Chapter C: Y. The projection of the knee of the head (2)

The barges are next in order, which are longer, slighter, and narrower: they are employed to carry the principal sea-officers, as admirals, and captains of ships of war, and are very unfit for sea. See the article BARGE.

Pinnaces exactly resemble barges, only that they are somewhat smaller, and never row more than eight oars; whereas a barge properly never rows less than ten. These are for the accommodation of the lieutenants, &c.

Cutters of a ship, _bateaux_, are broader, deeper, and shorter than the barges and pinnaces; they are fitter for sailing, and are commonly employed in carrying stores, provisions, passengers, &c. to and from the ship. In the structure of this sort of boats, the lower-edge of every plank in the side over-lays the upper-edge of the plank below, which is called by shipwrights clinch-work.

Yawls, _canots_, are something less than cutters, nearly of the same form, and used for similar services; they are generally rowed with six oars.

The above boats more particularly belong to men of war; as merchant-ships seldom have more than two, viz. a long-boat and yawl: when they have a third, it is generally calculated for the countries to which they trade, and varies in its construction accordingly.

Merchant-ships employed in the Mediterranean find it more convenient to use a lanch, which is longer, more flat-bottomed, and better adapted every way to the harbours of that sea than a long-boat. See LANCH.

A wherry, _diligence_, is a light sharp boat, used in a river or harbour for carrying passengers from place to place.

Punts, _flette_, are a sort of oblong flat-bottomed boats, nearly resembling floating stages; they are used by shipwrights and caulkers, for breaming, caulking, or repairing a ship’s bottom.

A moses is a very flat broad boat, used by merchant-ships amongst the Caribbee-islands, to bring hogsheads of sugar off from the sea-beach to the shipping which are anchored in the roads.

A felucca is a strong passage-boat used in the Mediterranean, from ten to sixteen banks of oars. The natives of Barbary often employ boats of this sort as cruisers.

For the larger sort of boats, see the articles CRAFT, CUTTER, PERIAGUA, and SHALLOP.

Of all the small boats, a Norway yawl seems to be the best calculated for a high sea, as it will often venture out to a great distance from the coast of that country, when a stout ship can hardly carry any sail.

_Trim the_ BOAT! _barque-droit!_ the order to sit in the boat in such a manner as that she shall float upright in the water, without leaning to either side.

_To bale the_ BOAT, is to throw out the water which remains in her bottom or the well-room.

_Moor the_ BOAT! the order to fasten a boat with two ropes, so as that the one shall counter-act the other.

For a representation of some of the principal boats of a ship of war, see plate III. where fig. 1. exhibits the elevation, or side view, of a ten-oared barge; a a, its keel; b, the stern-post; c, the stem; b c, the water-line, which separates what is under the surface of the water from what is above it; e, the row-locks, which contain the oars between them; f, the top of the stern; g, the back-board; f g, the place where the cockswain stands or sits while steering the boat; l, the rudder, and m, the tiller, which is of framed iron.

Fig. 2. represents the plan of the same barge, where d is the ‘thwarts, or seats where the rowers sit to manage their oars; f, i, h, the stern-sheets; i k, the benches whereon the passengers sit in the stern-sheets: the rest is explained in fig. 1.

Fig 3. is a stern view of the same barge, with the projection of all the timbers in the after-body; and fig. 4, a head view, with the curves of all the timbers in the fore-body.

Having thus explained the different views of the barge, the reader will easily comprehend the several corresponding parts in the other boats; where fig. 5 is the plan, and fig. 6 the elevation of a twelve-oared cutter that rows double banked: which, although seldom employed unless in capital ships, because requiring twelve rowers, is nevertheless a very excellent boat, both for rowing and sailing. Fig. 7 and 8 are the head and stern of this boat.

Fig. 9 is the plan of a long-boat, of which fig. 10 is the elevation, 11 the stern-view, and 12 the head-view.

BOAT-HOOK, an iron hook with a sharp point on the hinder part thereof, to stick into a piece of wood, a ship’s-side, &c. It is stuck upon a long pole or shaft, (pl. III. fig. 1 n.) by the help of which a person in the boat may either hook any thing to confine the boat in a particular place, or push her off by the sharp point attached to the back of the hook.

BOATSWAIN, _Contre-maitre_, the officer who has the boats, sails, rigging, colours, anchors, and cables committed to his charge.

It is the duty of the boatswain particularly to direct whatever relates to the rigging of a ship, after she is equipped from a royal dock-yard. Thus he is to observe that the masts are properly supported by their shrouds, stays, and back-stays, so that each of those ropes may sustain a proportional effort when the mast is strained by the violence of the wind, or the agitation of the ship. He ought also to take care that the blocks and running-ropes are regularly placed, so as to answer the purposes for which they are intended; and that the sails are properly fitted to their yards and stays, and well furled or reefed when occasion requires.

It is likewise his office to summon the crew to their duty; to assist with his mates in the necessary business of the ship; and to relieve the watch when it expires. He ought frequently to examine the condition of the masts, sails, and rigging, and remove whatever may be judged unfit for service, or supply what is deficient: and he is ordered by his instructions to perform this duty _with as little noise as possible_.

BOB-STAY, _sous-barbe_, a rope used to confine the bowsprit of a ship downward to the stem, or cut-water. It is fixed by thrusting one of its ends through a hole bored in the fore-part of the cut-water for this purpose, and then splicing both ends together so as to make it two-fold, or like the link of a chain: a _dead-eye_ is then seized into it, and a _laniard_ passing through this and communicating with another dead-eye upon the bowsprit, is drawn extremely tight by the help of mechanical powers. See BOWSPRIT.

