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Ship's Log Books of the 19th & 20th Centuries - An Old Weather Citizen History Project THE OLD WEATHER FORUM - A COMPENDIUM OF MARITIME and WEATHER INFORMATION Compiled by Old Weather Moderators, Editors and Volunteers

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Dedicated to the Thousands of Volunteers World-Wide Who Have Contributed to the Old Weather Project   Between 2010 and 2012, some 16,000 volunteers have transcribed over 300 sets of Royal Navy log books. More will be tackling a growing number of US logs.   Few if any, have a naval or meteorological background and yet have tackled the complexity of both disciplines. In the process, many have carried out detailed research and posted their findings on the Old Weather Forum. The results are collected here.       Contents 1. Log Book Abbreviations, Royal Navy, World War 1-era 2. ..... and US Navy, Coast Guard, Geodetic Survey, 19th & 20th Centuries 3. Beaufort Weather Codes 4. Beaufort Wind Force Scale 5. Cloud Types 6. Reading Wind Directions, and Directions in General 7. Sea Ice Types 8. External Links about the Royal Navy, World War 1-era 9. ..... and US Navy, US Coast Guard, US Geodetic Survey 19th & 20th Centuries 10. OWPEDIA - a variety of maritime and naval terms.   11. Archived threads - interesting, and often humorous

Compiled by Janet Jaguar     1. Log Book Abbreviations Compiled for Royal Navy, World War 1-era   (Some of these abbreviations are also used for Old Weather Phase 3 ships)   There is also a very good list of modern RN abbreviations online, which may be quite helpful. Symbols These are some of the symbols we often find in the logs. Since we can't add images to our transcriptions, we need to know what they mean in order to transcribe them. This list should make things easier.   96o 13' 26.4" N - an example of Longitude geographic coordinates. See Wikipedia article. When transcribing, replace the symbols with spaces: 96 13 26.4N o - Degrees of Arc. 360 degrees are the circumference of the Earth, varying in measured units of length depending on position on the globe. This may also be written as a decimal, eliminating the need for the minutes' and seconds' numbers. ' - Minutes of Arc. There are 60 minutes in one degree of arc. This may also be written as a decimal, eliminating the need for the seconds' number. " - Seconds of Arc. There are 60 seconds in one minute of arc. 13' - an example of recording distance. ' - Nautical miles. The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of longitude along any meridian. Transcribe this as written. 2600x - an example of recording distance. x - Yards. A unit of length equaling 3 feet or 0.9144 meters. Transcribe this as 'x'. ~ - "illegible". Used by Old Weather transcribers to indicate an indecipherable letter or number. - Abeam. Transcribe this as "abeam".   - Abeam port. Transcribe this as "abeam port". - Abeam starboard. Transcribe this as "abeam starbd". - Anchor. (2 examples shown.) Transcribe this as "anchor". - Double anchored. Ship anchored with both port and starboard anchors (2 examples shown.) Transcribe this as "double anchored". +"age" - Anchorage. Transcribe this as "anchorage". (Logs use just one symbol, not the two examples shown here.) - Port Bower Anchor. Transcribe this as "port bower anchor". (An example of fancy and extended use of the symbol, not common.) - Starboard Bower Anchor. Transcribe this as "starb'd bower anchor". (An example of fancy and extended use of the symbol, not common.) - Moon, rise or set location. Usually used to identify a bearings point. Transcribe this as "moon". The same symbol is used morning and evening. - Sun, rise or set location. Usually used to identify a bearings point. Transcribe this as "sun". The same symbol is used morning and evening. The dotted circle alone (no horizon line) is also used as a noun; example: "Darken the ship at 'sun' set."   Example of morning reading (sunrise): Example of evening reading (sunset): - Star. Usually used to identify a method of obtaining observed LatLong. Transcribe this as "star". May also be shorthand for "starboard" as in "let go starboard anchor" Example:   - Triangulation point. Usually used to identify a ship's position and attitude while at anchor. Transcribe this as "triangulation point". There is a professional definition here in the forum. Example:   0 - 9   3 pdr - 3 pounder (gun) Example: Exercised guns crew at 3 pdr with common shell. 6" BL - 6 inch Breach Loading (cannon). 6 P.R.Q.F. - 6 Pounder Quick Firing (cannon). A - B   A.B. or AB - Able Bodied Seaman, a higher skill rating than Ordinary Seaman. abm. - Abeam. Example: [HMS Caronia], [July 14, 1915]. "Georges Id. abm. Stopped." ABS - Armed boarding steamer; (smaller hired merchant ship)   A.D. or AD - Artificer Diver. AMC - Armed merchant cruiser (hired merchant ship) A/C - Altered Course. Example: Albion, 1914-07-17, 11 AM. 11.40 Lizard Lt. N43E3' a/c S87E http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM53-33214/ADM53-33214-007_1.jpg AG - Armed Guard Ah. - Ahead AoF - Admiral of the Fleet Ast. Pay. or  A.P. - Assistant Paymaster. A.P. - Armour Piercing. A.T.S. - Apparent Time at Ship Example: [HMS Caronia], [July 7, 1915, 9.0am]. "Time back 31 mins. to A.T.S." See also S.A.T. ATP - Authorised to Proceed (when boarded vessels were allowed to proceed) Bea or Bcn - Beacon. Example: HMT Tenby Castle, 7 August 1915 @ 02:00-03:00 left margin. B/G or bgs or Brg - bearing(s). BISN or B.I.S.N. - British India Steam Navigation Company Bque - Barque Bks. - Barracks BL or B.L. - Breech Loader (Breech Loading gun). BS or B.S. - Battleship Squadron. BW or B.W. - Breakwater OR BW or B.W. - Both Watches BW for x - Both watches for excercise BOT or B.O.T. - Board of Trade; aka "Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations", English governmental advisory body. Also the very different American futures and options commodities exchange. C - D   C. of P. - Captain of Port CERA - Chief Engine Room Artificer. Example: HMS Albion, 1914-08-06, 3 PM. 1.55. 1 C.E.R.A. joined from depot. http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM53-33214/ADM53-33214-015_0.jpg comed - Commenced Example: "Comed coaling." C in C - Commander in Chief. CM. - Court Martial, as in "CM prisoner left ship under escort). Co. - Course. Example: [HMS Caronia], [July 12, 1915]. "7.55 Finished, weighed (anchor) and Proceeded 72 revs. Co. S48E." C.O.E. - Church of England. Coy - Convoy. C.P.O. - Chief Petty Officer. Corpl. Or Cpl. - Corporal a rank above private in the RMLI. Example: Corpl.Guerin R.M.L.I. injured in stbd collier + sent to H.M.H.S. "Berbice". C.S. - Cruiser Squadron. Example: "[Course] as reqd with 7th C.S. to form screen East of 2nd B.S. at 5'." CT - Coal Trimmer; merchant seaman rating for RN Trimmer rating; exists in crews on merchant cruisers.   D. - Diver. OR. D. - Discharged. DC - Depth Charge(s).   DH - Deck Hand(s). D.M.B. - Duty Motor Boat. DR or D.R. Post - Dead Reckoning or Dead Reckoning Position. D.S.B. - Duty Steam Boat. The ship's steam pinnace that will be kept fired up to run all the gofer errands of the day. Detention Bks - Detention Barracks. DD - Discharged Dead from service. DAMS - Defensively Armed Merchant Ship (World War I). From the acronym finder which contains 4M of the things. Dev'n - Deviation. Example: [HMS Endeavour], [October 1921]. http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=751.0;topicseen disEmbk - Disembark. do - Ditto. DOW - Died of Wounds. DY - Dockyard. D.S.M. - Distinguished Service Medal E - F EA - Electrical Artificer EAR - Engines as required; Example: Macedonia, "EAR to manoeuvre closer to "Glasgow" " empd or empd - Employed EQ - Evening Quarters ERA - Engine Room Artificer. Example: HMS Albion, 1914-08-05, 7 PM. 7.30. 2 E.R.A.s joined ship from depot. Exd - Exercised. Example: Juno, 1915-06-08 5 PM. Exd fire stations http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM_53-45459/ADM%2053-45459-007_0.jpg Example: Albion, 1914-07-17, 2 AM. Exd sounding Pty & placing oil ~ exch. - exchanged. Example: Challenged and exch. pdts with HMS "Mantua". F.G. - Fishing Ground (origin or destination of a boarded vessel) FM - Fireman; merchant seaman rating for RN Stoker rating; exists in crews on merchant cruisers. OR. FM - Fleet Messenger ship. fath or fms or fthms - Fathoms; a unit of length used especially for measuring the depth of water. There are 2 yards (6 feet) in a fathom. F.W. - Fresh water fxl or fxle or fo'c'stle - Forecastle G - H G - (with a number as a bearing) Green; part of a bearing relative to the ship's course of a sighted vessel or landmark, green being the color of the navigation running lights on the starboard side of a ship. Example: [HMS Macedonia] "sighted HMS Edinburgh Castle G.14." G.C. - Gun Crew GLs - Gunlayers G.M. or GM - Gunner's mate. OR. G.M. or GM - Grog money. GQ or GQs - General Quarters GS or G.s. - General Service; many types of kit and hardware that couldn't otherwise be easily categorised. Grt or Gr or Gt - Great Harbr. - Harbour HBM - His Britannic Majesties, as in "HBM Consul boarded". H.E. (shell) - High Explosive. Example: Lost overboard: 3 6" Q.F. common shell + 1 H.E. shell Q.F. OR H.E. - His or Her Excellancy H.I.J.M.S. - His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Ship HIRMS - His Imperial Russian Majesty's Ship; "HIRMS Oleg" HMA - His Majesty's Auxiliary; i.e. a ship in the RFA, "HMA Osmanich" HMAS - His Majesty's Australian Ship; "HMAS Torrens" H.M.A.T. - His/Her Majesty's Australian Transport Example: top, sent boat with orders to HMAT's "Lord Landsdowne" + "T. Stratton" HMCS - His Majesty's Canadian Ship; "HMCTBD Grilse - His Majesty's Canadian Torpedo Boat Destroyer" HMD or HMTBD - His/Her Majesty's Destroyer. HMS - His/Her Majesty's Ship. H.M.H.S. or H.S. - His/Her Majesty's Hospital Ship. Example: Corpl.Guerin R.M.L.I. injured in stbd collier + sent to H.M.H.S. "Berbice". HMT - His Majesty's Transport; "HMT Olympic" H.M.Y. - Her/His Majesty's Yacht H.P. - Harbour Patrol (boat) I - L Id. - Island. Inc. - Increase. Example: HMS Caronia, July 24, 1915. "8.0 Inc. to 55 revs." Int'd - Intercepted. K.H.M. - King's (or Queen's) Harbourmaster; when a Royal Navy officer serves in this capacity at a Naval port, they are known as the Queen's (or King's) Harbourmaster, and is entitled to fly a white-bordered Union Flag with a white central disc bearing the initials "QHM" (or "KHM" during the reign of a King) beneath a crown. Kts. - Knots; speed in nautical miles/hour (1 nautical mile equals approx. one minute of arc of latitude, exactly 1,852 metres, and approx. 6,076 feet). L Bg - Light Barge. L.C.S. or LCS - Light Cruiser Squadron. L.T.O. or LTO - Leading Torpedo Man. Lt. or Lt.Ho. or L.H. - Lighthouse. Example: Albion, 1014-07-17, 11 AM: 11.40 Lizard Lt. N43E3' a/c S87E http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM53-33214/ADM53-33214-007_1.jpg Or. Lt - Little. Example: Lt Cumbrae abm 1/4'. L.V. or Lt.V. - Light Vessel (an anchored boat that acts as the areas light house) Example: HMS Caronia, Ambrose L.V. aided navigation in front of New York harbor. Lt. or Lieut. - Lieutenant Lt. Cdr. - Lieutenant Commander Ldg.Sig. - Leading Signaler     M - N (m) or (M) - Following a sighted bearing, magnetic. M.A.A. - Master at Arms; the senior CPO and responsible for all discipline aboard, a very important man indeed. MFA - Merchant Fleet Auxiliary; "MFA Osmanich" Mag - Magnetic. "Relative to Earth's North Magnetic Pole." m. - Minutes M.D. - Main Derrick. M.D.(&)H.B. - Mersey Dock & Harbour Board. MMR - Mercantile Marine Reserve (British); also the wholly American Merchant Marine Reserve. M.V. or MV - Motor Vessel. Example: "Stopped, boarded Danish M/V Falstria" (N) - Navigating Officer indicated when after officer's rank. N.D.S. - Night Defence Station. Example: Sounded off N.D.S. Red Watch. N.S.O. - Naval Stores Office; example: Torch: "Rec'd 1.5 tons coals, culinary from N.S.O." N.U.C. - Not Under Control; a problem with steering gear or engine; example: Victorian, "N.U.C. lights hoisted" Nor or Norw - Norwegian. O - P Obs. - Observed. Example: 5.55 Obs. submarine Lat. 55.18N Long. 6.30W O-F - Oil Fuel. Example: (HMS Torch) ".at oiler. Recd 62 tons of O-F." O.H.M.S. - On His/Her Majesty's Service; commonly seen on correspondence from government departments in countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, recognising the British monarch as the head of state. O.O.G. or O. of G. - Officer of Guard OOW - Officer of (the) watch. Ord. or O.S. - Ordinary Seaman Patt. - Pattern. Example: Lost overboard by accident Columbus Pos'n Lt. patt. no.57 PB or Pb - Patrol Boat PB or P.B. - Port Bower; referring to the Port Bower anchor. According to 1928 Websters: bower anchor = bower = an anchor carried at the bow. Pty - Party. Example: Albion, 1914-07-17, 2 AM. Exd sounding Pty & placing oil ~ http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM53-33214/ADM53-33214-007_1.jpg P.N.T.O. - Principal Naval Transport Officer - Referred to only on large area depot ships, like Blenheim. They had to transport entire crews to and from England to keep the local ships on station. P.V. - Paravane - Also called a "fish", it's an device dragged behind the ship to clear wires for minesweeping. P.L. - Patent Log - A log that is pulled behind the ship to measure speed. P.L.A. - Port of London Authority Example: HMS Naneric, 21 Sept 1918, London "PLA men handling moorings" P.S.N.C. - Pacific Steam Navigation Company P&O - "Peninsular & Oriental" Steam Navigation Company. P.O. - Petty Officer P.D. - Physical Drill. Example: "Boys R&W watches to P.D.& Signals" P.W. - Port Watch P.Z. - the code used to give the order to commence exercises to accustom the two Squadrons to work together, to gain practical experience of the difficulties of signalling to and of manoeuvring a large fleet. Example: HMS Roxburgh "Now carrying out P.Z. exercises, so far negative" Pt. or P. or Pbd. - Port side of ship. pdts or pndts - pendants; the hanging rope or line carrying the ship's ensign (flag), which is dipped to acknowledge a passing ship. Example: Challenged and exch. pdts with HMS "Mantua". Proc'd - proceeded Example: http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM53-39827/ADM%2053-39827-003_1.jpg Pts - Privates (Lowest rating in Marines) Q - R Q.D. - Quarter Deck. Example: "1400 Spread Q.D. Awning. 1900 Furled Q.D. Awning" Q.F. - Quick firing. R - (with a number as a bearing) Red; part of a bearing relative to the ship's course of a sighted vessel or landmark, red being the color of the navigation running lights on the port side of a ship. Example: [HMS Macedonia] "observed "Sydney" R.40." RA - Rear Admiral. R.C. - Roman Catholic. Rds - Rounds (of ammunition). Example: Gunners storeroom found to have been broken into. 1 revolver No49278 + 80 Rds ammunition stolen. Recd - -received Example: "Recd 85 tons coal." Red. - Reduced. Remd - Remainder. reqte - Requisite. Example: HMS Orvieto, 23 March 1916 @ 06:45 "6:45 Bar end buoy abm. 15 knots as reqte through South Edinburgh Channel." revs. or rev. or revns - Revolutions. Example: (HMS Caronia, July 6, 1915) "5.0 Red. to 68 revs." RFA or R.F.A. - Royal Fleet Auxillary. Includes Oilers and fuel ships. RFE or R.F.E. - Range Finding Exercise. Includes Oilers and fuel ships. RFR or R.F.R. - Royal Fleet Reserve. See The Royal Fleet Reserve and How to Join It - 1914 RIM - Royal Indian Marine. The Indian navy before 1934. RIMS - Royal Indian Marine Ship. The Indian navy troopships used extensively by the RN. Rk - Rock. Example: Passed Dumbarton Rk. RMA - Royal Marine Artillery. RMAB - Royal Marine Artillery Barracks. RMS - Royal Mail Ship; "RMS Olympic" RNH - Royal Naval Hospital. RMLI - Royal Marines Light Infantry. Example: "Private Carter R.M.L.I. returned from hospital" (http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM53-50910/ADM53-50910-032_0.jpg) RMS - Royal Mail Ship. RMSP or R.M.S.P. - Royal Mail Steam Packet. RN or R.N. - (British) Royal Navy RNAS or R.N.A.S. - Royal Naval Air Service. RNASBR or R.N.A.S.B.R. - Royal Naval Auxiliary Sick Berth Reserve. RNB or R.N.B. - Royal Navy Barracks. Example: "1 P.O. tel discharged to Portsmouth R.N.B." RNH - Royal Naval Hospital. RNO or R.N.O. - (top) Resident Naval Officer (in a foreign port) RNR or R.N.R. - Royal Naval Reserve. See this link for requirements to join. RNVR or R.N.V.R. - Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve RNV(W)R - Royal Naval Volunteer (Wireless) Reserve R.O.B.E. - Rung Off Both Engines. This was the time of those super things with a big brass handle that sent a visual and a bell signal to the Engine Room. Example: http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM_53-47700/ADM%2053-47700-014_1.jpg May also be Ran On Both Engines. R.S.P. - Red Sea Patrol; Example: Received mails for Perim Kamaran + H.M. ships of R.S.P. RV - Rendezvous; Example: Cruising at R.V. awaiting H.M.S. "Patuca". S SQMS - Senior Quartermaster-Sergeant Shkl or Shkles - Shackle or shackles; A nautical unit used for measuring the lengths of the cables and chains (especially anchor chains), equal to 15 fathoms, 90 feet or 27.432 meters. S.A.A. - Small Arms Amunition. S.A.T. - Ship's Apparent Time. See also A.T.S. SB or S.B. - Starboard Bower; referring to the Starboard Bower anchor. According to 1928 Websters: bower anchor = bower = an anchor carried at the bow. S.B.A. - Sick Berth Attendant. SBC - Signal Books Correct. (In some cases it could mean "Seen By Captain".) SBC - Set Bridge Chronometer - "The bridge chronometer would not have been the only chronometer on board but it was the critical piece and was intended to be checked by lunar or solar reading." S/C - Set Course; Example: "S/C N58E" S1BL - Starboard 1 Breech-Loading (Gun) S.N.O. - Senior Naval Officer Sd - Sighted. Stbd or or Stbd - Starboard side of ship. Example: From HMS Foxglove log for 14/12/1921 - 1200 "Leave to Stbd watch from 1700 to 0700." Link: http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM%2053-77623/ADM%2053-77623-0025_0.jpg sch - schooner S.G. or SG - Seaman Gunner. s'l - sail. Also incorporated in tops'l, t.g.s'l (topgallant sail), st'ys'l (staysail), mains'l, etc. