Chapter C: D, is the ring that supports the inner box (1)

E F, is the inner box, which contains the card and needle.

G H, one of its axes, by which it is suspended on the ring C D.

I, is a place cut out in the wood, serving as an handle.

The magnet or needle appears passing though the center, together with a small brace of ivory that confines the cap to its place.

The card is a single varnished paper, reaching as far as the outer circle of figures, which is a circle of thin brass; the edge whereof is turned down at right angles to the plane of the card, in order to stiffen it.

The compass is retained in the binacle at sea, as exhibited in plate I. fig. 6. For the other parts of the compass represented in the figure, see the article AZIMUTH.

COMPASSING, _devers_, a name given by shipwrights to such pieces of timber as are incurvated into the figure of an arch, whether circular, elliptical, or otherwise.

COMPTROLLER _of the navy_, one of the principal officers of the Navy-board, at which he presides, to direct the inferior and civil department of the marine, as the admiralty superintends the superior and military operations of it.

CONVOY, _conserve_, (_convoyer_, Fr.) a fleet or navy of merchant-ships bound on a voyage to some particular part or general rendezvous.

CONVOY also implies the ship or ships appointed to conduct and defend them on their passage thither.

CORDAGE, (_cordage_, Fr.) a general term for the running _rigging_ of a ship, or all that part of her rigging which is employed to extend, contract, or traverse the sails; or which lies in reserve to supply the place of such as may be rendered unserviceable. See the article RIGGING.

CORPORAL _of a ship of war_, an officer under the master at arms, employed to teach the sailors the exercise of small arms, or musketry; to attend at the gangway, or entering-ports, and observe that no spirituous liquors are brought into the ship, unless by particular leave from the officers. He is also to extinguish the fire and candles at eight o’clock in winter, and nine in summer, when the evening gun is fired; and to walk frequently down in the lower decks in his watch, to see that there are no lights but such as are under the charge of proper centinels.

CORPOSANT, _feu St. Elme_ (_corpo santo_, Ital.), a sort of volatile meteor, or _ignis fatuus_, often beheld in a dark and tempestuous night about the decks or rigging of a ship, but particularly at the extremities, as the mast-heads, and yard arms: it is most frequent in heavy rain, accompanied with lightning. “They usually wander with uncertain motion from place to place, sometimes appearing to cleave close to the sails and masts; but they frequently leap up and down with intermission, affording an obscure flame, like that of a candle burning faintly. They are produced by some sulphureous and bituminous matter, which being beat down by the motion of the air above, and gathering together, is kindled by the agitation of the air, as butter is gathered together by the agitation of the cream. And from this appearance we infer that storms come from sulphureous spirits that rarify the air, and put it into a motion.” _Varenius_.

CORSAIR, (_corsair_, Fr.) a name commonly given to the piratical cruisers of Barbary, who frequently plunder the merchant-ships of European nations with whom they are at peace.

COTT, a particular sort of bed-frame, suspended from the beams of a ship, for the officers to sleep in between the decks. This contrivance is much more convenient at sea than either the hammocks or fixed cabins, being a large piece of canvas sewed into the form of a chest, about six feet long, one foot deep, and from two to three feet wide: it is extended by a square wooden frame with a canvas bottom, equal to its length and breadth, to retain it in an horizontal position.

COVE, _anse_, a small creek or bay, where boats or little vessels may ride at anchor sheltered from the wind and sea.

COUNTER, _contre-arcasse_, an arch or vault whose upper-part is terminated by the bottom of the _stern_, and the lower part by the wing-transom and buttock, being expressed by the letters KG, in the elevation, plate I. as likewise by the same letters in fig. 1, plate X. and the figure referred to from the article QUARTER.

There is also another counter above, parallel to this, but not vaulted; it extends from the upper-part of the lower, or vaulted counter, to the moulding which terminates the windows of the cabin or ward-room below. This latter is usually called the upper or second counter.

COUNTER-BRACING. See this operation fully explained in the article TACKING.

COURSE, _route_, in navigation, the angle contained between the nearest meridian and that point of the compass upon which a ship sails in any particular direction.

COURSES, _pacfis_, a name by which the principal sails of a ship are usually distinguished, viz. the main-sail, fore-sail, and mizen: the mizen-stay-sail and fore-sail are also sometimes comprehended in this denomination, as are the main-stay-sails of all brigs and schooners. See the article SAIL.

CRAB, a sort of wooden pillar, whose lower end, being let down through a ship’s decks, rests upon a socket like the capstern; and having in its upper-end three or four holes, at different heights, thro’ the middle of it, above one another, into which long bars are thrust, whose length is nearly equal to the breadth of the deck. It is employed to wind in the cable, or to purchase any other weighty matter which requires a great mechanical power. This differs from a capstern, as not being furnished with a _drum-head_, and by having the bars to go intirely through it, reaching from one side of the deck to the other; whereas those of the capstern, which are superior in number, reach only about eight inches or a foot into the drum-head, according to the size thereof. This machine is represented in plate II. by fig. 10, and 13. See also CAPSTERN.

