Coxswain and Boatswain

As required by 17th Century law, British ships-of-war carried three smaller boats: the boat, the cock-boat, and the skiff.  The boat, also called the gig, was usually used by the Captain to go ashore and was the larger of the three.  The cock-boat was a very small rowboat used as the ship's tender. The skiff was a lightweight all-purpose vessel, generally with a flat bottom. The suffix "swain" means keeper, thus the keepers of the boat, cock, and skiff were called boatswain and cockswain (or coxswain).
Today, any boat used by a ship's Captain is referred to as the gig.  Embarked Admirals use a boat referred to as the barge.  Skiffs are generally aluminum and are used for painting the sides of the ship.
In common use, boatswain is usually shortened to bo'sun.  A ship's bo'sun is the senior member of the deck hands.  The coxswain mans the helm (rudder) of a ship's boat when underway.

A coxswain or cockswain was at first the swain (boy servant) in charge of the small cock or cockboat that was kept aboard for the ship's captain and which was used to row him to and from the ship. The term has been in use in England dating back to at least 1463. With the passing of time the coxswain became the helmsman of any boat, regardless of size. 

Another reference defines “Swain” or Swein” as Anglo-Saxon for servant. Boatswain refers to the warrant or petty officer in charge of the deck crew.

Naval Time and Watches

Ship Organisation

There is no room for passengers in a warship. Everyone on board must have a job to do and jobs must be so arranged that they do not overlap. If one pair of hands or one brain in a ship is idle when it shouldn't be, that ship is running less efficiently than it should.

By tradition and by necessity, sailors are jacks-of-all-trades, but in this age of complicated equipment and crowded ships it has also become necessary for a sailor to become master of at least one trade. A ship is organized in such a way that the men of all trades work together to form a team. That is, the work of the men of one trade complimets or adds to that of all the other trades and so on, until everyone is working efficiently and all jobs are being done. It is necessary then. to allocate certain particular jobs to men of certain trades.

Naval Time and Watches

In a ship, the day is divided into watches, and the watches are divided into half-hour periods. At the end of every half hour period the ship's bell is struck. The 24-hour clock is used instead of the usual 12-hour variety.

Watches are as follows;               

0000 - 0400  middle watch               

0400 - 0800  morning watch

0800 - 1200  forenoon watch

1200 - 1600  afternoon watch

1600 - 1800  first dog watch

1800 - 2000  last dog watch

2000 - 0000  first watch

Each of the 4-hour watches begins and ends with 8 bells. At the end of the first half hour of the watch 1 bell is struck; at the end of the second half hour 2 bells; the third half hour, 3 bells, and so on until at the end of the eighth half hour, or the end of the watch, 8 bells are struck.

Shifting Colors

When a ship is anchored or moored between 8.00 a.m and sunset, she fly her ensign at the flagstaff and the jack at the jack staff. When underway, the ensign is flown at the gaff (the diagonal spar projecting aft from the mast) and the jack is not flown at all. The process of changing from one display to the other is known as shifting colors. 

• The ensign at the flagstaff and the jack at the jackstaff are hauled down smartly (rapidly).

• The steaming ensign is run up smartly to the gaff.

• Any flags or pennants that are displayed only when not under way, such as award pennants or  the personal flag or pennant of an officer who is not aboard, are hauled down smartly.

• The call sign is broken at the signal yard.

As the ship prepares to get under way, sailors are positioned at the bow, fantail, and bottom of the halyards running to the gaff and the signal yards. The "steaming" ensign is attached--or "bent on"--to its halyard in preparation for hoisting. The ship's call sign and any other prescribed signal flags are run up, packed to be "broken" at the right moment. At the instant that the last mooring line leaves the pier or buoy, or the moment that the anchor is aweigh, the boatswain's mate of the watch blows a long blast on his whistle and passes the word, "Underway--shift colors." Immediately and simultaneously:

A ship mooring or coming to anchor goes through the same process in reverse, with the boatswain's mate giving the word "Moored--shift colors" when the first mooring line is made fast or the anchor is let go. In either case, the desired effect is one set of flags vanishing and another flashing out at precisely the same time. 

How sailing works

Sailing is motion across a body of water in a sailing ship, or smaller boat, powered by wind.

How sailing works

The force of the wind is used to create motion by using one or more sails. The movement of air over the sails acts in the same way as air moving over an aircraft's wing. Just like on an airplane, air flowing over the sail is deflected and accelerated. This generates lift, which acts to pull the sail, and thus the boat ahead, but also slightly downwind. The downwind component is offset by an underwater hydrofoil (centerboard or keel), whose shape resists lateral movement while offering little resistance to forward motion. Without a keel or centerboard, sailing upwind or across the wind would be virtually impossible. (Other sailing hydrofoils include daggerboards and leeboards).

