GLOSSARY
abaft. Behind, or in back of. “Abaft the mizzen,” for example, would refer to any area sternward of the rearmost (mizzen) mast.
beam. Shenandoah’s teak decks were supported by iron I-beams running from one side of the hull to the other. Hence, the longest beam determines the width of a ship at its widest point (Shenandoah’s was 32 feet). The “starboard beam” refers to the right side of the hull when facing forward, and the “port beam” refers to the left.
belaying pin. A wooden-handled hardwood pin about two feet long that was used to fasten ropes to the railing of the ship. Belaying pins were removable from the railing and could be used for other tasks, such as breaking ice away from the pulleys.
berth. A sleeping space, hammock, or bunk. Also the place where a ship, either anchored or tied to a pier, is at rest.
berth deck. The area below the exposed decks that is used for the crew’s sleeping accommodations. Shenandoah’s berth deck had to be cleared of its cargo of coal before it was usable.
bluff-bowed. A term for a ship with a broad, flat bow, useful in nudging into slushy ice. The narrow, bladelike bow on Shenandoah could be pinched between the floes, while the bluff-bowed hulls of the whalers gave the ice very little to squeeze, and their barrel-like shape let them rise up away from the ice, unlike Shenandoah’s tall, flat-sided hull.
boatswain (bosun). A senior noncommissioned officer in charge of the anchors, rigging, and sails. Shenandoah’s combat-seasoned boatswain, George Harwood, was an Englishman; he’d also served two years as boatswain on CSS Alabama, and had survived her sinking in the English Channel. The boatswain serves as the go-between linking the crew’s duties and the officers’ orders. He is senior in rank to all other noncommissioned crew members, but junior in rank to all the officers.
bond. During a more chivalrous period in naval warfare, when an enemy ship had been captured, instead of being destroyed, it could be ransomed, or bonded. The owner or captain could avoid the ship’s destruction by promising (giving a bond, creating a legal obligation) that he’d bring the vessel to the nearest port, sell it, and remit the funds to the country that had captured—but hadn’t destroyed—the bonded vessel. It was a form of extortion, but the bonded ship, of course, never actually paid; certainly the Confederate government never survived long enough to collect on such bonds. Bonding was basically a humanitarian option giving countries at war a chance to protect the enemy’s merchant mariners, and thereby their own. Bonding some of their prizes also allowed Shenandoah’s 1,000-plus prisoners a way off the raider, which wasn’t equipped to carry one-fifth that number.
boom. A long horizontal spar (timber) to which the bottom edge of the spanker sail is fastened. Shenandoah’s boom pivoted near the base of the mizzenmast and swung out over the stern, passing above the wheelhouse. Shenandoah’s boom was 56 feet long.
bowsprit. The hollow, tubular, cast-iron projection extending forward from the bow. It carries a long round timber (spar) known as the jib boom, which points forward like a gigantic lance above the ship’s bow. This jib boom in turn anchors the forestays (ropes) that support the foremast. The jib boom also provided the fastening points for Shenandoah’s four triangular jib sails. Shenandoah’s huge metal bowsprit was hollow and big enough for a man to wiggle inside, as did more than one of the stowaways in Australia.
brace. One of the lines (ropes) attached to the outboard ends of each of the yards, or spars. The yards are the horizontal timbers on which the square sails are hung. By pulling on the braces, or “bracing,” the yards can be pivoted about the vertical masts, allowing the sails to catch the wind more effectively.
brig (brigantine). A sailing ship with two masts of which the forwardmost (foremast) is rigged with square sails, and the rearmost (mainmast) is rigged with triangular sails set fore-and-aft (parallel to the hull). A brigantine was called a “hermaphrodite rig” because it combined the two styles of sail (square and triangular).
brought by the wind. A sailing vessel is brought by the wind when it is stopped rapidly by turning directly into the wind so that the wind pushes the vessel and its sails backward, thus canceling all forward momentum.
bulwark. The part of the ship’s side extending above the deck. It was this wall-like coaming that had to be cut open to let Shenandoah’s cannons stick out.
bunker. The large belowdecks area used to store coal aboard a ship. The bunkers provided access for the coal heavers to move the fuel into the boilers, but Shenandoah’s backup fuel supply, a cargo of coal, subsequently required “shifting” from the cargo decks to the fuel bunkers so it could be made available to the engine room.