CRADLE, _slee_, a frame placed under the bottom of a ship, in order to conduct her smoothly and steddily into the water when she is to be lanched; at which time it supports her weight whilst she slides down the descent, or sloping passage called the _ways_, which are for this purpose daubed with soap and tallow. This frame is exhibited by fig. 23, plate II.

CRAFT, a general name for all sorts of vessels employed to load or discharge merchant-ships, or to carry along-side, or return the stores of men of war: such are lighters, hoys, barges, prames, &c. See those articles.

CRANK, _coté-foible_, the quality of a ship, which for want of a sufficient quantity of _ballast_ or cargo, is rendered incapable of carrying sail without being exposed to the danger of overturning. See the articles BALLAST and TRIM.

CRANK, is also an iron brace which supports the lanthorns on the poop-quarters, &c.

CRAWL, _bouchot_, a sort of pen, or place of confinement, formed by a barrier of stakes and hurdles on the sea-coast, to contain any sort of fish within it.

CREEPER, an instrument of iron resembling a grappling, having a _shank_ and four hooks or claws, fig. 24, plate II. It is used to throw into the bottom of any river or harbour, with a rope fastened to it, to hook and draw up any thing from the bottom which may have been lost.

CRINGLE, _ancet_, a small hole made in the _bolt-rope_ of a sail, by inter-twisting one of the divisions of a rope, called a _strand_, alternately round itself and through the _strands_ of the bolt-rope, till it becomes three-fold, and assumes the shape of a wreath or ring. See plate II. fig. 25, where a, b, represents part of the bolt-rope of a sail; and c, the cringle.

The use of the cringle is generally to contain the end of some rope, which is fastened thereto, for the purpose of drawing up the sail to its yard, or of extending the skirts by the means of _bridles_ to stand upon a side-wind. The word seems to be derived from _krinckelen_, (Belg.) to run into twists.

CROSS-JACK, pronounced _crojeck_, a sail extended on the lower yard of the _mizen_-mast, which is hence called the _cross-jack yard_, _vergue seche_. This sail, however, has generally been found of little service, and is therefore very seldom used.

CROSS PIECE, _rasteau_, a rail of timber extended over the _windlass_ of a merchant-ship from the knight-heads to the belfry. It is stuck full of wooden pins, which are used to fasten the running-rigging as occasion requires. See the article WINDLASS.

CROSS-TREES, _barres de hune_, certain pieces of timber supported by the _cheeks_ and tressel-trees, at the upper-ends of the lower-masts, athwart which they are laid, to sustain the frame of the _top_.

CROTCHES, _fourcats_, (_croccia_, Ital.) a name given to those crooked timbers that are placed upon the keel in the fore and hind-parts of a ship, upon which the frame of her hull grows narrower below, as it approaches the stern afore, and the stern-post abaft.

CROTCHES, _cornes_, are also certain pieces of wood or iron, whose upper part opens into two horns or arms, like a half-moon. They are fixed in different places of the ship, according to the uses for which they may be designed, which is usually to support the spare-masts, yards, &c. The iron crotches are exhibited in plate II. fig. 26.

CROW, an iron lever well known in mechanics, and furnished with a sharp point at one end, and two claws at the other, as appears in fig. 27, plate II.

This instrument is used for various purposes, by shipwrights and mariners; as to remove pieces of timber, and other weighty bodies; and to draw spike-nails, &c. as well as to manage the great guns, by moving them into their ports, levelling or pointing them to a particular object.

_To_ CROWD, _forcer de voiles_, (_cruth_, Sax.) to carry an extraordinary force of sail upon a ship, in order to accelerate her course on some important occasion, as in pursuit of, or flight from, an enemy; to escape any immediate danger, &c.

CROW-FOOT, _trelingage_, a complication of small cords spreading out from a long block, like the smaller parts which extend from the back-bone of a herring. See plate II. fig. 27. It is used to suspend the _awnings_; or to keep the _top-sails_ from striking violently and fretting against the edges of the tops.

CROWNING, the finishing part of a knot made on the end of a rope. It is performed by interweaving the ends of the different brands artfully amongst each other, so as that they may not become loosened or untwisted. The design of these knots is to keep the end of the rope fast in some place assigned for it: they are more particularly useful in all kinds of stoppers.

CRUISE, _campaigne_ (_croiser_, Fr.), a voyage or expedition in quest of vessels or fleets of the enemy, which may be expected to sail through any particular tract of the sea at a certain season of the year. The region in which these cruises are performed, is usually termed the rendezvous or cruising-latitude. When the ships employed for this purpose, which are accordingly called cruisers, have arrived at their destined station, they traverse the sea backward and forward, under an easy sail, and within a limited space, conjectured to be nearly in the tract of their expected adversaries.

CUDDY, _coqueron_, a sort of cabin, or cook-room, in the fore-part, or near the stern, of a lighter or barge of burden.

CUNNING, _faire gouverner_, the art of directing the steersman to guide the ship in her proper course: the officer who performs this duty is either the pilot or quarter-master.

CURRENT, in navigation, _courans_, (_currens_, Lat.) a certain progressive movement of the water of the sea, by which all bodies floating therein are compelled to alter their course, or velocity, or both, and submit to the laws imposed on them by the current.