The use of the bob-stay, is to draw down the bowsprit, and keep it steddy; and to counter-act the force of the stays of the fore-mast, which draw it upwards. The bowsprit is also fortified by shrouds from the bows on each side; which are all very necessary, as the foremast and the upper-part of the main-mast are stayed and greatly supported by the bowsprit. For this reason, the bob-stay is the first part of a ship’s rigging which is drawn tight to support the masts. To perform this task more effectually, it is usual to suspend a boat, anchor, or other weighty body, at the bowsprit-end, to press it downwards during this operation.

BOLSTERS, a sort of small cushions or bags, filled with tarred canvas, laid between the collars of the stays and the edge of some piece of wood on which they lie: they are used to preserve the stays from being chafed or galled by the motion of the masts, as the ship rocks or pitches at sea.

BOLT-ROPE, _ralingue_, a rope to which the edges or skirts of the sails are sewed, to strengthen, and prevent them from rending. Those parts of the bolt-rope which are on the perpendicular or sloping edges, are called leech-ropes; that at the bottom, the foot-rope; and that on the top or upper edge, the head-rope. Stay-sails, whose heads are formed like an acute angle, have no head-rope. To different parts of the bolt-rope are fastened all the ropes employed to contract or dilate the sails. The figure and position of the bolt-rope is exhibited in the plate referred to from the article SAIL.

BOMB. See the articles MORTAR and SHELL.

BOMB-VESSEL, a small ship particularly calculated to throw bombs into a fortress. They are said to be invented by M. Reyneau, and to have been first put in action at the bombardment of Algiers. Till then it had been judged impracticable to bombard a place from the sea. See a particular description of these ships in the article KETCH.

BOOM, _estacade_, _barre_, (from _boom_, a tree, Dutch) in marine fortification, a strong chain or cable, on which are fastened a number of poles, bars, &c. extending athwart the mouth of a harbour or river, to prevent the enemies ships of war from entering. It may be occasionally sunk, or drawn up to the surface of the water, by capsterns, and other mechanical powers.

BOOMS, _boute dehors_, certain long poles run out from different places in the ship to extend the bottoms of particular sails. Of these there are several sorts; as the jib-boom, studding-sail-booms, ring-tail-boom, driver-boom, main-boom, and square-sail-boom; the two last, however, are only appropriated to small ships of one or two masts. See JIB, &c.

BOOT-TOPPING, the act of cleaning the upper-part of a ship’s bottom, or that part which lies immediately under the surface of the water, and daubing it over with tallow, or with a _coat_ or mixture of tallow, sulphur, resin, &c.

BOOT-TOPPING is chiefly performed where there is no dock, or other commodious situation for breaming or careening; or when the hurry of a voyage renders it inconvenient to have the whole bottom properly trimmed and cleansed of the filth which gathers to it in the course of a sea-voyage. It is executed by making the ship lean to one side, as much as they can with safety, and then scraping off the grass, slime, shells, or other material, that adheres to the bottom, on the other side, which is elevated above the surface of the water for this purpose, and accordingly daubed with the coat of tallow and sulphur. Having thus finished one side, they make the ship lean to the other side, and perform the same operation, which not only preserves the bottom from the worm, but makes the ship slide smoothly through the water. See CAREEN and DOCK.

BORE. See the article CANNON.

BOTH SHEETS AFT, _entre deux écoutes_, the situation of a ship that sails right afore the wind, or with the wind right astern.

BOTTOM, _carene_, (_botm_, Sax. _bodem_, Belg.) as a sea-term, is either used to denote the bottom of a ship, or that of the water: thus in the former sense we say, a clean or a foul bottom; a British, French, or Dutch bottom: and in the latter sense, a rocky, sandy, or oozy bottom.

The bottom of a ship, as we have described in the article _Naval_ ARCHITECTURE, comprehends all that part which is under water when the ship is laden; the figure of it must therefore be determined by the qualities required in the ship, and the purposes for which the is designed.

It has been remarked, that a ship of war should carry her lowest tier of cannon sufficiently above the surface of the water to be used when necessary. If this quality is neglected, a small ship will have the advantage of a large one, inasmuch as the latter cannot open her lower battery in a fresh side-wind, without being exposed to extreme danger, by receiving a great quantity of water in at her ports between-decks.

A ship should be duly poised, so as not to dive or pitch heavily, but go smoothly and easily through the water, rising to the waves when they run high, or when the vessel has reduced her sail to the storm. If she is deficient in this article, the seas will frequently burst aboard, and strain the decks or carry away the boats. The masts are also greatly endangered from the same cause.

A ship should sail well when large, or before the wind; but particularly when _close-hauled_, or sailing with a side-wind. She should also be enabled in the latter situation to keep her wind, without deviating much to leeward; to work and tack easily, and lie in a turbulent sea without straining violently.

Many of our shipwrights have considered it extremely difficult, if not impracticable, to make a ship carry her cannon well, bear a competent sail, and advance swiftly through the water; because a very full bottom is necessary to acquire the two first qualities; whereas a sharp floor is better fitted to procure the latter. But when it is remembered, that a full ship will carry a much greater force of sail than a sharp one, a good artist may form the body so as to unite all these three qualities with the additional one of steering easily, by paying a proper attention to the following general rules.

