A boatswain's pipe or boatswain's call (pronounced "Bosun") is a whistle that is made of a tube, called the barrel, that directs air over a grape-sized metal sphere with a hole cut in the top. The player opens and closes the hand over the hole to change the pitch.
The historical use of the boatswain's call was as a signalling device on a ship. Because of its high pitch, it could be heard over the activities of the crew and bad weather. It is now used in the traditional color , sunset and other ceremonies of several navies, sometimes combined with other auditive features: ruffles and flourishes or even a gun salute.
It is also the Official badge of the Quartermaster in the Sea Cadet Corps
Whistling is forbidden onboard
Whistling is forbidden in most ships if only for the reason that it can often be confused with the sound of the boatswain’s call used for attracting attention before making a pipe. A former reason for the no whistling rule was that it was the custom to whistle a wind when becalmed in a sailing ship; if per¬chance a gale ensued the assumption was that they overdid it. So sailors, being superstitious, rigidly curtailed their whistling habits.
At the time of whistling for a wind it was customary to drive a knife into the mainmast on the bearing the wind was desired. Another strange and very ancient superstition for producing wind was the knotting of a short length of rope, a single knot for a light breeze, two for fresh breezes, and three for strong winds.
The "Bermuda Triangle" or "Devil's Triangle" is an imaginary area located off the southeastern Atlantic coast of the United States of America, which is noted for a supposedly high incidence of unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft.
The apexes of the triangle are generally believed to be Bermuda; Miami, Florida; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The US Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official name.
The US Navy does not believe the Bermuda Triangle exists.
The most famous US Navy losses which have occurred in the area popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle are USS Cyclops in March 1918 and the aircraft of Flight 19 in December 1945. The ship probably sank in an unexpected storm, and the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean -- no physical traces of them have ever been found.
Another well known disappearance is the civilian tanker SS Marine Sulphur Queen carrying bulk molten sulfur which sank in February 1963. Although the wreck of Marine Sulphur Queen has not been located, a life preserver and other floating artifacts were recovered. These disappearances have been used to provide credence to the popular belief in the mystery and purported supernatural qualities of the "Bermuda Triangle."
Since the days of early civilization many thousands of ships have sunk and/or disappeared in waters around the world due to navigational and other human errors, storms, piracy, fires, and structural/mechanical failures.
Aircraft are subject to the same problems, and many of them have crashed at sea around the globe. Often, there were no living witnesses to the sinking or crash, and hence the exact cause of the loss and the location of the lost ship or aircraft are unknown.
A large number of pleasure boats travel the waters between Florida and the Bahamas. All too often, crossings are attempted with too small a boat, insufficient knowledge of the area's hazards, and a lack of goodseamanship.
One of the aircraft accident reports concerns an in-flight engine failure and subsequent ditching of a Cessna aircraft near Great AbacoIsland in the Bahamas on 13 July 2003. This is the type of accident that would likely have been attributed to mysterious causes in the Bermuda Triangle if there had been no survivors or other eyewitnesses of the crash.
A significant factor with regard to missing vessels in the Bermuda Triangle is a strong ocean current called the Gulf Stream. It is extremely swift and turbulent and can quickly erase evidence of a disaster. The weather also plays its role. Prior to the development of telegraph, radio and radar, sailors did not know a storm or hurricane was nearby until it appeared on the horizon. For example, the Continental Navy sloop Saratoga was lost off the Bahamas in such a storm with all her crew on 18 March 1781. Many other US Navy ships have been lost at sea in storms around the world.
Sudden local thunder storms and water spouts can sometimes spell disaster for mariners and air crews. Finally, the topography of the ocean floor varies from extensive shoals around the islands to some of the deepest marine trenches in the world. With the interaction of the strong currents over the many reefs the topography of the ocean bottom is in a state of flux and the development of new navigational hazards can sometimes be swift.
It has been inaccurately claimed that the Bermuda Triangle is one of the two places on earth at which a magnetic compass points towards true north. East coast of Japan has the similar reputation. Normally a compass will point toward magnetic north. The difference between the two is known as compass variation. The amount of variation changes by as much as 60 degrees at various locations around the World. If this compass variation or error is not compensated for, navigators can find themselves far off course and in deep trouble. Although in the past this compass variation did affect the "Bermuda Triangle" region, due to fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field this has apparently not been the case since the nineteenth century.
No US Government-issued maps that delineate the boundaries of the Bermuda Triangle. However, general maps as well as nautical and aviation charts of the general area are widely available from commercial map dealers.
Graveyard of the Atlantic
It is also home to some of the deepest underwater trenches in the world; wreckage could settle in a watery grave miles below the surface of the ocean. Most of the sea floor in the Bermuda Triangle is about 19,000 feet (5,791 meters) down; near its southern tip, the Puerto Rico Trench dips at one point to 27,500 (8,229 meters) feet below sea level.
Treacherous shoals and reefs can be found along the continental shelf. Strong currents over the reefs constantly breed new navigational hazards, according to the Coast Guard.
The term compass rose no doubt comes from the French rose des vents, an imaginary flower of four petals, one for the wind of each cardinal point. Roman records show that what is now the north point was in their era marked with a letter ‘T’ for trans montana or tramontana -- across the mountains, i.e., what lay to the north of the Mediterranean. The French later substituted their national symbol, the fleur de lis.
It is customary for officers, and should be for men as well, to remove their caps before entering a mess other than their own; this custom applies equally to officers’ messes and enclosed messes, and should be observed when passing through seamen's mess decks except on duty. The customary rule applies to cabins and offices as well. This is the same as the practice ashore -- you do not wear a hat in someone else’s home, and though you may wear it in your own home you would not normally do so.