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail-plan S/m - Submarine. SMS or S.M.S. - Seiner Majestat Schiff; German for "His Majesty's [the Kaiser's] Ship" S.P. - Steam Pinnace. SSs - Sightsetters. S.S. - Steamship. S.T or S/T - Steam Trawler or Steam Tug OR. S.T. or ST - Seaman Torpedo Man. S.W. - Starboard Watch S.Y. or SY - Steam Yacht. stn or stns - station(s) Examples: Took Stn. on Port bow of "Commonwealth". Exercised "Abandon ship stns". Sto. Or Stokr. - Stoker. S.V. or S/V - Sailing Vessel T - U (T) - Following a sighted bearing, true. TBD - Torpedo boat destroyer; commonly called a "destroyer" T.C. or TC - Torpedo Coxswain. OR T.C. - Training Class; "Training class at 1pm" TG - Topgallant sail. One of several square-rigged sails T.G.M. or TGM - Torpedo Gunner's Mate. T.S. or TS - Transmitting Stations. American term is "Plotting Room" or "Plot". The fire control room on war ships. See http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Transmitting_Station V - W Var or Vble - Variable. Example: [HMS Caronia], [July 27, 1915]. Weather wind direction. V.A. - Vice Admiral VRN - Volunteer Royal Navy Vsl - Vessel Wr - Weather WBC - Wound Bridge Chronometer - "The bridge chronometer would not have been the only chronometer on board but it was the criticasl piece and was intended to be checked by lunar or solar reading." W.I.R. - West India Regiment. W.O. - Warrant Officer. W.P. - Work Party. W.S.St. - War signal station Example: Challenged by Malin Head W.S.St. W/T has been noted in three separate contexts, listed below: W/T - Wireless Telegraphy. Example: 'Discharged to HMS Minotaur, 1 w/t boy and 1 w/t operator.' OR. W.T. - Warrant Telegraphist Example: Sent boat with Md. Williams, warrent telegraphist to repair wireless on HMT "T.Stratton"; 2.25 Stop, sent boat to HMAT "T. Stratton". Boat ret. with W/T officer. OR. W.T. - Water Tight (doors). Example: [HMS Caronia], [Nov. 3, 1915] "Tried Stone Lloyd W.T. doors. Ex'ed Action & fire stations." W.T.O. - Wireless Telegraphy Operator. Example: 9.30: Wireless Operators of Ships of Convoy on Board for Conference. 11.30: WTO's left ship. X - Y - Z Y.P. - Yard Patrol. In American navy yards and around Annapolis, boats used to actually patrol the harbors and service ships. ZZ - Zigzagging.         2. Log Book Abbreviations compiled for US Navy, Revenue Service/Coast Guard and Coast & Geodetic Service in the 19th and 20th centuries   (Some of these abbreviations may also be used for Old Weather Phase 1/2 ships)     This list has been updated for use in Phase 3, USCG Arctic Ships. If you have any additions or changes for this list, please post them in the Collection of Known Abbreviations topic. There is also a very good list of WWII USN abbreviations online, and a list of abbreviations for USN Enlisted Ratings which may be quite helpful. The USCG (US Coast Guard) generally uses the same ranks and logs as the US Navy. A - B   AB - Able-bodied Seaman. A rank indicating skill level, one grade above Ordinary Seaman. abm. - Abeam. Example: [HMS Caronia], [July 14, 1915]. "Georges Id. abm. Stopped." Adm. - Admiral. AS - Apprentice Seaman ; (until 1948)   AMC - Armed merchant cruiser (GB - RN hired merchant ship) AG or ArmGrd - Armed Guard (RN and USN) Asst. - Assistant of Survey. A senior rank for non-military officers on the survey ships of the US Coast & Geodetic Survey. ATF - Ocean Tug, Fleet AP - Armour/Armor Piercing. (Both RN and USN.) BAT or BATSHIP. - Battleship. BatRon - Battleship Squadron. Bgs or Brg - bearing(s). Bks. or Baks - Barracks BM - Boatswain's Mate or Boatman's Mate; also called Coxswain. Boatswain's mates train, direct, and supervise personnel in ship's maintenance duties in all activities relating to marlinspike, deck, boat seamanship, painting, upkeep of ship's external structure, rigging, deck equipment, and boats. (Wiki) Coxswains are in command of detached boats and their crews. BT - Boiler Technician; a naval rating specializing in boilers. C - D c/c - course change. Capt. - Captain. Com'g - Commanding as in, "U.S.Schr."Yukon" G.Bradford, Asst. com'g." COTP - Captain of Port (USCG) CM. - Court Martial, as in "CM prisoner left ship under escort). CUS - Course. COX or Cox'n - Coxswain. Pronounced k'ks'n; The steersman of a boat; a petty officer who has charge of a boat and its crew. (Webster's Dictionary 1913) C.P.O. - Chief Petty Officer. CWT - Chief Water Tender; the highet ranked petty officer charged with maintaining boiler pressure in a ship's propulsion system. DD - Destroyer. .OR. DD - Dishonorable Discharge. .OR. DD - Drydock. DR or DR Post - Dead Reckoning or Dead Reckoning Position. Disemb - Disembark(ed). DOD - Died of Disease. DWA - Died of Wounds from Action with the Enemy. D.S.M. - Distinguished Service Medal E - F Exp - Experience .OR. Exp - Express (boiler) F - Fireman. FADM - Fleet Admiral. fath or fms or fthms - Fathoms; a unit of length used especially for measuring the depth of water. There are 2 yards (6 feet) in a fathom. G - H GC - Gun Captain GD - Guard GDP - Gun Director Pointer GM or "Guns" - Gunner's Mate Grt or Gr or Gt - Great GUN - Gunboat Gun - Gunner HBS - Harbor Boat Service HECP - Harbor Entrance Control Post. HE (shell) - High Explosive. HPF - Harbour Patrol Fleet I - L Id or Is. or Isd - Island. "Isd" is typed Is'd Insp - Inspector. .OR. INSP - Inspection. Instn - Instruction. Instr - Instructor. Kn(s) or Kt(s) - Knot(s); speed in nautical miles/hour (1 knot equals approx. 1 nautical mile equals approx. one minute of arc of latitude, exactly 1,852 meters, and approx. 6,076 feet per hour). LDS or lds - Landsman; a naval rating below that of seaman, indicating little experience at sea. Lt. - Light LV - Light Vessel (an anchored boat that acts as the areas light house) Example: Ambrose L.V. aided navigation in front of New York harbor. LT or Lt. - Lieutenant LCDR or LtCom - Lieutenant Commander Lt (jg) - Lieutenant (Junior Grade)     M - N (m) or (M) - Following a sighted bearing, magnetic. RN: unknown if used by USN M - Merchant Marine Reserve MA or MAA - Master at Arms; the senior CPO and responsible for all discipline aboard, a very important man indeed. Mag - Magnetic. "Relative to Earth's North Magnetic Pole." m - Minutes MC - USN officer designation for Medical Corps MM - Machinist Mate; rating responsible for the continuous operation of the many engines, compressors, gears, and other types of machinery onboard ships and shore installations. They are responsible for the ship's steam propulsion and auxiliary equipment and the outside (deck) machinery. (Wiki) MMR - Mercantile Marine Reserve (British); also the wholly American Merchant Marine Reserve. MV or M/V - Merchant Vessel. Example: "Stopped, boarded Danish M/V Falstria" (N) - Navigating Officer indicated when after officer's rank. Nav - Navy or Naval or Navigation(al). Navig - Navigation; Navigator. Nite - Night. O - P Obs. - Observed. OD - Officer-of-the-Day OG - Officer-of-the-Guard (Army) OIC or OinC - Officer-in-Charge OOD - Officer-of-the-Deck ORD - Ordnance. Heavy weapons of warfare; cannon, or great guns, mortars, and howitzers; artillery; sometimes, a general term for all weapons, ammunition, and appliances used in war. (Webster's Dictionary 1913.) PC - Civilian Personnel Division. (USCG) .OR. PC - Patrol Craft. .OR. PC or PClk - Pay Clerk. PCE - Patrol Craft, Escort. PG - Patrol Vessel, Gunboat (PH) - placed after a wind direction Pilot House compass; Vessel rolling so as to render it unsafe to stand on bridge so all courses in future are by the Pilot House compass. PT - Patrol Vessel, Motor Torpedo Boat. PY - Patrol Vessel, Yacht. PB - Port Bower (anchor). According to 1928 Websters: bower anchor = bower = an anchor carried at the bow. PGC - Per Gyrocompass. A gyrocompass is similar to a gyroscope. It is a compass that can find true north by using an electrically powered, fast-spinning gyroscope wheel and frictional or other forces in order to exploit basic physical laws and the rotation of the Earth. (thefreedictionary.com) P.L. - Patent Log - A log that is pulled behind the ship to measure speed. P.O. - Petty Officer .OR. P.O. - Port Officer .OR. P.O. - Post Office PSC - Per Standard Compass. Q - R QM or Quart - Quartermaster. Webster's 1913 Dictionary: 1. (Mil.) An officer whose duty is to provide quarters, provisions, storage, clothing, fuel, stationery, and transportation for a regiment or other body of troops, and superintend the supplies. 2. (Naut.) A petty officer who attends to the helm, binnacle, signals, and the like, under the direction of the master.  Qtr(s) - Quarter(s). RA or Rear Adm - Rear Admiral. Rds - Rounds (of ammunition). Example: Gunners storeroom found to have been broken into. 1 revolver No49278 + 80 Rds ammunition stolen. Recd - received Typed Rec'd Example: "Recd 85 tons coal." Red - Reduced. revs. or rev. or revns - Revolutions per minute. RKO - Range Keeper Operator R.O.B.E. - Rung Off Both Engines. This was the time of those super things with a big brass handle that sent a visual and a bell signal to the Engine Room. May also be Ran On Both Engines. S S or SN - Seaman. Such as S1 (Seaman 1st class) SA - Special Artificer. (before 1948) SAA - Small Arms Amunition. S/C - Set Course; Example: "S/C N58E" SOP - Standard Operating Procedure .OR. SOP - Senior Officer Present SOPA - Senior Officer Present Afloat SOP(A) - Senior Officer Present (Ashore)   Shkl(s) - Shackle(s); A nautical unit used for measuring the lengths of the cables and chains (especially anchor chains), equal to 15 fathoms, 90 feet or 27.432 meters. Stbd or Stbd - Starboard side of ship. Example: From HMS Foxglove log for 14/12/1921 - 1200 "Leave to Stbd watch from 1700 to 0700." sch - schooner s'l - sail. Also incorporated in tops'l, t.g.s'l (topgallant sail), st'ys'l (staysail), mains'l, etc. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail-plan S/m - Submarine. S.S. - Steamship. S.T or S/T - Steam Trawler or Steam Tug T - U (T) - Following a sighted bearing, true. TB - Torpedo Boat; (German); corresponds to US DE (destroyer) TC - Training Class; "Training class at 1pm" TG - Topgallant sail. One of several square-rigged sails TM - Torpedoman's Mate. TME - Torpedoman's Mate (Electrical). TORP - Torpedo; Torpedoman. Treas'y - Treasury as in "Treasury agent." USRCS - United States Revenue Cutter Service; reporting to the Treasury Dept., 1790-1915; first armed fleet of the US government and oldest continuous (never disbanded) Armed Service. USCG - United States Coast Guard; a merger of the USRCS with the US Life-Saving Service (coastal life boat service, rescuing crew from wrecks); the Coast Guard can conduct military operations under the Department of the Navy or directly for the President in accordance with Title 14 USC 1?3. The US Lighthouse Service was added in 1939 and the Navigation and Steamboat Inspection Service in 1942. (Currently under Dept. of Homeland Security, with possible transfer to the President directly, or to the Navy in war.) USN - United States Navy. USS - United States Ship. (USN vessel) USRC - United States Revenue Cutter. (USRCS vessel) USCGC - United States Coast Guard Cutter. (USCG vessel) V - W Var or Vble - Variable. Example: [HMS Caronia], [July 27, 1915]. Weather wind direction. VA - Vice Admiral V or VOL - Volunteer; (U.S. Naval Reserve) Vsl - Vessel WO - Warrant Officer. W/T - Water Tight (doors). .OR. W/T - Water Tender (vessel). X - Y - Z ##x - yards distance. Written "any number with a superscript 'x'." Bunting Tosser: "I recall from my time at junior school that the symbols for distance were x for yards, ' for feet and " for inches." YN - Yeoman. An enlisted rating; Yeomen perform Administrative and Clerical work. (Wiki) YP - Yard Patrol. Boats used to patrol the harbors and service ships. ZZ - Zigzagging.                   3. Beaufort Weather Codes   Compiled by DJ_59     This is a list of weather codes (used worldwide until computers had the system changing over to numbers) developed for the Royal Navy in the early part of the 19th century. It helps to know that an "okta" is 1/8th of the sky. Have at it!   BEAUFORT CODE Beaufort Code is a system which uses letters and numbers to denote various weather types. The tables below provide full details of Beaufort Code. At the end of this document is a section describing how to write and interpret Beaufort Code.   STATE OF THE SKY - CLOUD COVER b - Cloud cover: 0 to 2 oktas (0 - 25%) bc - Cloud cover: 3 to 5 oktas (26 - 74%) c - Cloud cover: 6 to 8 oktas (75 - 100%) o - Uniform thick layer of cloud completely covering the sky (100%) g - Gloomy, or dark stormy-looking sky HYDROMETERS - WATER AND ICE r - Rain (drops of water >0.5mm diameter) rx - Freezing Rain (i.e. rain which freezes on contact with the ground and vegetation) d - Drizzle (drops of water <0.5mm diameter) dx - Freezing Drizzle (i.e. drizzle which freezes on contact with the ground and vegetation) s - Snow (ice crystals, often branched into 'flakes' in 'warmer conditions', temperatures >-5oC h - Snow Pellets (often referred to as 'soft hail', and typical of wintry showers, especially in coastal regions; white and spherical or conical, 2 to 5mm; fall only from cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds ) h - Hail (transparent or opaque particles, usually spheroidal, but sometimes conical; over 5mm; can fall as larger aggregated lumps in heavy thunderstorms; most larger hailstones show evidence of concentric layering) Small Hail (as above but consisting of snow pellets encased in a thin layer of clear ice, not easily crushable; under 5mm; very common in showery weather in Britain; falls only from cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds) Ice Pellets (spherical, conical or irregular transparent ice particles <=5mm; fall mainly from altostratus and nimbostratus clouds) Diamond Dust (tiny ice crystals which fall from a clear sky; requires very cold weather; rare in Britain; common in polar regions) sh - Snow Grains (white opaque particles <1mm; fall usually from low stratus and stratocumulus clouds)   VISIBILITY f - Fog (Visibility <1km) fx - Freezing Fog (water droplet fog, that freezes on contact with solid objects) fe - Wet Fog (damp fog which deposits a film of water on exposed solid surfaces) fs - Shallow Fog Patches (fog limited to a depth of 2 metres or less; if it is a continuous layer, the lower line of the symbol is continuous, but the Beaufort code stays the same) m - Mist (Visibility 1 to 2 km; there are a variety of definitions of mist; the British Met Office also require a relative humidity between 95 and 100%) ks - Drifting Snow (snow raised to heights below eye level - 1.8 metres; no overall reduction in visibility) ks - Blowing Snow (snow raised to a great height above the land surface causing severe reduction of visibility, e.g. a 'white-out'; strong winds needed; usually limited to upland areas in Britain) w - Dew (produced by night-time radiation cooling w - Advection Dew (caused by condensation on upright surfaces, usually after a cold spell as warm moist air blows against cold surfaces) w - White Dew (frozen dew drops, as opposed to hoar frost) x - Hoar Frost (the 'usual' white frost, produced by radiation cooling; takes the form of small needles, scales, feathers or fans) x - Advection Hoar Frost (forms in the same way as advection dew, but with temperatures still below freezing) dr - Drizzle and rain rs - Rain and snow (Sleet) hs - Hail and snow hr - Hail and rain MISCELLANEOUS z - Haze (the presence of microscopic particles in the air in sufficient quantities to give the sky an opalescent appearance; visibility is often reduced; most common in calm anticyclonic weather in summer in Britain, when pollen, dust and pollution contaminate the air) tl - Thunderstorm (thunder must be audible at the site before a thunderstorm can be recorded) l - Lightning (there are three common types: ground discharge - where the lightning strikes the ground; it is often in a ranched form, hence the name 'forked' lightning; cloud discharge - lightning that is within the cloud - its channel is often ndistinguishable and we normally refer to it as 'sheet' lightning; air discharge - often sub-horizontal, it runs from cloud to air outside the cloud; sometimes called 'streak' lightning; a fourth an rare form is ball lightning, which appears near the ground usually after a ground discharge; it varies between 10cms and 1 metre in diameter, 'floats' around for several seconds and usually dissipates with a violent explosion) j - Within Sight (used as a suffix for other phenomena, e.g. pj = shower within sight, but not over the recording station. e - Wet Air (wet air, but without rain falling) y - Dry Air (relative humidity < 60%) u - Ugly Threatening Sky (e.g. before the onset of a thunderstorm) v - Abnormally good visibility (e.g. over 50 miles) p - Shower (a relatively short period of precipitation; the type is indicated by additional letters or symbols) g - Gale (wind speed averaging between 34 and 47 knots for a period of 10 minutes or more) G - Storm (wind speed averaging over 47 knots for a period of 10 minutes or more) q - Squall (a strong wind that rises suddenly and lasts for at least a minute then dies away relatively quickly; an increase of 16 knots to a speed over 22 knots is required) kq - Line Squall (as above but occurring along the line of a cold front and accompanied by a roll shaped cloud with a horizontal axis and a sharp fall in temperature) BEAUFORT CODE CONVENTIONS   ASSESSING INTENSITY We need to differentiate between, light/weak, moderate, heavy and violent/Severe events, such as rainfall, thunderstorms, lightning, (and to a lesser extent with fog), fog, etc. Weak/Light: a subscripted suffixed 'o' is used, e.g. ro, so, do mean light rain, snow and drizzle respectively. For very light precipitation a double 'o' may be used, e.g. soo This, however, is non-standard. Moderate: simple lower case letters, e.g. r, s, d, f, tl Heavy: capital letters, e.g. R, S, D, H, F,TL Violent/Severe: a subscripted suffixed '2' is used, following a capital letter e.g. R2 indicates torrential rain. The same procedure is used for rain, hail, etc.     ASSESSING CONTINUITY If a phenomenon is continuous, the code is simply repeated, e.g. rr represents continuous rain, soso represents continuous light snow. If a phenomena is intermittent (i.e. broken by intervals less than an hour long) the prefix 'i' is used, e.g. iro means intermittent light rain. SHOWER LENGTH The difference between a lengthy shower and a period is rather subtle. By definition showers can only fall from convective cloud (cumulus and cumulonimbus), and are usually broken by sunny spells or clear interludes. There is no standard way of differentiating between short, medium and lengthy showers. However, an easily applied non-standard solution is to use the same suffixes as for intensity, to refer to length, e.g. poR = short shower of heavy rain. pooroo = fleeting shower of very light rain, e.g. just a few drops, not enough to completely wet the ground. Pro = lengthy short of light rain. SHOWER FREQUENCY This is another non-standard convention. Official staffed weather stations would actually record the precise times of showers. For those of us who have other jobs to do the following method may suffice: (f)poRH = frequent short showers of heavy rain and hail (o)pro = occasional showers of light rain Ensure that the brackets are used, otherwise 'f' means 'fog' and 'o' means 'overcast'. CODE ORDER When several phenomena occur together they are recorded in the following order: State of sky Thunderstorm Precipitation Atmospheric obscurity (visibility) Other phenomena Example: cTLrzu = cloudy with a heavy thunderstorm and moderate rain, haze present and an ugly threatening sky.     