In the sea, currents are either natural and general, as arising from the diurnal rotation of the earth about its axis; or accidental and particular, caused by the waters being driven against promontories, or into gulfs and streights; where, wanting room to spread, they are driven back, and thus disturb the ordinary flux of the sea.

“Currents are various, and directed towards different parts of the ocean, of which some are constant, and others periodical. The most extraordinary current of the sea is that by which part of the Atlantic or African ocean moves about Guinea from Cape Verd towards the curvature or bay of Africa, which they call Fernando Poo, viz. from west to east, contrary to the general motion. And such is the force of this current, that when ships approach too near the shore, it carries them violently towards that bay, and deceives the mariners in their reckoning.

“There is a great variety of shifting currents, which do not last, but return at certain periods; and these do, most of them, depend upon, and follow the anniversary winds or monsoons, which by blowing in one place may cause a current in another[8].” _Varenius._

In the streights of Gibraltar the currents almost constantly drive to the eastward, and carry ships into the Mediterranean: they are also found to drive the same way into St. George’s-channel.

The setting, or progressive motion of the current, may be either quite down to the bottom, or to a certain determinate depth.

As the knowledge of the direction and velocity of currents is a very material article in navigation, it is highly necessary to discover both, in order to ascertain the ship’s situation and course with as much accuracy as possible. The most successful method which has been hitherto attempted by mariners for this purpose, is as follows. A common iron pot, which may contain four or five gallons, is suspended by a small rope fastened to its ears or handles, so as to hang directly upright, as when placed upon the fire. This rope, which may be from 70 to 100 fathoms in length, being prepared for the experiment, is coiled in the boat, which is hoisted out of the ship at a proper opportunity, when there is little or no wind to ruffle the surface of the sea. The pot being then thrown overboard into the water, and immediately sinking, the line is slackened till about seventy or eighty fathoms run out, after which the line is fastened to the boat’s stem, by which she is accordingly restrained, and rides as at anchor. The velocity of the current is then easily tried by the _log_ and half-minute glass, the usual method of discovering the rate of a ship’s sailing at sea. The course of the stream is next obtained by means of the compass provided for this operation.

Having thus found the setting and drift of the current, it remains to apply this experiment to the purposes of navigation. If the ship sails along the direction of the current, then the motion of the ship is increased by as much as is the drift or velocity of the current.

If a current sets directly against the ship’s course, then her motion is retarded in proportion to the strength of the current. Hence it is plain,

1. If the velocity of the current be less than that of the ship, then the ship will advance so much as is the difference of these velocities.

2. If the velocity of the current be more than that of the ship, then will the ship fall as much _astern_ as is the difference of these velocities.

3. If the velocity of the current be equal to that of the ship, then will the ship stand still, the one velocity destroying the other.

If the current thwarts the course of a ship, it not only diminishes or increases her velocity, but gives her a new direction, compounded of the course she steers, and the setting of the current, as appears by the following

LEMMA.

If a body at A be impelled by two forces at the same time, the one in the direction A B, carrying it from A to B in a certain space of time, and the other in the direction A D, pushing it from A to D in the same time; complete the parallelogram ABCD, and draw the diagonal A C: then the body at A, (which let us suppose a ship agitated by the wind and current; A B, being the line along which she advances as impressed by the wind, and A D the line upon which she is driven by the current) will move along the diagonal A C, and will be in the point C, at the end of the time in which it would have moved along A D or AB, as impelled by either of those forces (the wind or current) separately.

CUTTER, _bateau_, a small vessel commonly navigated in the channel of England; it is furnished with one mast, and rigged as a _sloop_.

Many of these vessels are used on an illicit trade, and others employed by the government to seize them; the latter of which are either under the direction of the Admiralty or Custom-house. See a representation of a cutter of this sort in the plate referred to from the article VESSEL.

CUTTER is also a small boat used by ships of war. See BOAT.

CUTTING-DOWN LINE, a curved line used by shipwrights in the delineation of ships: it determines the thickness of all the floor timbers, and likewise the height of the _dead-wood_, _afore_ and _abaft_. It is limited in the middle of the ship by the thickness of the floor-timber, and abaft by the breadth of the _kelson_; and must be carried up so high upon the stem, as to leave sufficient substance for the breeches of the rising timbers. _Murray’s Ship-building._

CUT-WATER, the foremost part of a ship’s prow, formed of an assemblage of several pieces of timber, to render it broad at the upper-part, where it projects forward from the stem to open the column of water as the ship sails along, and also to make her keep to windward better, when she is close-hauled. It is otherwise called the knee of the head. See the article STEM; as also the several parts of it represented in plate I. PIECES _of the_ HULL.

D.

Davit, _minot_, a long beam of timber, represented by a, a, plate II. fig. 28, and used as a crane, whereby to hoist the flukes of the anchor to the top of the _bow_, without injuring the planks of the ship’s side as it ascends; an operation which by mariners is called fishing the anchor. The anchors being situated on both the bows, the davit may be occasionally shifted so as to project over either side of the ship, according to the position of that anchor on which it is to be employed. The inner-end of the davit is secured by being thrust into a square ring of iron b, which is bolted to the deck, and fore-locked under the beams. This ring, which is called the span-shackle, exhibited at large by fig. 34, is fixed exactly in the middle of the deck, and close behind the fore-mast. Upon the outer-end of the davit is hung a large block c, through which a strong rope traverses, called the fish-pendant d, to whose foremost end is fitted a large iron hook e, and to its after end a tackle or complication of pullies f, the former of which is called the fish-hook, and the latter the fish-tackle.

