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.
powder room compartment where gunpowder was kept in bulk on a man-of-war.
ram bow on a man-of-war, a bow equipped with an iron or bronze projection used for ramming enemy vessels.
reefer a pea jacket worn by midshipmen. roundhouse a deckhouse aft of the main mast.
sailroom a compartment where sails were stored.
saloon on a merchant ship, the officers' mess. Also, a main passenger accommodation.
salt horse salt beef, a staple of seamen.
scrollhead ornamental scroll work at the stem of a ship instead of a figurehead.
scuppers channels cut through the sides of a ship to drain off deck water.
scuttle any small hatchway, usually fitted with a lid.
shanghai to kidnap a sailor from one vessel to enlist him to duty on another vessel, a practice in American ports in the 19 th century.
shanty song sung by crew to keep work in unison, especially when heaving ropes.
sick bay a medical compartment for persons with injuries or illnesses.
slop room compartment for storing extra clothes for crew.
slops extra clothes kept on board for new sailors too poor to have their own changes of clothes.
steerage accommodations forward of the main cabin.
tabernacle the three-sided square casing in which a mast is stepped and clamped.
ward-robe a fortified room where valuables taken from enemy vessels were stored.
whaleback slang for a vessel whose deck has a steep arching from middle to sides to drain off water.
Ships and Boats
(Also see submarines in military: navy and marines)
abeam at right angles to the keel. aft at, near, or toward the rear of the ship. air port porthole, for light and ventilation. aloft in the upper rigging above decks. amidships at or near the middle of a ship.
anchor, bower the main or largest anchor on a ship, carried in the bow.
anchor, kedge small anchor used for kedging or warping, freeing a vessel from shoals.
anchor, sea conical cloth bag dragged behind a vessel to reduce drift; also known as a drogue.
anchor, stream anchor about one-third the weight of a bower, used when mooring in narrow channels or in a harbor to prevent the vessel's stern from swinging.
argosy large merchant ship, or any fleet of merchant ships.
astern in the rear of a vessel.
auxiliaries collective term for the various motors, winches, pumps, and similar equipment on a vessel.