CODING A SEQUENCE OF WEATHER Beaufort Code can be used for a current weather status report, i.e. for a fixed point in time, or it can be used to record weather throughout the day, to show the sequence of weather events. Where it is used to represent a sequence a comma can be used to separate events, e.g. Code: b, bc, c, oiro, ororo, orr, cRR, bc(o)pR Translation: cloud cover less than 2 oktas increasing to over 6 oktas, eventually 8 oktas with a dull featureless sky and intermittent light rain, becoming continuous, moderate and heavy, with a more differentiated cloudy sky of 8 oktas, followed by a cloud cover of 3 to 5 oktas and occasional showers of heavy rain. Most observers will add additional information in code sequences, often in brackets, e.g. the time of certain events, descriptions of phenomena which have no eaufort Code (the international symbols may be used), number of discharges in a thunderstorm, types of cloud present, etc. Curly brackets are used to indicate sunrise } and sunset {, e.g. RR } c = continuous heavy rain before sunrise, followed by cloudy dry weather after sunrise Cloud cover and types of cloud are also embedded in the Beaufort Code strings, inside square brackets, e.g. [50Cu(con)], which would indicate a cover of 50% Cumulus congestus. There is a separate download available covering cloud codes. THUNDERSTORMS The details of thunderstorms are included inside a double set of backslashes, e.g. \\[0130-0215][33cc25cg]\\ which means the storm lasted from 0130 to 0215 GMT/UTC and consisted of 33 inter-cloud discharges (usually appearing as sheet lightning, especially at night) and 25 cloud to ground (or vice-versa) discharges. SNOW LYING Snow lying (over 50% ground cover) at any point in the day is indicated by the usual Beaufort letters, plus a double superscripted asterisk, e.g. C**[3cm] The average snow depth is indicated inside square brackets using centimetres or millimetres FRONTS Fronts are indicated by a double set of capital letters: WF - warm front CF - cold front OF - occluded front SF - stationary front which are colour coded with the F subscripted in downloaded excel spreadsheets, but not in queries running from the website, which simply return two capital letters.       The ships' logbooks (original books that stayed with the ship, not necessarily the monthly copies sent home) all had a shortened list of possible weather codes to be used by the log keepers, as well as a clearly definition of wind force. US logbooks had a list of cloud symbols, and RN logbooks had definitions of fog intensity. Those printed charts are shown below. It is noted that some log keepers knew and used the expanded list given above.     US Navy Logbook c.1900         Royal Navy Logbook 1913               4. Beaufort Wind Force Scale With thanks to Wikipedia and the UK Met Office Notes: the images are taken from an ocean-going vessel and represent well well-developed waves in the open sea. The affect on smaller vessels in the open sea will be more pronounced. In more sheltered seas, the same wind speed will result in smaller waves. Note also that there is a lag between the increase in wind speed and the waves increasing in size.   Beaufort Number Description Wind speed, wave height, sea conditions Sea state photo.   0 Calm Wind speed less than 1 knot, 1 kph, 1mph. Sea: like a mirror 1 Light air Wind speed 1-3 knots, 1.1-5.5kph, 1-3mph. Sea: wave height 10cm, 3in, ripples with the appearance of scales, but without foam crests 2 Light breeze Wind speed 4-6 knots, 5.6-11kph, 4-7mph. Sea: wave height 20-30cm, 6-12in, small wavelets, crests have a glassy appearance and do not break 3 Gentle breeze Wind speed 7-10 knots, 12-19kph, 8-12mph. Sea: wave height 60-100cm, 2-3ft, large wavelets, crests begin to break, any foam has glassy appearance, scattered whitecaps 4 Moderate breeze Wind speed 11-16 knots, 20-28kph, 13-17mph. Sea: wave height 1-1.5m, 3.5-5ft, small waves becoming longer, fairly frequent white horses 5 Fresh breeze Wind speed 17-21 knots, 29-38kph, 18-24mph. Sea: wave height 2-2.5m, 6-8ft, moderate waves taking more pronounced long from, many white horses, chance of some spray 6 Strong breeze Wind speed 22-27 knots, 39-49kph, 25-30mph. Sea: wave height 3-4m, 9.5-13ft, larger waves begin to form, spray is present, white foam crests are everywhere 7 High wind, moderate gale, near gale Wind speed 28-33 knots, 50-61kph, 31-38mph. Sea: wave height 4-5.5m, 13.5-19ft, sea heaps up, white foam from breaking waves begins to be blown in streaks long the wind direction 8 Gale, fresh gale Wind speed 34-40 knots, 62-74kph, 39-46mph. Sea: wave height 5.5-7.5m, 18-25ft, moderately high waves of greater length, edges of crest begin to break into spindrift, foam blown in well marked streaks along wind direction 9 Strong gale Wind speed 41-47 knots, 75-88kph, 47-54mph. Sea: wave height 7-10m, 23-32ft, high waves, dense streaks of foam along direction of the wind, wave crests begin to topple, tumble, and roll over, spray may affect visibility 10 Storm, whole gale Wind speed 48-55 knots, 89-102kph, 55-63mph. Sea: wave height 9-12.5m, 29-41ft, very high waves with long overhanging crests, the resulting foam, in great patches, is blown in dense white streaks along wind directions. On the whole, sea surface takes a white appearance, tumbling of the sea is heavy and shock-like. Visibility affected. 11 Violent storm Wind speed 56-63 knots, 103-117kph, 64-73mph. Sea: wave height 11.5-16m, 37-52ft, exceptionally high waves, small-medium sized ships may be lost to view behind the waves, sea completely covered with long white patches of foam lying along wind direction. Everywhere, the edges of wave crests are blown into froth. 12 Hurricane Wind speed greater than 64 knots, 118kph, 74mph. Sea: wave height greater than 14m, 46ft, completely white with driving spray, visibility very seriously affected. The air is filled with foam and spray                 5. Cloud Types   Compiled by Janet Jaguar     A more organized list:   Cirrus Cir/Ci high and wispy Nimbus Nim/Ni produces precipitation Stratus Str/Strat/St a flat layer of cloud Cumulus Cum/Cu puffy pile of cloud V clear CAVU ceiling and visibility unlimited     See also an excellent poster on this, much more detailed pictures - too big to embed. http://www.ec.gc.ca/Publications/643BB615-17E8-4952-B73A-E21373F0B22B/cloud_poster_e.pdf              6. Reading Wind direction and directions at sea, in general   Compiled by Janet Jaguar     We are asking everyone to type in the wind direction just as written, because the more complex writings are not from our familiar 16 point compass rose. Any wind directions that are one, two or three capital letters with no punctuation are from the familiar 16 point compass rose.     A picture with better resolution is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Compass_rose.png Any wind directions that are punctuated represent the other directions from the 32 point compass rose. These may be written as NxE, NbyE, NbE, N'E, or N/E.       A picture with better resolution is at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Compass_Card.png NE is 45 degrees clockwise from due North. NbE (or NxE or N'E or whatever) is only 11.25 degrees from due North. This makes a big difference. Other things also appear in this column, such as 'Calm', 'Nil', 'Light Airs' and 'Variable' that must be typed out. Things like 'N'ly' or 'N'y' are short for 'Northerly' which is not from any compass rose, but something a little more vague. Type it as written rather than guess what precise direction was actually happening at the time. I hope this helps us understand what our original lieutenants were observing and recording. ADD-ON: Life and the HMS Torch log-keeper have just taught me that there is also a 128 Point Compass Rose. Not that I personally, landlubber that I am, ever will use this much detail. But if you ever see a wind direction with fractions in it (N1/2E), transcribe it as is (N 1/2 E). Note from Philip Brohan: "One final wrinkle to beware of - the half and quarter points can each be referred to by two different names - 'W 1/2 S' is also 'W by S 1/2 W' for example." So Type What You See.   (Above: 128 Point Compass Rose from Naval-History.net Ships List.)                 Compiled by Janet Jaguar     7. SEA ICE TYPES     Taken from FORECASTERS HANDBOOK FOR THE ARCTIC, Appendix A: Glossary and Report of the cruise of the revenue marine steamer Corwin in the Arctic Ocean in the Year 1884, supplemented with other government and Greenpeace images, and a few additional archaic ice terms. Some sailing terms are at the end. The resource links contain a great many more terms than are listed here. Click on the pictures to enlarge them. (Approximate conversions: 16 kilometers = 10 miles; 10 meters = 11 yards.)     Ice Formation: Sea state affects the way ice is formed (Source:NSIDC)     no picture found BAY ICE: An archaic term that covers the range from nilas to grey. This was bad for sailing ships as it could stop them entirely whereas they could force (or bore) through much heavier floes given wind and some looseness in the pack. (Kevin Wood)   BERGY BIT: A large piece of floating glacier ice, generally showing less than 16 ft. (5 m) above sea level but more than 3 ft. (1 m) and normally about 120 to 360 sq.yds. (100-300 sq.m.) in area. BRASH ICE: Accumulations of floating ice made up of fragments not more than 6.5 ft. (2 m) across, the wreckage of other forms of ice. BROKEN ICE: Ice broken up into sharp pieces. (from old logs and new image captions) FAST ICE: a.k.a. LAND-FLOE; Sea ice that forms and remains fast along the coast, where it is attached to the shore, to an ice wall, to an ice front, between shoals or grounded icebergs. Vertical fluctuations may be observed during changes of sea level. Fast ice may be formed on site from sea water or by freezing of pack ice of any age to the shore, and it may extend a few yards (meters) or several hundred miles (kilometers) from the coast. Fast ice may be more than one year old and may then be prefixed with appropriate age category (old, second year, or multiyear). If it is thicker than about 7 ft. (2 m) above sea level, it is called an ice shelf. FLOE: Any relatively flat, isolated piece of sea ice 65 ft. (20 m) or more across. Floes are subdivided according to horizontal extent as follows: GIANT: over 6 mi (10 km) VAST: 1-6 mi (2-10 km) BIG: 550-2200 yd. (500-2000 m) MEDIUM: 110-550 yd. (100-500 m) SMALL: 22-110 yd. (20-100 m) (image - seen from USRC Bear, 1884; also see Melt Pool image) FRAZIL ICE: Fine spicules, or plates of ice, suspended in water. GRAY ICE: Young ice 4 to 6 in (10-15 cm) thick. Less elastic than nilas and breaks on swell. Usually rafts under pressure. GREASE ICE: A later stage of freezing than frazil ice. It occurs when the crystals have coagulated to form a soupy layer on the surface. Grease ice reflects little light, giving the sea a matte appearance (image - Grease ice on right, Nilas to left) GROWLER: Smaller piece of ice than a bergy bit, often transparent but appearing green or almost black in color. Usually extends less than 3 ft. (1 m) above the sea surface and normally occupies an area of about 24 sq.yd. (20 sq.m) HUMMOCK: A hillock of broken ice that has been forced upwards by pressure. May be fresh or weathered. The submerged volume of broken ice under the hummock, forced downwards by pressure, is termed a hummock. HUMMOCKY ICE is rough, uneven ice. (image - crew of USRC Bear, 1884) ICE BLINK: A peculiar pale yellow reflection on the sky and indicates the presence of ice at a distance. ICE FIELD: Area of pack ice consisting of floes of any size that is greater than 6 miles (10 km) wide. (image - see by USRC Bear, 1884) ICEBERG: A massive piece of ice of greatly varying shape, more than 16 ft. (5 m) above sea level, which has broken away from a glacier, and which may be afloat or aground. Icebergs may be described as tabular, dome-shaped, sloping, pinnacled, weathered, or glacier bergs. (image - with USRC Bear, 1884) LEAD: Any fracture or passageway through sea ice that is navigable by surface vessels. (image - lead or crack, USGS) MELT POOL/POND: Melt ponds are pools of open water that form on sea ice in the warmer months of spring and summer. The ponds are also found on glacial ice and ice shelfs. Ponds of melted water can also develop under the ice. (Wiki) (image - ice floes, melt pools, and polyna on right) no picture found NEW ICE: A general term for recently formed ice that includes frazil ice, grease ice, slush, and shuga. These types of ice are composed of ice crystals that are only weakly frozen together (if at all) and have a definite form only while they are afloat.   NILAS: A thin, elastic crust of ice bending easily on waves and swell. Nilas has a matte surface and is up to 4 in (10 cm) thick. Under pressure it thrusts into a pattern of interlocking fingers (see FINGER-RAFTED ICE). May be subdivided into dark nilas and light nilas.  (image - see also Grease Ice image) NIPPING ICE: Ice is said to be nipping when it begins to close by reason of the action of winds or currents so as to prevent the passage of a vessel. (image - USRC Corwin in a nip) OLD ICE: Sea ice that has survived at least one summer's melt. Most topographic features on old ice are smoother than those on first-year ice. May be subdivided into second-year ice and multi-year ice. (image - multi-year ice) PACK ICE: a.k.a. ICE PACK. Term used in a wide sense to include any area of sea ice, other than fast ice, no matter what form it takes or how it is disposed. PACKED ICE: Small pieces closed together and held by the pressure of wind and currents. (image - Pancake Ice in centre. US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory) PANCAKE ICE: Predominantly circular pieces of ice from 1 to 10 ft. (30 cm to 3 m) in diameter and up to about 4 in (10 cm) in thickness, with raised rims due to the pieces striking against one another. It may be formed on a slight swell from grease ice, shuga, or slush, or as a result of the breaking of ice rind, nilas, or, under severe conditions of swell or waves, of gray ice. Sometimes pancake ice forms at some depth, at an interface between water bodies of different physical characteristics, from where it floats to the surface; it may cover wide areas of water rapidly. POLYNYA: Any nonlinear-shaped opening in the water but enclosed by ice. Sometimes the polynya is limited on one side by the coast and is called a shore polynya, or by fast ice and is called a flaw polynya. Some polynyi recur annually in the same position. (image - see also Melt Pool image) no picture found PORRIDGE: Small finely ground-up ice. YOUNG PORRIDGE is porridge ice just forming. (See Brash, Slush and Young Ice.)   RIDGE: A line or wall of broken ice forced up by pressure; it may be fresh or weathered. The submerged volume of broken ice under a ridge, forced downwards by pressure, is termed an ice keel. no picture found ROTTEN ICE: Sea ice that has become honeycombed and is in an advanced state of disintegration.   SEA ICE: Any form of ice found at sea that has originated from the freezing of sea water. SHUGA: An accumulation of spongy white ice lumps, a few inches (centimeters) across; they are formed from grease ice or slush and sometimes from ice rising to the surface. SLACK ICE: Ice that is detached so that it can be worked through. Ice is said to be SLACKING when it begins to open so as to be navigable. no picture found SLUSH: Snow that is saturated and mixed with water on land or ice surfaces, or as a viscous floating mass in water after a heavy snowfall.   no picture found YOUNG ICE: Ice in the transition stage between nilas and first-year ice, 4 to 12 in (10-30 cm) in thickness. May be subdivided into gray ice and gray-white ice.     