Ship Terminology

[entropyrat]

I'd been about to add this on to Dorkling's pirate speak thread, but figured it's different enough to have it's own thread. This is all pulled from the back of the "Pirates of the Fallen Stars" source book for 2nd Edition DnD.

Ship Terminology
Abovedeck: Outside on the top deck of the ship (not
in the rigging; see Aloft).

Aft: The direction one is facing when one is on the
ship looking at the stern.

Aloft: In the rigging of a sailing ship.

Amidships: In the center of the ship.

Athwartships: Across the ship from side to side.

Athwartships sail: A sail running athwartships
(cf. Fore-and-Aft Sail). Athwartships sails tend to be
square, and a ship with primarily athwartships sails
is said to be square-rigged.

Beam: A direction directly to either side of the ship.
An object which is directly to the left of the ship, for
example, is said to be .on the port beam..

Bireme: An oared vessel with two banks (rows) of
oars.

Boat: A small water vessel, either carried by a larger
vessel or intended for close-shore work only. Boats
are generally not considered seagoing vessels.

Boom: The horizontal spar which runs along the
lower edge of a sail, particularly a fore-and-aft sail.

Bowsprit: A spar extending for.ard from the bow of
the ship, to which foresails may be attached.

Bulkhead: Walls on the interior of a ship.

Centerline: An imaginary line running down the
center of the ship from bow to stem.

Course: The planned direction of travel for a ship.

Dead Ahead: Travelling straight ahead without
turning right or left.

Deadlight: A porthole which cannot be opened.

Deck: A floor on a ship.

Fo.c.sle (Forecastle): The cabin farthest forward
aboard ship. The fo.c.sle is generally used as crew.s
quarters. On most warships, the fo.c.sle is a separate
structure on the front of the ship, so that the foredeck
(which would be on the roof of the fo.c.sle) is
raised, giving archers a better vantage point for firing.

Fore-and-aft Sail: A sail which runs from the bow
to the stern (cf. athwartships sail). Fore-and-aft sails
are usually triangular, although four-sided sails are
used (see Gaff).

Foremast: The shorter mast of a two-masted ship, if
it is ahead of the mainmast (cf. Mizzenmast).

Founder: For a ship or boat to fill with water and
sink.

Gaff: A horizontal spar used to support a four-sided
fore-and-aft sail. A ship with gaffs is said to be gaffrigged.

Galley: An oar-powered ship, specifically one with
one bank of oars. Also, the place aboard ship where
food is prepared.

Gunwale: The portion of the hull which extends
above the main deck. The gunwale on most passenger
ships is topped with a liferail.

Heading: The actual direction of travel for a ship (cf.
Course).

Headsail: One of a set of fore-and-aft sails set ahead
of the forward mast. If only one sail is forward of the
forward mast, see Jib.

Headway: Forward movement of a ship.

Jib: A lone sail set ahead of the forward mast.

Keel: The structural center of the hull, running
along the bottom of the ship along the centerline
from bow to stern. The ship is usually built up from
the keel: the first stage of building a ship is laying
the keel.

Leeway: Sideways movement of a ship.

Length over all: The length of the hull, measured
from bow to stern along the centerline.

Letters of marque: A document empowering a
ship to raid the ships and ports of an enemy land in
the name of the issuing government. Privateers carry
letters of marque.

Liferail: An extension of the gunwale which provides
a railing to prevent someone falling overboard.
On most pirate ships, liferails are uncommon, as
they are viewed as appropriate only for passenger
vessels.

Lines: Ropes used aboard a ship.

Main deck: The highest deck which extends over
the entire boat.

Mainmast: The largest mast on a ship, it is usually
found amidships.

Mainsail: The largest sail on a ship with multiple
sails. It is usually hung from the mainmast.

Mast: A large spar set vertically into the deck of the
ship to support sails.

Mizzenmast: The shorter mast of a two-masted
ship, if it is abaft of the mainmast (cf. Foremast).

Oarlock: A hole in the hull of a boat used to put oars
through.

Overboard: Off the edge of the ship into the water.

Overhead: The ceiling in a compartment.

Pier: A structure projecting out from the shoreline
for the purpose of providing a place to make ships
fast: cf. Wharf.

Pitch: Vertical motion of the boat where the bow
and stern rise. and fall.

Poop cabin: A cabin set on the main deck at the aft
of the ship. The captain.s and officer.s quarters are
traditionally in the poop cabin.

Poopdeck: The deck on top of the poop cabin. The
poopdeck is also used as a platform for missile fire.

Point: A measure of angle of approximately 11 degrees.
An object at approximately 22 degrees (going
clockwise with dead ahead being 0 degrees) is .two
points off the starboard bow., while an object at 68
degrees (in the same system) is .two points forward (and the ship gets lower) when the ship is more heavof
the starboard beam.. ily loaded.

