bow – the front of the ship (rhymes with “cow”).
bowline – a sailor's knot used to form a loop in a line (pronounced BO-lin).
box the compass – to recite the thirty-two compass points in order and to understand their meaning.
brogan – a heavy leather shoe.
bulkhead – an interior partition or wall in a vessel.
bulwarks – the built-up side walls above the deck of a ship.
capsize – to overturn.
chantey – a song sung by sailors while at work. There are different chanteys for different types of work.
chocks – grooves in the forwardmost part of a whaleboat's bow through which the whaleline runs.
companionway – a stairway or ladder leading from one deck to another. On the main deck, the entrances to the companionways are sheltered in small raised housings, complete with doors to keep out the elements.
cooper – one who makes or repairs wooden tubs. The cooper was a vital part of a whaling crew, as he was responsible for making airtight casks that would hold up under extreme conditions.
courses – the large square sails that hang on a ship's lower yards.
crow's nest – a canvas shelter at the topgallant masthead. Used during the Arctic whale fishery, it protected sailors from the shoulders down from the wind.
cuddy – a small room or cupboard in a boat.
cupola – a raised observation room built on top of a roof, usually circular.
dipper – a metal bucket used to remove the oil from the trypots and pour it into the adjacent cooling tank.
dogwatch – the divided watch between four and eight in the evening, the first dogwatch being from four to six, the second from six to eight. Except for the helmsman and lookout, the men from both watches are allowed to relax during the second dogwatch.
doughboy – a heavy boiled dumpling often made with the meat of blackfish or porpoise.
duff – a boiled or steamed dumpling made with flour, lard, sugar, and dried fruit.
fall – the loose end of a rope and tackle.
fluke – one of the broad winged portions of a whale's tail.
fo'c'sle – the forward cabin of a ship, directly behind the bow and in front of the foremast. The crew's sleeping quarters are in the fo'c'sle. (Fo'c'sle is short for forecastle and is pronounced FOKE-sul.)
fore and aft – in a line parallel to the length of the ship.
foremast – the mast closest to the bow.
forward – toward the bow of the ship.
furl – to roll a sail to a yard.
gally – to frighten.
gangway – an opening at a ship's side where people embark and disembark. In a whaler, the cutting stage was erected off the gangway.
greenie – someone who has never shipped before and has yet to learn his duties. Also called a landlubber.
grog – an alcoholic beverage, especially diluted hot rum mixed with lemon juice and sugar.
grommet – a ring used to fasten a sail to its stay (the line used to support the mast).
gunwale – the upper edge of the ship's side (pronounced GUN-ul).
harponeer – the crewman who tosses, casts, darts, or pitches the harpoon. (One never throws a harpoon.) Only landlubbers call the crewman a harpooner.
harpoon – a barbed iron spear especially used for hunting whales. Commonly called an iron in the whaling industry.
hatch – an opening in the ship's deck.
hatchway – the vertical space between one hatch and another, for passageway between the decks of a vessel.
heave to – to trim a vessel's sails aback so that it no longer makes headway.
helm – the steering apparatus of a vessel.
hold – the storage area of a vessel.
hull – the main body of the ship.
iron – a whaleman's term for a harpoon.
lance – a spearlike iron pole.
leeward – the side of the ship away from the direction of the wind (opposite of windward).
lifeline – a line stretching the length of a ship to which the crew can hang on when the weather is rough.
loggerhead – a cylindrical piece of wood in the stern around which the whaleline is wound.
luff – to turn a ship close to the wind so that the sails shake and momentum is slowed.
main – the principal, or most important part. In a three-masted vessel, the center mast (mainmast), the center hatch (main hatch), and so on.
marlinspike – a pointed iron tool about 16 inches long, used to separate strands of a rope.
masthead – the top of a mast.
mess – the place where the officers and harponeers take their meals.
mizzen – the third mast, or aftermast, on a three-masted vessel (short for mizzenmast).
oilskin – canvas cloth made waterproof by soaking in linseed oil. Sailors wore raincoats and trousers made of oilskin.
old man – the term sailors use when referring to their captain (never in the captain's presence, however!).
pawl – an iron stop used to keep the windlass from turning back.
port – the left side of the vessel while facing forward. Also the designation of one of the watches.