The lifting force of the sails also acts to lean the boat over to one side, which is called heeling. This is counteracted by ballast, either in the form of dense material located in the keel (usually lead or iron) or in the form of human or water ballast located near the windward rail.

Today, for most people, sailing is a hobby. Pleasure sailing can be further divided into two areas: Racing and Cruising.

In ancient times (see Odysseus), ships used following or rear-quarter winds. Therefore, they had to wait in port or at sea for the right wind directions.

Turning a sailing boat

There are four basic maneuvers a sailing boat can perform while underway. They are:

Tacking is turning the boat so that the bow passes through the eye of the wind (or "no go zone").

Gybing (or wearing) is turning the boat so that the stern of the boat turns through the wind. Gybing causes the boom to swing from one side to the other, sometimes rapidly, as the wind catches the leach of the mainsail on its new upwind side.

Heading up is turning the boat to sail closer to the direction the wind is coming from. 

Bearing away (or falling off) is turning away from the direction the wind is coming from. 

Course to Steer - Turn the boat using the wheel or tiller to the desired course to steer. See points of sail. This may be a definite bearing (e.g steer 270 degrees), or towards a landmark, or at a desired angle to the apparent wind direction.

Trim - This is the fore and aft balance of the boat. The aim is to adjust the moveable ballast (the crew!) forwards or backwards to achieve an 'even keel'. On an upwind course in a small boat, the crew typically sit forward, when 'running' it is more efficient for the crew to sit to the rear of the boat. The position of the crew matters less as the size (and weight)of the boat increases. 

Balance - This is the port and starboard balance. The aim, once again is to adjust weight 'inboard' or 'outboard' to prevent excessive heeling. 

Sail - Trimming sails is a large topic. However simply put, a sail should be pulled in until it fills with wind, but no further than the point where the front edge of the sail (the luff) is exactly in line with the wind. 

Centreboard - If a moveable centreboard is fitted, then it should be lowered when sailing "close to the wind" but can be raised up on downwind courses to reduce drag. The centreboard prevents lateral motion and allows the boat to sail upwind, and also provides stability to keep the boat from rolling over. A boat with no centreboard will instead have a heavy permanent keel built into the bottom of the hull, which serves the same purposes. 

Running Downwind

Sailing the boat within 30 degrees of straight downwind is called a run. This is the easiest point of sail, but it can also be the most dangerous. Sailing upwind gives you the everpresent possibility of stopping the boat easily by steering into the wind. Running gives a sailor no such easy out. Be careful and either use your boom vang or adjust the mainsheet to prevent an accidental gybe.

Beating an upwind course
A basic rule of sailing is that it is not possible to sail directly into the direction the wind is coming from. Generally a cruising boat can sail 45 degrees off the wind, a racing boat may aproach 35 degrees. However since it is often necessary to move towards the wind direction, it is necessary to 'beat' upwind.

Beating is simply a series of 'tacks' where the boat sails as close to the wind on each tack as possible, and then switches sides and repeats the process. By this method, it is possible to travel directly into the wind. The heavier the wind the harder the beat, and since you are sailing into oncoming waves at an angle, boat movement can be heavy. This movement can feel like the boat is beating its hull into the waves, hence the name. Since the boat is sailing over oncoming waves, a beat will feel faster than its actually moving.

During a beat, it is important to watch your heading, since the wind will tend to push an unbalanced boat into or away from the wind, depending on the balance problem. If you find yourself having to overcorrect at the helm for sail pressure into the wind, then you are in a condition called weatherhelm, and you are actually slowing the boat with your rudder. To correct this, reduce sail.

Reducing sail
An important safety aspect of sailing is to adjust the amount of sail to suit the wind conditions. As the wind speed increases the crew should progressively reduce the amount of sail. On a small boat with only jib and mainsail this is done by furling the jib and by partially lowering the mainsail, a process called 'reefing the main'.

Reefing basically means reducing the size of a sail without changing them. Ideally reefing does not only result in a reduced sail area but also in a lower center of effort from the sails, keeping the boat more upright.

There are three core methods of reefing the mainsail: - Slab reefing, which involves lowering the sail by about one-quarter to one-third of its luff length and tightening the lower part of the sail using an outhaul through a cringle at the new clew, and hook through a cringle at the new tack. - In-mast (or on-mast) roller-reefing. This method rolls the sail up around a vertical foil either inside a slot in the mast, or affixed to the outside of the mast. It requires a mainsail with either no battens, or newly-developed vertical battens. - In-boom roller-reefing, with a horizontal foil inside the boom. This method allows for standard- or full-length horizontal battens.