The davit therefore, according to the sea-phrase, is employed to _fish the anchor_, which being previously _catted_, the fish-hook is fastened upon its flukes; and the effort of the tackle, being transmitted to the hook by means of the fish-pendant, draws up that part of the anchor sufficiently high upon the bow to fasten it, which is done by the _Shank-painter_. See that article.

There is also a davit of a smaller kind, occasionally fixed in the longboat, and employed to weigh the anchor therein.

DAY’S-WORK, _cinglage_, the reckoning or account of the ship’s course, during twenty-four hours, or between noon and noon, according to the rules of trigonometry. See DEAD-RECKONING.

DEAD-EYE, _cap de mouton_, a sort of round, flattish, wooden block, see fig. 30, plate II. It is usually encircled with the end of a rope, or with an iron band, fig. 31, _b_, and pierced with three holes through the flat, in order to receive the rope called a _laniard c_, which corresponding with three holes in another dead-eye _a_, creates a purchase employed for various uses, but chiefly to extend the _shrouds_ and _stays_, otherwise called the standing-rigging.

In order to form this purchase, one of the dead-eyes is fastened in the lower-end of each shroud, and the opposite one in the upper-link of each _chain_ on the ship’s side, which is made round to receive and encompass the hollowed outer-edge of the dead-eye. After this the laniard is passed alternately through the holes in the upper and lower dead-eyes till it becomes six-fold; and is then drawn tight by the application of mechanical powers. The general disposition of the dead eyes in their channels is represented in the Elevation, plate I. In merchant-ships they are generally fitted with iron plates in the room of chains. These last are exhibited in fig. 16, plate II.

The dead-eyes used for the stays, _moques_, have only one hole, which, however, is large enough to receive ten or twelve turns of the laniard: these are generally termed _hearts_, and are expressed by fig. 32.

There are also dead-eyes of another form, employed for the _crow-feet_, _moques de trelingage_. These are long cylindrical blocks, fig. 33, with a number of small holes in them, to receive the legs or lines of which the crow-foot, fig. 28, is composed.

DEAD-LIGHTS, certain wooden ports which are made to fasten into the cabin-windows, to prevent the waves from gushing into the ship in a high sea. As they are made exactly to fit the windows, and are strong enough to resist the waves, they are always fixed in, on the approach of a storm, and the glass frames taken out, which might other wise be shattered to pieces by the surges, and suffer great quantities of water to enter the vessel.

DEAD-RECKONING, in navigation, _estime_, the judgment or estimation which is made of the place where a ship is situated, without any observation of the heavenly bodies. It is discovered by keeping an account of the distance she has run by the _log_, and of her course steered by the _compass_; and by rectifying these data by the usual allowances for _drift_, _lee-way_, &c. according to the ship’s known trim. This reckoning, however, is always to be corrected, as often as any good observation of the sun can be obtained.

DEAD-RISING, or RISING-LINE _of the floor_, _fleurs_, those parts of a ship’s floor, or bottom, throughout her whole length, where the floor-timber is terminated upon the lower futtock. See the article NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.

DEAD-WATER, _remoux_ the eddy of water which appears like little whirl-pools, closing in with the ship’s stern as she sails through it.

DEAD-WOOD, _contre-quille_, a name given by shipwrights to certain blocks of timber laid upon the keel, particularly at the extremities afore and abaft, where these pieces are placed one upon another to a considerable height, because the ship is there so narrow as not to admit of the two half timbers, which are therefore scored into this dead wood, where the angle of the floor-timbers gradually diminishes, as approaching the stem and stern-post. See the article NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.

In the fore-part of the ship, the dead-wood generally extends from the stemson, upon which it is scarfed to the loof-frame; and in the after-end from the stern-post, where it is confined by the knee, to the after-ballance-frame. It is connected to the keel by strong spike-nails. Those pieces are represented by e e, PIECES _of the_ HULL, plate I.

The dead-wood afore and abaft is equal in depth to two-thirds of the depth of the keel, and as broad as can be procured, so as not to exceed the breadth of the keel.

DEAD-WORK, all that part of a ship which is above water when she is laden. See the article UPPER-WORK.

DECKS, _ponts_, (_decken_, Dan. to cover) the planked floors of a ship, which connect the sides together, and serve as different platforms to support the artillery, and lodge the men, as also to preserve the cargo from the sea in merchant-vessels.

As all ships are broader at the lower-deck than on the next above it, and as the cannon thereof are always heaviest, it is necessary that the frame of it should be much stronger than that of the others; and, for the same reason, the second or middle deck ought to be stronger than the upper deck, or forecastle.

Ships of the first and second rates are furnished with three whole decks, reaching from the stem to the stern, besides a forecastle and a quarterdeck, which extends from the stern to the main-mast, between which and the fore-castle, a vacancy is left in the middle, opening to the upper-deck, and forming what is called the _waist_. There is yet another deck above the hinder or aftmost part of the quarter-deck, called the poop, which also serves as a roof for the captain’s cabin or couch.

