot carried in a warship was carryied below the waterline.
This picture of HMS Victory's hold describes how the balance of shot is carried. http://www.hms-victory.com/index.php?option=com_zoom&Itemid=59&page=view&catid=2&key=1&hit=1
This picture of HMS Victory's gun deck shows the ready shot in wooden garlands. http://www.hms-victory.com/index.php?option=com_zoom&Itemid=59&page=view&catid=2&key=8&hit=1
I suspect that if brass squares were ever used to hold shot in place it was done so in the field and for the very large siege guns not for field artillery. The siege train would un-limber in places where no permanent solution for storing the shot needed to breach a fortress existed.Z07 19:07, 23 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Brass Monkeys
Sorry - should have identified myself - --kwebb 05:26, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)
SOED 'monkey' - a kind of gun or cannon 1663. Might it have been made of brassFenton Robb 02:01, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Cut of his jib
Since ships are referred to as "her" and "she" the "his" in this phrase seems out of place. "Cut of her jib", when identifying a ship or its performance, would be more accurate.
"His" would refer to either the sailing master or the Captain of the vessel, if "cut of his jib" were being used literally. If it is being used figuratively then the gender of the person being described.
[edit] Abaft the beam
The way I understand it, this term is used for relative bearings of objects or features not on board, and does not refer to the after half of the ship. For example: "Tack when the buoy is a point abaft the beam." Not knowing for 100% sure, I won't just go and fix it... anybody? __ Just plain Bill 03:43, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
Four weeks later, no comment. Fixed it. __ Just plain Bill 23:46, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
I believe you are correct. This term can be found in rules of sailboat racing. Once another boat is no longer "abaft the beam", it is no longer considered the overtaking vessel but becomes the windward or leeward vessel and must obey the rules that apply to those positions.66.9.59.210 20:54, 2 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] An article about nautical terms
I logged on wikipedia tonight hoping for an article that would actually explain to me why nautical terms are so different from lubberly terms, and the general history and stuff like that. Am I overlooking this? --24.131.9.50 01:03, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
- See Jargon and Technical terminology --- Skapur
- Some speculation, original research and educated wild *ss*d guesses: Go back to the days when iron men sailed wooden ships. Take a look at HMS Victory or USS Constitution. Every single sail, spar, and line has a unique name. It has to. In a roaring storm at night, you can't point at "that sail" you want the sailors to loose before the ship capsizes. Sailors spent far more time at sea (years on end) than hanging out with lubbers, so some language drift seems inevitable (recall there was no radio, let alone satellite Internet and Wikipedia, on ships back then). They saw far more unique sights than lubbers, and probably got to name things they saw. They frequently went to sea at a very young age, so never aquired a lubberly vocabulary. They travelled to foreign lands so may have added foreign words. Take all that with an oceanful of salt. --J Clear 01:59, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Sailing re-organization effort
Take a minute to read the comments at Talk:Sailing#Re-write effort -- non how-to et seq. Some of us are working on re-organizing the sailing-related articles. See if you agree with our approach and give us some help. Mrees1997 20:43, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] 2007-02-1 Automated pywikipediabot message
--CopyToWiktionaryBot 05:19, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
- I do not like the threat of deletion of this article put up in the above template. This is done without any discussion arbitrarily by one editor. What does anything that happens in Automobiles have to do with Nautical terms???????--- Safemariner 12:42, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Fish
Doesn't the word "fish" as a noun also mean a torpedo? and, when its warhead is armed, the "fish" is "hot", and when its guidance system is fixed on its target, the "fish" is "locked" - yes? Or have I just been watching the wrong submarine movies? --Davecampbell 19:54, 19 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Devil seam?
The current definition needs some clarification. The hull planks closest to the waterline are hardly at right angles to each other, and no one seam necessarily stays at the waterline all along its run. "Little support in the direction of the compression" is more consistent with an earlier definiion of the seam, which stood for quite a while, and seems to call it the seam between the outermost deck plank and the hull, by the scuppers. Need knowledgeable opinions here... __Just plain Bill 12:06, 9 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Poppet?
I have just removed the following text from poppet-
In nautical terms it also means any of the vertical timbers bracing the bow or stern of a vessel about to be launched. a. A small wooden strip on a gunwale that forms or supports an oarlock. b. One of the beams of a launching cradle supporting a ship's hull.
It was unsourced, do with it what you will. J Milburn (talk) 20:17, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Scuttle?
This is described here as a small opening in a ship's deck or hull, but in Royal Navy parlance (at least) it specifically means a window - the naval equivalent of a porthole. --Vvmodel (talk) 17:39, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
