by Dean King
shipwright A man employed in the construction of ships. The Company of Shipwrights was incorporated in 1605.
shittim wood The wood of the shittah-tree, acacia wood. See ACACIA.
shiver Of a sail, to flutter or to shake; to cause a sail to flutter in the wind. Sails are said to shiver when a vessel is steered so close in the direction that the wind is blowing from that the air spills out of them. Also, an old word for the SHEAVE of a BLOCK.
shoal An elevation of the sea-bottom to within six FATHOMS of the surface; a shallow; a sandbank or bar. Shoaling: growing progressively more shallow.
shoneen A person inclining toward English rather than Irish standards and attitudes, as in cultural life, sports, etc.
short commons Lacking in rations, scant fare.
short seas When the waves are irregular, broken, and interrupted, frequently bursting over a vessel’s side. When the distance between successive waves is abnormally short for their height.
short-weight Deficient in weight, a means of defrauding the buyer.
shot Any non-exploding missile fired from a naval gun, including LANGRAGE, CHAIN-SHOT, BAR-SHOT, and the normal cast-iron ball, or ROUND SHOT, which was called by its weight, as in 32-pound, 24-pound, or 18-pound shot. A CARRONADE, also called a smasher, fired a 66-pound shot.
shot-garland A wooden rack running along the ship’s side from one gunport to another and holding the ROUND SHOT for the GREAT GUNS.
shoulder-block A large single BLOCK, nearly square at its lower end.
shove-groat The game of shuffleboard, in which a coin or other disk is pushed with a blow of the hand down a highly polished board, floor, or table marked with transverse lines.
Shovell, Sir Cloudesley (1659-1707) English admiral and commander of the Mediterranean fleet during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). Sailing for home in October 1707, his FLAGSHIP, the Association, and three other ships met bad visibility in the Channel and were unable to determine their position. Swept by a strong current, four ships, including the flagship, were wrecked near the Bishop and Clerk rocks off the SCILLY ISLANDS, with the loss of more than 1,400 men. Shovell’s body washed ashore and, years later, a woman wrecker confessed on her deathbed that she had found him alive and had murdered him for his emerald ring.
show away Show off.
shrouds Part of the standing RIGGING of a ship, a range of large ropes extending from the MASTHEADS to the STARBOARD (right) and LARBOARD (left) sides of the ship to provide lateral support to the MASTS, enabling them to carry sail. The shrouds were supported by HOUNDS at the masthead and the lower shrouds were secured by the CHAINS on the ship’s side. The shrouds of the TOPMAST and TOPGALLANT MAST ran to the edges of the TOPS. The parallel bands of RATLINES running between the shrouds functioned as ladders by which the TOPMEN climbed up to and down from the mastheads.
shrub An alcoholic drink usually made with orange or lemon juice, sugar, and rum.
shy To fling, throw, jerk, or toss.
Sic erimus cuncti postquam nos auferet Orcus/ergo vivamus dum licet esse, bene So we will all be after Orcus [Roman god of the underworld] carries us off/therefore let us live well while we may (Latin; an epitaph from the Satyricon of Petronius).
Sick and Hurt Office Same as the Sick and Wounded Board; see “The Royal Navy During the War of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic War,” p. 6.
sick headache A severe headache accompanied by abdominal distress.
side-boy In a warship, a boy whose job is to attend to the GANGWAY or MANROPES, assisting officers and others boarding from or departing to another boat.
side-fish Long timbers dovetailed on either side of a made mast (one constructed of more than one timber).
sidereal Of or pertaining to the stars. Of periods of time, that which is determined or measured by using the stars.
siege-train All the men, guns, and materials gathered to conduct a siege.
Sierra Leone A river in West Africa. Also, a British colony in West Africa in whose capital, Freetown, blacks who had been taken to Britain as slaves were resettled by the Sierra Leone Company in 1787. In 1808, the British government took over direct responsibility for the colony of free blacks. From that year, Sierra Leone was also a naval base for anti-slave trade patrols.