To make a ship carry a good sail. A flat floor-timber somewhat long, or the lower-futtocks pretty round, a streight upper-futtock, the top-timber to throw out the breadth aloft; at any rate to carry the main-breadth as high as the lower-deck. Now if the rigging be well adapted to such a body, and the upper-works lightened as much as possible, so that the whole contributes to lower the center of gravity, there will be no reason to doubt of the ship’s carrying a good sail.

To make a ship steer well, and answer the helm readily. If the fashion-pieces be well formed, the tuck, or spreading-parts under the stern, carried pretty high; the midship-frame well forward; a considerable additional depth in the draught of water abaft more than forward; a great rake forward and none abaft; a snug quarter-deck and forecastle: all these will greatly facilitate the steerage; and a ship that sails well will always steer easily.

To make a ship carry her guns well out of the water. A long floor-timber, and not of great rising; a very full midship-frame, and low tuck, with light upper-works.

To make a ship go smoothly through the water, and prevent her from pitching heavily. A long keel, a long floor, not to rise too high afore and abaft; but the area, or space contained in the fore-body, according to the respective weight it is destined to carry: all these are necessary to make a ship pass easily through the sea.

To make a ship keep a good wind and drive little to leeward. A good length by the keel; not too broad, but pretty deep in the hold, which will occasion her to have a short floor-timber and a very great rising. As such a ship will meet with great resistance in driving sideways, and feel very little, in advancing or going ahead, she will fall very little to leeward.

Being thus furnished with the methods to qualify a ship for the different purposes of navigation, the only difficulty remains to apply them properly in the construction, which must, in a great measure, be left to the judgment of the artist. The whole art then is evidently to form the body in such a manner, as that none of these qualities shall be entirely destroyed; and in giving the preference to that which is principally required in the service for which the ship is destined. As it therefore appears possible to unite them all in one vessel so that each of them may be easily discerned, a neglect of this circumstance ought to be attributed to the incapacity of the shipwright, who has not studied the principles of his art with proper application. See _Naval_ ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING, and SHIP.

BOTTOMRY, _bomerie_, (from _bottom_) a contract for borrowing money on the keel or bottom of a ship; so that the commander binds the ship herself, that if the money be not paid at the time appointed, the creditors shall have the ship.

BOTTOMRY is also where a person lends money to a merchant or adventurer who wants it in traffic, and the lender is to be paid a much greater sum at the return of the ship, standing to the hazard of the voyage. Although the interest on this account be greater than the law commonly allows, it is yet not esteemed usury; because the money being supplied at the lenders risk, if the ship perishes, he shares in the loss thereof.

BOW, _epaule_, in ship-building, the rounding part of a ship’s side forward, beginning at the place where the planks arch inwards, and terminated where they close at the stem or prow. See the article Head, where the bow of a ship is represented at large. It is proved by a variety of experiments, that a ship with a narrow bow is much better calculated for sailing swiftly, than one with a broad bow; but is not so well fitted for a high sea, into which she always _pitches_, or plunges, her fore-part very deep, for want of sufficient breadth to repel the volume of water, which she so easily divides in her fall. The former of these is called by seamen a _lean_, and the latter a _bluff_ bow.

“The bow which meets with the least resistance in a direct course, not only meets with the least resistance in oblique courses, but also has the additional property of driving the least to leeward; which is a double advantage gained by forming the bow so as to give it that figure which will be the least opposed in moving through any medium.” _Bouguer’s Traité du Navire._

_On the_ BOW, in navigation, an arch of the horizon, comprehended between some distant object, and that point of the compass which is right-ahead, or to which the ship’s stem is directed. This phrase is equally applicable, when the object is beheld from the ship, or discovered by trigonometrical calculation: as, we saw a fleet at day-break bearing three points _on the starboard bow_; that is, three points, from that part of the horizon which is right ahead, towards the right hand. See also the article BEARING.

BOWER. See the article ANCHOR.

BOWLINE, _bouline_, a rope fastened near the middle of the leech, or perpendicular edge of the square sails, by three or four subordinate parts, called bridles. It is only used when the wind is so unfavourable that the sails must be all braced sideways, or _close-hauled_ to the wind: in this situation the bowlines are employed to keep the weather, or windward, edges of the principal sails tight forward and steddy, without which they would be always shivering, and rendered incapable of service. See the articles BRIDLE, CLOSE-HAULING, and SAIL.

_To check the_ BOWLINE, is to slacken it, when the wind becomes large.

_To_ BOWSE, _palanquer_, to draw on any body with a tackle, or complication of pullies, in order to remove it, or otherwise alter its state or situation: this is chiefly practised when such alteration or removal cannot be conveniently effected without the application of mechanical powers. This term is pronounced _bowce_.

BOWSPRIT, _beaupré_, (from _bow_ and _sprit_) a large boom or mast, which projects over the stem, to carry sail forward, in order to govern the fore part of a ship, and counter-act the force of the sails extended behind, or, in the _after_ part. It is otherways of great use, as being the principal support of the fore-mast, by confining the _stays_ whereby it is secured, and enabled to carry sail: these are great ropes stretching from the mast-head to the middle of the bowsprit, where they are drawn tight. See the articles STAY and DEAD-EYE.

BOXES _of the pump_. See the article PUMP.