capstan. A heavy winch mounted near the bow and used to raise the anchor. It is turned by sailors pushing on capstan bars (see below) and walking around the capstan, which, as it is turned, winds the anchor chain.
capstan bars. The removable heavy iron bars that are fastened spokelike into the top of the capstan. They allow many men, pushing on the bars, to raise a great weight.
chronometer and patent log. Chronometers are extremely accurate clocks that allow the navigator, called the sailing master, to locate the ship’s position. The patent log is a mechanical device that calculates the rough speed of a sailing vessel. The device is dropped overboard while attached to the moving vessel, and a rotating member on the patent log allows the ship’s speed to be calculated. Current, drift, waves, and other factors make it a less-than-accurate device. Bulloch, Shenandoah’s sailing master, navigated “by chronometer and patent log” from the Aleutians to Liverpool with only those two instruments. There was never a point where he could check his navigation against a known landmark. It was a remarkable feat of seamanship.
clipper. A sailing ship with long, smooth lines, a narrow beam, and a sharp, graceful bow built specifically for speed.
close-reef [v.]. To shorten sails. In order to reduce the amount of sail exposed to the wind, the canvas sailcloth is gathered up and tied to the yard, with short lengths of rope that have been sewn to the sails. These ropes are called reefs. Thus, to reef a sail means to shorten it, to double-reef means to shorten it more, and to close-reef means to shorten sail as much as possible.
copper. Wooden ships are subject to worms, barnacles, and algae that create drag and slow them severely. Copper plates nailed over the wooden hulls helped prevent such formations and were invaluable to the shipbuilder. When Whittle refers to “our copper,” he means the copper-plated hull. When Shenandoah’s crew burned the whalers on Ponape, they left the wrecks on a reef, above the low-tide line, so the locals could pry off the copper and resell it.
double-reef. See close-reef, above.
dumb-trucks. The wheels of a gun carriage, these allow for movement of the cannon during loading, aiming, firing, and recoil.
ensign. Whenever the flag of a particular nation is flown on a ship, it is called an ensign. When Shenandoah entered Melbourne harbor, the other vessels showed their respect by dipping their ensigns. An ensign is also an officer trainee, a sub-lieutenant or midshipman.
fore-and-aft. Anything parallel to a line drawn from the bow to the center of the stern is called fore-and-aft. The small triangular staysails on Shenandoah, found at the bow and between the masts, were rigged fore-and-aft. Except for the square-rigged sails on a clipper ship, the rigging on almost all sailboats is arranged fore-and-aft.
forecastle (fo’c’sle). The raised part of the ship in front of the foremast. It is usually one deck above the main deck, and is found directly behind (abaft) the bow. The crew often has its quarters inside the forecastle, and on Shenandoah it also provided a bit of shelter for the pig house and manger, part of the livestock carried on the ship for food. The anchors are handled from the forecastle, and it is where the ship’s bell is located.
fore rigging. The wires, ropes, and chains that support and are carried on the bowsprit and jib boom. When Whittle climbed on board Sea King in London, he was undercover, and, rather than using the gangway, which was being watched, he was able to climb on board unseen using the many lines that are found at the very foremost point of the ship. When berthed, large sailing ships frequently had their bowsprits and fore rigging extending high over the piers and streets that serviced the vessels.
forestay. Wires or ropes that are connected from the top of the foremast to the very front of the ship. Jib sails are hung from it on some ships, but they were not on Shenandoah.
frigate. A warship of medium size, built for speed, and carrying as many as 60 guns. U.S. Navy frigates and steam frigates posed a serious threat to Shenandoah.
gale. Technically, a wind blowing between 34 and 47 knots, it is characterized by high waves that break at their crests.
gangway. A hinged opening through the coaming, or bulwark, in the side of the ship, provided so that a gangplank may be extended to a pier or other vessel.
gig. A longboat, rowed as an auxiliary craft. Waddell used a gig to inspect the outside of the hull during a calm spell. Shenandoah had the pick of fast whaleboats from the captures, and kept several on deck to offload their prizes.
