c. 'Mainly cloudy, (not less than three-quarters covered)'.
(Beaufort Weather Notation).
Cab. Name given to screened shelter at wing of a navigating bridge. Caban.* Cabane.* Old spelling of 'Cabin'.
Cabin. Small compartment in a ship set apart for use of an officer, passenger or other
person.
Cabin Boy. Junior rating whose duty is to attend on officers of a ship. Title is obsolescent.
At one time he was a protege in the retinue of an admiral; as such he was the forerunner of the midshipman.
Cabin Passenger. Person who has paid at least £25 for his passage (or £3 25p for every
1000 miles), has at least 36 clear square feet of space for his exclusive use and has a signed contract ticket.
Cable. Nautical unit of distance, having a standard value of 1/l0th of a nautical mile (608
ft.). For practical purposes a value of 200 yards is commonly used. 2. Rope of more than 10 inches in circumference and made of three right-handed ropes laid up left handed. These were used for attachment to anchor before chain cable was manufactured, and were up to 36 inches, or more, in circumference. 3. Wrought iron chain used for attachment of ship to her anchor. Made in lengths of 12 ½ fathoms (R.N.) or 15 fathoms in Merchant Navy: these lengths are called 'shackles'. 4. Wire carrying an electric current. 5. Telegraphic message from overseas.
Cable Bends.* Two small ropes used for lashing end of hemp cable to its own part after it
had been bent to anchor ring.
Cable Certificate. Signed document stating strength of cable supplied to a ship.
Cable Clench. Strong steel forging fitted at bottom of cable locker for securing inboard end
of cable. Is securely attached to ship's structure, vertically below navel pipe, and is tested to 20 per cent above proof strength of cable.
Cable Flags. Small numeral flags that may be used forward, when working cable, to
indicate to bridge the number of shackles of cable that are out.
Cable Holder. Horizontal drum having sprockets to take link of cable. Is frictionally
connected to spindle geared to capstan engine. Each cable has its own holder, thus allowing for independent veering or heaving.
Cable Hook. 'Chain Hook.' 'Devil's Claw.'
Cable Jack. Long steel lever fitted with a fulcrum. Used for slightly-lifting cable when a
slip has to be passed under it.
Cable Laid. Said of ropes made by laying up three ropes so that they make one large rope. Cable Locker. Compartment in which cable is stowed and the inboard end secured.
Cable Nipper. Short length of small rope, sennit or selvagee that was used for temporarily
lashing a messenger to a cable when heaving in. Alternatively, an iron nipper, consisting of two shaped bars, hinged at one end, were used with chain cables and a chain messenger.
Cable Party 64 Calendar
Cable Party. Part of a watch, or specially selected men, detailed to work cable.
Cable Shackle. Special shackle used for joining lengths of cable. Pin is flush with sides of
shackle and is secured by a metal or wood pin passing through lug and pin.
Cable Ships. Vessels specially fitted for laying and repairing submarine telegraph cables.
They have a large vertical sheave at stem head.
Cable Stopper.* Short length of very strong rope, securely attached to deck, with stopper
knot at outboard end. Cable was lashed to it while inboard part was passed around the riding bitts.
Cablet.* Hemp cable not exceeding 10 inches in circumference. Like cables, it was 101
fathoms in length.
Cable Tier.* Special platform built right forward, between decks and used for flaking rope
cable clear for running out.
Cable Tire.* The coils of a rope cable.
Caboose. Old name for cook's galley. At one time was applied to the funnel casing. Now
applied to any small enclosed space.
Caburns.* Small spunyarn line used for serving rope cables to prevent chafe. Also used for
seizings.
Cachalot. Sperm whale. Length up to 70 feet. Lives in 'schools'; one school of females, or
cows, and another of immature bulls.
Cage Mast. Lattice mast of steel tubes formed into a criss-cross spiral, held at intervals by
horizontal rings. Fitted to U.S. battleships of early twentieth century.
Cagework.* Name once given to the uppermost decorative work on the hull of a ship.
Caique. Light craft of Bosphorus, propelled by oars or sail. Else where in the Mediterranean
a two-masted cargo-carrying vessel.
Caisson. Steel floating structure that can be flooded and sunk to close entrance to a dry
dock. In engineering, is a watertight casing in which men can work under water.
Caisson Disease. Diver's palsy, or bends. Paralysis caused by the formation of air bubbles in
blood of a diver coming to surface too quickly after working at considerable depth, or under unusual air pressure. If bubble reaches the heart, the man dies at once: if it forms on brain or spinal cord there is paralysis of legs.
Calcareous. Word used to denote quality of bottom when of limestone. Fragments of shell,
coral and minute skeletons may often be seen.
Calcium Light. Cylinder containing phosphide of calcium, which ignites when in contact
with water. Is attached to a life buoy so that its position can be known when put overboard in the dark.
Calendar Line 65 Camel
Calendar Line. Alternative name for 'Date Line'.
Calendar Month. Interval between any given date and 00 hrs. of the same date in the
following month.
