GLOSSARY
- Able Seaman
- A crew member with more than two years’ experience, who is considered well acquainted with his duties
- Aft
- Towards the stern
- Amidships
- The middle section of a ship
- Bosun
- A crew member who oversees equipment and other crew members
- Bow
- The forward section of a ship
- Breakwater
- A barrier built to protect a harbor or stretch of coast from strong waves
- Bridge
- A forward-facing platform, typically enclosed, which houses most of a ship’s navigation instruments
- Bulkhead
- A partition wall in a ship’s interior
- Crow’s Nest
- A ship’s lookout post, usually positioned near the top of the forward mast
- Davit
- A curved on-deck crane used for the raising and lowering of lifeboats. This was manually operated on the Titanic.
- Double Bottom
- Two complete layers of watertight hull surface
- Ensign
- A national flag, as it is flown at sea. Some countries, like the United Kingdom, have a variant of their usual flag that serves as their ensign.
- Fireman
- On board, a crew member attached to the Engine Department tasked with monitoring the boiler fires and their steam pressure
- Forecastle
- Sometimes pronounced “foke-sil” by crew members, it is the section of deck ahead of the forward mast
- Foremast
- The forward mast
- Galley
- A ship’s kitchen
- Morse Light
- An electric light on open deck used for the transmission of Morse Code to other ships
- Poop Deck
- Exterior deck at the stern
- Port
- Facing forward, the left side of a ship
- Quartermaster
- A petty officer who steers the ship
- Rivet
- An iron or steel pin used to hold together plates of metal in the ship’s hull
- Rudder
- A device at the stern used for steering
- Starboard
- Facing forward, the right side of a ship
- Stern
- Towards the back end of a ship
- Surgeon
- On ship, the equivalent to a doctor
- Well Deck
- A space of open deck lying on a lower level between the Forecastle and Poop decks