Glossary of Nautical Terms - K

K

Kedge

A technique for moving or turning a ship by using a relatively light anchor known as a kedge. The kedge anchor may be dropped while in motion to create a pivot and thus perform a sharp turn. The kedge anchor may also be carried away from the ship in a smaller boat, dropped, and then weighed, pulling the ship forward.

Keel

The central structural basis of the hull

Keelhauling

Maritime punishment: to punish by dragging under the keel of a ship.

Kellet

See #Anchor sentinel

Kelson

The timber immediately above the keel of a wooden ship.

Kentledge

Weights (often scrap or pig iron) used as permanent high-density ballast.

Ketch

A two-masted fore-and-aft rigged sailboat with the aft mast (the mizzen) mounted (stepped) afore (in front of) the rudder.

Killick

A small anchor. A fouled killick is the substantive badge of non-commissioned officers in the RN. Seamen promoted to the first step in the promotion ladder are called 'Killick'. The badge signifies that here is an Able Seaman skilled to cope with the awkward job of dealing with a fouled anchor.

Kissing the gunner's daughter

bend over the barrel of a gun for punitive beating with a cane or cat

King plank

The centerline plank of a laid deck. Its sides are often recessed, or nibbed, to take the ends of their parallel curved deck planks.

Kitchen rudder

Hinged cowling around a fixed propeller, allowing the drive to be directed to the side or forwards to manoeuvre the vessel.

Knee

1. Connects two parts roughly at right angles, e.g. deck beams to frames.

2. A vertical rubber fender used on pushboats or piers, sometimes shaped like a human leg bent slightly at the knee

Knighthead

1. A mitred backing timber which extends the after line of the rabbet in the stem to give extra support to the ends of the planks and the bowsprit.

2. A bollard or bitt.

3. Either of two timbers rising from the keel of a sailing ship and supporting the inner end of the bowsprit.

Knockdown

The condition of a sailboat being pushed abruptly to horizontal, with the mast parallel to the water surface.

Knot

A unit of speed: 1 nautical mile (1.8520 km; 1.1508 mi) per hour. Originally speed was measured by paying out a line from the stern of a moving boat; the line had a knot every 47 feet 3 inches (14.40 m), and the number of knots passed out in 30 seconds gave the speed through the water in nautical miles per hour. Sometimes "knots" is mistakenly stated as "knots per hour," but the latter is a measure of acceleration (i.e., "nautical miles per hour per hour") rather than of speed.

Know the ropes

A sailor who 'knows the ropes' is familiar with the miles of cordage and ropes involved in running a ship.