Calibration. Determination of error, if any, between the value indicated by an instrument
and the actual value that it should indicate.
California Current. Name used in U.S.A. for 'Mexico Current.'
Caliper. Pair of bowed legs, working on a common pivot, used for measuring internal or
external diameters of circular items. Size of chain cable is measured with it.
Calk.* Old astrological word for the calculating of a horoscope. 2. Old spelling of 'Caulk'. Call. Small whistle, of a special type, used by boatswains' mates - occasionally by a
commissioned boatswain - in Royal Navy when passing orders or piping the side. Call Boy. Junior rating in Royal Navy whose duty is to repeat all orders piped by boatswain's mate.
Callipers. Calipers.
Callippic Cycle. Period of 27,759 days, or 940 lunations, being approximately 76 years.
New and full Moons occur on same day and date -within about 6 hours. Calculated by Callippus (Greek), about 350 B.C., as an improvement on Metonic Cycle.
Call Sign. Group of Morse signs allotted to a ship, or shore station, for identification
purposes.
Calm. Absence of wind. No agitation of sea surface.
Calorie. Amount of heat necessary to raise temperature of one gramme of pure water
through one degree Centigrade.
Calorific Value. Number of heat units obtained by complete combustion of unit amount
of fuel. Generally expressed as number of British Thermal Units (B.T.U.) per Ib. of fuel.
Calorimeter. Apparatus for determining specific heat of a substance by finding how much
heat is lost or gained when its temperature is changed in standardized circumstances.
Calving. Breaking away of a mass of ice from a glacier or iceberg. Cam. Projection on
wheel or curved plate when shaped to give an alternating or eccentric movement to another member that is in contact.
Camber. Arched form of a deck or beam to shed the water. Standard camber for weather
decks is l/50th of vessel's breadth. 2. Recess, in masonry of a dock entrance, for a sliding caisson to enter when entrance is opened. 3. Small tidal dock, originally for discharge of timber, now used for loading or discharging and for embarkation and disembarkation from small boats.
Camber Keel. Keel so shaped that its depth increases as it approaches the forward and
after ends.
Camel. Hollow vessel of iron, steel or wood, that is filled with water and sunk under a
vessel. When water is pumped out the buoyancy of camel lifts ship. Usually employed in pairs. Very valuable aid to salvage operations. At one time were usual means of lifting a vessel over a bar or sandbank. Were used in Rotterdam in 1690.
Cam Shaft 66 Canoe Rig
Cam Shaft. Shaft carrying a cam.
Cain Wheel. Wheel eccentrically mounted to transmit an alternating movement.
Canadian Water Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1910. Relates to carriage of goods by
sea from Canadian ports to places outside Canada.
Canal. An artificial waterway used for the passage of ships or boats.
Canals of Mars. Name given to lines of dark sports on surface of Mars. Suggestions has
been made that they are irrigation canals. but this is not now accepted.
Can Buoy. Buoy with flat top above water. Said to be corruption of 'cone buoy'. Often
conical under water, with mooring chain attached to apex of cone.
Cancelling Clause. Inserted in a charter party, or other document. to entitle one party to
withdraw from the contract if specified conditions are not observed.
Cancelling Date. In a charter party, is latest date at which a chartered ship must be ready
to commence to fulfil terms of the charter.
Cancer. Latin for 'crab'. Constellation situated about R.A. 9h and Dec, 10°—13°N.
Has no star brighter than Mag. 4. 2. Fourth sign of Zodiac, extending from 90° to 120° celestial longitude. Sun is in this sign from June 21 to July 22 (abt.).
Candela. International unit of luminous intensity since 1948. 1 candela =0.98 candles. Cane Fender. Large bundles of canes bound together and used to protect ship's side from
chafing when alongside wharf, quay or another vessel. Hazel rod fenders are frequently called by this name.
Canes Venateci. 'Hunting dogs.' Constellation between Bootes and Ursa Major.
Brightest star is Cor Caroli, Mag. 3.
Can Hooks. Two flat hooks running freely on a wire or chain sling. Hooks are put under
chime of casks, weight is taken on chain sling or wire. Weight of lift prevents unhooking.
Canicula. Latin for 'Dog Star'. Alternative name for Sirius. Name is sometimes given to
constellation 'Canis Major'.
Canis Major. Latin for 'Greater Dog'. Constellation S.E. of Orion. Brightest star is
Sirius Mag. -1-6.
Canis Minor. Latin for 'Lesser Dog'. Constellation E. of Orion. Brightest star is Procyon,
Mag. 0-5.
Canoe. Narrow-beamed craft propelled by paddles. Vary widely in construction from
primitive dug-out to the Eskimo kayak and oomiak.
Canera.* Type of ship formerly used in Black Sea.
Canoe Rig. The sail arrangement of a canoe. There is no fixed type, but sails are arranged
to keep centre of effort as low as possible. To avoid moving about in these tender craft much ingenuity is needed in arrangements for trimming, reefing and furling sail.