Pull two! – this command tells the two oarsmen whose oars are on the port side to row.
ratlines – the horizontal ropes attached to the shrouds to form a rope ladder (pronounced RAT-lins).
rigging – the lines and ropes of a vessel, used to support the masts and work the yards and sails.
royal – the sail immediately above the topgallant sail.
rudder – a hinged, vertical blade located on a ship's underside at the stern. A ship's course (right, left, or straight) depends on the orientation of the rudder in the water.
scupper – an opening cut in the bulwarks to drain seawater.
scurvy – a disease caused by vitamin-C deficiency, characterized by swollen and bleeding gums.
shipkeeper – one of the people left behind to man the ship while the crew chases whales.
shoal – a sandbar that projects near or above the surface of the water.
shroud – a rope, usually one of a pair, that stretches from the masthead to the sides of the vessel to support the mast.
slop chest – a small store of much-needed goods managed by the captain. Sailors purchased the goods—wool socks, mittens, extra tobacco, boots, etc.—often at inflated prices. The cost was usually deducted from their wages.
sou'wester – a hat made of oilskin, shaped with a broad brim to keep the sailor's face and neck dry while still allowing him to see.
spar – a beam or pole, such as a mast or yard, that supports rigging.
splice the main brace – a slang term meaning “to receive a ration of grog.”
starboard – the right side of the vessel when facing forward. Also the designation of one of the watches.
steerage – the living quarters of the shipkeepers and harponeers, usually forward of the officers' quarters.
stem to stern – from front to back.
stern – the back of the ship.
Stern all! – the order to row the whaleboat backward away from danger.
steward – the crewman responsible for the captain's cabin, the officers' quarters, and the serving of the meals.
stove – smashed or crushed, as a boat or ship (past tense of stave).
stow – to store.
tack – to change a boat's direction by bringing it head to wind.
tackle – an arrangement of blocks fitted with ropes, used to lift heavy loads.
tiller – a movable bar used to operate the rudder.
topgallant – the sail above the topsail.
topsail – the sail immediately above the lowest sail on a square-rigged vessel.
trypots – enormous iron kettles used for boiling whale blubber.
tryworks – brick structure housing the trypots with water-cooling tanks beneath. Located abaft the forehatch.
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tub oarsman – the crewman who sits on the starboard side, fourth from the bow. Oarlock is on the port side. Responsible for wetting the whaleline to prevent it from burning from friction.
tundra – a treeless plain of the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, with a sublayer of soil that is permanently frozen.
wear ship – to bring a ship around, stern into the wind, until she sails in the opposite direction.
whalecraft – the assorted iron tools used in the whale fishery, such as harpoons, lances, and blubber knives.
whaleline – the rope that leads from the tub to the harpoon, eventually connecting the whale to the whaleboat.
whaler – a whaling ship or bark.
windlass – a horizontal barrel around which a rope or chain is wound. The windlass is turned with a crank and is used in raising heavy loads, such as whale blubber or an anchor.
windward – the direction facing the wind (opposite of leeward).
yard – a horizontal beam attached to a mast to support a sail.
yardarm – the end of a yard.
ARTICLES:
Kusher, Howard I. “Hellships: Yankee Whaling Along the Coasts of Russian-America, 1835–1852.” New England Quarterly (March 1972): 81–95.
JOURNALS/LOGS:
Abraham Barker (ship). New Bedford, MA. Sept. 10, 1850–March 14, 1853. Master: Ichabod Norton. Providence, RI: Providence Public Library, Nicholson Whaling Collection.
Abraham Barker (ship). New Bedford, MA. July 21, 1853–April 27, 1857. Master: Abraham Barker, Jr. Providence, RI: Providence Public Library, Nicholson Whaling Collection.
Addison (ship). New Bedford, MA. Nov. 25, 1856–May 27, 1859. Master: Samuel Laurence. Keeper: Ebenezer Nickerson. Providence, RI: Providence Public Library, Nicholson Whaling Collection.