Si la personne qui s’intérrese au pavilion de partance voudrait bien donner rendez-vous en laissant un mot chez Jules, traiteur à Frith Street, elle en aurait des nouvelles If the person who has an interest in the Blue Peter would like to make an appointment by leaving word with Jules, a restaurateur on Frith Street, he will receive information about it (French).
silkstone A type of coal mined at Silkstone near Barnsley in Yorkshire, England.
sill or port-sill An upper or lower horizontal timber forming the upper or lower edge of a ship’s square port.
sillabub See SYLLABUB.
Sillery A wine of the Champagne region of France produced in and around the village of Sillery, usually the still wine Sillery sec (dry Sillery), formerly made from the grapes of the Sillery vineyards but now chiefly from those of the nearby vineyards of Verzenay and Mailly
Simia satyrus The orangutan, a forest-dwelling ape of BORNEO, Sumatra, and Java that is about two-thirds the size of a gorilla and has very long arms.
similia similibus curantur Like things cured by likes (Latin). The practice of treating a disease by giving the patient small amounts of substances that in a healthy person would cause similar symptoms to those the patient is experiencing.
Simonstown Near the southern tip of Africa, a port about 30 miles south of Cape Town on the western shore of False Bay, near the Cape of Good Hope. From 1741 Simonstown was a Dutch military and naval base, and from 1814 it was headquarters of the Royal Navy’s South Atlantic Squadron.
simoom A hot, dry, suffocating, and frequently sand-laden wind that blows across the African and Asiatic deserts in spring and summer.
sinecure An office or position that requires little or no effort but usually provides an income. Of the nature of a sinecure. Involving no duties or work.
single In cricket, a hit for one run.
sinologist A Western student of the Chinese language or of Chinese customs, literature, or history.
sippet Toasted or fried bread, usually served in soup or broth or with meat as a sop.
sirens In classical mythology, several part-female, part-bird nymphs who lived on an island near Sicily, where they halted sailors’ journeys—and eventually their lives—with their enchanting songs. When passing near them, Ulysses plugged the ears of his crew with wax, so they could not listen, and had his sailors lash him to a MAST, so he could listen without succumbing to their call.
siriasis A disease that affects children, causing inflammation of the brain and membranes and burning fever and considered by some to be meningitis. O’Brian uses the term as a synonym for heat stroke.
Sirius, H.M.S. A 36-gun fifth-rate FRIGATE that saw action with Sir Robert CALDER in 1805, after which she towed the Spanish 74-gun Firme back to PORTSMOUTH. The Sirius served at TRAFALGAR in 1805 under Captain William Prowse. In 1810, while serving in the Indian Ocean, she was lost in an attack on the Île de France (MAURITIUS).
sirocco A hot wind from the Sahara Desert that blows from the south or southeast off the north coast of Africa over the Mediterranean and into parts of southern Europe, in the summer sometimes oppressive and bearing sand.
sister block A BLOCK with two SHEAVES, one below the other, sometimes seized between the TOPMAST SHROUDS, and through which were ROVE the TOPGALLANT SHEET and topsailyard lift. Also called a long-tail block.
sixes and sevens, to be at A condition of confusion, disorder, or disagreement. Originally the phrase, from the language of dicing, was “to set on six and seven,” which was probably a fanciful exaggeration of “to set on cinque and sice,” the two highest numbers.
six-water grog Weak GROG, consisting of six portions of water to each of rum, served occasionally as a punishment to sailors.
Skag
er Rack A variation of Skagerrak, the broad arm of the North Sea between Norway and Denmark; also known as the SLEEVE, the channel is about 130 miles long and more than 70 miles wide.
skein A length of yarn or thread secured in a long, loose coil. A skein of cotton thread consists of 80 turns on a reel 54 inches in circumference.
skeleton at the feast A reminder of serious or depressing matters at a time of lightheartedness or enjoyment.
skep A beehive.
skid-beam One of the BEAMS over the deck for stowing boats.
skids BEAMS or reserve SPARS kept by a ship usually in the WAIST and used as a support for the ship’s boats.
skiff A small boat equipped with one or two pairs of oars and used for a ship’s chores in harbor.
skimmer A bird of the North American genus Rhyncops, especially the black skimmer. These birds use their lower mandibles to skim small fish from the surface of the water.
skink A small lizard (Scincus officinalis) of northern Africa and Arabia. Also, any lizard belonging to the Scincidae family.