BOX-HAULING, in navigation, a particular method of veering a ship, when the swell of the sea renders tacking impracticable. It is performed by putting the helm _a-lee_, to throw the head up to windward, where meeting with great resistance from the repeated shocks of the waves on the weather bow, it _falls off_, or turns to leeward, with a quicker effort, and without advancing. The aftermost sails are at this time diminished, or perhaps altogether deprived of their force of action, for a short time, because they would otherwise counteract the sails forward, and prevent the ship from turning. They are, however, extended as soon as the ship, in veering, brings the wind on the opposite quarter, as their effort then contributes to assist her motion of wheeling.

BOX-HAULING is generally performed when the ship is too near the shore to have room for veering in the usual way. See VEERING.

BOXING, an operation in sailing somewhat similar to box-hauling. It is performed by laying the head-sails, or the sails in the fore-part of the ship, aback, to receive the greatest force of the wind in a line perpendicular to their surfaces, in order to throw the ship’s head back into the line of her course, after she had inclined to windward of it by neglect of the helmsman, or otherwise.

BRACE, _bras_, a rope employed to wheel, or traverse the sails upon the mast, in a direction parallel to the horizon, when it is necessary to shift the sails that they may correspond with the direction of the wind and the course of the ship. Braces are, for this purpose, fastened to the extremities of the yards, which are called the _yard-arms_.

All the braces of the yards are double, except those of the top-gallant, and spritsail-topsail yards. The mizen-yard is furnished with _fangs_, or vangs, in the room of braces. See the article MIZEN.

BRACKETS, _consoles_, short crooked timbers resembling knees. They are fixed under the galleries and frame of a ship’s head, to support the gratings.

BRAILS, _cargues_, (_breuils_, Fr.) certain ropes passing through pullies on the mizen-mast, and afterwards fastened, in different places, on the hinder, or aftmost ridge of the sail, in order to truss it up to the mast, as occasion requires. See MIZEN.

BRAILS, is likewise a general name given to all the ropes which are employed to _haul up_, or collect to their yards, the bottoms, lower corners, and skirts of the other great sails, for the more ready _furling_ them whenever it is necessary. The operation of thus drawing them together, is called brailing them up, or hauling them up in the brails. See the article SAIL.

BRAKE, _brimbale_, the handle, or lever, by which a common ship-pump is usually managed. It operates by means of two iron bolts thrust through the inner end of it; one of which resting across two cheeks or ears, in the upper-end of the pump, serves as a fulcrum for the brake, supporting it between the cheeks. The other bolt connects the extremity of the brake to the pump-spear, which draws up the _box_ or piston, charged with the water in the tube. See the article PUMP.

BREADTH, _largeur_, the measure of a ship from side to side in any particular place: it is usually distinguished into extreme-breadth, _ligne du fort_, main-breadth, and top-timber-breadth. See the explanation of the plane of projection, in the article _Naval_ ARCHITECTURE.

As the sides of the ship are formed by a variety of ribs, called timbers, and the areas of those timbers being of different breadths above and below, it is necessary to distinguish them in the construction, in order to form their several curves, and fix the corresponding pieces with more accuracy and precision. The part of every timber which encloses the greatest space from the middle-line of the ship’s length, is therefore called the _main_-breadth; and the distance between the upper-part of the same timber and the middle-line of the ship’s length, is called the top-timber-breadth.

As the ship is also broader at the midship-frame than in any other point of her length, the distance between her sides in the main-breadth of that timber, is called the extreme-breadth of the ship.

BREADTH-SWEEP, the radius of the arch which forms part of the curve of a ship’s timber; as explained in the horizontal plane. See _Naval_ ARCHITECTURE.

BREAKERS, _brisans_, a name given by sailors to those billows that break violently over rocks lying under the surface of the sea. They are distinguished both by their appearance and sound, as they cover that part of the sea with a perpetual foam, and produce a hoarse and terrible roaring, very different from what the waves usually have in a deeper bottom.

When a ship is unhappily driven amongst breakers, it is hardly possible to save her, as every billow that heaves her upwards, serves to dash her down with additional force, when it breaks over the rocks or sands beneath it.

BREAKING-BULK, the act of beginning to unlade a ship; or of discharging the first part of the cargo.

_To_ BREAK-UP, _déchirer_, to rip off the planks of a ship, and take her to pieces, when she becomes old and unserviceable.

BREAK-WATER, the hulk, or hull, of some old ship or vessel, sunk at the entrance of a small harbour, to break off, and diminish the force of the waves, as they advance towards the vessels moored within.

BREAK-WATER is also a sort of small buoy, fastened to a large one in the water, when the buoy-rope of the latter is not long enough to reach from the anchor, lying on the bottom, to the surface of the water. The use of this break-water is therefore to shew where the buoy swims. See BUOY.

_To_ BREAM, _chauffer_ (from _broom_) to burn off the filth, such as grass, ooze, shells, or sea-weed, from a ship’s bottom, that has gathered to it in a voyage, or by lying long in a harbour. This operation is performed by holding kindled furze, faggots, or such materials, to the bottom, so that the flame incorporating with the pitch, sulphur, &c. that had formerly covered it, immediately loosens and throws off whatever filth may have adhered to the planks. After this, the bottom is covered anew with a composition of sulphur, tallow, &c. which not only makes it smooth and slippery, so as to divide the fluid more readily, but also poisons and destroys those worms which eat through the planks in the course of a voyage. Breaming may be performed either when the ship lies aground after the tide has ebbed from her, by _docking_, or by _careening_, which see; as also COAT and STUFF.

