TIME ON BOARD SHIP 
12:30 
A.M. 
... 1 
Bel! 
! 2:30 
P.M 
1 
Bell 
! :00 
ft 
2 
Bells 
i:C0 
• I 
2 
Bells 
1:30 
i « 
... 3 
f i 
1:30 
19 
3 
l» 
2.00 
• f 
.... 4 
ft 
2:00 
f 9 
4 
H 
2:30 
K 
5 
ft 
2:30 
If 
5 
«a 
3:00 
II 
6 
11 
3:00 
• 1 
6 
la 
3:30 
M 
... 7 
n 
3:30 
ft 
7 
at 
4:00 
1 1 
... 8 
M 
4:00 
a a 
8 
n 
4:30 
■ I 
1 
19 
4:30 
1 1 
1 
at 
5:00 
1 • 
2 
M 
5:00 
fa 
2 
it 
5:30 
• • 
... 3 
• • 
5:30 
a t 
3 
91 
6:00 
« a 
.. 4 
It 
6:00 
« i 
4 
1 l 
6:30 
1 1 
5 
If 
6:30 
I • 
5 
91 
7:00 
M 
6 
l« 
7:00 
• a 
6 
91 
7:30 
ii 
7 
II 
7:30 
9 I 
7 
1 » 
8:00 
«« 
8 
91 
8:00 
f a 
8 
9 a 
8:30 
ii 
1 
II 
8:30 
a f 
I 
«a 
9:00 
• i 
2 
tf 
9:00 
If 
2 
a a 
9:30 
«« 
3 
19 
9:30 
i « 
3 
91 
10:00 
ti 
4 
If 
10:00 
it 
4 
«a 
10:30 
91 
5 
• 1 
10:30 
9 9 
5 
98 
1 1:00 
11 
.. 6 
If 
11:00 
If 
6 
«« 
11:30 
«• 
7 
If 
! 1:30 
If 
7 
tl 
12 Moon 
. 8 
If 
12:00 
midnight 
8 
9 a 
Once 
a day, 
usua 
!ly at noon, 
the time on board 
ship is 
anged 
because 
of 
the 
distance 
the sh 
ip has run during 
tha 
last twenty-four hours. 
SHIPS’ WATCHES 
Time at sea is counted in watches of four hours each, and two 
of two hours, in order to alternate the watches. They are 
arranged as follows: 
FIRST WATCH 
MIDDLE WATCH 
MORNING WATCH 
FORENOON WATCH 
AFTERNOON WATCH 
DOS WATCH j s F Lco ND 
DISTANCES VISIBLE AT SEA 
P.M. to 12 midnight 
12 midnight to 4 A.M 
4 A.M. to 8 A.M. 
8 A.M. to 12 noon 
1 2 noon to 4 P.M. 
4 P.M. to 6 P.M. 
6 P.M. to 8 P.M. 
At an elevation of five feet, one can see an object with no 
elevation, l}fi miles a way: at 20 feet, 5 miles; at 35 feet, 7 
miles; at 50 feet, 8 miles, and at 100 feet, II miles. 
10 
. 
f, 
NAUTICAL TERMS 
Abaft: Toward th© stern. 
Aft: Toward the stern. 
Baiiast. Any weights used to keep the ship from becctmino 
top heavy. 
Beam: Greatest width of a vessel. 
Bilge: The flat part of a ship's bottom. 
Bilge Keels: Fin-like strips running lengthwise and projecting 
from the outer bilge on some ships to reduce rolling. 
Bilge Water: Foul wafer that collects in the bilge of a ship. 
Biffs: Heavy steel castings fitted to a deck for securing 
mooring lines. 
Boom: A long, round spar pivoted at on© end, generally used 
for hoisting cargoes, etc. 
Bow: The forward part of a ship. 
Bridge: The elevated platform built across and above a ship's 
deck for the use of officers tn navigating a ship. 
8 u behead: A vertical partition running from side to side or 
fore and aft beneath tha deck. 
Bunker: A compartment used for the storage of fuel. 
Cable: A chain to which the anchor is fastened. Cable length 
means about 600 feet. 
Capstan: A windlass for drawing the cable. 
Chart: A sea map. 
Chart Room: Navigating Room. 
Companionway: Th© staircase at the entrance of the ship's 
cabin. 
Crows Nest: A barrel or box on the ship's foremast where the 
look-out is stationed. 
Davits: Heavy vertical pillars used to support the ends of a 
bfe boat when hoisting or lowering. 
Deadlight: Covering for portholes made of metal or wood 
. used in sever© weather. 
Dead Reckoning: Method of ascertaining the approximate 
position of a ship from the course steered and the distance 
run when heavenly bodies or land is obscured. 
Dog: A small bent metal fitting used to close doors. 
Draff: The depth to which a vessel sinks in water. 
Drift Current: Movement of the surface of the sea. 
Ebb Tide: The falling tide. 
Equinox: Equal length of day and night, the vernal equinox 
occurring toward the end of March and th© autumnal 
toward tha end of September. 
II 
