Maritime

Remastered Photograph of the "Granite State" after the Fire, Hudson River, 1921.

Here are just a few terms that might be of interest to some of you.

Before the mast – refers to the sailors’ quarters, which were located in the fore part of the ship (the bow), whilst the officers’ quarters were near the stern. The term can also be used as a synonym for a common sailor.

Clap on – to increase power by adding more rigging or deploying more men. Also: to set more sails.

Deck passage – accommodation for passengers on deck when there was insufficient cabin space. Often used on short voyages.

Hail – a greeting at sea

Handsomely – slowly and carefully; particularly when handling ropes under tension.

Maiden Voyage – the first voyage of a ship that has recently been fitted out and is finally fit for service.

Salt – nickname for a sailor. Also ‘Old Salt’ for a very experienced sailor.

Slew – to turn something around its own axis: to swing a mast round.

Stand by – to be ready

Stave off – to push a boat or floating object away from a jetty or the side of a ship using a pole, a boat hook or a similar tool.

A Derelict

A derelict ship is a vessel abandoned at sea without a crew or functional systems. Throughout maritime history, these "ghost ships" have drifted for years or beached, acting as hazards to navigation. Today, some decommissioned vessels are deliberately sunk to form breakwaters or artificial reefs to promote marine life.

Frank Hurley (Australian, 1885 - 1962)

Sea Witches - here

Women in ancient seafaring - here

Jacquotte Delahaye and Anne Dieu-le-Veut - Two female pirates - here

Hen Frigate - here

Traditional costumes of the islands Föhr and Amrum and the Halligen - here

How women lived on board - here

Mary Lacy the female shipwright - here

Women at Sea - Books - here

Do not mess with Welsh Women - here

The Women of HMS Goliath and the Aboukir Baby - here

The mysterious Ann Mills - here

Women on board - here

Women on Whalers - Part 1 - here

Women on Whalers- Part 2 - here

The Lioness of Brittany - here

Jeanne Baret - a Jane Tar - here

Gráinne Ní Mháille or Grace O'Malley the irish pirate queen - here

Zheng Yi Sao the Chinese Pirate Queen - here

The sailor named Billy Bridle - here

How did women manage to hide their gender at sea? - here

Hannah Snell “The Woman in Men’s Cloaths” - here

The Chatham Chest - here

William Brown the mysterious Captain of the Foretop - here

Mary Anne Talbot - a female Soldier and Sailor- here

Ingela Gathenhielm the female Privateer - here

Ida Lewis - here

Mary Lacy - female sailor and shipwright, the full post - here

Since I have already received several questions as to why they were called that, well, that is relatively simple. If you look closely at the uniforms of the 18th and 19th century you will notice that they have buttons on the sleeves. Now relatively useless, but according to legend they were put on to keep the young middies, mostly the very young and still new aboard a ship and therefore often still homesick and therefore often crying, from wiping their tears and runny noses on the sleeve. Hence the name Snotty or Snotties.

Memento Portrait of a Young Midshipman,by John Downman late 18th–early 19th century (x)

However, the origin of this legend is unclear. On the one hand, it is attributed to Napoleon who, during the Russian campaign, ordered his men to wear tasteless cloths at last and not always to use their uniform sleeves and therefore to sew the buttons of their dead comrades onto their sleeves. Nice theory, but unfortunately it doesn’t fit in with the time period, as the naval uniforms from 1748 already had these buttons. Therefore the theory of Nelson, who gave his Midshipmen the same order as Napoleon, only that they should buy extra buttons and sew them on, doesn’t fit either. Similarly, Prussia’s King Frederick the Great was tried to be the origin of this legend.

However, the uniforms, especially the first ones, were strongly based on the prevailing men’s fashion and there are already buttons on the sleeves. Therefore, it was probably simply adopted from there. And the fact that the young midshipmen were also called snotties may simply come from the fact that we were dealing with boys aged 10 and upwards and the young ones were simply homesick and therefore perhaps cried a little more in the evenings than the others and went to bed with a tear-stained face and a runny nose, and probably needed the handkerchief more often than others.

Between Decks of a Man-of-War, (x)