Port: The left side of a ship, when one is standing at
the center of the ship, facing the bow.

Porthole: A window aboard a ship.

Portlight: A porthole that can be opened.

Quarter: The rear half of a side of the ship. A point
at 7:30 (with the front of the ship at 12:00) is .on the
port quarter..

Reef: An obstruction below the waterline.

Rigging: The lines which support the spars and the
sails and allow the sailors to control the sails.

Roll: Vertical motion of the boat where the sides of
the boat rise and fall.

Rudder: A flat plane which is attached to the ship
and inserted into the water near the stern of the
ship. The rudder is used to steer the ship. If the rudder
is turned so that it points to port, the ship turns
to port; if the rudder is turned so that it points to
starboard, the ship turns to starboard.

Rutter: A book where the navigator writes a description
of his travels. The rutter is used to allow
the navigator to retrace his steps, so that he may
find his way to the same place again.

Schooner: A ship with at least two masts, where the
aft mast is the mainmast. Schooners are generally
rigged with fore-and-aft sails.

Sloop: A single-masted ship with two sails: a mainsail
and a jib.

Spar: Any framework used to support sails. Spars
include masts, booms, and gaffs.

Starboard: The right side of a ship, when one is
standing at the center of the ship, facing the bow.

Stay: A line running from the mast to the bow or
stem. A line from the bow to the mast is called a forestay;
a line from the stem to the mast is called a
backstay

Stem: The very most front of the ship, part of the bow.

Sterncastle: A structure (such as a poop cabin)
built above the main deck in the aft of a ship.

Sternway: Reverse movement of a ship.

Stow: To put away.

Strike: To lower something from above the deck:
the reverse of hoist. One can strike the sails, strike
one.s colors, etc.

Tiller: The place where the ship.s rudder is controlled.
The term .tiller. is used when the rudder is
controlled by a lever at the back of the ship (cf.
Helm).

Topside: On the main deck, or at the helm.

Trireme: An oared ship with three banks of oars.
Triremes are rare, favored only by Mulhorand in the
Inner Sea.

Waterline: The point on the hull where the hull
crosses from air to water. The waterline gets higher

Wharf: A structure parallel to shore constructed to
provide a place to make ships fast; cf. Pier.

Wheel: For ships which do not have tillers, the
mechanism by which the rudder is controlled. Most
wheels are large affairs with many wooden spokes
which extend beyond the rim of the wheel to use as
handholds, as the primitive system of pulleys that
attaches the wheel to the rudder requires considerable
leverage. The wheel is attached so that when the
rudder is pointing dead ahead, one specific spoke of
the wheel (called the king spoke) is pointing straight
up. The king spoke is often carved specially so that it
is easy to identify by sight or touch.

Yardarm: A horizontal spar used to support an
athwartships sail.

Yaw: Motion of the boat where the boat is pushed off
course (usually by the action of waves).

[entropyrat]

Common Commands
Hoist Sail: Increase the amount of sail the ship is
using. This will increase the speed. (Note: This command
and the next two are often used with a specific
sail, e.g. .Hoist the mainsail!..)

Shorten Sail: Reduce the amount of sail the ship is
using. This will decrease the speed.

Furl Sail: Take the sail down, roll it up, and secure
it.

Steady: Maintain heading and speed.

Full Ahead: Increase speed to maximum.

Five beats: Begin rowing slowly (five strokes/
minute)

Ten beats: Row faster (ten strokes/minute)

Fifteen beats: Row as fast as possible. Most oarsmen
cannot maintain fifteen beats for more than a
few minutes, and some large ships cannot row this
quickly at all.

Bear Port/Starboard: Turn slowly to the left/right.

Hard to Port/Starboard: Turn to the left/right as
fast as possible.

Fire: Fire one volley of missiles at the target. This
command is typically used with ship-to-ship weapons
such as ballistae and catapults.

Fire Away: Fire missile weapons at the target at
will.

Hold Fire: Stop firing.

Strike Colors: Surrender.

[Wids]

Oh, cool! Mind if I borrow this? ;D

I'm still hosting a forum-based D&D 3.X campaign (with elements of Ravenloft mixed in) over on Illusion Vale, and since one of the player-characters is a pirate fated to die and return from death as a wight due to a curse on his bloodline, I made this topic for him. It's far from complete, as you can see, but I did doodle up some pretty pictures on Paint Shop. Surely that counts for something.

(I'm pretty sure that the stem is part of the bow, though. That's where we get the expression "from stem to stern," for when we mean "the whole thing" or "completely".)

[entropyrat]

That's a pretty nifty looking website sir, should the desire to forum RP ever strike me I'll seek you out.

And I believe you're right in regards to the stem, I'll have to edit that. Thanks.