The inferior ships of the line of battle are equipped with two decks and a half, and frigates, sloops, &c. with one gun-deck and a half, with a spar deck below to lodge the crew.

The decks are formed and sustained by the beams, the clamps, the water-ways, the carlings, the ledges, the knees, and two rows of small pillars, called stanchions, &c. See those articles.

That the figure of a deck, together with its corresponding parts, may be more clearly understood, we have exhibited a plan of the lower-deck of a 74 gun-ship in plate III. And as both sides of the deck are exactly similar, the pieces by which it is supported appear on one side, and on the other side the planks or floor of which it is composed, as laid up on those pieces.

EXPLANATION of the figures represented in the Deck, plate III.

A, the principal, or main hatch-way.

B, the stern-post.

C, the stem.

D, the beams, composed of three pieces, as exhibited by D, in one of which the dotted lines shew the arrangement of one of the beams under the other side of the deck.

E, part of the vertical or hanging knees. See also _e_, fig. 16, in the same plate.

PLATE III. _To Face DECK._
]

F, the horizontal or lodging knees, which fasten the beams to the sides.

G, the carlings, ranging fore and aft, from one beam to another.

H, the gun-ports.

I, the pump-dales, being large wooden tubes which return the water from the pumps into the sea.

K, the spurs of the beams; being curved pieces of timber serving as half-beams to support the decks, where a whole beam cannot be placed on account of the hatch-ways.

L, the deck-transom, which is bolted by the middle to the stern-post, and whose ends rest upon the fashion-pieces.

M, the bulk-head or partition, which encloses the manger, and prevents the water which enters at the hause-holes from running aft between decks.

N N, the fore hatch-way.

O O, the after hatch-way.

P, the drum-head of the gear cap-stern.

P p, the drum-head of the main capstern.

Q, one of the lower transom-knees.

R, one of the breast-hooks under the gun-deck.

S, the breast-hook of the gun-deck.

T T, the station of the chain-pumps.

V, the breadth and thickness of the timbers at the height of the gun-deck.

U U, scuttles leading to the gunner’s store-room, and bread-room.

W, the station of the fore-mast.

X, the station of the main-mast.

Y, the station of the mizen-mast.

Z, the ring-bolts of the decks, used to retain the cannon whilst charging.

a, a, the ring-bolts of the sides, whereon the tackles are hooked that secure the cannon at sea.

c a a d, the water-ways, through which the scupper-holes are pierced, to carry the water off from the deck into the sea.

b, b, plan of the foremost and aftmost cable-bits, with their crosspieces g, g, and their standards e, e.

Thus we have represented on one side, all the pieces which sustain the deck with its cannon; and on the other side, the deck itself, with a tier of 32 pounders planted in battery thereon. In order also to shew the use of the breeching and train-tackle, one of the guns is drawn in as ready for charging. See the articles BREECHING and CANNON.

The number of beams, by which the decks of ships are supported, is often very different, according to the practice of different countries; the strength of the timber of which the beams are framed; and the services for which the ship is calculated.

As the deck which contains the train of a fire-ship is furnished with an equipage peculiar to itself, the whole apparatus is particularly described in the article FIRE-SHIP.

_Flush_-DECK, or DECK-_Flush fore and aft_, implies a continued floor laid from stem to stern, upon one line, without any steps or intervals.

_Half_-DECK, _corps de garde_, a space under the quarter-deck of a ship of war, contained between the foremost bulk-head of the _steerage_, and the fore-part of the quarter-deck.

In the colliers of Northumberland the steerage itself is called the half-deck, and is usually the habitation of the ship’s crew.

DECOY, a stratagem employed by a small ship of war to betray a vessel of inferior force into an incautious pursuit, till she has drawn her within the range of her cannon, or what is called within gun-shot.

It is usually performed by painting the stern and sides in such a manner as to disguise the ship, and represent her either much smaller, and of inferior force, or as a friend to the hostile vessel, which she endeavours to ensnare, by assuming the emblems and ornaments of the nation to which the stranger is supposed to belong. When she has thus provoked the adversary to chase, in hope of acquiring a prize, she continues the decoy by spreading a great sail, as endeavouring to escape, at the same time that her course is considerably retarded by an artful alteration, of her _trim_ till the enemy approaches.

Decoying is also performed to elude the chace of a ship of superior force in a dark night, by throwing out a lighted cask of pitch into the sea, which will burn for a considerable time, and misguide the enemy. Immediately after the cask is thrown out, the ship changes her course, and may easily escape if at any tolerable distance from the foe.

DEEP-WAISTED, _encastillé_, the distinguishing fabric of a ship’s decks, when the quarter-deck and fore-castle are elevated from four to six feet above the level of the upper-deck, so as to leave a vacant space, called the waiste, on the middle of the upper-deck. See the article WAISTE.

DEMURRAGE, an allowance given to the commander of a trading ship by the merchants, for having detained him longer in port than the time previously appointed for his departure.