goosewing. When the wind is too strong to keep a square-rigged sail fully opened, the center part of the sail can be raised in the middle and the outer corners left exposed. The resulting configuration resembles the wings of a flying goose.
grapnel. A metal hook, much like a small anchor, but having several sharp, opposed points. The Rebel crewmen were once able to pull Shenandoah out of the ice by rigging a grapnel to a long rope, and rowing the grapnel away from the ship in a small boat. They brought the hook out through the ice floe and fastened it to an iceberg. The men back on board were thereby able to reel Shenandoah out of the pack ice and into open water.
gun deck. The deck where a ship’s cannons were located. Shenandoah’s gun deck could also be called her spar deck, or her weather deck.
halyard. One of the ropes used to raise or lower a sail.
hawser. A large rope, having a circumference greater than five inches, by which a ship is moored or towed.
hoisting propeller. Shenandoah had a propeller that could be lifted off its drive shaft and brought inside the ship. Because she was faster under sail than under steam power, hoisting the propeller meant the sails could be used without the drag the propeller would create if left in place.
holystone. Sandstone blocks roughly the size and shape of an old-style family Bible, used as primitive scouring tools. By sliding holystones back and forth over the wooden decks, crewmen working on their knees could clean the boards.
ironclad. A generic term for any steam-powered naval ship covered with metal plating that protected the vessel’s superstructure and allowed the ship to fire its cannons through closable armored openings.
jib boom. The long, lancelike spar that is carried fore-and-aft at the bow.
keel. The lowest element of the ship’s hull. The bottom of the ship.
leeward. The direction toward which the wind is blowing. A floating object such as a ship, or a cork, will be blown to leeward.
lubber’s hole. Where a two-section mast is joined, an open wooden platform is built out to carry the lines and stays supporting the upper member of the mast. The platform is called the top, and on a warship, marines could stand on the tops and fire muskets at the enemy. This platform has an opening near the mast that a clumsy person, a “landlubber,” could squirm through when climbing. It was also possible, but much more daring, to swing out away from the mast using the stays, and climb up over the outside edge of the platform and avoid the indignity and awkwardness of using the lubber’s hole.
manila. Ropes, or lines, may be made from many plants. Manila is rope made from the wild banana plant of the Philippines, called abaca, and is extremely rot-resistant. Hemp makes excellent rope, but it rots and stretches more rapidly than manila.
midshipman. A trainee officer, a sub-lieutenant, an ensign. The most junior of a ship’s officers.
mizzenmast. The rearmost mast on a three-masted ship. On Shenandoah it was just in front of the wheelhouse.
mizzen royals. The topmost sails on the mizzenmast.
monitor. A type of ironclad (see above). Monitors were characterized by an extremely low hull, almost level with the waterline, and a cylindrical gun turret mounted amidships.
pintle. One of the heavy metal hooks on the hinge of the rudder by which it is attached to the stern of the ship, and upon which the rudder pivots to change direction. Shenandoah’s pintles were badly damaged long before the ship reached Australia.
pipe over [v.]. A mini-ceremony involving a whistle called a bosun’s pipe, used to alert the crew that something important is happening. When a dignitary boards a vessel, it is customary to pipe him over the gangplank, or “pipe him on board.” When Waddell went over the side to inspect the hull, he was “piped over” the side.
plain sail. Sail or sails used under normal weather conditions.
poop deck. A raised deck at the stern of the ship. On Shenandoah the poop deck formed the roof of the officers’ cabins and the wardroom, and upon it stood the wheelhouse. The mizzenmast rose out of the poop deck.
port. The left-hand side of a vessel when one is facing the bow.
ratline. Ladderlike rope steps tied between the shrouds (see below). The ratlines are used to climb the shrouds in order to adjust the sails.
reef. One of the short lengths of rope tied in rows across the front of a sail and used to tie the canvas to the spar when shortening sail.
reef down [v.]. To use the reef lines to tie down part of a sail and thereby reduce the amount of canvas exposed to the wind.
rove. When Whittle had to replace much of the original rope that had come with Sea King, it meant taking the ropes—called “lines” at sea—out of all the pulleys and threading new lines back in. The word reeve means to pass a line through something, specifically a ring or pulley. Reeving new lines was difficult, dangerous, high-altitude work. There were hundreds of complicated pulleys, called blocks, all over Shenandoah. These formed the critical control elements of the ship, and without reliable lines, the sails would have been useless. In a storm, when certain of these ropes break, it can mean the loss of an entire sail, or even a mast.
