Navy Traditions and Customs
Nautical Terms and Phrases - Their Meaning and Origin
Related Resource: Manual of Commands and Orders
Before the mast
Literally, the position of the crew whose living quarters on board
were in the forecastle (the section of a ship forward of the foremast).
The term is also used more generally to describe seamen as compared
with officers, in phrases such as "he sailed before the mast."
Binnacle List
A ship's sick-list. A binnacle was the stand on which the ship's
compass was mounted. In the eighteenth century and probably before,
a list was given to the officer or mate of the watch, containing
the names of men unable to report for duty. The list was kept
at the binnacle.
Boot camp
During the Spanish-American War, Sailors wore leggings called
boots, which came to mean a Navy (or Marine) recruit. These recruits
trained in "boot" camps.
Brightwork
Brightwork originally referred to polished metal objects, and
bright woodwork to wood which was kept scraped and scrubbed, especially
topside. Bright it should be and work it is.
Bull Ensign
Charlie Noble
Charlie Noble is an "it," not a "he." A British
merchant service captain, Charles Noble, is said to be responsible
for the origin, about 1850, of this nickname for the galley smokestack.
It seems that Captain Noble, discovering that the stack of his
ship's galley was made of copper, ordered that it be kept bright.
The ship's crew then started referring to the stack as the "Charley
Noble."
Clean Bill of Health
This widely used term has its origins in the document issued to
a ship showing that the port it sailed from suffered from no epidemic
or infection at the time of departure.
Coxswain
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.
Dogwatch
A dogwatch at sea is the period between 4 and 6 p.m, the first
dogwatch, or the period between 6 and 8 p.m., the second dog watch.
The watches aboard ships are:
Noon to 4:00 p.m. Afternoon watch
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. First dogwatch
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Second dogwatch
8:00 p.m. to midnight 1st night watch
Midnight to 4:00 a.m. Middle watch or mid watch
4:00 to 8:00 a.m. Morning watch
8:00 a.m. to noon Forenoon watch
The dogwatches are only two hours each so the same Sailors aren't
always on duty at the same time each afternoon. Some experts say
dogwatch is a corruption of dodge watch and others associate dogwatch
with the fitful sleep of Sailors called dog sleep, because it
is a stressful watch. But no one really knows the origin of this
term, which was in use at least back to 1700.
Down the hatch
Here's a drinking expression that seems to have its origins in
sea freight, where cargoes are lowered into the hatch. First used
by seamen, it has only been traced back to the turn of the century.
Duffle
A name given to a Sailor's personal effects. Also spelled duffel,
it referred to his principal clothing as well as to the seabag
in which he carried and stowed it. The term comes from the Flemish
town of Duffel near Antwerp, and denotes a rough woolen cloth
made there.
Dungarees
The modern Sailor's work clothes. The term is not modern, however,
but dates to the 18th century and comes from the Hindi word dungri,
for a type of Indian cotton cloth.
Fathom
Although a fathom is now a nautical unit of length equal to six
feet, it was once defined by an act of Parliament as "the
length of a man's arms around the object of his affections."
The word derives from the Old English Faethm, which means "embracing
arms."
Flogging
Flying Dutchman
One superstition has it that any mariner who sees the ghost ship
called the Flying Dutchman will die within the day. The
tale of the Flying Dutchman trying to round the Cape of
Good Hope against strong winds and never succeeding, then trying
to make Cape Horn and failing there too, has been the most famous
of maritime ghost stories for more 300 years. The cursed spectral
ship sailing back and forth on its endless voyage, its ancient
white-hair crew crying for help while hauling at her sail, inspired
Samuel Taylor Coleridge to write his classic "The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner," to name but one famous literary work.
The real Flying Dutchman is supposed to have set sail in
1660.
Fouled anchor
The fouled (rope- or chain-entwined) anchor so prevalent in our
Navy's designs and insignia is a symbol at least 500 years old
that has it origins in the British traditions adopted by our naval
service.
The fouled anchor was adopted as the official seal of Lord High
Admiral Charles Lord Howard of Effingham during the late 1500s.
A variation of the seal had been in use by the Lord High Admiral
of Scotland about a century earlier.
The anchor (both with and without the entwined rope) is a traditional
heraldic device used in ancient British coats of arms. As a heraldic
device, it is a stylized representation used merely for its decorative
effect.
Gedunk (also Geedunk and Gedonk)
Head (ship's toilet)
Holystone
Soft sandstone, often used to scrub the decks of ships. Sailors
had to kneel as if in prayer when scrubbing the decks. Holystone
was often called so because it is full of holes.
Keel hauling
A naval punishment on board ships said to have originated with
the Dutch but adopted by other navies during the 15th and 16th
centuries. A rope was rigged from yardarm to yardarm, passing
under the bottom of the ship, and the unfortunate delinquent secured
to it, sometimes with lead or iron weights attached to his legs.
He was hoisted up to one yardarm and then dropped suddenly into
the sea, hauled underneath the ship, and hoisted up to the opposite
yardarm, the punishment being repeated after he had had time to
recover his breath. While he was under water, a "great gun"
was fired, "which is done as well to astonish him so much
the more with the thunder of the shot, as to give warning until
all others of the fleet to look out and be wary by his harms"
(from Nathaniel Boteler, A Dialogicall Discourse, 1634).
The U.S. Navy never practiced keel hauling.
