Sea terms and sailing lingo

[Tom Pullings]

Someone suggested we start a topic with a list of common terms used in sailing and fighting ships. Just the basics which might help orient people particularly those fighting together in Teamspeak or using chat for commands. If this topic can be pinned, I'll try to keep it updated as people contribute.

No need to get too esoteric. Just the common terms for handling ships and calling out commands should be good. For those interested in the arcana, I can recommend Sea of Words:

(http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Words-Third-Companion-Seafaring/dp/0805066152/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422200230&sr=1-1&keywords=sea+of+words)

 

Or William Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine: http://southseas.nla...falc/title.html provided by Seaman Stains (thanks).

I'll get us started.

Abaft: just a way of indicating toward the aft. To say the wind is abaft the beam is to say that the wind is coming from somewhere behind the middle of the ship.

Aft: to the back or the back part of a ship.

Back: to back the sails is to maneuver them so that the wind is pushing against their forward face to move the ship backward, or help it fall off or turn faster. To maneuver a square-rigged ship well in battle, one needs to know when to back the fore or main sails to tighten the turn.  When the ship has backed all its sails, it is said to be aback.  

Beam: the mid-point of the ship. Also used to indicate the width of the ship (which is usually widest near the mid-point).

Beam reach: to sail with the wind perpendicular to the ship's direction of travel. A good point of sail for most ships, particularly fore and aft sails.

Bear up: (head up) to turn more into the wind.

Bow: the forward (fore) part of the ship.

Broad reach: to sail with the wind on one's aft quarter. The best point of sail for square-rigged ships.

Close hauled: to sail as close to the wind as possible. Not the best point of sail for most ships, particularly square-rigged ships.

Downwind: in the direction the wind is blowing.

Fall off: to turn more away from the wind.

 

Heave to: (hove to) to adjust the yards so that the fore and aft sails counteract each other, causing the ship to largely stop or make small motion to leeward.  

 

Heel: when a ship leans to one side because of the pressure of the wind on the sails.

Irons: (as in stuck in irons) to miss stays when tacking through the wind and be stalled in the turn or slip backwards.  

Larboard: the left or port side of a ship.

Lee shore: the shore downwind or leeward of you. The dangerous shore since one must sail against the wind (claw off) to get away from it. Once open world starts, be watchful of getting pinned between the wind and a rocky shore.

Leeward (loo-ard): to the side toward which the wind is blowing such that to reach it one turns with the wind. Objects to the leeward are downwind.

Leeway: when the ships makes way by being pushed by the wind against the hull, so any unintended movement downwind. Not really modeled in the game except for when you miss stays and get stuck in irons and the wind pushes you backward (by pushing against the sails).

 

Luff: to turn the yards so that the wind no longer pushes on the sails, thus slowing the ship.  

Pinch: to sail as close-hauled as possible.

Point of sail: the generic term for the relation of the ship and its sails to the wind, including close-hauled, reaching (on a beam or broad reach) and running downwind.

 

Rake: to fire a broadside at the stern (or the bow) that travels the length of the ship causing damage as it goes.  

Running: to sail directly downwind.  A faster point of sail is to bear up a little on one side or the other of directly downwind (a very broad reach).  

Starboard: the right side of a ship.

Station: (keeping station) to sail in a line and maintain distance from ships ahead and astern.

Stern: the aft or rear most part of the ship.

Tack: to turn with your nose passing directly through the wind. Also used to indicate the point of sail relative to the wind, so that sailing with the wind coming from the right is called the starboard tack.

Upwind: in the direction into and against the wind.

 

Van: to be in the forward part of a line of battle (the vanguard).

Wear ship: to turn with the wind so that your stern passes directly through the wind. Also called a gybe or jibe. Much easier way to turn.

Weather gage: to be upwind or to windward of your opponent. It allows you to dictate battle, since the opponent cannot sail directly upwind, but you can sail directly to the opponent.

Windward: to the side from which the wind is blowing such that to reach it one must turn into the wind. Objects to the windward are upwind.

Yard: what the sails are hung from and which cross the mast. Handling sails is done by manipulating the yards.

[ObiQuiet]

Just the basics which might help orient people particularly those fighting together in Teamspeak or using chat for commands.

 

Good idea, Tom.  This will help with the immersion and atmosphere.