SAILING TERMS     BUCKING: Backing off and ramming ice in order to break a way through it. TRACKING: Following along the edge of the ice pack. WAKING: Following of another vessel through leads and slack ice               Compiled by DJ_59     8. External Links to Royal Navy, World War 1-era   (See also list of links compiled for Old Weather Phase 3)   Here are some links that may help you with everything from locations to historic context. The addresses are embedded in the titles, so just click on the blue text. THE SHIPS Clydebuilt Ships Database - Complete data with some pictures of 200 years of ships built on the River Clyde, merchant and naval. Haze Gray & Underway Search Engine - Another search engine for looking up info about ships. At the time this links page was under construction, so use the substitute search engine under the main one. Historic Naval Ships Association - Huge amount of information about all things Navy, from broad overviews to things as specific as explanations of the hydraulic catapults in Essex class carriers. Sound fun? Wanna see the manual? No kidding, all the manuals to every little thing are on this site. Endlessly fascinating site. Lloyd's Register Of Ships - Here you will find the registration details of a vessel such as the rigging, the tonnage, dimensions, propulsion, owners and her Master. These have been transcribed from the Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping from 1764 up to 2003, by Gilbert Provost with assistance from Pauline Joicey. Mid-Victorian Royal Navy - Excellent catch-all site with info about ships, officers and more. Naval-History.net List of our RN transcribed fleet - All the ships we have finished transcribing and are now actively editing. Royal Navy Log Books of the World War 1 Era - An Old Weather Citizen History Project - All of our edited RN logs, and those waiting to be edited. Old Ship Picture Galleries - An enormous database of pictures. You can probably find yours here. Probert Encyclopedia - Ships - Another place to find information on your ships. Roll of Honour - List of the many naval and merchant ships lost during the war, including the German ships interned at Scapa Flow. They ask that users of their data and pictures always credit them as the source. Royal Fleet Auxiliary - List of Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship names Ship Index Org - Tells you which books, magazines, and online resources mention the vessels you're researching. With 142,804 entries in the free database and 1,515,323 entries available with premium access, you're bound to find useful information here. The Ships List - There were a great many companies involved in the ocean trade. The Ships List attempts to collect the names of the companies and present a brief history of each and the names of the vessels they used. Ship Names of the Royal Navy (Wikipedia) - A listing of the correct spelling of the names of the more than 13,000 ships that have ever served in the Royal Navy, with links to the articles on individual ships when they exist. WreckSite - If your ship now resides on the ocean floor, chances are there's information about it right here. CODES AND OTHER ABBREVIATIONS Abbrevations used in the World War One Medal Cards - Large list of abbreviations used in all branches of U.K. and other militaries. Abbreviations (General U.K. military) - Large list of abbreviations used in all branches of U.K. military. Signal Flags - An explanation of how these were used, and the code indicated by the "Signal Book Correct" phrase/abbreviation in the logs. Weather Codes - B? C? BC? Huh? Here's a chart that explains all the Beaufort weather codes you see every day on Old Weather's ship's logs! Weather Codes (again) - This is an image of a log book page with weather codes explained. Not as complete as the Beaufort Codes page elsewhere in these links, but nice to see. LIGHTHOUSES Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society - ARLHS World List of Lights (WLOL). Brazilian Lighthouses - Extensive site with links to (you guessed it) Brazilian lighthouses. The Lighthouse Directory - Provides information and links for more than 13,300 of the world's lighthouses. Lighthouse Depot - A good search engine for lighthouses; no location information included, but searching for keywords "Gozo Light", for example, will tell you "Giordan Light" is on Gozo Island, Malta. American practical navigator: an epitome of navigation and nautical astronomy 1916 - Section 1 Appendix IV lists just about every port and lighthouse in the world by Lat.Long. location, alphabetical index at the end. The rest of the book teaches everything anyone might want to know about navigation. Lighthouses of China: Hong Kong - If you need info on lighthouses in Hong Kong Harbor, this is the link for you. FINDING LOCATIONS AND OBJECTS David Rumsey Map Collection - An enormous archive of maps both current and archaic. Fuzzy Gazetteer - Outstanding resource where you can plug in that place name you can't quite read all the letters of, and it will come back with potentially correct names Geographical Names - National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Bethesda, MD, USA. They offer alphabetical lookup of places. If you're trying to figure out just what it says in the location box on a log sheet, this site might help. Google Maps - Quickly become the standard. Probert Encyclopedia - Archaic Maps - Maps of the world at different points in time. Borders change, country names change. Something mentioned in a log from 1916 may not make sense when looking at today's maps, so this is quite helpful. Wuvulu Website - The Western Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago - A comprehensive, annotated index of current and historical names of all the islands in the Western Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago as well as other indexes and relevant information necessary to conduct bibliographic, historical and general research regarding the Western Islands. American practical navigator: an epitome of navigation and nautical astronomy 1916 - See description in Lighthouses, above. Asiatic Pilot, African Pilot, British Isles Pilot, etc. 1915 to 1925 - Detailed description of landmarks and English names for every coast in the world by the United States Hydrographic Office. Superb name finder, with them listed in the order the ship sails past them. Names of places on the China coast and the Yangtze River 1904 - by order of the Shanghai Inspector General of Customs, listing names in English and Chinese and the customs district, prefecture and sub-prefecture it belongs to. Handbook to the West River 1904 - A Hong Kong tourist brochure pushing vacation cruises, complete with place names, pictures and a full size map!   HISTORICAL BACKGROUND & RESEARCH TOOLS Articles of War - The 1866 version of the "Articles of War" read to the sailors on all of our ships. The 1884 version does not seem to be digitized, but a listing of the changes made through 1884 (the version our sailors heard) can be found at Legislation concerning. The earlier version of 1757 with its more draconian punishments can be found at this link. Britain At War Magazine - A nicely done online magazine with plenty of historical info and interesting articles. Chinese History by Geography - A site of short summaries of the history of many cities and areas within China. FirstWorldWar.com - An overview of the Great War. Kings Regulations & Admiralty Instructions - All the rules, regs and procedures that the officers and men of the Royal Navy lived by. This site can help you make sense of things written in the events column. National Archives (U.K.) - A good resource for research. Naval-History.net - Nearly everything you would ever want to known about the histories of various Navies in several wars. Everything from casualty lists to war diaries to in-depth info about the ships and men. And it's run by one of Old Weather's science team members, Gordon Smith (with great assists from Don Kindall, our own Kin47!)   Sections that might be helpful to editors: ROYAL NAVY and ARMY DESPATCHES - London Gazette, August 1914-December 1920 pre-World War 1 to 2008 - Casualty Lists of the Royal Navy and Dominion Navies ROYAL NAVY HONOURS and GALLANTRY AWARDS - London Gazette, August 1914-December 1920 NavHist - Naval History via Flix. A listing of ships and everything attached to them. New York Times Archive 1851-1980 - Cost-prohibitive, but very useful if you are inclined to shell out the bucks. PapersPast - A newspaper search engine. Pathe Newsreels - You've seen 'em on TV, now you can access them Online and even search for newsreels covering specific topics. Warning: it's very easy to get lost for hours watching these! Royal Navy - All kinds of sub-links from this, including one to "History", where you can choose different eras, including 1914-1939. WWI - The War At Sea - A section of the WWI/WWW which provides resources for doing historic research on the naval side of the conflict. WEATHER-SPECIFIC SITES Amateur Hobbyist Weather Sites - This is a link to links, basically. Here you'll find links to a small stack of ameteur weather observation websites. Cloud Observers - Here's their Mission Statement: 'To keep the Meteorological Observers Branch alive and to foster good relations with members young and old. To establish and promote links with other Fleet Air Arm Branches.' MARINE OBSERVATIONS OF OLD WEATHER - Published results from OldWeather's predecessor. MISCELLANY Reaumur temperature conversion - Link to a Wikipedia page about Reaumur scale with conversion table between different temperature measure units and Reaumur temperature conversion forumlae. Boxing the Compass - Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two principal points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names, formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, are accepted internationally, even though they have their origin in the English language, and are very handy to refer to a heading (or course or azimuth) in a general or colloquial fashion, without having to resort to computing or recalling degrees. The Navy Everywhere - This e-book, The Navy Everywhere by Conrad Gato, gives good details of naval opps throughout WWI. Written in 1919. Rigging For Landlubbers - Interesting site that explains the specifics of various methods of rigging a ship, from Halyards to Shrouds, Backstays to Leechlines. NAVY MANUALS AND DOCUMENTS ONLINE (Historic Naval Ships Association) - Many how-to books and documents printed by navies for their officers to use, ranging from the "Textbook of Seamanship" 1891 to Gunnery and Foundry manuals to WWII submarines.          9. External Links to US Navy, Revenue Service/Coast Guard and Coast & Geodetic Service in the 19th and 20th centuries     (See also list of links compiled for Old Weather Phase 1/2)     Here are some links that may help you with everything from locations to historic context. The addresses are embedded in the titles, so just click on the blue text. THE SHIPS OUR OW SHIPS, the Lists of Naval-History.net: US Revenue Service/Coast Guard, 19th & 20th Centuries US Navy, 19th & early 20th Centuries US Coast & Geodetic Survey, 19th & 20th Centuries Full history on the ships we are going to be transcribing. Most are involved in exploring and patrolling the high arctic; some, like the USS Constitution, are simply historic. Arctic Rediscovery: Coast Guard Image Gallery - This digital image library and on-line exhibit is from photographs taken by the crews of US Revenue Marine and Coast Guard cutters. In addition to showing what the environment looked like at specific times and places, these pictures also reveal fascinating details of daily life on the cutters. Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard-Manned Army & Navy Vessels - This is a list of named vessels of the Revenue Marine, Revenue Cutter Service, Coast Guard and Lighthouse Service. The Historian's Office maintains a file on most of the vessels. Click here to see available online pictures. DANFS: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships - Part of the Naval History & Heritage Command, this indexes everything fighting and American, including Confederate Forces Afloat. Historic Naval Ships Association - Huge amount of information about all things Navy, from broad overviews to things as specific as explanations of the hydraulic catapults in Essex class carriers. Sound fun? Wanna see the manual? No kidding, all the manuals to every little thing are on this site. Endlessly fascinating site. Lloyd's Register Of Ships - Here you will find the registration details of a vessel such as the rigging, the tonnage, dimensions, propulsion, owners and her Master. These have been transcribed from the Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping from 1764 up to 2003, by Gilbert Provost with assistance from Pauline Joicey. Naval History & Heritage Command (USN) Photographic Gallery - The Online Library is the Photographic Section's readily accessible index to Naval and maritime history pictures. To the best of their knowledge, all Online Library pictures are in the public domain and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose without requesting permission. (Their Coast Guard section is much smaller than the USGC's history sections, but the naval sections are immense if you are interested.) NOAA: Coast and Geodetic Survey ships - The major contribution of these small ships has been through their devotion to accuracy and precision in the charting of our Nation?s waterways. Old Ship Picture Galleries - An enormous database of pictures. You can probably find yours here. Ship Index Org - Tells you which books, magazines, and online resources mention the vessels you're researching. With 142,804 entries in the free database and 1,515,323 entries available with premium access, you're bound to find useful information here. The Ships List - There were a great many companies involved in the ocean trade. The Ships List attempts to collect the names of the companies and present a brief history of each and the names of the vessels they used. Ship Names of the United States Navy (Wikipedia) - A listing of the correct spelling of the names of the thousands of ships that have ever been registered in the US Navy, with links to the articles on individual ships when they exist. Whaling and Sealing Ships - A limited list of whaling and sealing ships. The Dundee Whaling fleet participated in the Arctic Whale and seal hunting for longer than many other countries. WreckSite - If your ship now resides on the ocean floor, chances are there's information about it right here. CODES AND OTHER ABBREVIATIONS A military and naval dictionary (1905) - Large list of abbreviations used in all branches of US military. Naval-History.net List of US Navy Ranks - Commissioned Officers - Enlisted Rates - Enlisted Branches and Definitions - Enlisted Rank abbreviations - Yeoman (F). Signal Flags - An explanation of how these were used, and the code indicated by the "Signal Book Correct" phrase/abbreviation in the logs. See also this list. Weather Code Chart - (one of our own reference posts) What do those direction letters mean and just how complicated can they get? The abbreviated charts printed in the logbooks is added. (Log keepers have been known to use codes from the expanded list.) LIGHTHOUSES Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society - ARLHS World List of Lights (WLOL). American practical navigator: an epitome of navigation and nautical astronomy 1916 - Section 1 Appendix IV lists just about every port and lighthouse in the world by Lat.Long. location, alphabetical index at the end. The rest of the book teaches everything anyone might want to know about navigation. The Lighthouse Directory - Provides information and links for more than 13,300 of the world's lighthouses. Lighthouse Depot - A good search engine for lighthouses; no location information included, but searching for keywords "Gozo Light", for example, will tell you "Giordan Light" is on Gozo Island, Malta. FINDING LOCATIONS AND OBJECTS Asiatic Pilot, African Pilot, British Isles Pilot, etc. 1915 to 1925 - Detailed description of landmarks and English names for every coast in the world by the United States Hydrographic Office. Superb name finder, with them listed in the order the ship sails past them. David Rumsey Map Collection - An enormous archive of maps both current and archaic. This arctic map (1929) and this map of Alaska (1924) are some of the best. Fuzzy Gazetteer - Outstanding resource where you can plug in that place name you can't quite read all the letters of, and it will come back with potentially correct names Geographical Names - National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Bethesda, MD, USA. They offer alphabetical lookup of places. If you're trying to figure out just what it says in the location box on a log sheet, this site might help. Google Maps - Quickly become the standard. NOAA Alaskan coastal charts - Historic ship charts with detailed coastal names. This NOAA Aleutian Islands coastal chart has to be the best yet for the Aleutian Islands. OfFICERS and PERSONNEL Officers of the Continental and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-1900 - A complete alphabetical list of all commissioned officers who served in the Continental Navy and Marines (1775-1785) and the US Navy and Marines (1798-1900). (From 1786-1797, the nation did not have a navy or marine corps.) US Revenue Cutter Service Historical Register of Officers 1790-1914 - A complete alphabetical list of all commissioned officers who served in the USRCS from its founding to its merger with the Life-saving Service to form the current US Coast Guard. World War 1 at Sea: UNITED STATES NAVY, COAST GUARD & MARINE CORPS CASUALTIES - Killed and Died - A complete list provided by our Naval-History.net. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND & RESEARCH TOOLS American practical navigator: an epitome of navigation and nautical astronomy 1916 - The book teaches everything anyone might want to know about navigation. Arctic Rediscovery: A Look Back - Gallery - Photos reveal fascinating details of life on historical ships in the Bering Sea ? Arctic region beginning in the mid-19th century. The photos augment the data being recovered from the ships logs. FirstWorldWar.com - An overview of the Great War. Naval-History.net - Nearly everything you would ever want to known about the histories of various Navies in several wars. Everything from casualty lists to war diaries to in-depth info about the ships and men. And it's run by one of Old Weather's science team members, Gordon Smith (with great assists from Don Kindall, our own Kin47!) NavHist - Naval History via Flix. A listing of ships and everything attached to them. Navy Department Library Online Reading Room - The full library of all online books, documents and photos that belong to the US Navy. NAVY MANUALS AND DOCUMENTS ONLINE (Historic Naval Ships Association) - Many how-to books and documents printed by navies for their officers to use, ranging from the "Textbook of Seamanship" 1891 to Gunnery and Foundry manuals to WWII submarines. New York Times Archive 1851-1980 - Cost-prohibitive, but very useful if you are inclined to shell out the bucks. NOAA Photo Library - Built as to capture the work, observations, and studies that of the scientists, engineers, commissioned officers, and administrative personnel that make up this complex and scientifically diverse agency. PapersPast - A newspaper search engine. Pathe Newsreels - You've seen 'em on TV, now you can access them Online and even search for newsreels covering specific topics. Warning: it's very easy to get lost for hours watching these! Textbook of Seamanship 1891 - The equipping and handling of vessels under sail or steam for the use of the United States Naval Academy. Good for newbie sailors. U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Annual Reports - This site provides access to the annual reports to congress of the Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1837 to 1965 in PDF format. Use the alphabetic index in each to find the report on your vessel that year. WWI - The War At Sea - A section of the WWI/WWII which provides resources for doing historic research on the naval side of the conflict. 