Glossary of Nautical Terms - F

F

Fair

1. A smooth curve, usually referring to a line of the hull which has no deviations.

2. To make something flush.

3. A line is fair when it has a clear run.

4. A wind or current is fair when it offers an advantage to a boat.

Fairlead

A ring, hook or other device used to keep a line or chain running in the correct direction or to prevent it rubbing or fouling.

Fairwater

A structure that improves the streamlining of a vessel.

Falkuša

A traditional fishing boat with a lateen sail on a single mast used by fishermen from the town of Komiža on the Adriatic island of Vis.

Fall

The part of the tackle that is hauled upon.

Fall off

To change the direction of sail so as to point in a direction that is more down wind. To bring the bow leeward. Also bear away, bear off or head down. This is the opposite of pointing up or heading up.

Fantail

Aft end of the ship, also known as the Poop deck.

Fardage

Wood placed in bottom of ship to keep cargo dry. (Also see Dunnage)

Fast

Fastened or held firmly (fast aground: stuck on the seabed; made fast: tied securely).

Fathom (/ˈfæðəm/)

A unit of length equal to 6 feet (1.8 m), roughly measured as the distance between a man's outstretched hands. Particularly used to measure depth.

Felucca

A traditional wooden sailing boat with a rig consisting of one or two lateen sails, used in protected waters of the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean and particularly along the Nile in Egypt and Sudan, and also in Iraq.

Fender

An air or foam filled bumper used in boating to keep boats from banging into docks or each other.

Fetch

1. The distance across water which a wind or waves have traveled.

2. To reach a mark without tacking.

Fid

1. A tapered wooden tool used for separating the strands of rope for splicing.

2. A bar used to fix an upper mast in place.

Fife rail

A freestanding pinrail surrounding the base of a mast and used for securing that mast's sails' halyards with a series of belaying pins.

Fifie

A sailing boat with two masts with a standard rig consisting of a main dipping lugsail and a mizzen standing lug sail developed in Scotland; used for commercial fishing from the 1850s until the 20th century.

Fighting top

An enlarged top designed to allow gunfire downward onto an enemy ship. A fighting top could have small guns installed in it or could serve as a platform for snipers armed with muskets or rifles.

Figurehead

A symbolic image at the head of a traditional sailing ship or early steamer.

Fin

A term used in European and British Commonwealth countries for a tower-like structure on the dorsal (topside) surface of a submarine; called a sail in the United States.

Fireroom

The compartment in which the ship's boilers or furnaces are stoked and fired.

Fire ship

A ship loaded with flammable materials and explosives and sailed into an enemy port or fleet either already burning or ready to be set alight by its crew (who would then abandon it) in order to collide with and set fire to enemy ships.

First-rate

The classification for the largest sailing warships of the 17th through 19th centuries. They had 3 masts, 850+ crew and 100+ guns.

Fish

1. To repair a mast or spar with a fillet of wood.

2. To secure an anchor on the side of the ship for sea (otherwise known as "catting".)

3. A slang term for a torpedo.

First lieutenant

In the Royal Navy, the senior lieutenant on board; responsible to the Commander for the domestic affairs of the ship's company. Also known as 'Jimmy the One' or 'Number One'. Removes his cap when visiting the mess decks as token of respect for the privacy of the crew in those quarters. Officer i/c cables on the forecastle. In the U.S. Navy the senior person in charge of all Deck hands.

First mate

The second-in-command of a commercial ship.

Fitting-out

The period after a ship is launched during which all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and she is readied for sea trials and delivery to her owners.

Fixed propeller

A propeller mounted on a rigid shaft protruding from the hull of a vessel, usually driven by an inboard motor; steering must be done using a rudder. See also outboard motor and sterndrive.

Flag hoist

A number of signal flags strung together to convey a message, e.g. 'England expects...'

Flag officer

1. A commissioned officer senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the ship or installation from which he or she exercises command, in English-speaking countries usually referring to the senior officers of a navy, specifically those who hold any of the admiral ranks and in some cases to those holding the rank of commodore. In modern American usage, additionally applied to U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps officers and general officers in the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps entitled to fly their own flags.

2. A formal rank in the mid-19th century United States Navy, conveyed temporarily upon senior captains in command of squadrons of ships, soon rendered obsolete by the creation of the ranks of commdore and rear admiral.

Flagship

1. A vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships (reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag aboard the ship on which he or she is embarked.

2. Used more loosely, the lead ship in a fleet of naval or commercial vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed, or, in terms of media coverage, best-known.

Flank

The maximum speed of a ship. Faster than "full speed".

Flare

1. A curvature of the topsides outward towards the gunwale.

2. A pyrotechnic signalling device, usually used to indicate distress.

Flatback

A Great Lakes slang term for a vessel without any self unloading equipment.