Indian Chief (ship). New London, CT. Jan. 7, 1849–May 8, 1852.
Master: Elisha M. Bailey. Keeper: Elisha M. Bailey. Mystic, CT: Marine Historical Association, Inc.
Peck, Alfred F. July 1856–June 1861. A retrospective journal con-taining an account of a voyage in an unnamed vessel, probably the bark Covington or Warren (August 16, 1856–October 1859). Master: Allen M. Newman. Providence, RI: Providence Public Library, Nicholson Whaling Collection.
Smith, N. Byron. History of a Three Years' Whaling Voyage: Being a true and authentic narrative of the accidents, incidents, and events which happened during a voyage, taken by the author, to the Indian and North Pacific Oceans, in the years 1851, 1852, and 1853. Kent, OH: Kent State University.
MAPS/ATLASES:
Arctic Environmental Information and Data Center. Chukchi Sea: Bering Strait—Icy Cape—Physical and Biological Character of Alaskan Coastal Zone and Marine Environment. Anchorage, AK: University of Alaska, 1975.
United States Geological Survey. All Topo Maps: Alaska! Salt Lake City, UT: iGage Mapping Corporation, 2000.
THESES:
Moore, Golda Pauline. “Hawaii During the Whaling Era, 1820– 1880.” Master's thesis, University of Hawaii, 1934.
VIDEOS:
Hurley, Dr. Frank. South: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition. Harrington Park, NJ: Milestone Film & Video, 1999.
Mystic Seaport Museum. On Board the Morgan: America's Last Wooden Whaler. Mystic, CT: Mystic Seaport Museum Film-Video Services, 1992.
National Audubon Video. Whales! Stamford, CT: Vestron Video, 1989.
National Film Board of Canada. Champions of the Wild: Polar Bears. Montreal: National Film Board of Canada, 1998.
New Zealand National Film Unit. Whales. New York: Brighton Video, 1988.
WEB SITES:
Chance, Norman A. “Changing Patterns of Subsistence.” Adapted from The Iñupiat and Arctic Alaska. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1990. http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/Inupiat/ changingecon.html.
Falconer, William. William Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine, 1780 edition. South Seas. http://www.jcu.edu.au/aff/history/ southseas/refs/falc/contents.html or http://southseas.nla.gov.au/ refs/falc/contents.html.
Hughes, Charles C. “Eskimo.” http://alaskan.com/docs/eskimo.html.
International Whaling Commission. http://www.iwcoffice.org/ iwc.htm.
Lundberg, Murray. “Thar She Blows! Whaling in Alaska and the Yukon.” ExploreNorth. http://www.explorenorth.com/library/ yafeatures/bl-whaling.htm.
New Bedford Whaling Museum. http://www.whalingmuseum.org.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Imprint of the Past: The Ecological History of New Bedford Harbor.” http://www.epa. gov/nbh/html/whaling.html.
BOOKS:
Albanov, Valerian. In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic. New York: Random House, 2000.
Alexander, Caroline. The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.
Allen, Everett S. Children of the Light: The Rise and Fall of New Bedford Whaling and the Death of the Arctic Fleet. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1973.
Ansel, Willits D. Whaleboat: A Study of Design, Construction, and Use from 1850 to 1970. Mystic, CT: Mystic Seaport Museum, 1978.
Arctic Institute of North America. The Alaskan Arctic Coast. Anchorage, AK: The Arctic Institute of North America, Alaska Office, 1974.
Ashley, Clifford W. The Yankee Whaler. 1942. Reprint, New York: Dover, 1991.
Bartlett, Robert A. The Karluk's Last Voyage: An Epic of Death and Survival in the Arctic. New York: First Cooper Square Press, 2001.
Bockstoce, John R. Whales, Ice, and Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1986.
Bodfish, Waldo, Sr. Kusiq: An Eskimo Life History from the Arctic Coast of Alaska. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press, 1991.
Boeri, David. People of the Ice Whale: Eskimos, White Men, and the Whale. New York: Dutton, 1983.