1911 Classic Encyclopedia - based on what many consider to be the best encyclopedia ever written: the eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, first published in 1911. They are using crowd-sourcing to correct and update the scans of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica and its 1922 supplemental material. WEATHER-SPECIFIC SITES Amateur Hobbyist Weather Sites - This is a link to links, basically. Here you'll find links to a small stack of ameteur weather observation websites. Cloud Observers - Here's their Mission Statement: 'To keep the Meteorological Observers Branch alive and to foster good relations with members young and old. To establish and promote links with other Fleet Air Arm Branches.' MARINE OBSERVATIONS OF OLD WEATHER - Published results from OldWeather's predecessor. NOAA Pictorial Definitions of Types of Sea Ice - Pages 10-12 have many images of different kinds of sea ice (and icebergs). Also some pictures of other ships mentioned, like the whalers Aurora and Arctic. All from Schley, Report of the Greely Relief Expedition (Bear, Thetis, Alert 1884). US Navy Glossary of Sea Ice Terms - The following text and photos are adapted from Sea Ice Nomenclature, WMO No. 259, TP 145. MISCELLANY Boxing the Compass - Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two principal points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names, formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, are accepted internationally, even though they have their origin in the English language, and are very handy to refer to a heading (or course or azimuth) in a general or colloquial fashion, without having to resort to computing or recalling degrees. Glossary of Naval Architecture Terminologies & Definitions (Concise Edition) - a.k.a. parts for building ships. Calculate the day of a year, date validity - Your log keeper gave you the day of the week, but you think his year is wrong? Check that out here. Reaumur temperature conversion - Link to a Wikipedia page about Reaumur scale with conversion table between different temperature measure units and Reaumur temperature conversion formulae. Rigging For Landlubbers - Interesting site that explains the specifics of various methods of rigging a ship, from Halyards to Shrouds, Backstays to Leechlines.           10. OWPEDIA   Compiled by Randi     This is a collection of quotes from various topics explaining some naval terms. I have tried to put them in alphabetical order, but the choice of the word to use was not always obvious. Items where alphabetic order didn't make sense are at the end. Airing of bedding - Their bedding was taken to an open deck and draped across lines, etc to air. Imagine what sweat, condensation would do to your bed? [kin47] Always done to discharge Ammunition before docking. This is then taken to a specific wharf for storage right away from the main port area if possible. [dorbel] Two Anchors is always preferable if there is likely to be a blow or if the holding ( the state of the sea bed) isn't good. It takes longer to weigh of course, so you will see "at single anchor" when your vessel is making a short visit or is required to put to sea at short notice. [AND] It is actually the weight and drag of the anchor chain (or cable) lying on the sea bed that keeps the ship where it is. The flukes of the anchor do dig in of course but once the cable is veered out, the strain on the anchor itself should be minimal or non-existent. [AND] A careful skipper will always take bearings on two or more points when anchoring in any bay, enabling the officer of the watch to see at a glance if she is dragging her anchor. [dorbel] [AND] I found a reference to sorting out cats, fish and capstans (can't quite recall where - sorry!) the other day. Finally looked this up: refers to hauling up anchors. The 'cat' is the cathead, and the 'fish' the fish-davit. Found these articles (first short, second leeeeeengthy). http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/A/ANC/anchor-05.html, http://www.hnsa.org/doc/luce/part5.htm [AvastMH] The Armed merchant cruisers' crews in WW I were mostly Mercantile Marine Reserve, civilians under military discipline. The officers were Merchant sailors with RNR commissions. As a whole, you are only going to find a few sailors, telegraphists, and signalmen from the Regular Navy in converted merchant ships. [kin47 - Don] Compulsory for the Captain to read the Articles of War to his Ship's Company at least once a month. These are the regulations by which the ship is governed and cover the offences with which a seaman may be charged and the penalties thereto. Usually read on a Sunday at divisions. [dorbel] [AND] The 1866 version of the "Articles of War" read to the sailors on all of our ships: http://www.pdavis.nl/NDA1866.htm The 1884 version does not seem to be digitized, but a listing of the changes made through 1884 (the version our sailors heard) can be found at: http://www.pdavis.nl/NDA.htm The earlier version of 1757 with its more draconian punishments: http://www.hmsrichmond.org/rnarticles.htm [Janet Jaguar] Badgemen: Sailors of the Royal Navy with good conduct badges. http://www.eurekaencyclopedia.com/index.php/Category:Non-Commissioned_Ranks [Caro] . they did Take the barometer down (and presumably pack it in a padded case) during practice firing on some ships. [dorbel] Base ships were floating barracks, offices, store ships, etc, etc. You see a base ship usually in the circumstance where the shore command has outgrown its space and needs more room. I.E. about any of the major naval commands. [kin47] A Battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a nation's naval power from the 19th century up until World War II. With the rise of air power and guided missiles, large guns were no longer deemed necessary to establish naval superiority, and as a result there are no battleships in active service today.The word battleship was coined around 1794 and is a contraction of the phrase line-of-battle ship, the dominant wooden warship during the Age of Sail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleship [Janet Jaguar] Beating See Tacking and Beating After a sighted Bearing is noted, we sometimes (and should always) see (M), (T) or (S) after the bearing. Sometimes the letter is lower case and I don't think that that matters. (M) is short for magnetic and indicates that the bearing is with reference to Magnetic North and is the uncorrected bearing straight off the pelorus. (T) is short for True and indicates that the bearing is with reference to True North. The navigating officer has corrected the bearing and laid it off on the chart. More rarely though we see (S) and this one I don't know. [dorbel] 'Beckets', or rope handles (see http://www.frayedknotarts.com/beckets.html). [Steeleye] I remember a time in my life when Beef was the usual for Sunday lunch and chicken was a once-a-year Christmas dinner treat. - Same back then.[navalhistory] "Belum" is a kind of Mesopotamian river boat (various spellings). http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24893/24893-h/24893-h.htm#Page_99 [Janet Jaguar / edited] Bend - Verb: To fasten, as one rope to another, a sail to its yard or stay, or a cable to the ring of an anchor. Noun: A knot by which one rope is fastened to another or to some object. [randi_2] Bight - The double part of a rope when bent; that is, a round, bend, or coil not including the ends; a loop. [randi_2] Blacking down aloft - It is blacking for the standing rigging, whether of wire or rope and it is done mainly for smartness before entering a harbour. I have never enquired what it is actually made of but I suspect it is very like stove black, graphite and carbon in a paste, which dries to a nice dull sheen. The Royal Navy, a deeply conservative organisation, has always been fanatical about cleanliness, partly for smartness, partly for hygiene but most of all to keep a large crew occupied! They have to do something every day, so they may as well keep the ship clean. [dorbel] "Blocks" - supporting the ship clear of the bottom of the dock to allow access to the whole underside, except where the bits where the blocks were in contact with the hull. [Bunting Tosser] Any reference to Boat masts and/or sails definitely means the cutters, pinnaces etc. Boats are things that are hoisted onboard ships. Confusingly sailors (and particularly submariners) often refer to their ship as "The boat", although not I fancy in the log. [dorbel] Boat pulling is just rowing by another name. [dorbel] Bower anchor - An anchor carried at the bow. (In 1928 dictionary: A bower anchor for a modern battle-ship weighs a much as 18,000 pounds; kedges vary from 100 to 900 pounds.) [randi_2] The Boys are what we would now call junior seamen, early teens. I think at this time they took them from 12 years old and they would indeed have school and a ship of this size [HMS Yarmouth] would have a schoolmaster in her complement. [dorbel] [AND] At the time of WW1, Boys could be taken on as young as 14. Don't forget the school leaving age in the UK was that until some years after WW2. Also the youngest Victoria Cross winner was Boy Cornwall at the Battle of Jutland. He was just 15 and a national hero. Contrary to all our fears for youngsters these days, I get the impression they were well cared for - tough and strictly disciplined yes, but fairly, and probably free, in all but the most exceptional cases of real abuse. I posted a link in one of the forum about naval court martials in the First World War. I don't recollect seeing any cases of Boys being abused. If anyone finds evidence to the contrary, I'd like to know about it. [navalhistory] The biscuit Breaker has fallen out of the boat. This is a small sealed barrel full of ship's biscuit, permanently stowed in the sea boat in case of emergency. There will also be at least one water breaker [dorbel] Breech Loading (B.L.) Guns: http://www.hnsa.org/doc/br224/part1.htm [Caro] [AND] A breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breech-loading_weapon and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_firing_gun#BL [randi_2] A Bridle is commonly used when a ship ties to a mooring buoy. It is a piece of steel wire rope with an eye on each end large enough to pass over cleats to either side of the bow. You put one eye over one cleat then pass the other end through the ring on top of the buoy, then bring it back to the cleat on the other side of the bow. This arrangement is much more stable than a single line and is always to be preferred, even for yachts. [dorbel] "Broke" simply means that the flag was run up the mast and flying there. (I have a feeling that, sometimes, a flag is put in place while it is tied up with a cord which can be pulled off at an appropriate time to allow the flag to come loose and "fly"; but I may have made that up.) [Bunting Tosser] [AND] We are indebted to former Commander Parparatt his explanation of the naval term "Broke his flag", a term we have used several times in our stories about our guys that served in the navy. Quoting Everett, "Officers of the rank of Rear Admiral, Vice-Admiral, or Admiral are designated as flag officers. When one of them takes command of a ship, a task force or a fleet, the chief signalman is given the job of raising the Admiral's flag." The Admiral's flag is blue with white stars. A Rear-Admiral will have two stars on his flag, a vice-admiral will have three stars, and a full Admiral rates four stars. A very rare case would be five stars for a fleet admiral. "During the ceremony the flag is bunched up into a ball and hoisted up in that fashion until it gently bumps the masthead and the balled up flag breaks open to a full flag furl. When this takes place the flag officer's flag has broken open and he has taken command." To say that a Commander "Broke his flag," means that particular officer has been assigned task force or Fleet Commander. Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_origin_of_the_Navy_phrase_broke_his_flag#ixzz27mFCyI7Z [Steeleye] The brow in nautical terms is what is more commonly known as a gang plank, often made with a slight arch (for strength) which no doubt accounts for the name. [dorbel] Camber I have seen it used in reference to the torpedo boat depot in Kowloon as in 'naval camber '. It refers to an enclosure formed by the breakwaters. But any sea area surrounded by breakwaters can be referred to as a camber, such as the Port of Dover. [CharlesNorrieTemp] [AND] In Hong Kong harbor (HMS Otter) they use 'camber' to indicate temporary docks made with floating breakwaters or buffers as opposed to permanent structures. [Janet Jaguar] [AND] On HMS Mutine, I spent a lot of time "Alongside in North Camber Bermuda Dockyard" http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=64766&fid=505&c=bermuda http://www.gwpda.org/naval/dkbkpl14.jpg [randi_2] Camouflage painting - Dazzle camouflage, also known as razzle dazzle or dazzle painting, was a military camouflage paint scheme used on ships, extensively during World War I and to a lesser extent in World War II. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage [Janet Jaguar] [AND] False bow-waves seem to have been one of the more common anti-submarine subterfuges employed over the years. On the http://www.worldnavalships.com/monitors.htm website there is an amusing photo of HMS Medusa (ex-M29), a monitor with a top-speed of 10 knots when new, with a 'bow-wave' that gives the impression that she's doing 15-20! [Steeleye] Cant - To take an oblique direction or course; swing around, as a ship. [Caro] Capital ship - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_ship [Bunting Tosser] Captains defaulters means that someone has broken the rules and has to appear before the captain or first lieutenant for trial and sentencing. They were marched up to the table escorted by two guards and presented their version to the captain who then passed sentence. [elynn] Carley Floats were primitive liferafts - very basic but easy to deploy and probably rigged so they floated free if the ship sank. [Haywain] Cathead See Anchors Cheered Ship See Manning and Cheering Cherub See Patent Log Church is Rigged on the Quarter-deck Royal Navy in World War 2 --- NAVAL LIFE and CUSTOMS, Part 2 of 2 [randi_2] Clock See Time CPO is a Chief Petty Officer, the highest rating that can be achieved and a man of some influence aboard, to whom even junior officers will defer ("What do you think we ought do Chief?"). [dorbel] Cleat - They come in all shapes and sizes but it is just a post with a cap or bar on the top that prevents the eye of a rope riding up and off. [dorbel] The term closed up applies to almost any team assembled at their duty point, sea boat crew closed up, special duty men (mooring parties) closed up and the like. [dorbel] Coaling See http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=1502.msg16428#msg16428, also Stokers Coir is a natural fibre extracted from the husk of coconut and used in products such as floor mats, doormats, brushes, mattresses, etc. Technically, coir is the fibrous material found between the hard, internal shell and the outer coat of a coconut. Other uses of brown coir (made from ripe coconut) are in upholstery padding, sacking and horticulture. White coir, harvested from unripe coconuts, is used for making finer brushes, string, rope and fishing nets. Ropes and cordage made from coconut fibre have been in use from ancient times. Indian navigators who sailed the seas to Malaya, Java, China, and the Gulf of Arabia centuries ago used coir for their ship ropes. Arab writers of the 11th century AD referred to the extensive use of coir for ship ropes and rigging. A coir industry in the UK was recorded before the second half of the 19th century. The coir fibre is relatively waterproof, and is one of the few natural fibres resistant to damage by saltwater. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coir [randi_2] . A commodore is an anomalous rank, held temporarily by a Captain when he is the officer commanding a squadron of vessels acting outside the direct control of an admiral. Sometimes he also captains his own vessel as well, sometimes he has a captain under him. If for some reason he moves into a smaller ship than his own, to reconnoitre a coastline for example, his pendant goes with him. When their particular mission is over, he reverts to being a captain. [dorbel] Compass error See Swinging the ship Confused Sea - This is waves of irregular heights, wavelengths and direction. Occasionally observed after seismic disturbance but more often caused by a conflict of wind, tide and/or current in relatively shallow water. Deeply annoying to yachtsmen, shouldn't bother a ship much unless they are very severe. [dorbel] This entry is "Read Quarterly Court Martial returns". These are a summary of all the Royal Navy's courts martial for the preceding quarter, read to the crew as an awful warning to them of the penalties for comitting a court martial offence. [dorbel] [AND] The Court-Martial gun (known unofficially as the "Rogue's Salute" or a "One-gun salute") is the signal gun fired at `Colours' on the morning of the day on which a naval court-martial has been ordered to assemble. A Union flag is flown from the peak halliards (at the yard arm in a single-masted ship) while the Court is sitting. http://www.hmsrichmond.org/dict_g.htm [Bunting Tosser] The booms of small sailing craft have crutches fitted at the trailing end to support them during transport or hoisting out, but I think that I have heard crutches used to describe rowlocks, the u-shaped attachments in which the oars sit on the gunwhales of pulling boats. [dorbel] I've noticed that "Cutters" may be the only class of ships whose name does not apply to size (above the minimum) or function. From the United States Coast Guard site: The Coast Guard's official history began on 4 August 1790 when President George Washington signed the Tariff Act that authorized the construction of ten vessels, referred to as "cutters," to enforce federal tariff and trade laws and to prevent smuggling. A "Cutter" is basically any CG vessel 65 feet in length or greater, having adequate accommodations for crew to live on board. All (CG) vessels under 65 feet in length are classified as boats and usually operate near shore and on inland waterways. [Janet Jaguar] Dan buoy - a small buoy, made of cork with a small flag, used to temporarily mark a position at sea, normally to mark a fishing ground or a minesweeping area http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dan_buoy [CHommel] Dazzle painting See Camouflage painting Discipline - It's worth remembering the tremendous authority a ship's captain had over his crew. I'm ex-Army so less familiar with Naval law, but on the Western front at that time, unfortunately we were executing soldiers, many of whom today would be diagnosed with stress related disorders. Military law has specific offences to deal with the nature of the job; sleeping on duty, failing to obey an order, insubordination, losing kit, cowardice etc. In the Army there was also a marvellous catch all, Section 69 "prejudice of good order and military discipline " max sentence 2 years. Sections of military law also allow any criminal or common law offences to be tried, such as theft or murder, with corresponding sentences. For more serious offences, a Courts Martial was formed with a panel of officers but minor crimes would be dealt with summarily. Even so, sentences could be harsh; restrictions of privileges, stoppages of pay (i.e. fines), reduction in rank or jail (up to 56 days). I believe it is still the case, that any Captain grounding or losing his ship (even through enemy action) automatically faces a Courts Martial, along with any of his officers that may be to blame. [Haywain] DB party - I think it's the Double Bottom Party. The cavity between the inner and outer skins of the boat could be used for storage, of oil, water, ballast and coal. Even when just an empty space though, it's desirable to get into it to dry it out, brush or chip off the rust and apply some red lead. Paradoxically iron and steel ships tend to rust from the inside more than the outside! A dirty and unpleasant job. [dorbel] [AND] http://books.google.com/books?id=-fVLAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA199&lpg=PA199&dq=%22db+party%22+royal+navy&source=bl&ots=hV1UPx3Pbb&sig=2gfJeLpYB8M5eNtAgH21nbpri2I&hl=en&ei= lXv1TZy6NMjRiALl6KSSBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false DJ_59 Diaphone - a foghorn that emits a two-toned signal [szukacz] A lighthouse Dips when you can first see the blink above the horizon (or when it just disappears). Before that you can see the loom when it is still below the horizon (like the sun before dawn). [Caro] Disrated - To reduce in rank or rating; demote. / to punish (an officer) by lowering him in rank http://www.thefreedictionary.com/disrated [randi_2] Steam engines require fresh water, as they can't use sea water because of the corrosion [NOTE: corrosion does not seem to be the main problem - randi_2]. They do have Distillation plants that can be used for drinking water, but these do consume fuel, so a good skipper in rainy climes will take any opportunity to add fresh water to his tanks, by setting out canvas funnels, that feed straight into the fresh water tanks. [dorbel] [AND] It's not only the corrosion. Salt water when heated -- the water boils and the salt would be left. It would clog the tubes in the boilers and either render the engine plugged an unusable OR there could be enough pressure build up to explode the boiler! [dmaschen] [AND] http://www.aandc.org/research/salt_in_marine_boilers.html [Janet Jaguar] . a Dodger is 'a canvas shelter, mounted on a ship's bridge or over the companionway of a sailing yacht to protect the helmsman from bad weather'. [Caro] Dog Watch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_watch [Geoff] Donkey boiler: A donkey boiler is used to supply non-essential steam to a ship for 'hotel' services such as heating or lighting when the main boilers are not in steam, for example, when in port.