Glossary of Nautical Terms - T

T

Tabernacle

A large bracket attached firmly to the deck, to which the foot of the mast is fixed. It has two sides or cheeks and a bolt forming the pivot around which the mast is raised and lowered.

Tack

1. A leg of the route of a sailing vessel, particularly in relation to tacking (qv) and to starboard tack and port tack (also qv).

2. Hard tack: qv.

3. The front bottom corner of a sail.

Tacking

1. Zig-zagging so as to sail directly towards the wind (and for some rigs also away from it).

2. Going about (qv).

Tacking duels

In sailboat racing on an upwind leg of the race course the complex maneuvers of lead and overtaking boats to vie for the aerodynamic advantage of clear air. This results from the on going strategy of the lead boat's effort to keep the following boat(s) in the blanket of disturbed bad air he is creating.

Taffrail

A rail at the stern of the boat that covers the head of the counter timbers.

Tailshaft

A kind of metallic shafting (a rod of metal) to hold the propeller and connected to the power engine. When the tailshaft is moved, the propeller may also be moved for propulsion.

Taken aback

An inattentive helmsmen might allow the dangerous situation to arise where the wind is blowing into the sails 'backwards', causing a sudden (and possibly dangerous) shift in the position of the sails.

Taking the wind out of his sails

To sail in a way that steals the wind from another ship. cf. overbear.

Tally

The operation of hauling aft the sheets, or drawing them in the direction of the ship's stern.

Tanker (also tank ship or tankship)

A ship designed to transport liquids in bulk.

Target ship

A vessel, typically an obsolete or captured warship, used for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. The term includes both ships intended to be sunk and ships intended to survive and see repeated use as a target.

Task Force

Temporary naval organisations composed of particular ships, aircraft, submarines, military land forces, or shore service units, assigned to fulfill certain missions. Seemingly drawn originally from Royal Navy heritage, the emphasis is placed on the individual commander of the unit, and references to 'CTF' are common for "Commander Task Force".

Tattle Tale

Light cord attached to a mooring line at two points a few inches apart with a slack section in between (resembling an inch-worm) to indicate when the line is stretching from the ship’s rising with the tide. Obviously only used when moored to a fixed dock or pier and only on watches with a flood tide.

Tell-tale (sometimes tell-tail)

A light piece of string, yarn, rope or plastic (often magnetic audio tape) attached to a stay or a shroud to indicate the local wind direction. They may also be attached to the surface and/or the leech of a sail to indicate the state of the air flow over the surface of the sail. They are referenced when optimizing the trim of the sails to achieve the best boat speed in the prevailing wind conditions. (See Dogvane)

T.E.V. (or TEV)

Prefix for "Turbo-Electric Vessel," used before a ship's name.

Thole

Vertical wooden peg or pin inserted through the gunwale to form a fulcrum for oars when rowing. Used in place of a rowlock.

Three sheets to the wind

On a three-masted ship, having the sheets of the three lower courses loose will result in the ship meandering aimlessly downwind. Also, a sailor who has drunk strong spirits beyond his capacity.

Thwart (/ˈθwɔrt/)

A bench seat across the width of an open boat.

Timoneer

From the French timonnier, is a name given, on particular occasions, to the steersman of a ship.

Tinclad

A lightly armored steam-powered river gunboat used by the United States Navy during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

Tingle

A thin temporary patch.

Tiller

a lever used for steering, attached to the top of the rudder post. Used mainly on smaller vessels, such as dinghies and rowing boats.

Toe-rail

A low strip running around the edge of the deck like a low bulwark. It may be shortened or have gaps in it to allow water to flow off the deck.

Toe the line or Toe the mark

At parade, sailors and soldiers were required to stand in line, their toes in line with a seam of the deck.

Tompion

A block of wood inserted into the barrel of a gun on a 19th century warship to keep out the sea spray.

Tonnage

Various measures of the size or cargo carrying capacity of a ship, including: 1. Deadweight tonnage, the total weight of a vessel, mostly without payload.

2. Displacement tonnage, the total weight of a vessel.

3. Gross register tonnage, the total internal volume of a vessel, with one gross register ton equal to 100 cubic feet (2.8316846592 cubic meters).

4. Gross tonnage, a function of the volume of all of a ship's internal spaces.

5. Lightship or lightweight tonnage, the weight of a ship without any fuel, cargo, supplies, water, passengers, etc. on board.

6. Net register tonnage, the volume of cargo a vessel can carry.

7. Net tonnage, the volume of all cargo spaces on a ship.

8. Thames Measurement tonnage, the volume of a small vessel calculated based on her length and beam.

Top

The platform at the upper end of each (lower) mast of a square-rigged ship, typically one-fourth to one-third of the way up the mast. The main purpose of a top is to anchor the shrouds of the topmast that extends above it. See also fighting top.

Topgallant

The mast or sails above the tops.

Topman

A crewmember stationed in a top.

Topmast

The second section of the mast above the deck; formerly the upper mast, later surmounted by the topgallant mast; carrying the topsails.

Topsail

The second sail (counting from the bottom) up a mast. These may be either square sails or fore-and-aft ones, in which case they often "fill in" between the mast and the gaff of the sail below.