Mainsail furling systems have become increasingly popular on cruising yachts as they can be operated shorthanded and from the cockpit in most cases, however, the sail can become jammed in the mast or boom slot if not operated correctly. Mainsail furling is almost never used while racing because it results in a less efficient sail profile. The classical slab-reefing method is the most widely used. Mainsail furling has an additional disadvantage in that its complicated gear may somewhat increase weight aloft. However, as the size of the boat increases, the benefits of mainsail roller furling increase dramatically.

Sail trimming
As noted above, sail trimming is a large subject. Basic control of the mainsail consists of setting the sail so that it is at an optimum angle to the wind,(i.e. no flapping at the front, and tell tales flowing evenly off the rear of the sail).

Two or more sails are frequently combined to maximise the smooth flow of air. The sails are adjusted to create a smooth laminar flow over the sail surfaces. This is called the "slot effect". The combined sails fit into an imaginary aerofoil outline, so that the most forward sails are more in line with the wind, whereas the more aft sails are more in line with the course followed. The combined efficiency of this sail plan is greater than the sum of each sail used in isolation.

More detailed aspects include specific control of the sail's shape, e.g.:
reefing, or reducing the sail area in stronger wind altering sail shape to make it flatter in high winds raking the mast when going upwind (to tilt the sail towards the rear, this being more stable) providing sail twist to cope with gusty conditions 

Heeling
When a boat rolls over to one side under wind pressure, it's called 'heeling'. As a sailing boat heels over beyond a certain angle, it begins to sail increasingly inefficiently. Several forces can counteract this movement.

The buoyancy of that part of the hull which is being submerged tends to bring the boat upright.
Pressure on the centreboard or keel moving at a slight 'leeway' angle through the water tends to balance the rolling force. 

Raising the centreboard can paradoxically increase leeway, and therefore reduce heeling. A weighted keel provides additional force to right the boat. The crew may move onto the high (upwind) side of the boat, called hiking, changing the centre of gravity significantly in a small boat. They can trapeze where the boat is designed for this. The underwater shape of the hull relative to the sails can be designed to make the boat tend to turn upwind when it heels excessively: this reduces the force on the sails, and allows the boat to right itself.The boat can be turned upwind to produce the same effect.Wind can be spilled from the sails by 'sheeting out', i.e. loosening the sail.

Lastly, as the boat rolls farther over, wind spills from the top of the sail. 
Most of the above effects can be used to right a heeling boat and to keep the boat sailing efficiently: if however the boat heels beyond a certain point of stability, it can capsize

What is Seamanship ?

Seamanship is the art of operating a ship or boat. It involves topics and development of specialised skills including: navigation and international maritime law; weather, meteorology and forecasting; watch keeping, ship-handling and small boat handling; operation of deck equipment, anchors and cables; rope work and line handling; communications; sailing; engines; execution of evolutions such as towing; cargo handling equipment, dangerous cargoes and cargo storage; dealing with emergencies; survival at sea and search and rescue; fire fighting.

The degree of knowledge needed within these areas is dependent upon the nature of the work and the type of vessel employed by a mariner. However, the practice of good seamanship should be the goal of all. The deep meaning of the word seamanship derives from the word seaman & ship. Thus it is the seaman who makes a good ship through his qualifications. Above all, Seamanship means Safety onboard and this is managed through continuous training and implementation of good working practices.

Often Seamanship is described as nothing but common sense.

Quarter gallery

A quarter gallery is an architectural feature of the stern of a sailing ship from  around the 16th to 19th century. Quarter galleries are a kind of balcony, typically placed on the side of the stern castle. A high, tower-like structure at the back of a ship that housed the officer's quarters. They function as a firing platform for the ship's marines and sharpshooters during boarding actions. The galleries also provided a structure that was ideally suited for attaching decoration and often bore carved wooden sculptures.

Captain's Mast

The "Captain's Mast" is a disciplinary event hailing from the age of sail where a ship's captain and other officers publicly shame and sentence sailors who have broken some rule in a manner severe enough to warrant public discipline but not enough to require a full legal proceeding. 

Before steam engines became standard in the nineteenth century the most efficient means of moving a ship across the sea was to harness the power of the wind by means of attaching a canvas sail to a wooden pole known as the mast. Larger ships would have several masts, and the number of masts as well as their configuration and the shapes of their many sails came to define the types of the various sailing ships, from the clipper to the man-o-war.