DEPARTURE, in navigation, the distance between any two places lying on the same parallel, counted in miles of the equator; or the distance of one place from the meridian of another, counted on the parallel passing over that place. See NAVIGATION.

DEPTH _of a sail_, _chute_, the extent of any square or oblong sail from the head-rope to the foot-rope; or the length of the after-leech of any boom-sail or stay-sail. See the article SAIL.

DETACHMENT _of a fleet or squadron_, a certain number of ships chosen by an admiral or commodore from the rest of the fleet, charged to execute some particular service.

DIFFERENCE _of latitude_, in navigation, the difference between any two places lying on the same meridian; or the distance between the parallels of latitude of any two places, expressed in miles of the equator.

DINNAGE, see the article DUNNAGE.

DISABLED, _desemparé_, the state of a ship when, by the loss of her masts, sails, yards, or rigging; by springing a leak, or receiving some fracture in her hull, or other disaster; she is rendered incapable of prosecuting her voyage without great difficulty and danger.

_To_ DISCHARGE, (_decharger_, Fr.) when applied to a ship, signifies to unlade her, or take out her stores, ammunition, artillery, &c. When expressed of the officers or crew, it implies to disband them from immediate service.

DISMASTED, _dematé_, the state of a ship which has lost her masts by boisterous weather, engagement, or other misfortune.

DIVISION, a select number of ships in a fleet or squadron of men of war, distinguished by a particular flag or pendant, and usually commanded by a general officer. A squadron is commonly ranged into three divisions, the commanding officer of which is always stationed in the center.

When a fleet consists of sixty sail of the _line_, that is, of ships having at least sixty cannon, the admiral divides it into three squadrons, each of which has its divisions and commanding officers. Each squadron has its proper colours, according to the rank of the admiral who commands it, and every division its proper mast. Thus, the white flag denotes the first squadron of France; the white and blue the second, and the third is characterised by the blue. In England, the first admiral, or the admiral of the fleet, displays the union flag at the main-top-mast-head; next follows the white flag with St. George’s cross; and afterwards the blue. The private ships carry pendants of the same colour with their respective squadron, at the masts of their particular divisions; so that the last ship in the division of the blue squadron carries a blue pendant at her mizen-top-mast-head.

DOCK, _forme_, (imagined of δοχεῖον) a sort of broad and deep trench, formed on the side of a harbour, or on the banks of a river; and commodiously fitted either to build ships, or receive them to be repaired and _breamed_ therein. These sorts of docks have generally strong flood-gates, to prevent the flux of the tide from entering the dock while the ship is under repair.

There are likewise docks of another kind, called wet-docks, where a ship can only be cleaned during the recess of the tide, or in the interval between the time when the tide left her dry a-ground, and the period when it again reaches her by the return of the flood. Docks of the latter kind are not furnished with the usual flood-gates.

DOCKING _a ship_, the act of drawing her into the dock, in order to give her a proper repair, and cleanse the bottom, and cover it anew with a preparation of stuff, as explained in the article BREAMING.

DOCK-YARDS, _arcenaux_, certain magazines containing all sorts of naval stores, and timber for ship-building. In England, the royal dock-yards are at Chatham, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Deptford, Woolwich, and Sheerness. His majesty’s ships and vessels of war are generally moored at these ports, during the time of peace; and such as want repairing are taken into the docks, examined, and refitted for service. See the article REPAIR.

The principal dock-yards are governed by a commissioner, resident at the port, who superintends all the musters of the officers, artificers, and labourers, employed in the dock-yard, and ordinary. He also controls their payment therein; examines the accounts; contracts, and draws bills on the Navy-office to supply the deficiency of stores; and, finally, regulates whatever belongs to the dock-yard, maintaining due order in the respective offices.

These yards are generally supplied from the northern crowns with hemp, pitch, tar, rosin, canvas, oak plank, and several other species. With regard to the masts, particularly those of the largest size, they are usually imported from New-England.

DOG, a sort of iron hook, or bar, with a sharp fang at one end, so formed as to be easily driven into a plank: it is used to drag along the planks of oak when they are let into a hole under the stern of a ship, to be stowed in the _hold_. For this purpose there is a rope fastened to the end of the dog, upon which several men pull, to draw the plank towards the place where it is to be stowed. It is also used for the same purpose in unlading the ship.

DOGGER, _dogre-bot_, a Dutch fishing-vessel navigated in the German ocean. It is generally employed in the herring fishery, being equipped with two masts, viz. a main-mast and a mizen-mast, and somewhat resembling _a ketch_.

DOLPHIN _of the mast_ a peculiar kind of wreath, formed of platted cordage, to be fastened occasionally round the masts, as a support to the _puddening_, whose use is to sustain the weight of the fore and main-yards, in case the rigging, or chains, by which those yards are suspended, should be shot away in the time of battle; a circumstance which might render their sails useless at a season when their assistance is extremely necessary. See the article PUDDENING.

DOUBLING, in navigation, (_doubler_, Fr.) the act of sailing round, or passing beyond a cape or promontory, so as that the cape or point of land separates the ship from her former situation, or lies between her and any distant observer.

DOUBLING-NAILS, amongst shipwrights, the nails commonly used to fasten the lining of the gun-ports, &c.