BREAST-FAST, a sort of hawser, or large rope, employed to confine a ship sideways to a wharf or key, or to some other ship; as the head-fast confines her forward, and the stern-fast, abaft.

BREAST-HOOKS, _guirlandes_, (from _breast_ and _hook_) are thick pieces of timber, incurvated into the form of knees, and used to strengthen the fore-part of the ship, where they are placed at different heights directly across the stem, so as to unite it with the bows on each side.

The breast-hooks are strongly connected to the stem and hawse-pieces by tree-nails, and by bolts, driven from without, through the planks and hawse-pieces, and the whole thickness of the breast-hooks, upon whose inside those bolts are forelocked, or clinched, upon rings. They are usually about one third thicker, and twice as long, as the knees of the decks which they support.

There are generally four or five of these pieces in the hold between the kelson and the lower-deck, in the form of R, (plate I. PIECES _of the_ HULL), upon the uppermost of which the planks of that deck are rabitted. There are two placed between the lower and the second decks, in the form of S, (plate I.), one of which is immediately beneath the hawse-holes, and the other under the second deck, whose planks are inlaid thereon, and upon which the inner-end of the bowsprit frequently rests.

The fore-side of the breast-hook, which is convex, is formed so as to correspond with the place in which it is stationed, that is to say, it conforms exactly to the interior figure of that part of the bow where it ought to be fayed: accordingly the branches, or arms, of the breast-hooks, make a greater angle as they are more elevated above the keel, whilst the lower ones are more incurvated, and are almost figured like the crotches.

As it is not necessary that the inner, or concave side of these pieces, should retain a regular form, the artificers frequently let them remain as thick as possible, to give additional support to the ship’s fore-part, where she sustains the whole shock of resistance in dividing the fluid, or in plunging down into it.

It is evident that the connexion and solidity of the ship in this place will be reinforced in proportion to the strength and extent of the breast-hooks, so that they may cover a greater number of the head-timbers.

BREAST-WORK, _fronteau_, a sort of balustrade or fence, composed of rails or mouldings, and frequently decorated with sculpture. It is used to terminate the quarter-deck and poop at the fore-ends, and to inclose the forecastle both before and behind.

BREECHING, _brague_, (from _breech_) a rope used to secure the cannon of a ship of war, and prevent them from recoiling too much in the time of battle.

It is fixed by fastening the middle of it to the hindmost knob or cascabel of the gun, which sailors call the pomiglion, or pummelion; the two ends of it are afterwards inserted through two strong rings on the sides of the carriage, and fastened to other bolts in the ship’s sides.

The breeching is of sufficient length to let the muzzle of the cannon come within the ship’s side to be charged.

The use of the breeching, as it checks the recoil of the cannon, is shewn in plate III. DECK, where it is expressed by e e, passing through the ring-bolts, f, on the side of the carriage, g, being fastened to the cascabel, h. It is also exhibited in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, where it is employed to lash the cannon when it is _housed_ during the course of a voyage. See the article CANNON.

BREWING, the appearance of a collection of black and tempestuous clouds arising gradually from a particular part of the hemisphere, as the fore-runner of a storm.

BRIDLES, the upper-part of the moorings laid in the king’s harbours to ride ships or vessels of war. See the article MOORINGS.

BRIDLES _of the bowline_, _pattes_, the legs by which the bowline is fastened to different places on the edge or skirt of a large sail.

We have already explained the use of the _bowline_; that it is employed to confine or keep steddy the windward or weather edges of the principal sails when they are braced for a side-wind. For as the current of air enters the cavity of the sail in a direction nearly parallel to its surface, it follows that the ridge of the sail must necessarily be shaken by the wind, unless it is kept tight forward; but as a single rope has not been found sufficient to confine the whole skirt of the sail, inasmuch as it only draws upon one part thereof, it became necessary to apply bridles or legs spreading out from the bowline. They are represented in the figures annexed to the article SAIL.

BRIG, or BRIGANTINE, a merchant-ship with two masts. This term is not universally confined to vessels of a particular construction, or which are masted and rigged in a method different from all others. It is variously applied, by the mariners of different European nations, to a peculiar sort of vessel of their own marine.

Amongst English seamen, this vessel is distinguished by having her main-sail set nearly in the plane of her keel; whereas the main-sails of larger ships are hung athwart, or at right angles with the ship’s length, and fastened to a yard which hangs parallel to the deck: but in a brig, the foremost edge of the main-sail is fastened in different places to hoops which encircle the main-mast, and slide up and down it as the sail is hoisted or lowered: it is extended by a _gaff_ above, and by a boom below.

_To_ BRING _by the lee_. See _To_ BROACH-TO.

_To_ BRING-TO, in navigation, _caposer_, to check the course of a ship when she is advancing, by arranging the sails in such a manner as that they shall counter-act each other, and prevent her either from retreating or moving forward. In this situation the ship is said to lie-by, or lie-to, having, according to the sea-phrase, some of her sails _aback_, to oppose the force of those which are _full_; or having them otherwise shortened by being _furled_, or _hauled up in the brails_.

BRINGING-TO, is generally used to detain a ship in any particular station, in order to wait the approach of some other that may be advancing towards her: or to retard her course occasionally near any port in the course of a voyage.

_To_ BRING-UP, a provincial phrase peculiar to the seamen in the coal-trade, signifying to anchor, &c.

_To_ BROACH-TO, in navigation, to incline suddenly to windward of the ship’s course when she sails with a large wind; or, when she sails directly before the wind, to deviate from the line of her course, either to the right or left, with such rapidity as to bring the ship’s side unexpectedly to windward, and expose her to the danger of oversetting.