Sailor's lives depended on the function of these masts and sails, and much of the maintenance work needed to keep ships in working order involved these essential components of period vessels. It is no surprise then that they came to be a focal point of naval culture and a convenient meeting place for the crew when one was needed.

Under the Mainmast - Ceremonies for the Crew

The Captain's Mast appears to have come about as a result of the need to maintain discipline and to address the majority of the crew at once. Meetings of this nature were held under the mainmast, and eventually any crew meeting came to be known as a mast. The masts eventually began to be named according to the officiating officer's rank, and so there are admiral's masts and chaplain's masts.

The Captain's version was traditionally held prior to religious services and served as both a disciplinary event in front of the entire crew and as a forum where exemplary behavior could be praised or official news shared with the crew. Once it became so common to be held as a tradition, even as the vessels switched from sail to steam power the event was still held in a convenient meeting area, and given the same name.

How submarine work

A submarine or a ship can float because the weight of water that it displaces is equal to the­ weight of the ship. This displacement of water creates an upward force called the buoyant force and acts opposite to gravity, which would pull the ship down. Unlike a ship, a submarine can control its buoyancy, thus allowing it to sink and surface at will.

To control its buoyancy, the submarine has ballast tanks and auxiliary, or trim tanks, that can be alternately filled with water or air (see animation below). When the submarine is on the surface, the ballast tanks are filled with air and the submarine's overall density is less than that of the surrounding water. As the submarine dives, the ballast tanks are flooded with water and the air in the ballast tanks is vented from the submarine until its overall density is greater than the surrounding water and the submarine begins to sink (negative buoyancy). A supply of compressed air is maintained aboard the submarine in air flasks for life support and for use with the ballast tanks. In addition, the submarine has movable sets of short "wings" called hydroplanes on the stern (back) that help to control the angle of the dive. The hydroplanes are angled so that water moves over the stern, which forces the stern upward; therefore, the submarine is angled downward.

To keep the submarine level at any set depth, the submarine maintains a balance of air and water in the trim tanks so that its overall density is equal to the surrounding water (neutral buoyancy). When the submarine reaches its cruising depth, the hydroplanes are leveled so that the submarine travels level through the water. Water is also forced between the bow and stern trim tanks to keep the sub level. The submarine can steer in the water by using the tail rudder to turn starboard (right) or port (left) and the hydroplanes to control the fore-aft angle of the submarine. In addition, some submarines are equipped with a retractable secondary propulsion motor that can swivel 360 degrees.

When the submarine surfaces, compressed air flows from the air flasks into the ballast tanks and the water is forced out of the submarine until its overall density is less than the surrounding water (positive buoyancy) and the submarine rises. The hydroplanes are angled so that water moves up over the stern, which forces the stern downward; therefore, the submarine is angled upward. In an emergency, the ballast tanks can be filled quickly with high-pressure air to take the submarine to the surface very rapidly.

Port holes

The word "port hole" originated during the reign of Henry VI of England (1485). King Henry insisted on mounting guns too large for his ship and the traditional methods of securing these weapons on the forecastle and aftcastle could not be used.

A French shipbuilder named James Baker was commissioned to solve the problem. He put small doors in the side of the ship and mounted the cannon inside the ship. These doors protected the cannon from weather and were opened when the cannon were to be used. The French word for "door" is "porte" which was later Anglicized to "port" and later went on to mean any opening in the ship's side, whether for cannon or not.

Mediterranean Mooring

In some harbours where there is sufficient room to berth many ships alongside, ships may be obliged to berth at right-angles to a jetty, with their sterns secured to it by berthing lines and their anchors(s) laid out ahead.

This type of mooring can only be employed where there is a negligible range of tide, and is commonly used in Mediterranean ports; for this reason it is often called the Mediterranean (or Med) moor. 

The major considerations are to veer sufficient cable so that the ship can swing clear of other ships at the berth when leaving, to lay the anchors sufficiently far apart to make the ship more secure in wind, and to ensure the anchors do not foul those of other ships. 

In a shallow harbour it is recommended that a frigate veers about 4 shackles of cable on each anchor, and that cables are spanned with and included angle of about 50 degrees, so as to make the ship more secure in a wind. It is obvious, however, that to berth will not be safe if a gale blows from abeam.

If such weather is forecast it is advisable to put to sea or seek a sheltered anchor berth. Ships fitter with a single anchor can, in theory, carry out a Med moor; however, the single anchor will hold the bows steady only in benign weather conditions.

Why it is Port and Starboard side?

There are different explanations heard during my career in the navy.