skin up As in “to skin up a sail in the BUNT,” to make a FURLed sail smooth and neat using part of the sail to cover the remainder of the furled canvas.
skittles A game traditionally played with nine pins set to form a square on a wooden frame, with the object being to bowl down the pins in as few throws as possible; nine-pins.
skua A large dark-plumed predatory seabird (Catharacta skua). Growing to about 21 inches long, the skua is a powerful flier and with its hawklike bill often intimidates weaker birds into dropping their prey. They breed primarily along the Arctic and Antarctic shores but wander widely across the open oceans.
skylark To frolic, play tricks, or roughhouse.
skysail In SQUARE-RIGGED vessels, a light sail set above the ROYAL, used in a favorable light wind.
skyscraper A triangular sail set above the SKYSAIL to maximize the advantage of a light favorable wind; a triangular MOONSAIL.
slab Said of something semisolid, sometimes sticky.
slab-line A small rope passing up behind a ship’s MAINSAIL or FORESAIL used to hold up the sail so that the helmsman had a clear view or to pull in the slack of a COURSE to prevent it from shaking or splitting while it was being HAULed up.
slab-sided Having long, flat sides.
slack-cask A cask used for holding dry goods.
slack water The situation, lasting roughly half an hour, at both high and low water when the tide does not flow visibly in either direction.
slag Earthen matter separated from metals in the process of smelting, often used in the construction of roads.
slake To cause a material, as lime, to crumble or disintegrate by the action of water or moisture.
Sleeve, the An old name for the English Channel and for the SKAGER RACK, possibly originating from their shapes, which resemble sleeves; sleeve is also used to refer to any strait or channel.
slew To turn (something) around on its own axis; to swing around.
slide A runner on which a gun is mounted.
sliding keel A plank of wood or metal that slides through a slot in the bottom of a vessel to increase the depth of the KEEL; a drop keel.
slime-draught A word not used in everyday medicine of the time, this appears to be a vernacular term for a liquid medicine of unknown composition used sometimes as a stool softener and sometimes as a sleeping medicine.
sling-dog An iron hook with a fang at one end and an EYE at the other through which to REEVE a rope. Used in pairs for HOISTing and HAULing.
slings Ropes or chains attached to an object for HOISTing or supporting, YARD slings are ropes or chains used to secure a yard to the MAST.
sloop Originally, a term used generally for any relatively small ship-of-war that did not fit into other categories; around 1760, heavier three-masted sloops carrying 14 or 16 guns were used in the Royal Navy. By the early 19th century, there were two distinctive classes of SQUARE-RIGGED sloops, the three-masted SHIP sloop and the two-masted BRIG sloop.
slop-book A register containing a list of the clothing and other articles issued to the sailors to be charged against their pay. See SLOPS.
sloppy Joe A slovenly person.
slops Ready-made clothing and other furnishings from the ship’s stores sold from the PURSER’S chest to the seamen, usually at the MAINMAST with an officer present. The cost of slops purchased were deducted from a sailor’s pay, with a portion going to the ship’s Purser. There was no official uniform for naval seamen until 1857. The word slops derives from the Old English word sloppe, which means breeches, but it also came to cover other commodities sold to the seamen, such as tobacco and soap.
slow-belly A lazy, idle person; a laggard.
slow-match A fuse that burned very slowly, used to ignite the charge in a large gun.
slubberdegullion A worthless, slovenly person.
slush The fat or grease left over from meat boiled on board ship, from which seamen made a favorite dish. It was also the Cook’s perquisite to sell it to the PURSER, who turned it into candles.
small beer Weak, inferior beer, with 1.2 percent alcohol.
small-bower An anchor carried at the STARBOARD BOW of a vessel; also the CABLE attached to it. See also BEST BOWER.
small-clothes or smalls Breeches; knee-breeches; underclothes.
smallpox An acute contagious disease also known as variola, characterized by pustules on the skin. See also POX.
smell-smock A licentious man, lacking in self-control.