It is easy to conceive that a ship will carry much more sail before the wind than when she makes a progress with her side to its direction; because when the current of wind acts nearly endways on her hull, the pressure of it on the masts must be considerably diminished as she yields to its impulse and flies before it; and that if she carries a great sail at this time, it can only press her fore-part lower down in the water. But if, when she carries a great extension of sail, her side is suddenly brought to the wind, it may be attended with the most fatal consequences, as the whole force of it then pours like a torrent into the cavities of the sails. The masts therefore unavoidably yield to this strong impression, acting like levers on the ship sideways, so as nearly to overturn her, unless she is relieved by some other event, which may be also extremely pernicious, such as the sails rending to pieces, or the masts being carried away.

It is generally occasioned by the difficulty of steering the ship; by the negligence or incapacity of the helmsman; or by some disaster happening to the helm or its machinery, which renders it incapable of governing the ship’s course.

The difference between broaching-to and bringing _by the lee_, may be thus defined. Suppose a ship with a great sail set is steering south, having the wind N.N.W. then is west the _weather_, and east the _lee-side_.

If by some deficiency in the steerage her head turns round to the westward, so as that her sails are all taken aback on the weather-side before she can be made to return to the course from which she has deviated, she is said to _broach-to_.

If otherwise her head, from the same cause, has declined so far eastward as to lay her sails aback on that side which was the lee-side, it is called bringing her by the lee.

BROADSIDE, _bordee_, in a naval engagement, the whole discharge of the artillery on one side of a ship of war above and below; as,

We poured a broadside into the enemy’s ship, i. e. discharged all the ship’s cannon on one side upon her.

She brought her broadside to bear on the castle; that is, disposed the ship so as to point all her cannon to it within point-blank range.

A squall of wind laid the ship on her broadside; that is, pressed her down in the water, so as nearly to overturn her.

BROKEN-BACKED, _arcqué_, the state or quality of a ship, which is so loosened in her frame, either by age, weakness, or some great strain, as to droop at each end.

This circumstance is more common amongst French than the English or Dutch ships, owing partly to their great length, and to the sharpness of the floor, whose breadth is not sufficiently carried from the middle towards each end; and partly from being frequently obliged to have a great weight in both ends, when they are empty in the middle, at the time of discharging one cargo and taking in another. See CAMBERING.

BUCCANEER, a name given to certain piratical rovers of various European nations, who formerly infested the Spanish coasts in America, and, under pretence of traffic with the inhabitants, frequently seized their treasure, plundered their houses, and committed many other depredations.

_Ship_-BUILDING may be defined the manner of constructing ships, or the work itself, as distinguished from naval architecture, which we have rather considered as the theory or art of delineating ships on a plane, and to which this article may properly be understood as a supplement.

The pieces by which this complicated machine is framed, are joined together in various places, by scarfing, rabitting, tenanting, and scoring. See those articles.

During the construction of a ship, she is supported in the dock, or upon a wharf, by a number of solid blocks of timber placed at equal distances from, and parallel to, each other, as may be seen in the article LANCHING; she is then said to be on the stocks.

The first piece of timber laid upon the blocks is generally the keel; I say _generally_, because, of late, a different method has been adopted in some of the royal dock-yards, by beginning with the floor-timbers; the artists having found that the keel is often apt to rot during the long period of building a large ship of war. The pieces of the keel, as exhibited in plate I. are scarfed together, and bolted, forming one entire piece, A A. which constitutes the length of the vessel below. At one extremity of the keel is erected the _stem_. It is a strong piece of timber incurvated nearly into a circular arch, or, according to the technical term, _compassing_, so as to project outwards at the upper-end, forming what is called the _rake_ forward. In small vessels this is framed of one piece, but in large ships it is composed of several pieces scarfed and bolted together, as expressed in the explanation of plate I. PIECES _of the_ HULL, and in those terms separately. At the other extremity of the keel, is elevated the stern-post, which is always of one entire strait piece. The heel of it is let into a mortise in the keel, and having its upper-end to hang outwards, making an obtuse angle with the keel, like that of the stem: this projection is called the _rake_ abaft. The stern-post, which ought to support the stern, contains the iron-work or hinges of the rudder, which are called _googings_, and unites the lower-part of the ship’s sides abaft. See the connexion of those pieces in the ELEVATION, pl. I.

Towards the upper-end of the stern-post, and at right angles with its length, is fixed the middle of the _wing-transom_, where it is firmly bolted. Under this is placed another piece parallel thereto, and called the deck-transom, upon which the after-end of the lower-deck is supported. Parallel to the deck-transom, and at a proper distance under it, another piece is fixed to the stern-post, called the first transom, all of which serve to connect the stern-post to the _fashion pieces_. Two more transoms, called the second and third, are also placed under these, being likewise attached to the fashion pieces, into which the extremities of all the transoms are let, as exhibited in plate X. fig. 1. The fashion-pieces are formed like the other timbers of the ship, and have their heels resting on the upper-part of the kelson, at the after extremity of the floor ribbands.