Port side mean the left side when looking forward from the stern of the boat. Starboard means the right side when looking forward from the stern. Starboard is originally an anglo-saxon word literally meaning "right-side" or "right-board" and larboard is from the french baboard or the anglo-saxon bœc-bord. Anyway, there are discrepancies about what how port came from larboard, but basically it has stuck because larboard was too easily confused with starboard.

The another believe is, Centuries ago, what we now refer to as a rudder was lashed to the right side of the vessel. It was called a 'larboard.' When the vessel came into port, the captain didn't have much choice about which side to use since he could damage his steering gear if he had trouble. This must have led to term port side and larboard side..

Another interesting explanation is that Starboard was a walking board that hung off the right side of the boat. In the ancient days, navigators were depended on stars for navigational aid. The navigator of the ship used this Starboard to walk out where he could see the stars without the sails, masts and boat lights getting in the way. When the ship came in to Port, it could not port on the right side of the ship, or it would break the Starboard. So the left side of the ship was known as the Port side, and the right side was called the Starboard side.

Remember the lighting scheme of Port and Starboard? The Port light of an approaching vessel is RED; (Red Port wine). The red light tells you to give way to the other vessel. The Starboard light is GREEN which means you have right of way.

It is interesting to note that this practice carried over into aviation. Passengers almost always enter planes from the left, or port, side even though aircraft now have full sized doors on both sides

Sally Ship

"Sally ship" was not a ship but a method of loosening a vessel that ran aground from the mud holding her fast. In the days before sophisticated navigation equipment, ships ran aground much more often than today. A grounded ship could be freed with little or no hull damage if she could be rocked out of her muddy predicament. 


To free her, the order was given to "sally ship". The crew gathered in a line along one side and then ran from port to starboard and back and forth until the vessel began to roll. Often the rolling broke the mud's suction and she could be pulled free and gotten underway.

Why is the toilet onboard ship called the “head”?

The term comes from the days of sail, because wind would blow from the rear of the ship to the front. The bathroom would be located at the front, "Head", of the ship to carry the foul smell of excrement away from the crew.

On such old ships the “out house” was placed at the bow of the ship. These necessary rooms were placed in that forward area where the ship slanted inward to form the bow, which meant the toilet was above the ocean and not actually above the ship. Therefore, when nature called and you needed to use one of these facilities, you went forward to the bow or the “head“ of the vessel. Thus, the outhouse/toilet came to be called the "head".

Bulbous Bow

Bulbous bow available in many shapes and sizes, generally the bulb looks like a section of large diameter pipe with a domed end sticking out of the bow of the boat, underwater. Side bulbs, bilge bulbs, and even stern bulbs have been tried but the most consistent results have been achieved with bow bulbs. Today, to see a large ship without a bulbous bow is a rare sight indeed. Their results have been proven over countless thousands of deep ocean miles in all kinds of weather by all kinds of vessels.

So what's in it for you?

The benefit of a modern day bulbous bow will reduce your fuel consumption 12% to 15% giving you the equivalent greater range, or a slightly higher speed for the same power applied, whichever you choose to use. The greatest amount of benefit will be at the high end of the semi-displacement speed range, reducing as your speed decreases. At higher speeds wave making resistance accounts for the greater portion of the drag, and the slower you go proportionally more of the resistance is taken up by wetted surface drag. At low speed (around 6 knots and lower) the bulb will even cause an increase in drag because of it's greater wetted surface area. Luckily at that low speed the added power consumption is negligible and generally little time is spent in this speed range.

In addition, you will find increased sea keeping ability due to dampening of the pitching motion. When charging into head seas there is the chance of slamming the bulb on the troughs, but this is limited to a very narrow range of wave train and heading. A slight change in direction and/or speed will cure this ill-effect.

Origin of the word "Merchant Navy"

It was originated by King George V following their service in the First World War.

Merchant seafarer's primary job was to carry food grains, edible oil and cereals to the Royal Navy soldiers during the world war. They were not issued with any kind of arms and ammunition, as their primary job was to look after the Royal navy soldiers food supply only, not to fight the battle.

This Merchant Navy (MN) identification badge was issued to seaman on board British ships in January 1940.

The Merchant Navy name have been adopted in Britain in 1922, as part of King George V's formal acknowledgement of merchant seafarer's service and sacrifice during the First World War. That conflict cost the British Empire's merchant marine - as it was then better known - 2500 ships and 15000 seafarers.

During the First World War, merchant seafarers were not issued with any sort of identification badge, and as they did not wear uniforms many were made feel uncomfortable ashore. The issue of MN badges during the second World War was designed to indicate that the wearer was taking an active part in the war effort along with the Royal Navy.