royal. On a square-rigger like Shenandoah, the sails on each mast are named in ascending order as follows: sail, topsail, royal, topgallant. Many extreme clippers had even more courses of sails, the next highest were appropriately known as skysails, and even above that another set could sometimes be used if the wind was just right; this highest sail of all had two names, based on its shape. It was known as a skyscraper if it was triangular, and if it was rectangular it was called a moonsail. All sails have two-part names, for example main royal. The first name indicates the mast to which the sail is attached, and the second name gives the sail’s position above the deck; hence, the foresail is the lowest sail on the foremost mast. The mainsail is the lowest sail on the mainmast. The mizzen royal is the highest sail on the mizzenmast, and the main royal was Shenandoah’s topmost sail on her mainmast. It would need to be knotted in place by a seaman working the equivalent of 14 stories above the ocean.
schooner. A ship with two or more masts, generally carrying triangular sails rigged fore-and-aft—that is, a ship without a clipper’s square sails.
sheet. A line—rope—used to control the bottom edges of a sail.
shorten [v.]. To take in, or reduce the area of, the sails exposed to the wind, is to shorten them, thereby slowing the ship.
shrouds. The heavy ropes, or even wires, that attach the top of a mast to the point where the hull meets the deck, bulwark, or coaming. Shrouds have thinner ropes tied between them known as ratlines (see above).
six-top sailer. Whittle has spotted a ship carrying so much canvas that he counts as many as six topsails, which means it is probably a Yankee clipper. The more “top-yards” Whittle spots on a potential target, the bigger the ship.
sloop. A small sailing vessel with a single mast.
spanker. A large, fore-and-aft rigged sail mounted to the mizzenmast. Rather than a square sail carried on yards, the spanker is a four-sided sail that pivots over the wheelhouse at the stern, and is carried on two long spars, the topmost being the spanker gaff, and the bottommost being the spanker boom. When Shenandoah’s damaged propeller had to be pulled up through the roof of the wheelhouse to be repaired, the crew rigged the spanker boom as a hoist to lift it.
spar. Any pole or timber, such as a yard, mast, gaff, or boom, that is used to hold a sail. The spars carrying Shenandoah’s square sales are called yards.
spar deck. The upper deck of the ship, open to the weather, where the spars, yards, and sails could be handled.
square-rigger. Ships carrying square—actually rectangular—sails that are arrayed in columns and carried perpendicular to the hull are called square-riggers. The term differentiates such ships from those with triangular sails arranged fore-and-aft.
stern copper. The copper plating protecting the stern of Shenandoah from teredo worms and marine growth. It was not heavy enough to protect the ship from ice.
starboard. The right-hand side of a vessel when one is facing the bow.
stay. A line, rope, or cable that holds a mast upright is called a stay, also known as a shroud. The stays are further described by the names of the masts they support: mainstay, forestay, mizzenstay.
staysail. Any fore-and-aft sail carried on the mast’s stays, the cables holding the masts upright. Staysails are frequently used when the square-rigged sails would present too much canvas to the wind, particularly in a gale.
steerage. The compartments or spaces inside the ship’s hull near the rudder and steering mechanism. Accommodations for crew and passengers are frequently found in steerage, and they are the least desirable quarters.
stove [v.]. From a nautical term, stave, meaning to puncture or break. Whittle is concerned that the ice might have “stove in” or punctured the hull’s planking.
studding sails. In light wind, Shenandoah could extend a series of auxiliary sails outboard of the yards that held the square sails. These were called studding sails, and as with all sails, they are named by the masts and sails they are flown from, thus the main royal studding sail would be carried on an outrigger from the royal sail on the mainmast.
tackle. A system of two or more pulleys, called blocks, and the ropes that attach them. Block and tackle are used to lift heavy objects.
yard. One of the spars that carry the sails on a square-rigged ship. Shenandoah’s main yard was over seventy feet long.
yardarm. The outer third of a yard. Yardarm is the term often used to describe any of the long spars that a square-rigger uses to support the top edges of the sails.