[maturin]

How about we make a subcategory for terms that are relevant to the game right nown. Ie, no need to include lee shore .

[Seaman Stains]

A very useful Mariner's Dictionary can be found here:

 

William Falconer's dictionary of Marine:

 

 

http://southseas.nla.gov.au/refs/falc/title.html

 

From the National Library of Australia.

 

Hope that is helpful.

 

(sorry if I shouldn't post URL's. If I shouldn't, could the moderators please remove it)

[Tom Pullings]

Again, this post was meant to focus on common terms useful for the game, rather than a comprehensive reference.

Perhaps I should have posted in the general discussions section. I had hoped the post might have been pinned by admin as well.

[Seaman Stains]

Whilst to many forum visitors, these terms have an almost every day use (as they might be mariners, or play NA every day, or visit the forum every day), some terms will be completely foreign to others. "Common terms" for some are not common terms for others, and this thread is a great place for common terms, but we shouldn't exclude our friends that have no knowledge of any of these terms, and I believe we should cater for them with a link to a fully comprehensive maritime dictionary. I wasn't trying to downplay your great post, just linking to another comprehensive listing if required.

[Tom Pullings]

Oh, I think your link was fine.  I put in a reference to a more comprehensive source myself.  I was just thinking there would be more people chipping in terms useful for game play.  I hadn't tried to be comprehensive.  Perhaps there are not so many terms that useful for game play after all, though.  I certainly pushed things myself with "Lee Shore" as our good doctor pointed out.  

[ObiQuiet]

Here's a start of just the "essential" terms, useful and to be encouraged, in the game:

 

Port, Starboard, Fore, Aft

Bow, Stern, Amidships

Heel

 

Directions: Upwind, to weather; Downwind, leeward (loo-erd), Ahead, Behind

 

Upwind turns: Head Up, Tack, In Irons, Aback (when stopped)

 

Downwind Turns: Fall Off, Wear Round, Gybe/Jibe

 

Adjust sails to slow down:  Luff, Ease

Adjust sails in opposition, to stop completely: Heave to

Adjust sails to speed up:  Make sail, Haul in, Brace  (roughly speaking)

 

Related to Maneuvers:

Close Up

Form Line of Battle

Break the Line

Rake

(there's a word for turning in line that escapes me at the moment)

And of course the new one:  Sterncamp

 

Maybe positions within the line:  Van, Center, Rear

 

Just those I thought of right away...

[Tom Pullings]

Thanks.  I added the ones that weren't in the list already (and that weren't self-explanatory).  

[Lord Hood]

I am used to using the terms of the day (largely in part to my study of the time) and so use larboard as opposed to port as would have been done. It seems to have confused some of the captains that I have sailed with so I'm glad that you have posted the terms of the day

[ObiQuiet]

I am used to using the terms of the day (largely in part to my study of the time) and so use larboard as opposed to port as would have been done. It seems to have confused some of the captains that I have sailed with so I'm glad that you have posted the terms of the day

 

My Lord, perhaps you know the answer to this:  

 

My ready source (Rodgers' Origin of Sea Terms, a small, handy book), says that the Royal Navy officially changed "larboard" to "port" in 1844 for references to a ship's side, but that "port" was in common usage before that as a sailing direction or helm order.  Is that true?  Do "port your helm" or "turn to port" appear in contemporary sources?

 

Popham's 1806 Telegraph Signal Book contains codes for all three, "port" "larboard" "starboard" but no indication of whether "port" was used as a direction or only as a geographical reference.   I may have to look further.

 

Yours respectfully, etc.

[Lord Hood]

From the letters and battle reports that I have read I would state that port is used as a geographical reference as opposed to a direction. Larboard I would say is definitely the rule and not the exception. Now whether port was used colloquially that can be up for debate as we were not present at the time; however the handwritten evidence shows larboard to be the common phrase. The existing ships logs at Battles ranging from Quiberon to Santo Domingo (fought afterTrafalgar in 1806) all use larboard for movement. I would say that for the time frame of this game larboard is the correct lexical choice. There is a great book at the British Library that has all of the Battle reports and letters from The Glorious First of June to Santo Domingo. It has a blue cover with a gold anchor. It has all of the original paperwork so you obviously cannot remove it but it certainly is a spectacle to see.

[ObiQuiet]

Very good evidence, thank you sir!