Mayday
The distress call for voice radio, for vessels and people in serious
trouble at sea. The term was made official by an international
telecommunications conference in 1948, and is an anglicizing of
the French "m'aidez," (help me).
Piping
Boatswains have been in charge of the deck force since the days
of sail. Setting sails, heaving lines, and hosting anchors required
coordinated team effort and boatswains used whistle signals to
order the coordinated actions. When visitors were hoisted aboard
or over the side, the pipe was used to order "Hoist Away"
or "Avast heaving." In time, piping became a naval honor
on shore as well as at sea.
Port and starboard
Port and starboard are shipboard terms for left and right, respectively.
Confusing those two could cause a ship wreck. In Old England,
the starboard was the steering paddle or rudder, and ships were
always steered from the right side on the back of the vessel.
Larboard referred to the left side, the side on which the ship
was loaded. So how did larboard become port? Shouted over the
noise of the wind and the waves, larboard and starboard sounded
too much alike. The word port means the opening in the "left"
side of the ship from which cargo was unloaded. Sailors eventually
started using the term to refer to that side of the ship. Use
of the term "port" was officially adopted by the U.S. Navy by General Order, 18 February
1846.
Radar
An acronym standing for "radio detecting and
ranging."
Scuba
An acronym standing for "Self-Contained Underwater
Breathing Apparatus."
Scuttlebutt
The cask of drinking water on ships was called a scuttlebutt and
since Sailors exchanged gossip when they gathered at the scuttlebutt
for a drink of water, scuttlebutt became U.S. Navy slang for gossip
or rumors. A butt was a wooden cask which held water or other
liquids; to scuttle is to drill a hole, as for tapping a cask.
Shows his true colors
Early warships often carried flags from many nations on board
in order to elude or deceive the enemy. The rules of civilized
warfare called for all ships to hoist their true national ensigns
before firing a shot. Someone who finally "shows his true
colors" is acting like a man-of-war which hailed another
ship flying one flag, but then hoisted their own when they got
in firing range.
Side Boys
Tending the side with side boys, as we know it in modern practice,
originated long time ago. It was customary in the days of sail
to hold conferences on the flagships both when at sea and in open
roadstead; also, officers were invited to dinner on other ships
while at sea, weather permitting. Sometimes the sea was such that
visitors were hoisted aboard in boatswain's chairs. Members of
the crew did the hoisting, and it is from the aid they rendered
in tending the side that the custom originated of having a certain
number of men always in attendance. Some have reported the higher
the rank, the heavier the individual; therefore, more side boys.
Smoking lamp
The exact date and origin of the smoking lamp has been lost. However,
it probably came into use during the 16th Century when seamen
began smoking on board vessels. The smoking lamp was a safety
measure. It was devised mainly to keep the fire hazard away from
highly combustible woodwork and gunpowder. Most navies established
regulations restricting smoking to certain areas. Usually, the
lamp was located in the forecastle or the area directly surrounding
the galley indicting that smoking was permitted in this area.
Even after the invention of matches in the 1830s, the lamp was
an item of convenience to the smoker. When particularly hazardous
operations or work required that smoking be curtailed, the unlighted
lamp relayed the message. "The smoking lamp is lighted"
or "the smoking lamp is out' were the expressions indicating
that smoking was permitted or forbidden.
The smoking lamp has survived only as a figure of speech. When
the officer of the deck says "the smoking lamp is out"
before drills, refueling or taking ammunition, that is the Navy's
way of saying "cease smoking."
Sonar
Sound Navigation Ranging. An acronym for underwater
echo-ranging equipment, originally for detecting submarines by
small warships.
Striking the Flag Striking the ensign was and is the universally recognized indication of surrender.
Suit
Nautical term, dating from at least the early 1600s, meaning the
outfit of sails used by a ship. The term was revived after World
War II, when a Navy ship's complement of electronics could be
referred to as its electronics suit, and its total armament might
be called its weapons suit. The word is sometimes incorrectly
spelled "suite."
Tar, Jack Tar
Tar, a slang term for a Sailor, has been in use since at least
1676. The term "Jack tar" was used by the 1780s. Early
Sailors wore overalls and broad-brimmed hats made of tar-impregnated
fabric called tarpaulin cloth. The hats, and the Sailors who wore
them, were called tarpaulins, which may have been shortened to
tars.
Toe the line
The space between each pair of deck planks in a wooden ship was filled with a packing material called "oakum" and then sealed with a mixture of pitch and tar.
The result, from afar, was a series of parallel lines a half-foot or so apart, running the length of the deck. Once a week, as a rule, usually on Sunday, a warship's crew was ordered to fall in at quarters - that is, each group of men into which the crew was divided would line up in formation in a given area of the deck. To insure a neat alignment of each row, the Sailors were directed to stand with their toes just touching a particular seam. Another use for these seams was punitive. The youngsters in a ship, be they ship's boys or student officers, might be required to stand with their toes just touching a designated seam for a length of time as punishment for some minor infraction of discipline, such as talking or fidgeting at the wrong time. A tough captain might require the miscreant to stand there, not talking to anyone, in fair weather or foul, for hours at a time. Hopefully, he would learn it was easier and more pleasant to conduct himself in the required manner rather than suffer the punishment. From these two uses of deck seams comes our cautionary word to obstreperous youngsters to "toe the line."