DOUBLING-UPON, in a naval engagement, the act of enclosing any part of a hostile fleet between two fires, or of cannonading it on both sides.

It is usually performed by the van or rear of that fleet which is superior in number, taking the advantage of the wind, or of its situation and circumstances, and tacking or veering round the van or rear of the enemy, who will thereby be exposed to great danger, and can scarcely avoid being thrown into a general confusion.

_To_ DOUSE, _molir_, to lower suddenly or slacken: expressed of a sail in a squall of wind, an extended hawser, &c.

DOWN-HAWL, _calebas_, a rope passing up along a stay through the rings of the stay-sail, and tied to the upper-corner of the sail, to pull it down, when they are _shortening_ sail.

DOWN-HAUL-TACKLE, a complication of pullies, employed to pull down the main or fore-yard in a tempest, in order to reef the sail. It is used at this time, because the violence of the wind prevents the weight of the yard from having its natural effect, of descending, when the ropes by which it is suspended are slackened.

DRABLER, an additional part of a sail, sometimes laced to the bottom of the _bonnet_ of a _square-sail_, in sloops and schooners.

DRAG, a machine consisting of a sharp square iron ring encircled with a net, and commonly used to rake the mud off from the platform or bottom of the docks. See plate II. fig. 35.

DRAGGING _the anchor_, the act of trailing it along the bottom, after it is loosened from the ground, by the effort of the wind or current upon the ship, communicated to the cable. See the article ANCHOR.

DRAUGHT, the depth of a body of water necessary to float a ship; hence a ship is said to draw so many feet of water, when she is borne up by a column of water of that particular depth. Thus, if it requires a body of water whose depth is equal to twelve feet, to float or buoy up a ship on its surface, she is said to draw twelve feet water; and that this draught may be more readily known, the feet are marked on the stem and stern-post, regularly from the keel upwards.

DRESSING, (_faire la parade_), the act of ornamenting a ship with a variety of colours; as ensigns, flags, pendants, &c. displayed from different parts of her masts and rigging on a day of festivity.

DRIFT, in navigation, _derive_ (from _drive_), the angle which the line of a ship’s motion makes with the nearest meridian, when she drives with her side to the wind and waves, and is not governed by the power of the helm: it also implies the distance which the ship drives on that line.

A ship’s way is only called drift in a storm; and then, when it blows so vehemently, as to prevent her from carrying any sail, or at least restrains her to such a portion of sail as may be necessary to keep her sufficiently inclined to one side, that she may not be dismasted by her violent labouring produced by the turbulence of the sea.

DRIVER, an oblong sail, occasionally hoisted to the mizen-peak, when the wind is very fair. The lower corners of it are extended by a _boom_ or pole, which is thrust out across the ship, and projects over the lee-quarter.

DRIVING, _abattre_ (_drifan_, Sax.) the state of being carried at random along the surface of the water, as impelled by a storm, or impetuous current: it is generally expressed of a ship when, accidentally, broke loose from her anchors or moorings.

DROP, _etarcure_, a name sometimes given to the depth of the principal sails; as, her main-top-sail _drops_ seventeen yards.

DUCKING, a sort of marine punishment inflicted by the French on those who have been convicted of desertion, blasphemy, or exciting sedition. It is performed as follows: the criminal is placed astride of a short thick batten, fastened to the end of a rope, which passes thro’ a block hanging at one of the yard-arms. Thus fixed, he is hoisted suddenly up to the yard, and the rope being slackened at once, he is plunged into the sea. This chastisement is repeated several times, conformable to the purport of the sentence pronounced against the culprit, who has at that time several cannon-shot fastened to his feet during the punishment, which is rendered public by the firing of a gun, to advertise the other ships of the fleet thereof, that their crews may become spectators. _Aubin._

DUCKING, is also a penalty which veteran sailors pretend to inflict on those, who, for the first time, pass the tropic of Cancer, the Equator, or the streights of Gibraltar, in consequence of their refusal or incapacity to pay the usual fine levied on this occasion, which would redeem them from the said penalty.

DUNNAGE, _fardage_, a quantity of faggots, boughs of trees, or other loose wood, laid in the bottom of a ship, either to raise the heavy goods which might make her too stiff, or to keep the cargo sufficiently above the bottom, that it may sustain no damage from the water, if the ship should prove leaky.

E.

EARINGS, _rabans_, certain small cords employed to fasten the upper corners of a sail to its respective yard; for which purpose one end of the earing is spliced to the _cringle_, fixed in that part of the sail; and the other end of it is passed six or seven times round the yard-arm and through the cringle, thereby fastening the latter to the former. Two of the turns are intended to stretch the upper-edge of the sail tight along the yard; and the rest to draw it close up to it. The former are therefore called _outer_, and the latter _inner_ turns, as being passed without, or within the rigging, on the yard-arms.

