1839.] on the 3d, Ath, and 5th of June, 1839. 645 



The question of scudding or heaving to must it is evident depend 

 upon the commander's judgment as to the position in which he is, his 

 sea-room and the like; but the tack on which he ought to heave to is 

 so clearly indicated by Col. Reid's directions that I cannot do better 

 than extract them ; he says page 425, 



" Rules for laying Skips to in Hurricanes. — That tack on which a ship should 

 be laid to in a hurricane has hitherto been a problem to be solved; and is one which 

 seamen have long considered important to have explained. 



" In these tempests when a vessel is lying to and the wind veers by the ship's head, she 

 is in danger of getting stern-way* even when no sail is set; for in a hurricane, the 

 wind's force upon the ship's masts and yards alone will produce this effect, should the 

 wind veer ahead, and it is supposed that vessels have often foundered from this cause. 



" When the wind veers aft as it is called, or by the stern, this danger is avoided, and 

 a ship then comes up to the wind instead of having to break off from it. 



" If great storms obey fixed laws, and the explanation given of them in this work be 

 the true one, then the rule for laying a ship to follows like the corollary to a pro- 

 blem already solved. In order to define the two sides of a storm, that side will be 

 called the right hand semicircle which is on the right of the ship's course, as we look in 

 the direction in which it is moving, just as we speak of the right bank of a river. The 

 rule for laying a ship to will be, when in the right-hand semicircle to heave to on the 

 starboard tack, and when in the left-hand semicircle on the larboard tack in both 

 hemispheres." 



As an example of this on our own diagram. If a line be drawn 

 across those of the 4th and 5th N. 76° E. and S. 76° W. or about 

 WbS. ^ S. and EbN. \ N., which is the track we have supposed for 

 the hurricane; it will be seen that all the vessels above it, or to the 

 right hand of the hurricane's path, had the wind veering from NE. 

 to South, and were thus safe upon the starboard tack, and all 



* From being taken aback. This taking aback in a tempest we all know to be 

 most dangerous, not only on account of the getting stern-way here mentioned ; being 

 pooped, dismasted, and the like ; but from another danger which is not sufficiently 

 adverted to I think ; and this is, that a vessel, may in one of the terrific gusts which ac- 

 company these sudden shifts of wind be thrown on her broadside in the trough of the 

 sea with her deck towards the sea! In such a case she is in the position of a vessel 

 on a reef which has fallen over to seaward ; and there is every chance that her hatches 

 would be beaten in ; which would swamp her. A parallel case to this is mentioned in 

 Col. Reid's work, page 221, of the H. C. S. Diana, when part of the upper fore- 

 hatchway was stove in by the weight of the water above it, and the vessel nearly 

 swamped in consequence. Hatches, particularly those of the upper deck, should not 

 only be made stouter then they usually are (they might for lightness be lined with 

 sheet copper or iron) but moreover two extra strong fore and aft-pieces should be made 

 to ship parallel with the middle piece, halfway between it and the side, so as to afford 

 additional support in cases like this. I shall be told that we know of very few instances 

 of this accident. This may ai-ise from few escaping to tell the tale. The number of 

 well-found, stout ships, ably manned and commanded, which disappear induce us to 

 believe that, apart from fire, there are storm-dangers which we can only guess at. I 

 think this. may reasonably be supposed to be one of them. H. P. 