Chance, Norman A. The Iñupiat and Arctic Alaska: An Ethnography of Development. Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology, ed. George and Louise Spindler. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1990.
Church, Albert Cook. Whale Ships and Whaling. New York: W. W. Norton, 1938.
Cook, John A. Pursuing the Whale: A Quarter Century of Whaling in the Arctic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1926.
Damas, David, ed. Arctic. Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, gen. ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1984.
Dana, Richard Henry, Jr. The Seaman's Friend: A Treatise on Practical Seamanship. 1879. Reprint, New York: Dover, 1997.
Ellis, Leonard Bolles. History of New Bedford and Its Vicinity, 1602– 1892. Syracuse, NY: D. Mason and Co., 1892.
Garner, Stanton, ed. The Captain's Best Mate: The Journal of Mary Chipman Lawrence on the Whaler Addison, 1856–1860. Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1966.
Giddings, James Louis. Ancient Men of the Arctic. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1967.
Haley, Nelson Cole. Whale Hunt: The Narrative of a Voyage by Nelson Cole Haley, Harpooner in the Ship Charles W. Morgan, 1849– 1853. Binghamton, NY: Ives Washburn, 1948.
Hall, Daniel Weston. Arctic Rovings: The Adventures of a New Bedford Boy on Sea and Land. Hamden, CT: Linnet Books, 1992.
Harland, John. Seamanship in the Age of Sail: An Account of the Shiphandling of the Sailing Man-of-War, 1600–1860, Based on Contemporary Sources. United States Naval Institute, 1984.
Harlow, Frederick Pease. The Making of a Sailor, or Sea Life Aboard a Yankee Square-Rigger. 1928. Reprint, New York: Dover, 1988.
Herman, Lewis, and Marguerite Shalett Herman. American Dialects: A Manual for Actors, Directors, and Writers. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Hess, Bill. Gift of the Whale: The Iñupiat Bowhead Hunt, a Sacred Tradition. Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 1999.
Holmes, Rev. Lewis. The Arctic Whaleman, or Winter in the Arctic Ocean, being a narrative of the wreck of the whaleship Citizen, of New Bedford, together with a brief history of whaling. Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1861.
Howland, Chester S. Thar She
Blows! Thundering Adventures of Whaling and Mutiny. New York: Wilfred Funk, 1951.
Humble, Richard. Ships, Sailors, and the Sea. New York: Franklin Watts, 1991.
Leavitt, John F. The Charles W. Morgan. Mystic, CT: Mystic Seaport Museum, 1998.
Lee, Molly, and Gregory A. Reinhardt. Eskimo Architecture: Dwelling and Structure in the Early Historic Period. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press, 2003.
Lever, Darcy. The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor, or A Key to the Leading of Rigging and to Practical Seamanship. 1819. Reprint, New York: Dover, 1998.
McCabe, Marsha. Not Just Anywhere: The Story of WHALE and the Rescue of New Bedford's Waterfront Historic District. New Bedford, MA: Spinner Publications, 1996.
Melville, Herman. Moby Dick, or The Whale. Chicago: Ency-clopedia Britannica, 1991.
Mullett, J. C. A Five Years' Whaling Voyage, 1848–1853. Fairfield, WA: Ye Galleon Press, 1977.
Munger, James F. Two Years in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and China. 1852. Reprint, Fairfield, WA: Ye Galleon Press, 1987.
Norling, Lisa. Captain Ahab Had a Wife: New England Women and the Whalefishery, 1720–1870. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
Oswalt, Wendell H. Alaskan Eskimos. San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Company, 1967.
Parry, Richard. Trial by Ice: The True Story of Murder and Survival on the 1871 Polaris Expedition. New York: Ballantine, 2001.
Pease, Zephaniah W. Life in New Bedford a Hundred Years Ago. New Bedford, MA: The Old Dartmouth Historical Society, 1922.
Pease, Z. W., and George A. Hough. New Bedford, Massachusetts: Its History, Industries, Institutions, and Attractions. New Bedford, MA: Board of Trade, 1889.
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