[3] Donkey boilers were also used by the last sailing ships for working winches and anchor capstans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_boiler#donkey_boiler [randi_2] A Donkey engine is a small diesel (or petrol) engine, used for auxiliary power around the ship, operating a derrick, a pump, a generating set, anything really. Donkeymen were responsible for the care and maintainance of these. [dorbel] http://www.stormeaglestudios.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=210 "The Dotter was a device for measuring the gunlayer's ability to hold "continuous aim". It consisted of paper targets in front of the sights, with the targets able to move around constantly. The gunner looked through his sight and manipulated his controls of the actual gun to keep the sight centered on the moving target at all times. Attached to the sight was a pen that moved back and forth every second or so to make a dot on the paper corresponding to the sight's position relative to the target at that time. The goal was to get all the dots densely clustered in the center of the target regardless of its motion." [thursdaynext] Dress See Uniforms. Drifters were robust boats built, like trawlers, to work in most weather conditions, but designed to deploy and retrieve drift nets. They were generally smaller and slower than trawlers. If requisitioned by navies, they were typically armed with an anti-submarine gun and depth charges and used to maintain and patrol anti-submarine nets. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_drifter [jennfurr] Drills collision stations, Abandon ship, Fire Quarters. Thus, "collision stations" will include closing all water tight doors, damage control and fire parties close up to their stations, and petty officers all round the ship will report the state of their part of it. "Abandon ship", all crew will close up to their boat or raft stations with a life jacket. Those officers and senior ratings with specific duties to perform before they leave will simulate them. Fire Quarters. This happens daily in well regulated ships, where hands fall in at their correct stations for fire drill. There are a great number of these drills, action stations, abandon ship station and the like, but fire, the seaman's deadly enemy is religiously exercised. They will use the opportunity to check that the correct gear for their station is present and that there is water at the cock too. [dorbel] Driver screw - They've just stripped down a gun and I fancy the lost item is the breech closure which has a screw thread to push home (drive) the shell and seal the breech. [Bunting Tosser] The Dumaresq is a mechanical calculating device invented around 1902 by Lieutenant John Dumaresq of the Royal Navy. The dumaresq is an analog computer which relates vital variables of the fire control problem to the movement of one's own ship and that of a target ship. It was often used with other devices, such as a Vickers range clock to generate range and deflection data so the gun sights of the ship could be continuously set. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumaresq [AvastMH] A floating barge, connected to a pier, is called a Dummy. [Caro] Evening quarters is daily at 4pm, the start of the first dog watch. The work of the day is finished, but "Jimmy the one", the first lieutenant will often use this time to exercise his crew in one of the many evolutions that they may have to perform one day in the dark and under fire. [dorbel] [AND] Carried out for two special reasons - (1) a complete muster of the hands, especially necessary in the larger ships where it is possible for a man to be locked in a compartment or a confined space where he has been working; and (2) to see that all decks are thoroughly cleared up and tidy on completion of the day's work. Formerly (and now, when a state of war exists) the ship's company was summoned to Action Stations or General Quarters before dark, to clear away the guns, and see everything in a state of preparedness for immediate action. Until very recently the bugle (drum) call for Evening Quarters was the same as that for General Quarters. (http://www.hmsrichmond.org/dict_q.htm) [randi_2] Evolution is an exercise. [navalhistory] As I recall, "Exercise sea boat's crew" varied widely depending on the officer of the watch. Standing orders required their regular exercise, so into the log it must go. It usually meant them closing up to the station to be counted and make sure they were all awake with the correct gear on! Actually launching the thing at two in the morning was a rarity. Even so, they did and do exercise a lot. The ability to put a boat into the water with a trained crew at great speed has saved many a life, then and now, particularly operating in cold waters where three minutes is about the maximum a body can stand. [AND] "Away sea boats crew" is a standard order for the designated sea boat's crew to lower their boat with it's crew. The first lieutenant will be timing them with a stop watch. If it isn't a drill, e.g. if they are required to do something, pick up a man overboard for example, they will knock out the pin that attaches the boat to the falls as they reach the water and pull away from the side of the ship. For a drill and particularly if it is blowing and a strong sea running, they will usually lower the boat to somewhere near the sea level and then just hoist it back inboard. [dorbel] Fall - That part of the rope of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting. [AND] Falls - The tackle which is used in lowering and hoisting a ship's boat from or to the davits. [randi_2] Yachtsmen often refer to flares as Fireworks [dorbel] Fish See Paravane . Fire control table, where the information coming in from lookouts regarding the positions of enemy ships and the fall of shot could be collated and used to control the guns. On sophisticated purpose-built warships this was a very complex affair, a sort of mechanical computer which needed 8-10 operators to turn all the wheels, but on the Mantua it may well be something much simpler. [dorbel] Green - Starboard. Navigation lights - Port Red, Starboard Green Imagine a line down the middle of the ship, bow to stern, and extended forwards. Anything to the left would be "Red x degrees" or to the right "Green y degrees". [Bunting Tosser / edited] GTC - I think it is Gunnery and Torpedo Classes, having seen it written out in full on several ships. [dorbel] [AND] http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=1671.msg19662#msg19662 Just as his rifle is described as a soldier's best friend, his Hammock is described as a sailer's best friend. When properly lashed up, a sailor's hammock will support a man in the sea for 24 hours. (http://www.hmsrichmond.org/dict_h.htm) [randi_2] Hazelwood fenders - These were certainly in use in the Navy in the sixties. More like a large and substantial basket they were very handy for the focsle party to drop down between the wharf and the bow as they came alongside, being very much lighter than a rope fender of the same size. They sprung back into shape remarkably as the pressure came off. Once moored, more substantial rope fenders were substituted. [dorbel] [AND] As for the fenders, the crew seem to spend an awful lot of time repairing and refitting fenders. If they are made out of twigs that might explain it. [thursdaynext] Headed Sea - With a strong wind and a big sea running, even quite big ships will prefer to steam into the wind, rather than take the force of wind and wave on the side or stern of the vessel. [AND] When the vessel is turned head to wind the object is to make very little progress over the ground, just enough to keep the vessel steering and the engine speed will be adjusted accordingly. You'll see this referred to as "hove to" in the logs sometimes, a relic of sailing ship days when the mainyard was hove round to the wind to stop the ship temporarily, to speak another vessel or the like. Of course sailing ships couldn't adopt the steamers tactic of heading into the wind and wave and faced with a very strong blow would be obliged to put before the wind with as little sail as possible, dangerous but their safest course. Some sailing ships also do well "lying a-try", taking all sail off and allowing the ship to adapt to the weather by herself. Very small motor vessels, trawlers for example, adopt a tactic called "dodging" to deal with big waves, heading into the wave with very little power at a slight angle. No doubt their many other ways of dealing with heavy weather, as many as there are different sea going craft probably. [dorbel] Heel - The tilt of a ship to one side; also, angle of heel, the degree of such a tilt. And http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heeling_%28sailing%29 [randi_2] Holystone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holystone [Bunting Tosser] Inclination test -. I found it in one of my pages. The ship had just come out of dry dock and it was used to check the center of gravity to see if it had changed after some work had been done on the ship. e-shipyard.net/trials/inclination-test.html [pommystuart] Indicator card - http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/showthread.php?t=26119 [Caro] Jag - To lay in bights and to secure with stops, as a rope. [randi_2] Watch, out Kedge anchor, i.e the watch on deck have to lay out a kedge. This is just a light weight anchor that can be dropped into a boat with a line attached, then rowed out to a suitable position and dropped in. The boat rows back and the hands on deck take up the slack. Useful as haywain says to stop her swinging about and often used for other evolutions, turning the ship in a restricted space for example or pulling her off when aground. Sailing vessels had to be good at this, often the only way of leaving a harbour in an emergency when the wind was foul. [dorbel] Kentledge - Pig iron used as permanent ballast. [Caro] Kroomen (also Kroumen or Krumen) See Seedies and Kroomen (also Kroumen or Krumen) 'Lay apart store' - a store for equipment from vessels under repair. [Caro] Leeway - That sideways movement of a vessel away from the designated course due to the force of the wind. http://www.pomorci.com/Edukacija/80-100/Definitions,%20terminology%20and%20shipboard%20phrases.pdf [AND] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeway [AND] In the US logs it is measured in points (1 point = 11.25 degrees). [randi_2] A Lighter is a type of flat-bottomed barge used to transfer goods and passengers to and from moored ships. Lighters were traditionally unpowered and were moved and steered using long oars called "sweeps" and the motive power of water currents. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighter_%28barge%29 [randi_2] On ships with a steel hull, the Lightning conductor, which is of course higher than any other part of the vessel, is grounded to the hull with a bronze plate. The huge area of the ship in contact with the water means that the electrical charge is dissipated harmlessly. Big ships are often struck, without any ill effect. The conductor just means that the lightning will strike there first, rather than say the radio aerials. [dorbel] [/quote] Magnetic deviation and variation See Swinging the ship "Mahailla" is a kind of Mesopotamian river boat (various spellings). http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24893/24893-h/24893-h.htm#Page_9 [Janet Jaguar] 'Make and Mend' Originally it was exactly that - a period of time without work when sailors were allowed to make and mend their own clothes. Nowadays it just refers to time given off without work to do. [TenDown] [AND] While "Make & Mend" does mean crews making, repairing or cleaning their kit (not just clothes), it also refers to time spent doing other activities other than 'work' but not time ashore or 'leave'. This can be sport, studying for promotion, writing letters home, or any other beneficial task. [Gixernutter] "Manning and Cheering ship as a collective mark of respect in honour of a person or of another ship is a very old custom. In the days of sail the yards and shrouds were manned as well as the decks, but now a days only decks are manned. Some example of occasions on which this mark of honour is paid are: visit of Sovereign to the Fleet, the entry into port of ships which have shared a victory, the final departure of a ship from a foreign station on her way home to pay-off." http://www.mranil.com/2010/09/man-and-cheer-ship.html [helenj] [AND] Manning the yards: the 1887 photograph Manning the Yards, the crew of the USS Atlanta   Manning the rail: Sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln man the rails during her return to port after participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom [Janet Jaguar] Masts have several uses other than carrying sails, for spotting platforms, aerials, derricks, anything that needs to be higher than the deck really, so the masts would remain even if sails were never set on them. Masts on these sloops would be probably be wood and assembled in two or three parts, hence the reference to the sending down of topgallant and topmasts, usual in preparation for heavy weather, in order to reduce the weight and wind resistance high on the ship, technically known as tophamper. [dorbel] [AND] Someone queried the matter of topgallant masts on steam ships. Masts were very high, with topgallants to get wireless aerials as high as possible. [navalhistory] Invented by Hiram S. Maxim in the U.S. in 1884, the Maxim Gun comprised the world's first automatic machine gun. When war in Europe broke out in the summer of 1914 the major armies largely made use of machine guns based upon Maxim's original design. The Maxim Gun was water-cooled and fed from fabric belts. 