EASE _the ship_! the command given by the pilot to the steersman, to put the helm close to the lee-side, or, in the sea-phrase, _hard-a-lee_, when the ship is expected to _pitch_ or plunge her fore-part deep in the water, while close-hauled. The reason usually given for this practice is, that the sudden movement of the helm prevents the ship’s head from falling with so much weight and rapidity into the hollow of the sea, as it would do otherwise: which is presuming that the flow, and uncertain effect of the helm is sufficient to retard the certain and violent action of gravity: a position that necessarily infers a very singular theory of mechanics. We shall not endeavour to advance any argument in favour of this practice; only to remark, that it is most religiously observed, both in merchant-ships and his majesty’s navy.

_To_ EASE _off_, or EASE _away_, _molir_, _filer_, to slacken gradually any single rope, or complication of ropes, formed into a tackle.

EBB, _jussant_, the reflux of the tide, or the return of it into the sea after the highest of the flood, usually termed full-sea, or high-water.

EDDY, _remoux_, (_ed_, backward, again, and _ea_, water, Sax.) the water that, by some interruption in its course, runs contrary to the direction of any river, or current, and appears like the motion of a whirlpool.

_To_ EDGE _away_, in navigation, _abattre_, to decline gradually from the shore, or from the line of the course which the ship formerly steered: it is particularly applied when a ship changes her course, by sailing nearer the direction of the wind; or, in the lea-language, by sailing _larger_, or more _afore_ the wind, than she had done before that operation.

ELBOW _in the hause_, a particular twist in the cables by which a ship rides at anchor. In this situation each of the cables, after crossing the other before the stem, is directed outwards on the same _bow_ from which it issued: that is to say, the starboard cable _grows_ out on the starboard bow, and the larboard cable on the larboard bow, as exhibited in fig. 36, plate II. where a expresses the fore-castle, b the stem, c c the larboard cable, and d d the starboard one. See the article HAWSE.

EMBARGO, in commerce, _arret_ (_embargar_, Span.), an arrest laid on ships or merchandise by public authority, or a prohibition of state, commonly issued on foreign ships, to prevent their putting to sea in time of war; and sometimes to prevent their coming in, and otherwise both to prevent their entrance and departure.

EMBAYED, _encapé_, (from _bay_,) the situation of a ship when she is inclosed between two capes or promontories. It is particularly applied when the wind, by blowing strongly into any bay or gulf, makes it extremely difficult, and perhaps impracticable, for the vessel thus enclosed, to _claw_ off from the shore, so as to weather the capes and arrive into the offing.

ENGAGEMENT, in a naval sense, implies a particular or general battle at sea; or an action of hostility between single ships, or _detachments_, or _squadrons_ of men of war.

In order to have a clearer idea of this article, it will, therefore, be necessary that the reader who is little acquainted with the subject, should previously refer to the explanation of those terms, as also to the articles CANNON, DIVISION, EXERCISE, FLEET, and LINE _of_ BATTLE.

The sea-fights of the ancients were usually carried on in two different manners. Advanced by the force of their oars, the gallies ran violently _aboard_ of each other, and by the mutual encounter of their beaks and prows, and sometimes of their sterns, endeavoured to dash in pieces, or sink their enemies.

The prow, for this purpose, was commonly armed with a brazen point or trident, nearly as low as the surface of the sea, in order to pierce the enemy’s ships under the water. Some of the gallies were furnished with large turrets, and other accessions of building, either for attack or defence. The soldiers also annoyed their enemies with darts and slings, and, on their nearer approach, with swords and javelins; and, in order that their missive weapons might be directed with greater force and certainty, the ships were equipped with several platforms, or elevations above the level of the deck[9]. The sides of the ship were fortified with a thick fence of hides, which served to repel the darts of their adversaries, and to cover their own soldiers, who thereby annoyed the enemy with greater security.

As the invention of gun-powder has rendered useless many of the machines employed in the naval wars of the ancients, the great distance of time has also consigned many of them to oblivion: some few are, nevertheless, recorded in ancient authors, of which we shall endeavour to present a short description. And first,

The Δελφιν was a large and massy piece of lead or iron, cast in the form of a dolphin. This machine being suspended by blocks at their mast-heads or yard-arms, ready for a proper occasion, was let down violently from thence into the adverse ships, and either penetrated through their bottom, and opened a passage for the entering waters, or by its weight immediately sunk the vessel.

The Δρήπαναν an engine of iron crooked like a sickle, and fixed on the top of a long pole. It was employed to cut asunder the _slings_ of the sail-yards, and, thereby letting the sails fall down, to disable the vessel from escaping, and incommode her greatly during the action. Similar to this was another instrument, armed at the head with a broad two-edged blade of iron, wherewith they usually cut away the ropes that fastened the rudder to the vessel[10].

Δόρατα ναύμαχα, a sort of spears or maces of an extraordinary length, sometimes exceeding twenty cubits, as appears by the 15th Iliad of Homer[11], by whom they are also called μακρὰ.

Κιραῖαι were certain machines used to throw large stones into the enemies ships.

Vegetius mentions another engine, which was suspended to the main-mast, and resembled a battering-ram: for it consisted of a long beam, and an head of iron, and was, with great violence, pushed against the sides of the enemies gallies.

They had also a grappling-iron, which was usually thrown into the adverse ship by means of an engine: this instrument facilitated the entrance of the soldiers appointed to _board_, which was done by means of wooden bridges, that were generally kept ready for this purpose in the fore-part of the vessel[12].