Glossary of Nautical Terms - N

N

Nautical mile

a unit of length corresponding approximately to one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian arc. By international agreement it is exactly 1,852 metres (approximately 6,076 feet).

Naval Programme

The British system of authorizing naval construction by an annual bill in Parliament.

Navigation rules

Rules of the road that provide guidance on how to avoid collision and also used to assign blame when a collision does occur.

Nay

"no"; the opposite of "aye".

Nipper

Short rope used to bind a cable to the "messenger" (a moving line propelled by the capstan) so that the cable is dragged along too (used where the cable is too large to be wrapped round the capstan itself). During the raising of an anchor the nippers were attached and detached from the (endless) messenger by the ship's boys. Hence the term for small boys: "nippers".

No room to swing a cat

The entire ship's company was expected to witness floggings, assembled on deck. If it was very crowded, the bosun might not have room to swing the "cat o' nine tails" (the whip).

Nun

A type of navigational buoy often cone shaped, but if not, always triangular in silhouette colored red. In channel marking its use is opposite that of a "can buoy".