1914 machine guns weighed from 40-60kg. The Maxim was usually operator by a four to six man team. http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/mgun_maxim.htm [Janet Jaguar] 'Paid Monthly Payment' -. this is in the days before the widespread use of bank accounts. I think the way it used to work for married personnel (and also families of single men if they wanted), was for the serviceman to decide on an allocation of his pay. Part was available for him to draw on locally and the balance was available to a nominated person at his home port. [Haywain] Senior warrant officers, the Gunner, the Bosun, the Carpenter and the like are always referred to as Mr by the immemorial custom of the service. [dorbel] Negative "anything" is navyspeak for omit, leave out, cancel, or as the lower deck would say, "scrub round it". It comes from the days of flag hoists, where the Negative flag turns the accompanying signal into "do not". [dorbel] Neptune See Patent Log Night clothing is not pyjamas, but just the old casual clothing that a seaman wears on his off duty evenings aboard. An old shirt, a patched pair of trousers, a sweater, that sort of thing. [dorbel] Record of Observations for Deviation See Swinging the ship Muster by the Open List - This is a muster of the entire ship's company, wherein each member, in alphabetical order reports name, rank and duties on board to the captain. This practice originated to counteract the practice of some ship's pursers of having non-existent people on the ship's rolls (and thereby pocketing the pay and benefits of these non-people). [dorbel] Otters are paravanes [navalhistory] I think "P.V." is being used for Paravane. These are described as underwater kites, used to stream wires away from ships for minesweeping or other purposes and invented during WW1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paravane_(weapon) [Haywain] [AND] The RN did use towed devices for a number of purposes. Towed paravanes were used for mine detection and destruction, as Badskittler stated. The towed body was shaped like a seal and was used to draw strong cables out from the ships side. It was hoped these would snag on the cables of moored mines. I device on the cable would then fire to cut the wire on the mine. Once released it would float to the surface where it could be destroyed by gunfire. The devices used on HMS CHRISTOPHER had hydrophones to listen for the acoustic signatures of submarines, what was known in those days as HE or Hydrophone Effect. Getting the hydrophone away from your own ships noise was essential to have have any hope of success. You wil note that HMS CHRISTOPHER always reduces speed to 10 kts or so when streaming the Fish - this was because this was her best search speed, a combination of quietness but tactically useable speed over the ground. Haywain (my Captain?) you are correct about Portland and Weymouth Bay - there used to be a lot of acoustic research done in this area. [TenDown] [AND] http://www.navy-net.co.uk/history/50867-1919-diary-id-12.html reply #114 [Bunting Tosser] Parchment - The old naval name for a rating's Service Certificate which, until the 1914/18 war, was on real parchment. [Caro] "Log inboard" is simple: they pulled in the Patent log they were dragging. Stream/streaming the log: drop patent log into water behind ship / are dragging patent log behind ship All navy ships, pre-GPS, dragged instruments behind them to measure their speed through the water, or simply dropped them (originally logs of wood) in the sea and measured how quickly the ships passed them by feeling how many knots in the attached rope slid through their hands. Recording these measurements is critical to being able to estimate location, so the book they were recorded in was called the 'log book', and the speed recorded was the number of knots, not bothering to ever translate it into length. http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=1221.0 As technology improved on logs, they came to be called 'patent logs'. Quote from: nearchus on October 17, 2010, 12:21:41 PM The Admiralty Manual of Seamanship in use in WW1 describes two towed logs (Trident electric and non-electric)and one bottom log (Forbes' Ship's Log and Speed Indicator). The towed logs were secured aft in the ship and the rotator streamed astern on a log line. The bottom log used a sea cock in the bottom of the ship and consisted of "a manganese bronze tube having one opening facing forward for the admission of water as the tube is carried forward by the ship, and another opening facing aft to allow the water to escape. Between these two openings is a propellor operating the transmitting mechanism, and so designed as to make a certain number of definite revolutions while the ship travels one sea mile". This log had both distance and speed indicators. The sea cock allowed the tube to be drawn upwards through the bottom of the ship and the aparatus could then be cleaned etc. The advantages of the bottom log were many, including the freedom from likely damage if the ship goes astern, not vulnerable to damage from other ships in company, readiness for use at any moment and accuracy over a wide range of speeds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitometer_log#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_log http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot_%28speed%29   Brand names for models of patent logs are 'Neptune', Trident and 'Cherub' - just in case someone records dropping an angel overboard. [Janet Jaguar] I think that the hands are indeed "Paying down" the cables, but I take this mean to mean oiling them after cleaning off any surface rust and examining them closely for wear. Paying down was certainly used in this sense for running rigging in sailing ships and you also "pay" deck seams with pitch. [dorbel] I found this as a def. for Pendant. (Transport / Nautical Terms) Also called pennant Nautical a length of wire or rope secured at one end to a mast or spar and having a block or other fitting at the lower end. The flag that is dipped as a salute is an ensign, presumably fixed to a pennant or pendant. [dorbel] [AND] The Pendant is a flag indicating the presence of the senior officer of a group of ships so that the others know where to report, and to pay attention to any orders by signal flags shown on that ship. [Bunting Tosser] [AND] Wiki says a Broad pennant/pendant is: a swallow-tailed tapering flag flown from the masthead of a ship to indicate the presence of a commodore on board. It is so called because its dimensions are roughly 2:3. [Caro] Auction of Personal Effects - "Sale of effects - started at least in the 18th century, and finished, I don't know when - during or after World War 2? When someone died or was killed, their personal effects - clothes etc. were auctioned off and the proceeds sent to their next of kin. I believe that if the man was popular, his mates or oppo's (opposite number) would sometime pay ridiculous prices for ordinary items just to make sure, say his widow, received a good sum." Quote from I question I had asked navalhistory [elizabeth] [AND] Whilst it may seem impersonal, it would have been much easier to ensure the money got back to the relatives rather than their effects. A lot more opportunity for things to go missing in transit. As Gordon has said, there is plenty of evidence that depending on their circumstances, prices became inflated to help reduce immediate hardship. There was also the thought that one day it might be their belongings being auctioned to help their own dependents. [Haywain] Pipe All orders passed out to the entire company over the tannoy are preceded by a pipe, a signal blown on a small whistle by a Bosun's mate. Pipe down is blown to tell the ship's company that it's bed time. You might not want to sleep, but you must keep quiet. [dorbel] [AND] History and sample in wave format: http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/cms/5/5-a_eng.asp?id=506 Mess Call - The pipe Mess call is the longest of the lot; it should cover not less than a minute. It consists of All hands, a long Heave around., and a long Pipe down, in that order [szukacz] Pintle (and gudgeon) -. hold the rudder on to the boat, while allowing it to move from side to side. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pintle [Tegwen] Pitching, Rolling, Pooping - Pitching is the bow going up and down, while the stern does the opposite. Rolling is as it says rolling about the long axis so the top of the mast is going from side to side. [Tegwen] [AND] Rolling is far more dangerous in terms of buoyancy. While taking water is never good, generally speaking a ship won't sink as long as it has headway and can take the seas on directly. However, if it takes waves from the side (rolls), the risk of broaching -- that is, rolling over -- is significant. Then there's the risk of a following / cross sea slapping the vessel in the stern and checking its way -- or "pooping." When that happens, it is possible for the ship to suddenly turn, roll and broach to. That's why, in the logs, you occasionally see course corrections, during heavy seas, to turn into the wind. (Usually, the seas and the winds are running in the same direction. But not always.) As a rule, in a heavy sea, taking the waves head-on is the safest option. [Doug Vanderweide] [AND] In a 'heavy' sea (i.e. lots of wave movement with a big difference (2-3m) between the peak and trough (bottom) of the wave), ships will pitch and roll at the same time and usually end up doing a corkscrew movement. The bigger ships tend to move about less (inertia, mass, displacement etc etc), but smaller ships like destroyers, frigates, sloops would constantly be smothered in sea water with their crews soaking at their stations. Ships with high sides and flat bottoms (early aircraft carriers) were even worse. [Gixernutter] [AND] "Actually setting sails" in the "What does that mean?" section. Wendolk draws our attention to HMS Foxglove, sailing South across the China Sea in 1923 in a heavy swell and setting staysails on both masts to counteract the rolling. Her relatively shallow draft made these little sloops very vulnerable in a sea and the sails would have helped a lot to make everybody more comfortable. [dorbel] . the Plotting table, where all the info is co-ordinated to be sent to the guns. The "table" on the more modern WW1 ships was actually a sort of mechanical computer developed by the navy and operated by 8 men twirling little wheels! They entered the bearing, distance, course and speed of the target, along with the course and speed of their own vessel and came up with a direction and elevation for the gunners to use. Could be shockingly accurate too. [dorbel] Interestingly enough, Wikipedia's article on the Maxim gun mentions that it was sometimes called the "Pom-pom" due to its sound. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_gun [CHommel] 3 pounder - Refers to a gun which fired projectiles weighing approximately three pounds. [loerie] [AND] QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_3_pounder_Hotchkiss [Bunting Tosser] Pratique is the license given to a ship to enter port on assurance from the captain to convince the authorities that he/she is free from contagious disease. The clearance granted is commonly referred to as Free Pratique. A ship can signal a request for "Pratique" by flying a solid yellow square-shaped flag. This yellow flag is the Q flag in the set of International maritime signal flags. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratique [montanaisaleg] Priming Mines - Fixing the fuses and first explosive charge so that they will go off. [Tegwen] An able seaman will certainly want to advance and that is initially by examination. He can pass for a Leading Seaman and then for Petty Officer, but his actual Promotion will come with a vacancy and his captain's recommendation. A Petty Officer promotion will usually come with a change of ship. [dorbel] Quick Firing (Q.F.) Guns (Q.F. guns are also loaded at the breech end.): http://www.hnsa.org/doc/br224/part1.htm [Caro] [AND] Rank - http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritish-Ranks.htm [navalhistory] A Rating is any man below officer rank. [dorbel] I have seen the phrase "Read stations for. " a few times. It seems to mean that they read out to the relevant crew members what they need to do, when and where. ie gave out instructions before they started to do something that they haven't done very often,. [Tegwen] Recommissioned - The only thing that I would add to these interesting and informative posts, is that crews get very set in their ways, from officers down to scullions. Breaking them up and moving them on prevents bad habits becoming routine and of course teaches old dogs new tricks. This is particularly true of small ship's companies, where discipline is usually easier than in the cruisers and battleships. [dorbel] Red - Port. Navigation lights - Port Red, Starboard Green Imagine a line down the middle of the ship, bow to stern, and extended forwards. Anything to the left would be "Red x degrees" or to the right "Green y degrees". [Bunting Tosser / edited] Red oxide was (and is) the best primer for protecting steel and wood from the sea. Provided you didn't actually eat the stuff it wasn't harmful to health although the dust from chipping and grinding it off again undoubtedly was. It's use on boats was largely banned due to its detrimental effect on sea-life. [Also called red lead] [dorbel] [AND] "red lead" is another name for lead tetroxide, ".most often used as a pigment for primer paints for iron objects. Due to its toxicity, its use is being limited. In the past, it was used in combination with linseed oil as a thick, long-lasting anti-corrosive paint." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_tetroxide [CHommel] To the best of my knowledge the larger warships did have Refrigerators, and there were refrigerated cargo ships carrying meat from Australia, Argentina, New Zealand etc. [navalhistory] Rolling See Pitching, Rolling, Pooping Rounds Correct Well what actually happens is that the officer of the watch, with a small entourage (a CPO and a midshipman perhaps) tours the ship, covering every station where duty men are closed up, as well as the galleys and the mess decks which have been prepared for inspection, i.e. clean and tidy. As he reaches each section a PO or Leading seaman will report and accompany them on to the next part of the tour. Unless something is horribly wrong, a word in the ear of the man responsible ("See to it that those mops and buckets are properly stowed away Killick") is plenty and "rounds correct" means that the whole timeless procedure has been carried out, rather than that everything was perfect. Discipline was and probably still is strict in the Royal Navy, but there is a great deal of informal give and take, particularly in the small ships and it is no coincidence that "to turn a blind eye" is a naval expression. [AND] Rounds are always correct, because minor imperfections are not meant to be noticed (the pile of dust hastily swept under a coiled cable) and major imperfections, a man not on duty for example is immediately rectified and dealt with at defaulters parade the next day. Nobody on board has anything to gain by noting a list of things that are wrong in the log for their Lordships to contemplate, least of all "Jimmy The One", the First Lieutenant who is responsible for just about everything in this line. [dorbel] Route marching is marching over rough ground, usually with full kit, and would be for when your ships company (especially if they had marines) needed to operate as a landing party. Ceremonial marching is what the tin says. It usually takes place on a parade ground or flat piece of ground and consists in marching according to shouted orders. It often involves rifle drill - 'present arms' etc. This would be used if providing guards of honour at events or if taking part in formal ceremonies. [studentforever] Rove - It's the past participle of "to reeve", to pass a rope through something. A slip rope is one that moors to the quayside in such a way that the crew can release it from the ship and retrieve the rope, rather than having to rely on the dockside workers to unhitch the rope at the correct moment. [dorbel] A Sail loft is an upper floor in a building where sails are made. It is large enough for the entire sail to be laid out and worked on. If sails were made flat this wouldn't be necessary, but the square sails of square-rigged ships are stitched together from bolts of canvas so that they have a "belly" and for this you need to have the whole sail laid out. Many RN ships at this time could and did set sails; we note Foxglove setting fore and aft sails when on a long beam reach as late as 1922 and of course there were still a lot of sailing ships trading, so the sail loft was still a feature of most ports. [dorbel] Seedies and Kroomen (also Kroumen or Krumen) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seedies_and_Kroomen [Janet Jaguar] [AND] All is explained in great detail at http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/files/38503/124697397957._Black_Liberators.pdf/7.%2BBlack%2BLiberators.pdf [dorbel] [AND] A seedie boy is an East African or Indian native labourer working in H.M. Ships. Don't let the term "boy" conjure any images of young, strong men. I think the oldest "Boy" I've encountered was in his late 70s. They did get all the dirty jobs. Being PC wasn't an issue then. [kin47 - Don] Shackles were a measure of the length of cable. According to a 19th Century Seamanship Manual, ships were usually equipped with 12 shackles of bower cable where each shackle was a 12.5 fathom length. These 12.5 fathom lengths were joined by shackles (hence the name) and by swivel links to overcome twisting. When paying out the anchor cable, counting the number of shackles passing gave a measure of the length used. In 1949, the Royal Navy switched from 12.5 fathom shackles to 15 fathom shackles. Modern heavy mooring chain is usually sold in 15 fathom lengths or 'shots'. The specification sheets quote the number of links per shot. Here is a formula for calculating the amount of anchor chain to put out in your warship: Twice the square root of the depth of water in fathoms = the number of shackles of cable. [AvastMH] Definitely Sheering (considerably), a particularly nasty phenomenon where wind and wave carry you back over your own anchor. The danger in this situation is that you foul the anchor chain around your propeller and/or rudder, greatly increaing the risk of plucking your anchor out of the ground with the extra leverage and then being blown ashore unable to use your engines because of the chain around the prop. Not unheard of to be driven ashore in this way. [dorbel] Sheet anchor - an extra large anchor used in emergencies [wendolk] Pretty standard to Sink any floating object out at sea, empty lifeboat, drums, barrels etc. Good gunnery practice and means that your patrolling vessels won't be altering course to investigate them in the future. A ship that has sent 400 men to action stations because an alert lookout has spotted a periscope that turns out to be an old fisherman's net marker delights in smashing it to pieces. [dorbel] "'All hands to dance and skylark' was historically a command from a ship's officer for his crew to take brisk exercise in the fresh air, shinning up and down the rigging (hence 'skylark'). It was given when, confined at sea, the men became sluggish and listless; so it was, if you like, an early form of fitness training." [wendolk] Slops. Clothing, tobacco, etc., issued from the ship's slop-chest by the paymaster. Unlike "issue" (q.v.), slops must be paid for. http://www.naval-history.net/WW2aaNavalLife-Customs2.htm [AND] Uniform for ratings was first established by the Admiralty in 1857. Prior to this, most seamen wore "slops", or ready-made clothing sold to the ship's crew by a contractor; many captains established general standards of appearance for the seamen on their vessel, but there was little or no uniformity between ships. On one occasion in 1853, the commanding officer of HMS Harlequin paid for his boat crews to dress as harlequins, an incident which may have contributed to the Admiralty's decision to adopt a standard uniform. (sorry, couldn't resist) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Navy_uniform [randi_2] Sounding Machines - Ships in unknown waters like to know the depth of water underneath them. Also, charts are marked with the depth of water, so it is a navigational aid. In early days they found this out by sounding, that is dropping a heavy weight on a long piece of rope over the side, letting it sink to the bottom and marking the length of the rope used. By WW1 this process was a little more sophisticated and a thin wire with a weight [and tube] was