Smith, Sir William Sidney (1764-1840) Described as daring, vain, resourceful, insubordinate, and imaginative, Admiral Sidney entered the Navy at age 13 and was POST-CAPTAIN by age 18. His life of adventure included action early on at CAPE ST. VINCENT and the SAINTES and two years as a French prisoner after an attack on Le Havre in 1796. After escaping from prison, he was sent to the Mediterranean, where he successfully defended ACRE against Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 in his most admired action. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1805, he returned to the Mediterranean and took part in the DARDANELLES expedition in 1807. After serving on the South American station, he was promoted to Vice-Admiral and was second in command in the Mediterranean from 1812 to 1814.
smiting-line A line used to break a sail out of STOPS without the necessity of sending men aloft. Its successful execution indicates a good seaman.
smock-frock A long, loose-fitting garment of coarse linen or the like worn by farmers over or as a coat.
smoke In common use from roughly 1600 to 1850, meaning to get or understand, to smell or suspect a plot, design, joke, or hidden meaning.
Smollett, Tobias George (1721-1771) A British novelist who drew upon his experiences as a Surgeon’s Mate on H.M.S. Chichester to write a book entitled The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), which satirized the Navy and the general way of life of British seamen. Smollett, a well-respected figure in 18th-century English literature, also edited the Critical Review.
Smyrna asafetida ASAFETIDA imported from Smyrna (or Izmir), the major port on the west coast of Turkey, whence it came from Persia, Tibet, and other Eastern areas where it grew well.
Smyth, William Henry (1788-1865) A British Rear-Admiral who was a founding member of the Royal Geographic Society in 1830. His surveys and scientific observations in the Mediterranean from 1813 to 1824, made with the help of many Continental scholars and surveyors, were highly praised in Britain and the Mediterranean countries. Compiler of The Sailor’s Word-Book, published posthumously in 1867.
snack A share or portion. See also GO SNACKS.
snapper-up One who snaps up or pounces on something quickly.
snatch-block A BLOCK with a hinged opening on one side so that the BIGHT of a rope could be dropped in, saving a seaman the effort of having to REEVE the whole length of the rope.
sneer To make all sneer again meant to carry so much canvas that it strained the ropes and SPARS to the utmost.
sniggle To fish for eels by thrusting a baited hook or other device in
to their hiding places. A baited hook used in sniggling.
snipe Any of various wading birds related to the woodcock and characterized by long, straight bills.
Snodgrass, Gabriel As chief surveyor to the EAST INDIA COMPANY, Snodgrass was an influence for progressive ship design. In 1791, for instance, he proposed the use of iron KNEES, instead of wooden ones, to support a ship’s BEAMS and iron riders to reinforce the hull.
snow The largest type of two-masted sailing vessel of the era, the snow, primarily a merchant ship but also used at war, carried square sails on both masts, with a TRYSAIL on a jackmast known as a snow-mast—which was a SPAR set on the deck about a foot behind the MAINMAST and attached at the top to the mainmast.
snub To stop a running rope or CABLE suddenly by securing it to a post. To halt a vessel sharply, especially by securing a rope around a post or dropping an anchor. Also, when the BOW of a vessel at anchor is held down as the vessel is lifted by a wave, the vessel is said to be snubbed.
snuff-coloured Of the color of snuff, brown or brownish.
snug or snuggery A cosy or comfortable room, especially a small one into which a person retires for quiet or to be alone; a bachelor’s den. The bar-parlor of an inn or public-house.
Society Islands An isolated group of South Pacific islands in French Polynesia that was charted in 1769 by Captain James COOK and named by him after the Royal Society, which sponsored his trip to observe from Tahiti the transit of Venus.
Society of Jesus The JESUITS.
Socinian A member of a sect founded by Laelius and Faustus Socinus, two 16th-century Italian theologians who denied the divinity of Christ.
soft soap A smeary, semiliquid soap made with potash lye; potash soap.
soft-tack or soft tommy Sailors’ term for bread, as distinct from ship’s biscuit, known as HARD-TACK.
Solander, Daniel Carl (1733-1782) A Swedish botanist who studied with Linnaeus and accompanied Sir Joseph Banks on several voyages. He was chosen to catalogue the British Museum’s natural history collection in 1763 and was made its curator a decade later.
sole Any of various flatfishes of the family Soleidae, related to and resembling the flounder, especially several common British and European species highly valued as food. Any of various other flatfishes.
