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Glossary Admiral a flag rank, attained through seniority from among serving captains , for those in command of a squadron or fleet Afloat when a ship is swimmingon the water Amidships in the middle of a ship Anchor, bower one of two anchors stowed farthest forward,or near the bows Anchor, sheet independent resource, used only when either of the bowers part, for which purpose the cable is alwayskept ready bent with a long range to be let go in an emergency Ballast additional weight added to a ship, usuallyin the form of stones or iron, placed in the ship's hold to give it greater stability by increasing her draught Ballast basket stout baskets to carry ballast in the form of stones in a ship's hold Base a facility where expendablestores were replenished;where damaged or worn masts, yards, spars, rigging, and sails were replaced; where careening occurred; and where all but the most radical repairscarried out Beam the width of the ship Bees of the bowsprit pieces of hard wood bolted to the outer end of a bowsprit through which are wove the fore topmaststays before they are brought in to the bows and secured Boatswain pronounced bo'sun; inferior officer in charge of sails, rigging, cordage, and boats Bowsprit spar extending forward from the stem above the ship's bow to which headsails were secured Breaming to clean a ship's bottom with lighted brush faggots; a task undertaken before caulking could begin, also called graving; to burn off the filth, such as grass, ooze, shells, or seaweed, from a ship's bottom, that has gathered to it in a voyage, or by lying long in a harbour. This operation is performed by holding kindled furze or faggots to the bottom, so that the flame incorporating with the pitch, sulphur,and so on that had formerly covered it, immediately loosens and throws off whatever filth may have adhered to the planks. After this, the bottom is covered anew with a composition of sulphur , tallow, and other material that not only makes it smooth and slippery, so as to spread the fluid more readily, but also poisons and destroys the teredo worms which eat through the planks in the course of a voyage Breastwork barrier between twenty and twenty-five feet wide, breast-high, 322 Glossary built against the encroachments of the sea on the harbour side of the yard, constructed of earth, stones, and wharf timbers Brick nogging to use poor quality or broken bricks to fill the space between exterior and interior walls to produce a stronger and more stable wall; sometimes referred to as knocking Brush house building to store brush used in breaming ships Bulwarks the upper section of the frames and side planking, which extends above and around the upper deck Capstan a vertical winch or barrel,used to weigh anchors, or to hoist heavy sails, raise heavy hawsers, or chains attached to anchors Capstan bars stout wooden bars inserted in the capstan head to heave the capstan around, each bar manned by one or more sailors Careen to heave a vessel over on her side by applying cables to the upper masts, in order to clean, caulk, or repair the exposed side of her bottom Careening capstan one of a set of capstans built in the side of a wharf and used to heave down a sailing ship before being cleaned Careening pit a ditch dug in the side of a wharf, and lined with timbers, and so situated that the lower yardarms of a ship could be lodged, thus avoiding the necessity of having to lower the yardarms Carronade a short, light muzzle-loadingcannon, throwing a very heavy ball a relatively short distance Cat strong tackle or machine formed by a combination of pulleys which serves to hook and pull the anchor up to the cathead without tearing the ship's side with it's flukes Cathead large piece of timber or a crane, projectingover the bow for drawing up the anchor clear of the ship's side; also serves to suspend the anchor clear of the bow; when it is necessary to let it go it is supported by a sort of knee, which is generally ornamented with sculpture Caulker an artificer whose special tools makes watertight a seam between two planks, either on a ship's bottom or deck planking by forcing in stripsof hot tarred rope fibres or oakum, before paying with pitch Caulking the filling of the...

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