Topsides

the part of the hull between the waterline and the deck. Also, Above-water hull

Torpedo

1. Prior to about 1900, the term for a variety of explosive devices designed for use in water, including mines, spar torpedoes and, after the mid-19th century, "automotive," "automobile," "locomotive," or "fish" torpedoes (self-propelled weapons which fit the modern definition of "torpedo").

2. Since about 1900, a term used exclusively for a self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with its target or in proximity to it.

Touch and go

1. The bottom of the ship touching the bottom, but not grounding.

2. Stopping at a dock or pier for a very short time without tying up, to let off or take on crew or goods.

Towing

The operation of drawing a vessel forward by means of long lines.

Traffic Separation Scheme

Shipping corridors marked by buoys which separate incoming from outgoing vessels. Improperly called Sea Lanes.

Trailboard

A decorative board at the bow of a vessel, sometimes bearing the vessel's name.

Training ship

A ship used to train students as sailors, especially a ships employed by a navy or coast guard to train future officers. The term refers both to ships used for training at sea and to old, immobile hulks used to house classrooms.

Tramp trade

Shipping trade on the spot market in which the vessels involved do not have a fixed schedule or itinerary or published ports of call. This contrasts with freight liner service, in which vessels make regular, scheduled runs between published ports.

Tramper

A vessel engaged in the tramp trade.

Tramp freighter

A cargo ship engaged in the tramp trade.

Tramp steamer

A steamship engaged in the tramp trade.

Transmitting station

British term for a room located in the interior of a ship containing computers and other specialised equipment needed to calculate the range and bearing of a target from information gathered by the ship's spotters and range finders. These were designated "plotting rooms" by the United States Navy.

Transom

The aft “wall” of the stern; often the part to which an outboard unit or the drive portion of a sterndrive is attached. A more or less flat surface across the stern of a vessel. Dinghies tend to have almost vertical transoms, whereas yachts’ transoms may be raked forward or aft.

Transport

See Troopship.

Travellers

Small fittings that slide on a rod or line. The most common use is for the inboard end of the mainsheet; a more esoteric form of traveller consists of "slight iron rings, encircling the backstays, which are used for hoisting the top-gallant yards, and confining them to the backstays".

Trawler

1. Commercial trawler, a fishing boat that uses a trawl net or dragnet to catch fish.

2. A fisherman who uses a trawl net.

3. Naval trawler, a converted trawler, or boat built in that style, used for naval purposes.

4. Recreational trawler, a pleasure boat built in the style of a trawler.

Trice

To haul and tie up by means of a rope.

Trick

A period of time spent at the wheel ("my trick's over").

Trim

1. Relationship of ship's hull to waterline.

2. Adjustments made to sails to maximize their efficiency.

Trimaran

A vessel with three hulls.

Trimmer, sometimes Coal trimmer

person responsible for ensuring that a vessel remains in 'trim' (that the cargo and fuel are evenly balanced). An important task on a coal-fired vessel, as it could get 'out-of-trim' coal is consumed.

Trooping

Operating as a troopship.

Troopship (also troop ship, troop transport, or trooper)

A ship used to carry soldiers. Troopships are not specially designed for military operations and unlike landing ships cannot land troops directly onto a shore; instead they unload troops at a harbor or onto smaller vessels for transportation to shore.

True bearing

An absolute bearing (qv) using true north.

True north

The direction of the geographical North Pole.

Tumblehome

Hull shape, when viewed in a transverse section, where the widest part of the hull is someway below deck level.

Turn

A knot passing behind or around an object.

Turn To (Two)

A term meaning "Get to work," often hand-signed by two fingers and hand motion in turning fashion.

Turnbuckle

see bottlescrew.

Turret

1. Originally (in the mid-to-late 19th century), an enclosed armored rotating cylindrical box mounting guns which fired through gunports, the turret rotating over a bearing mounted on a ship's deck or within her hull. Turret-equipped ships contrasted sharply with those equipped with barbettes, which in the second half of the 19th century were open-topped armored rings over which rotating gun(s) mounted on a turntable could fire.

2. Since the late 19th century, an enclosed armored rotating gunhouse mounted above a barbette, with the gun(s) and their rotating turntable mounted in the barbette protected by the gunhouse; in 20th- and 21st-century usage, this generally is any armored, rotating gun installation on a warship.

Turtleback deck

A deck that has slight positive curvature when viewed in cross-section. The purpose of this curvature is usually to shed water, but in warships it also functions to make the deck more resistant to shells.

Turtling

The condition of a sailboat's (in particular a dinghy's) capsizing to a point where the mast is pointed straight down and the hull is on the surface resembling a turtle shell.

Two six heave

Royal Navy slang term meaning to pull. Originally a sailing navy term referring to the two members of a gun crew (numbers two and six) who ran out the gun by pulling on the ropes that secured it in place.

Tye

A chain or rope used for hoisting or lowering a yard. A tye runs from the horizontal center of a given yard to a corresponding mast and from there down to a tackle. Sometimes specifically called a chain tye or a rope tye.