All these pieces, viz. the transoms, the fashion-pieces, and their top-timbers, being strongly united into one frame, are elevated upon the stern-post, and the whole forms the structure of the stern, upon which the galleries and windows, with their ornaments, are afterwards built,

The stem and stern-post being thus elevated upon the keel, to which they are securely connected by knees and arched pieces of timber bolted to both; and the keel being raised at its two extremities by pieces of dead-wood, the midship _floor-timber_ is placed across the keel, whereto it is bolted through the middle. The floor-timbers before and abaft the midship-frame are then stationed in their proper places upon the keel; after which the _kelson_, which, like the keel, is composed of several pieces scarfed together, is fixed across the middle of the floor-timbers, to which it is attached by bolts driven through the keel, and clinched on the upper-part of the kelson. The futtocks are then raised upon the floor-timbers, and the _hawse-pieces_ erected upon the cant-timbers in the fore-part of the ship. The top-timbers on each side are next attached to the head of the futtocks, as already explained in the article _naval_ ARCHITECTURE. The frames of the principal timbers being thus completed, are supported by ribbands, as exhibited in the plate referred to from the article RIBBANDS.

The ribs of the ship being now stationed, they proceed to fix on the planks, of which the wales are the principal, being much thicker and stronger than the rest; as is represented in the MIDSHIP-FRAME. The harpins, which may be considered as a continuation of the wales at their fore-ends, are fixed across the hawse-pieces, and surround the fore-part of the ship. The planks that inclose the ship’s sides are then brought about the timbers, and the _clamps_, which are of equal thickness with the wales, fixed opposite to the wales within the ship; these are used to support the ends of the beams, and accordingly stretch from one end of the ship to the other. The _thick stuff_, or strong planks of the bottom within-board, are then placed opposite to the several scarfs of the timbers, to reinforce them throughout the ship’s length. The planks employed to line the ship, called the _ceiling_, or _foot-waling_, is next fixed in the intervals between the thick-stuff of the hold. The _beams_ are afterwards laid across the ship to support the decks, and are connected to the side by lodging and hanging knees; the former of which are exhibited in their proper stations in plate III. F. and the hanging ones, together with the breadth, thickness, and position of the keel, floor-timbers, futtocks, top timbers, wales, clamps, thick-stuff, planks within and without, beams, decks, &c. are seen in the MIDSHIP-FRAME.

The cable-bits being next erected, the _carlings_ and _ledges_, which are represented in plate III. and described in their proper places, are disposed between the beams to strengthen the deck. The _water-ways_ are then laid on the ends of the beams throughout the ship’s length, and the spirketting fixed close above them. The upper-deck is then planked, and the _string_ placed under the _gunnel_ or _plansheer_ in the waist. The disposition of those latter pieces on the timbers, viz. the water-ways, spirketting, upper-deck, string, and gunnel, are also represented in the MIDSHIP-FRAME.

They proceed next to plank the quarter-deck and forecastle, and to fix the _partners_ of the masts and capsterns with the _coamings_ of the hatches. The _breast-hooks_ are then bolted across the stem and bow within-board, the _step_ of the fore-mast placed on the kelson; and the _riders_, exhibited in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, fayed on the inside of the timbers to reinforce the sides in different places of the ship’s length. The _pointers_, if any, are afterwards fixed across the hold diagonally to support the beams; and the _crotches_ stationed in the after-hold to unite the half-timbers. The _steps_ of the main-mast and capsterns are next placed; the planks of the lower-decks and orlop laid; the _navel hoods_ fayed on the hawse-holes; and the _knee of the head_, or cutwater, connected to the stem. The figure of the head is then erected, and the _trail-board_ and cheeks fixed on the sides of the knee.

The _taffarel_ and _quarter pieces_, which terminate the ship abaft, the former above, and the latter on each side, are then disposed; and the stern and quarter galleries framed and supported by their brackets. The _pumps_, with their well, are next fixed in the hold; the _limber-boards_ laid on each side of the kelson, and the _garboard_ strake fixed on the ship’s bottom next to the keel without.

The hull being thus fabricated, they proceed to separate the apartments by _bulk-heads_, or partitions; to frame the _port-lids_; to fix the _catheads_ and _chess-trees_; to form the _hatchways_ and _scuttles_, and fit them with proper covers or _gratings_. They next fix the ladders whereby to mount or descend the different hatchways, and build the _manger_ on the lower deck, to carry off the water that runs in at the hawse-holes when the ship rides at anchor in a sea. The bread-room and magazines are then lined, and the _gunnel_, _rails_, and _gangways_, fixed on the upper part of the ship. The _cleats_, _kevels_, and _ranges_, by which the ropes are. fastened, are afterwards bolted or nailed to the sides. in different places.

The _rudder_, being fitted with its irons, is next hung to the stern-post; and the _tiller_, or bar, by which it is managed, let into a mortise at its upper-end. The _scuppers_, or leaden tubes, that carry the water off from the decks, are then placed in holes cut through the ship’s sides; and the _standards_, represented in the MIDSHIP-FRAME, bolted to the beams and sides above the decks to which they belong. The poop-lanthorns are last fixed upon their cranes over the stern, and the bilge-ways, or cradles, placed under the bottom, to conduct the ship steadily into the water whilst lanching.

As the various pieces, which have been mentioned above, are explained at large in their proper places, with references to their figures according to the plan of this work, it would have been superfluous to have entered into a more particular description of them here. It is perhaps necessary to observe, that as the theory ought always to precede the practice, this article would probably be much better understood by previously reading that of _Naval_ ARCHITECTURE, which may be considered as a proper introduction to it.

BUILT, _fabrique_, the particular form or structure of a ship, by which she is distinguished from others of a different class or nation. Thus a ship is said to be frigate-built, galley-built, a hag-boat, a pink, a cat, &c. or to be English-built, French-built, American-built, &c.