One of the oldest customs still practised is that relating to the launching of a new ship.
About the 14th century, was the custom of toasting the new vessel from silver wine goblets. The goblets were thrown into the sea to prevent further toasts, possibly of bad omen, being drunk.
For reasons of economy a wine bottle was substituted in 1690. It was usual for a prince or other male member of royalty to smash the bottle against the bow, but after 1811 the honour was given to prominent ladies.
A free swing was traditional until a spectator was injured and sued the Admiralty, and from that time a lanyard has been secured to the bottle.
No Launching on Friday
Ship is never launched on Friday, out of respect for the passion-tradition has it that all was still on Good Friday. “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour” (Matthews 27:45)
The custom of toasting is said to have begun with the ancient Greeks. The host took the first sip of wine to show his guest that it was not poisoned. Restaurants where wine is served allow the host to sample the wine before the guests’ glasses are filled. At a mess dinner it is forbidden to pro¬pose a toast before the Loyal Toast to the Sovereign, except that foreign heads of state are toasted first if foreign guests are present. In civilian circles it is permissible to drink toasts in water; naval superstition presupposes death by drowning for the personage toasted. Likewise a glass that rings tolls the death of a sailor; stop the ring and the Devil takes two soldiers in lieu. This will explain why naval officers never clink glasses in drinking a toast. At mess dinners it used to be a custom, not often observed now, to propose what was known as the toast of the day. The list that seems to be most commonly followed dates from before Trafalgar, and is: Monday - our ships at sea Tuesday - our men Wednesday - ourselves, because no one else is likely to both Thursday - a bloody war or a sickly season (to ensure quicker promotion) Friday - a willing foe and sea room (The two preceding seem to be of historica l interest only) Saturday - wives and sweethearts - may they never meet (reply is made by the youngest officer present) Sunday - absent friends.
Amidships and just above the waterline on the side of a merchant ship you will see painted in white a circle with a horizontal line through it and alongside it another set of marks. These are known respectively as the Plimsoll line and the load lines, the first named for Samual Plimsoll, a Liverpool merchant and member of Parliament about 1880 who succeeded in Having a bill passed requiring every British merchant ship “to carry the mark and not submerge it”. Before that year many otherwise seaworthy ships had been lost through overloading. The load lines are special variations for different areas of operation and prevailing conditions. Obviously there would be no point in applying such a system to naval vessels. The draught marks of our ships are marked fore and aft in 6-inch Roman numerals and are read by a shipwright before leaving or after entering harbour.
When the communicator at the ensign staff reports “Eight o’clock sir” (or nine o'clock in winter) it is customary for the Commander to reply “Make it so”, whereupon the corporal of the gangway will sound the requisite number of bells. The ceremony of colours then follows.
A ship's commissioning or masthead pendant is said to have originated from Blake's Whip, in commemoration of his driving the Dutch from the seas in 1653. Though it is not doubted that Blake hoisted a whip to his masthead on that occasion , the masthead pendant originated much earlier, probably in the 14th century when ensigns and pendants were first authorised in the Royal Navy. Blake had done this in defiance of the Dutch admiral Tromp who had the previous year hoisted a broom to his masthead, signifying that he had swept the British from the seas. Nowadays a broom hoisted in a merchant ship indicates change of ownership, i.e. "a new broom sweeps clean", while in the navy it is used more as Tromp did, as a sign of victory over other ships of a flotilla in all events of general drills or a regatta.
Burial at sea, a simple yet most impressive and dignified ceremony, is the most natural means of disposing of a body from a ship at sea. It is still the custom to sew the body into a hammock or other piece of canvass with heavy weights, formerly several cannonballs, at the feet to compensate the tendency of a partly decomposed body (as would be the case in the tropics) to float. To satisfy superstition, or to ensure that the body is actually dead, the last stitch of the sailmaker's needle is through the nose.
Before the times when uniforms were issued the men made their own. When hands could be spared from work about the ship the pipe was make “hands to make and mend clothes”. Later it was the practice for two or three men, more expert tailors than their fellows to obtain permission to form in partnership what was called a jewing firm, in the figurative sense of un¬scrupulous dealers. The expression make and mend today bears little relation to its original use. Now it means a half-holiday granted in harbour.
Some of our Naval customs and traditions originated from antiquity, while others grew from practices in Middle Age and the great Age of Discovery. These customs are part of Naval profession, overemphasizing them is a mistake, but underestimating them is lack of perspective.
Saluting the Quarterdeck
Saluting the quarterdeck is derived from the very early seagoing custom of the respect paid to the Pagan Altar onboard ship, and later to the crucifix and shrine. There are few competent authorities on customs and traditions who do not fully support this belief, but trace the customs to the early days of Royal Navy when all officers who were present on the quarterdeck return the salute of individuals by uncovering. The majority opinion is that it was the salute to the seat of authority, the quarterdeck the place nearest to the colour.
Flags of suzerain or sovereign became in time symbolical of the religion of the state and emblematical of the royal or imperial house of the ruler. The colour had a twofold significance, religion and state. Custom of respect survived after the shrines were removed from the deck.
Quarterdeck has been considered a “sacred” place from the early days.
The practice of receiving officers at the gangway of a ship is very old and used to be attended by much pomp and ceremony. Some captains used to require that all officers be on deck to receive them no matter what hour of the day or night they returned.