Flemish

To coil a line that is not in use so that it lies flat on the deck.

Flotilla leader

A warship suitable for commanding a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small cruiser or a large destroyer, in the latter case known as a destroyer leader.

Flotsam

Debris or cargo that remains afloat after a shipwreck. See also jetsam.

Fluke

The wedge-shaped part of an anchor's arms that digs into the bottom.

Flush deck

An upper deck of a vessel that extends unbroken from stem to stern.

Flush decker

1. A United States Navy destroyer of the World War I-era Caldwell, Wickes, or Clemson class, produced in very large numbers.

2. Any ship with a flush deck.

Fluyt (also fluit or flute)

A Dutch transoceanic sailing cargo vessel, square-rigged with two or three masts that were much taller than the masts of a galleon, developed in the 16th century and widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Fly by night

A large sail used only for sailing downwind, requiring little attention.

Folding propeller

A propeller with folding blades, furling to reduce drag on a sailing vessel when not in use.

Following sea

Wave or tidal movement going in the same direction as a ship

Foot

1. The lower edge of any sail.

2. The bottom of a mast.

3. A measurement of 12 inches.

Footloose

If the foot of a sail is not secured properly, it is footloose, blowing around in the wind.

Footrope

Each yard on a square rigged sailing ship is equipped with a footrope for sailors to stand on while setting or stowing the sails

Force

See Beaufort scale.

Fore, forward, foreword (/ˈfɒrərd/, and often written "for'ard")

Towards the bow (of the vessel).

Fore-and-aft rig

A sailing rig consisting mainly of sails that are set along the line of the keel rather than perpendicular to it. Such sails are referred to as "fore-and-aft rigged."

Forecastle

A partial deck, above the upper deck and at the head of the vessel; traditionally the sailors' living quarters. Pronounced /ˈfoʊksəl/. The name is derived from the castle fitted to bear archers in time of war.

Forefoot

The lower part of the stem of a ship.

Foremast jack

An enlisted sailor, one who is housed before the foremast.

Forestays

Long lines or cables, reaching from the bow of the vessel to the mast heads, used to support the mast.

Foul

1. Having freedom of motion interfered with by collision or entanglement; entangled; the opposite of clear. For instance, a rope is foul when it does nor run straight or smoothly, and an anchor is foul when it is caught on an obstruction.

2. A breach of racing rules.

3. An area of water treacherous to navigation due to many shallow obstructions such as reefs, sandbars, or many rocks, etc.

4. Foul the range: To block another vessel from firing her guns at a target.

Foulies

A slang term for oilskins, the foul-weather clothing worn by sailors. See also oilskins.

Founder

To fill with water and sink → Founder (Wiktionary)

Fourth rate

In the British Royal Navy, a fourth rate was, during the first half of the 18th century, a ship of the line mounting from 46 up to 60 guns.

Frame

A transverse structural member which gives the hull strength and shape. Wooden frames may be sawn, bent or laminated into shape. Planking is then fastened to the frames. A bent frame is called a timber.

Freeboard

The height of a ship's hull (excluding superstructure) above the waterline. The vertical distance from the current waterline to the lowest point on the highest continuous watertight deck. This usually varies from one part to another.

Freighter

A cargo ship.

Frigate

1. In the 17th century, any warship built for speed and maneuverability.

2. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, a sailing warship with a single continuous gun deck, typically used for patrolling, blockading, etc., but not in line of battle.

3. In the second half of the 19th century, a type of warship combining sail and steam propulsion, typically of ironclad timber construction, with all guns on one deck.

4. In the 20th and 21st centuries, a warship, smaller than a destroyer, originally introduced during World War II as an anti-submarine vessel but now general-purpose.

5. In the United States Navy from the 1950s until the 1970s, a type of guided-missile antiaircraft ship built on a destroyer-sized hull, all reclassified as "guided-missile cruisers" in 1975.

Full and by

Sailing into the wind (by), but not as close-hauled as might be possible, so as to make sure the sails are kept full. This provides a margin for error to avoid being taken aback (a serious risk for square-rigged vessels) in a tricky sea. Figuratively it implies getting on with the job but in a steady, relaxed way, without undue urgency or strain.

Full-rigged ship

A sailing vessel with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a "ship rig".

Funnel (also stack)

The smokestack of a ship, used to expel boiler steam and smoke or engine exhaust.

Furl

To roll or gather a sail against its mast or spar.

Fusta (also fuste, foist, or galliot)

A narrow, light, and fast ship with shallow draft, powered by both oars and sail, with a single mast carrying a lateen sail; a favorite of North African corsairs during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Futtocks

Pieces of timber that make up a large transverse frame.