BULK-HEADS, certain partitions, or walls, built up in several places of a ship between two decks, either lengthwise or across, to form and separate the various apartments. Some of those which are built across the ship are remarkably strong. See the article CLOSE-QUARTERS.

BULL’S-EYE, _cosse_. a sort of small pulley in the form of a ring, having a rope spliced round the outer edge of it, (which is hollowed to admit of the rope) and a large hole in the middle for another rope to slide in. It is seldom used but for the main and fore bowline-bridles of some ships, particularly the colliers of Northumberland, &c. It is spliced in the outer-end of the bowline, and sliding along the bridle, to rest in the most apposite place, draws it tight above and below. This implement is more frequently used by Dutch than English seamen.

BUMKIN, or BOOMKIN, _boute-lof_, a short boom or bar of timber, projecting from each _bow_ of a ship, to extend the lower-edge of the fore-sail to windward; for which purpose there is a large block fixed on its outer end, through which the rope is passed that is fastened to the lower-corner of the sail to windward, called the _tack_; and this being drawn tight down, brings the corner of the sail close to the block, which being performed, the _tack_ is said to be _aboard_.

The bumkin is secured by a strong rope which confines it downward to the ship’s bow, to counter-act the strain it bears from the fore-sail above, dragging it upwards.

BUNT, the middle part, or cavity of the principal square sails, as the main-sail, fore-sail, top-sails, and top-gallant-sails. If one of those sails is supposed to be divided into four equal parts, from one side to the other, then may the two middle divisions, which comprehend half of the sail, be properly called the limits of the bunt.

BUNTINE, _etamine_, a thin woollen stuff, of which the colours and signals of a ship are usually formed.

BUNTLINES, _cargues fond_, are ropes fastened to the bottoms of the square sails, to draw them up to the yards: they are inserted through certain blocks above, or on the upper-part of the yard, whence passing down-wards on the fore-part of the sail, they are fastened below to the lower-edge in several places of the _bolt-rope_.

BUOY, (_bouée_, Fr.) a sort of close cask, or block of wood, fastened by a rope to the anchor, to determine the place where the anchor is situated, that the ship may not come too near it, to entangle her cable about the stock, or the flukes of it.

BUOYS are of various kinds; as,

_Can_-BUOYS; these are in the form of a cone, (see plate II. fig. 8.) and of this construction are all the buoys which are floated over dangerous banks and shallows, as a warning to passing ships, that they may avoid them. They are extremely large, that they may be seen at a distance, and are fastened by strong chains to the anchors which are sunk for this purpose at such places.

_Nun_-BUOYS, are shaped like the middle frustum of two cones, abutting upon one common base, (plate II. fig. 9.) being casks, which are large in the middle, and tapering, nearly to a point, at each end.

_Wooden_ BUOYS, are solid pieces of timber, sometimes in the shape of a cylinder, and sometimes of a nun-buoy; they are furnished with one or two holes, in which to fix a short piece of rope, whose two ends being spliced together make a sort of circle or ring called the strop.

_Cable_-BUOYS, common casks employed to buoy up the cable in different places from any rocky ground. In the harbour of Alexandria, in Egypt, every ship is moored with at least three cables, and has three or four of these buoys on each cable for this purpose.

BUOY-ROPE, the rope which fastens the buoy to the anchor: it should be little more than equal in length to the depth of the water where the anchor lies, as it is intended to float near, or immediately above the bed of it, that the pilot may at all times know the situation thereof. See plate I. fig. 6. b is the anchor, c the buoy-rope, and d the buoy floating on the surface of the water.

The BUOY-ROPE is often extremely useful otherways, in drawing up the anchor when the cable is broke. It should therefore be always of sufficient strength for this purpose, or else the anchor may be lost through negligence.

_Slings of the_ BUOY, the ropes which are fastened about it, and by which it is hung: they are curiously spliced round it, something resembling the braces of a drum.

_To stream the_ BUOY, is to let it fall from the ship’s side into the water, which is always done before they let go the anchor, that it may not be retarded by the buoy-rope as it sinks to the bottom.

BURTHEN, or BURDEN, _port_, (_byrthen_, Sax.) the weight or measure of any species of merchandize that a ship will carry when fit for sea.

To determine the burthen, or, in other words, the tonnage, of a ship, it is usual to multiply the length of the keel into the extreme breadth of the ship within-board, taken along the midship-beam, and multiply the product by the depth in the _hold_ from the plank joining to the _kelson_ upwards, to the main-deck, and divide the last product by 94, then will the quotient be the burden required, in tons.

BURTON, _bredindin_, a sort of small tackle, formed by two blocks or pullies, till the rope becomes three or four fold, and acquires an additional power in proportion.

It is generally employed to tighten the shrouds of the top-masts, but may be otherways used to move or draw along any weighty body in the _hold_, or on the _deck_, as anchors, bales of goods, large casks, &c.

BUSS, _buche_, (_busse_, Germ.) a ship of two masts, used by the English and Dutch in their herring fisheries. It is generally from fifty to seventy tons burthen; being furnished with two small sheds or cabins, one at the prow and the other at the stern; the former of which is employed as a kitchen.

BUTT, _about_, the end of any plank in a ship’s side which unites with the end of another, continuing its length: when a plank is loosened at the end by the ship’s weakness or labouring, she is said to have started or sprung a butt.