used, lowered and raised by a powered winch. The tube is there to collect samples from the sea bed. It was driven into the sea bed by weights, a flap closed and when it was brought to the surface the tube contained a sample. The material on the bottom (mud, sand, shell for example) is also useful information [dorbel / edited by randi_2] [AND] http://titanic-model.com/db/db-03/kelvin.html - Describes and illustrates Kelvin Sounding Gear. I think the Royal Navy gear was very like this, although the surveying vessels, which could sound to depths of over 1,000 fathoms, may well have had something more sophisticated. They even allowed for the speed of the vessel through the water. [dorbel] [AND] From the Seamanship Manual section on Sounding Machines: "The glass chemical tubes are coated inside with chloride of silver, which shows red, but is turned white by the action of the water. Thus, the deeper the tube goes, the greater the pressure and the further the water is forced up the tube." [navalhistory] Splice the Main Brace - http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/sitecore/content/home/news-and-events/latest-news/2012/june/27/120627-royal-navy-splices-the-main-brace [randi_2] Spoke for seamen of that era really did mean that, with a megaphone! Radio was still morse code and flag or aldiss lamp signalling with merchantmen notoriously cumbersome. They closed and shouted. [dorbel] Gun barrels were regularly Pponged out, as the cordite propellant in use at this time was highly corrosive and could quickly damage the bore of the barrel. [dorbel] [AND] Ahem. "spongeing" is the correct Br. Eng. spelling (not always used on dry cleaners' signs); otherwise you have a hard "g" as in "springing". [Bunting Tosser] Spotting Table See Fire Control Table "running out Springs". In the naval sense, a spring is a rope running from the side of the ship to the anchor cable or to bollards on the shore. If it is running to the anchor cable from a point on the side of the vessel, it enables you to adjust your position in relation to the anchor by hauling on the rope, or slacking off. More commonly when moored alongside a jetty or wharf it runs from ship to shore at a diagonal. It will prevent the ship surging backwards and forwards. When moving away from the side, it can be used to manouevre the bow or the stern away from the wharf by hauing on it or slacking away. [dorbel] [AND] "Coir Springs: Heavy duty harbour moorings manufactured in coir rope. They are designed to be picked up by a vessel mooring in a harbour, usually where heavy swells are experienced. http://www.pomorci.com/Edukacija/80-100/Definitions,%20terminology%20and%20shipboard%20phrases.pdf [Bunting Tosser] To Stand off and on (Naut.), to remain near a coast by sailing toward land and then from it. [Caro] [AND] It may include tacking. If you follow any of the 'old' naval stuff (Hornblower, Nelson, 'Master and Commander,' etc.) the British and /or the French would 'blockade' the other's ships in harbour to keep them there. It entailed in some cases MONTHS of just sailing back and forth off shore to keep the enemy bottled up. That was considered 'standing off and on' to the shore. [dmaschen] Starshell - http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/starshell.htm [szukacz] [AND] I found a discussion on Naval History Forums: Battleship Bismarck Forums, that indicates star shells were special shells used to illuminate enemy ships for night battles. Based on what Szukacz found, it seems they were used on land as well. [wendolk] Steaming lights are the lights carried by all ships at night. They include port and starboard lights of red and green, a white mast light and stem/stern lights. [Tegwen] The Royal Navy didn't have Trimmers just Stokers, who were an all encompassing Marine Fireman. The Stoker was trained in the loading, distribution, storage and use of coal. The basics of a Royal Navy steam propulsion system that uses coal, has to use three compartments firstly the bunkers where the coal was stored, then the stokehold where the coal was held until required to be sent down chutes to the boilers. Bunkers where strategically placed around the ship and used as extra armour by being placed between the outer skin and the boiler/engine rooms, so usually long thin compartments. Coal also came in different grades and calorific values the lower values being used for normal cruising, the higher saved for exercise or battle and stowed near the stokehold (Welsh coal being the preference).The location of coal within the ship would effect the ship's "trim" (i.e., if all of the bunkers on one side of the ship were emptied, she would lean drastically to one side), so the use of coal was monitored to keep the ship in trim. This was supervised by the Chief Stokers and their tanky's the water used to feed the boilers was also a large part of this equation both in what was used and what was produced. As you could imagine during normal cruising this was a calm steady process, well oiled and managed by the Chief Stoker with Stokers manning or managing the three parts of ship, this gave the younger Stokers time to train and perfect their skills. A large ship would use 500 tons of coal a day under normal cruising conditions, three times that if on exercise or in battle conditions. The bunkers were hot, often humid, and the air thick with coal dust. Each bunker had to be periodically emptied totally and the build up of dust cleaned out to stop the chance of spontaneous combustion, caused by the coal absorbing moisture and creating heat which would build up until the coal began to burn, a problem to put out usually done by flooding the bunker pumping out and then using the coal straight away. Working within the bunkers was a terrible job. Since the coal bunkers could be long, men had to shovel the coal around in the bunkers, so that the bunkers could be filled evenly. When the coal was being used, a shovel relay would be set up in the bunkers, so that the coal in the bunker could be used evenly, and a ready supply kept at the entrance to the bunker for transfer to the stokehold. From this point it was shovelled in manageable quantities into the boiler rooms. The job of 'Trimming' the bunkers was normally done by Sailors and Marines and the first place any army embarked where employed, this task was supervised by PO and Leading Stokers. The Stokers moving the coal from the stokehold to the boiler rooms and feeding the furnaces. [Bunting Tosser / Charles] Stop - A piece of small line, or the like, used to bind or secure something; as, to secure a furled sail with stops. [randi_2] Stream Anchor - A light anchor sometimes carried at the stern of the vessel. Alternatively called a stern anchor or kedge anchor. http://www.pomorci.com/Edukacija/80-100/Definitions,%20terminology%20and%20shipboard%20phrases.pdf [randi_2] . you Strike a flag when you lower it. [dorbel] Worth noting that at this time Suicide was both a crime and a sin. Successful suicides could not be buried in consecrated ground and there was a great sense of family shame attached to it. Hence authorities would bend over backwards to find a form of words that avoided stigmatising the unhappy person concerned, as appears to have happened here. [dorbel] [AND] If the suicide was due to an action while the person was of unsound mind, it was not necessarily as serious in the legal text. And some allowance could be made to the next of kin. Exceptions to every rule, but this should be known. [kin47 - Don] Swinging the ship - Magnetic variation is the difference between true north (geographic north) and magnetic north. Deviation is the difference between magnetic north and ships compass north. It is due to the distortion of the magnetic field as it passes through the various metal parts of the ship before it gets to the compass. Thus deviation [ShedMonkey] is different for every compass point on which the ship steers. When a ship comes out of dock she has her compass "Swung" which entails swinging the ship around a known point so that she points at at marks ashore the true direction of which is also known. A deviation table is then compiled. It follows that the table is applicable only to that specific ship at that specific time. [Cunimb] [AND] Compass "Error" is the combination of variation and deviation and it will usually be one of a watchkeeper's duties to check compass error (and thereby derive deviation) every watch either by observing a geographical transit, or by celestial observation - Azimuth or Amplitude. In these days of gyro compasses, this is still a duty of a navigator, but gyros don't suffer from variation or deviation - they just have "error" - but nowhere near that of a magnetic compass. [ShedMonkey] Example: http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM%2053-75689/ADM%2053-75689-017_1.jpg http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM%2053-75689/ADM%2053-75689-018_0.jpg [AND] http://www.compassadjustment.com/#4 [dmaschen] [AND] http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/04/18/magnetic-deviation-comprehension-compensation-and-computation-part-i/ "Magnetic Deviation: Comprehension, Compensation and Computation (Part I)" [Bunting Tosser] [AND] They put iron shims [thin wedges] in to counteract the magnetic effects of the metal around the ship, of which of course there is loads, but the magnetic effect of the ship can change due to slight moves of plating, guns etc. The shims are placed so as to neutralise the effects of all those changes ensuring that the main effect on the compass is the earth's magnetic field, not the ships. [Tegwen / Janet Jaguar] Swinging to flood tide - I believe it indicates that the ship is riding at one anchor (usually the bow) so that the ebb tide had carried the stern away from land. When the tide turns, the current - being in the opposite direction - will push the stern around. It's just physics or hydrodynamics, no active participation from the ship's engine or crew, although the result is as you describe - sharp end towards the incoming tide. [Bunting Tosser] Tacking and Beating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacking_%28sailing%29 [randi_2] "Orcoma" at this time has 10-13 on the sick list every day. TB was very much the lower deck sailor's disease. Common in the population as a whole at this time, the close living conditions (all men still slept in a hammock that touched that of his neighbour), dampness, the very high number of smokers and the seaman's invariable habit of stuffing up any ventilation, all made for ideal conditions for the passing on of TB. In the notoriously damp HMS "Hood" between the wars, where sea water came down the ventilators into the mess decks in any sort of a sea when travelling fast, lower deck TB was almost endemic. [dorbel] "Telaupad is the contemporary British term for headphones used in a variety of shipboard applications, often in Fire Control tasks where the operator had to keep his hands free and be attentive to a remote source of information and command." http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Telaupad [thursdaynext] Ships keep local Time wherever they are, so on a voyage the clocks may change daily. When clocks are put back it makes the watch longer, very unpopular as you can imagine, so it was often done in in two stages, once in the first dog watch (4-pm to 6pm) and once in the second, (6-8pm). [dorbel] Time ball - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_ball [Caro] I think "Told Off" means "Assigned to" in the way it's used here - old military speak [Haywain] A naval Trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work heavy trawls in all types of weather and had large clear working decks. One could create a mine sweeper simply by replacing the trawl with a mine sweep. Adding depth charge racks on the deck, ASDIC below, and a 3-inch (76 mm) or 4 in (102 mm) gun in the bows equipped the trawler for anti-submarine duties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_trawler [randi_2] The Triatic stay ( I didn't know it was called that either) serves the purpose of extra fore-and-aft support for the masts. It is possible, likely even, that this ship will rig a derrick on the foremast to lift the coal out of the lighter alongside and swing it inboard over a hatch in the fore deck. The weight of this will of course tend to pull the foremast forward, so the triatic stay will transfer some of this load to the mainmast. The definition refers to mast heads, but I suspect that this, in this case, refers to the tops of the lower masts, rather than the tops of the topmasts if you see what I mean. You wouldn't want to apply any strain to the peak of your topmast. [dorbel] Trimmers See Stokers Uniforms / Dress http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Navy_uniform [Tegwen] http://allnavy.blogspot.fr/2011/04/royal-navy-uniform.html, http://www.seayourhistory.org.uk/content/view/640/808/1/2/, http://www.pbenyon1.plus.com/Uniform/Phot/Index.html [randi_2] http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4294 (especially no.# 15) [Bunting Tosser] Up Spirits http://www.naval-history.net/WW2aaNavalLife-Customs2.htm#6 [randi_2] To Veer in this sense is to let out, so they are increasing the amount of cable (or chain) between the ship and the anchor. This decreases the likelihood that they will drag the anchor if the wind gets up. Not to be confused with veer in the sense that a wind direction may veer, or move clockwise around the compass rose, e.g. "North, veering to North East later". [dorbel] [AND] It is actually the weight and drag of the anchor chain (or cable) lying on the sea bed that keeps the ship where it is. The flukes of the anchor do dig in of course but once the cable is veered out, the strain on the anchor itself should be minimal or non-existent. [dorbel] He also received a War Gratuity, whatever that was. Any comments? A gratuity was a sum of money paid to servicemen and women when they had completed a period of service for which they were contracted. it was an inducement for those serving shorter term engagements which did not entitled them to a pension. The war gratuity will have been paid for those who volunteered for war service. (http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GREATWAR/2000-06/0961106780)[Bunting Tosser] Warrant punishments are severe! We had one once where a Petty Officer had a warrant punishment. The whole Ships company and all officers form up in their best No 1 uniforms. The offender is marched in before the Captain. He is not allowed to remove his own cap - it is snatched from his head by the Master at Arms standing right behind him. The warrant is read and the punishment starts there and then. The mans Petty Officers badges are torn from his sleeves, his Good Conduct Badges are torn from his sleeves and he is marched away to RNDQ's (RN Detention Quarters). The re-offender rate in the Navy is a fraction of that in civilian justice system. [TenDown] Watches on board are four hour watches commencing at midnight, except for the dog watches, 1600 to 1800 and 1800 to 2000. The purpose of these is to arrange watch keeping so that you don't always come on watch at the same time every day. Ships usually keep three watches in port but revert to two watches 4 hours on, 4 hours off) at sea, Port and Starboard. Not all hands are watch and watch about, certain trades, cooks, carpenters etc are day men, sometimes referred to as the idlers. [dorbel] Wearing (also jibe or gybe) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wearing_ship [randi_2] Wind hauling, veering and backing I have come across the phrase "wind hauling" a couple of time. According to my 1928 Websters: "To change direction, as the wind. A distinction is often made between haul and veer, as said of the wind. Perhaps the more general usage is to say that the wind hauls from north to west (counterclockwise) and veers from north to east (clockwise); but some authorities support the contrary usage." On the USS Rodgers, they seem to only use the term hauling and they use seem to clockwise and counterclockwise. [randi_2] [AND] I found a longer definition of wind hauling, veering and backing, that includes the various (contradictory) uses from different ships. http://fer3.com/arc/m2.aspx/veering-backing-again-DanAllen-mar-2003-w9282 [Janet Jaguar] [AND] Hauling (veering is the modern term) is clockwise and backing is counterclockwise. in the northern hemisphere! If you are in the southern hemisphere, it's the other way around: hauling is counterclockwise and backing is clockwise. It is based on the way the wind changes as weather fronts pass a designated point. For the same weather pattern, the wind changes opposite ways in the north and south hemispheres, but the terminology remains the same so you know where you are relative to that weather pattern. [Jeff] Wind sail - A wide tube or funnel of canvas, used to convey air for ventilation into the lower compartments of a vessel. [randi_2] Writer ratings keep all the books aboard. Accounts, stores, personnel, anything really, as well as typing all the ships letters and despatches. A writer probably prepares the copies of the logs that we see. They are seamen, so have basic training in seaman skills, but "writing" is their speciality. A very large ship would certainly have a Chief Writer, but one imagines that a smaller ship would be managed by a PO Writer or even a Leading Writer. [dorbel] Zig-zagging - http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/onipubno30.htm By the way, failure to zig-zag was the main factor in the court martial of the commander of the Indianapolis. They'd just delivered the atomic bomb and were headed back when a Japanese sub got them. If you've never heard that story, and if you aren't easily unnerved, Google it. Or watch the movie Mission of the Shark. By the way, the commander of the Japanese sub testified at the court martial and said he would have been able to sink him even if he zig-zagged. Still convicted him. The US Navy has since admitted it was the wrong thing to do, but it remains on his record because there's no procedure for removing such a thing. Crazy, huh? [DJ_59] [AND] . to avoid being predictable to reduce risks of torpedo attacks from Submarines? If I understand correctly they would not always make the same angle of turn and would vary the frequency while still heading in the same overall direction. I haven't transcribed much of the N Atlantic convoy ships, but those I have done stopped zig zagging at night fall when it was more difficult for subs to spot them and make predictions about directions etc. [Tegwen]         11. 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