SHIP HULL TERMINOLOGY

Amidships - toward the middle of the vessel.

Bow - strictly, one of the two curved structures where the hull broadens out from the stem (the pointed end). The bows is a term for, the head of the vessel or front of the ship. Compare prow, a more poetical term for the ship's head.

Stern - the after end of the ship.

Aft - towards the stern when the relationship is within the ship.

Astern beyond the stern where the relationship is outside the vessel.

Starboard - the side of the ship which lies to the right when an observer within the ship faces forward.

Port - the side of the ship which lies to the left when an observer within the ship faces forward. (A mnemonic to distinguish port and starboard notes thatleft and port both have four letters. Another incorporates the navigation light: Is there any red port left?)

(Navigation) Bridge - A structure above the weather deck, extending the full width of the vessel, which houses a command centre, itself called by association, the bridge. A bridge usually extends a little beyond the ship's side to enable observation of boats alongside, or the proximity of a dock or lockgate; these projections are called bridge wings. In big vessels, a docking bridge used to be found aft. (See Lord, Walter. A Night to Remember (1976) p.96). It enabled an officer to observe docking manoeuvres before giving orders. RMS Titanic had one but they have been superseded by closed circuit television cameras.

Bulkheads - internal "walls" in a ship. Bulkheads are the vertical equivalent of decks. They have a structural function as well as dividing spaces. They serve to prevent collapse of the hull under stress, to maintain stability, in the event of flooding, and to contain fire. Many bulkheads feature watertight doors which, in the case of certain types of ships, the crew may close remotely. An internal "wall" that is not load-bearing is usually referred to as a "partition". It is to a bulkhead as a flat is to a deck.

Cabin - an enclosed room on a deck or flat.

Capstan - a winch with a vertical axis.

Coaming - Raised edges of hatches in decks for keeping water and articles free on the deck from falling into the hold.

Decks - the structures forming the approximately horizontal surfaces in the ship's general structure. Unlike flats, they are a structural part of the ship.

Deck Head - The under-side of the deck above. Sometimes panelled over to hide the pipe work. This panelling, like that lining the bottom and sides of the holds, is the ceiling.

Draft - The vertical distance from the current waterline to the lowest point of the ship or in the part of the ship under consideration.

Figurehead - symbolic image at the head of a traditional sailing ship or early steamer.

Forecastle - a partial deck, above the upper deck and at the head of the vessel; traditionally the sailors' living quarters.

Freeboard - The vertical distance from the current waterline to the highest continuous watertight deck. This usually varies from one part to another.

Galley - the kitchen of the ship

Gunwale - Formerly a fabricated band placed for strengthening around the ship at the main or upper deck level to accommodate the stresses imposed by the use of artillery. In later use it is the angle between the ship?s side and upper deck. It remained as a structural member, in wooden boats where it was mounted inboard of the sheer strake regardless of the need for gunnery.

Bulwark - the extension of the ship's side above the level of the weather deck.

Hold - In earlier use, below the orlop deck, the lower part of the interior of a ship's hull, especially when considered as storage space, as for cargo. In later merchant vessels it extended up through the decks to the underside of the weather deck.

Hull - the shell and framework of the basic flotation-oriented part of a ship

Keel - the central structural basis of the hull

Kelson - the timber immediately above the keel of a wooden ship.

Mast - a spar (in a ship, a very heavy one stepped in the keelson) formerly designed for the support of one or more sails. In modern ships, it is a steel or aluminium fabrication which carries navigation lights, radar antennae etc.

Prow - a poetical alternative term for bows.

Scupper - a drainage waterway at the edge of a deck, is drained by a pipe or, on the weather deck, a small opening in the bulwarks, leading overboard. It is called a scupper which is distinct from larger openings with hinged covers on the bulwarks, designed for relieving the ship of large quantities of water in a seaway. These are called freeing ports or wash ports..

Windlass - A winch mechanism, usually with a horizontal axis. used where mechanical advantage greater than that obtainable by block and tackle was needed.

Weather deck - whichever deck is that exposed to the weather ? usually either the main deck or, in larger vessels, the upper deck.

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