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Transit (ship)
''Transit'' was the name given to an innovative sailing ship designed for speed by Captain Richard Hall Gower and built in 1800. Gower also designed two similar ships with the same name. He hoped to have his designs adopted by the British Admiralty but failed to achieve his aim. Description All three ''Transit''s designed by Gower had fine lines at bow and stern, uniform frames mid-ships with concave and convex sweeps and a deep keel. Their length to beam ratio was unusually high, giving them a remarkable turn of speed. The foremast was square rigged while the other three or four masts were fore-and-aft rigged, barquentine fashion but carrying very simplified standing and running rigging. Each sail was equipped with a horizontal sprit that enabled it to be brailed up to its mast and deployed rapidly. Each mast carried three sails. The topmasts could be lowered and replaced from the deck, in the event the sprits were to fail in strong gales and had to be abandoned. The Pate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Hall Gower
Captain Richard Hall Gower (1768–1833) was an English mariner, empirical philosopher, nautical inventor, entrepreneur, and humanitarian. Mariner Richard was the youngest son of Rev. Foote Gower, physician and antiquarian, and Elizabeth, a sister of John Strutt, Member of Parliament for . He won a scholarship to Winchester College. He left school, "thankfully", to join the British East India Company as a midshipman in the vessel ''Essex'' carrying troops and invalids. He was a lively and observant lad. At the age of 16 he was promoted captain of the main top, where he waged active war with the lads of the fore top, shrouds and stays providing the high roads of communication. He was noted for his spirit and ingenuity, his depth of knowledge of his ship and his skill as a ship model maker; unravelling stockings to obtain rigging materials. When he returned to England after his first three-year voyage, he studied navigation at Edmonton and, on rejoining ship, was dubbed " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ratlines
Ratlines () are lengths of thin line tied between the shrouds of a sailing ship to form a ladder. Found on all square-rigged ships, whose crews must go aloft to stow the square sails, they also appear on larger fore-and-aft rigged vessels to aid in repairs aloft or conduct a lookout from above. Rat-boards Rat-boards are lower courses in a ratline, often made of slats of wood (battens) for support where the distance between shrouds is greatest. In some instances holes in these slats guide and organise low-tension lines between the deck and the rig. Knotting See also * Footrope Each yard on a square or gaff rigged sailing ship is equipped with a footrope for sailors to stand on while setting or stowing the sails. Formerly, the footrope was the rope sewn along the lower edge of a square sail, and the rope below the ya ... References {{Sail Types Sailing rigs and rigging ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patents
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A patent is not the grant of a right to make or use or sell. It does not, directly or indirectly, imply any such right. It grants only the right to exclude others. The supposition that a right to make is created by the patent grant is obviously inconsistent with the established distinctions between generic and specific patents, and with the well-known fact that a very considerable portion of the patents granted are in a field covered by a former relatively generic or basic patent, are tributary to such earlier patent, and cannot be practiced unless by license thereunder." – ''Herman v. Youngstown Car Mfg. Co.'', 191 F. 579, 584–85, 112 CCA 185 (6th Cir. 1911) In most countries, patent rights fall under private law and the patent holder mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop-of-war. The modern roles that a corvette fulfills include coastal patrol craft, missile boat and fast attack craft. These corvettes are typically between 500 tons and 2,000 .although recent designs may approach 3,000 tons, having size and capabilities that overlap with smaller frigates. However unlike contemporary frigates, a modern corvette does not have sufficient endurance and seaworthiness for long voyages. The word "corvette" is first found in Middle French, a diminutive of the Dutch word ''corf'', meaning a "basket", from the Latin ''corbis''. The rank "corvette captain", equivalent in many navies to "lieutenant commander", derives from the name of this type of ship. The rank is the most junior of three "captain" ranks in sev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northfleet
Northfleet is a town in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. It is located immediately west of Gravesend, and on the border with the Borough of Dartford. Northfleet has its own railway station on the North Kent Line, just east of Ebbsfleet International railway station on the High Speed 1 line. The area Northfleet's name is derived from being situated on the northern reach of what was once called the River Fleet (today known as the Ebbsfleet River). There is a village at the other end of the river named Southfleet. It has been the site of a settlement on the shore of the River Thames adjacent to Gravesend since Roman times. It was known as ''Fleote'' by the Saxons c. 600 AD, ''Flyote'' c. 900 AD, and ''Flete'' c. 1000 AD. It was recorded as ''Norfluet'' in the Domesday Book, and ''Northflet'' in 1201. By 1610 the name of Northfleet had become established. A battle took place during the Civil War at the Stonebridge over the Ebbsfleet river. Northfleet became a town in 187 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Osprey (1797)
Five ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Osprey'', after the bird of prey the Osprey: Ships * was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1797 and broken up in 1813. * was a 12-gun brig launched in 1844 and wrecked in 1846. * was a wooden screw gunvessel launched in 1856 and wrecked in 1867. * was an composite screw sloop launched in 1876 and sold in 1890. * was a launched in 1897 and sold in 1919. Shore establishments * HMS Osprey, Portland was an anti-submarine training establishment established at Portland between 1924 and 1941, when its functions were transferred to Dunoon. HMS ''Osprey'' was at Dunoon until 1946, the name also being allocated to a smaller base established at Belfast in 1943. ''Osprey'' recommissioned at Portland in 1946, became a base in 1948 and was closed in 1995. * RNAS Portland (HMS Osprey) RNAS Portland (ICAO: EGDP) was an air station of the Royal Navy, situated at the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It was establis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Lord Of The Admiralty
The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the direction and control of the Admiralty, and also of general administration of the Naval Service of the Kingdom of England, Great Britain in the 18th century, and then the United Kingdom, including the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, and other services. It was one of the earliest known permanent government posts. Apart from being the political head of the Naval Service the post holder was simultaneously the pre-eminent member of the Board of Admiralty. The office of First Lord of the Admiralty existed from 1628 until it was abolished when the Admiralty, Air Ministry, Ministry of Defence, and War Office were all merged to form the new Ministry of Defence in 1964. Its modern-day equivalent is the Secretary of State for Defence. History In 1628 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Jervis, 1st Earl Of St Vincent
Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent (9 January 1735 – 13 March 1823) was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Jervis served throughout the latter half of the 18th century and into the 19th, and was an active commander during the Seven Years' War, American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. He is best known for his victory at the 1797 Battle of Cape Saint Vincent, from which he earned his titles, and as a patron of Horatio Nelson. Despite having a fierce reputation for discipline his crews had great affection for him, calling him Old Jarvie. Jervis was also recognised by both political and military contemporaries as a fine administrator and naval reformer. As Commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean, between 1795 and 1799 he introduced a series of severe standing orders to avert mutiny. He applied those orders to both seamen and officers alike, a policy that made him a controve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topmast
The masts of traditional sailing ships were not single spars, but were constructed of separate sections or masts, each with its own rigging. The topmast is one of these. The topmast is semi-permanently attached to the upper front of the lower mast, at the top. Its shrouds run to the edges of the top, rather than to the sides of the hull, though long shrouds leading well aft to the hull, more in the manner of backstays, are sometimes seen. In accordance with the standard square rig sail plan, the topmast carries the topsail. In the late 19th century, however, topsails became so big that merchant ships began to divide them into two separate sails for easier handling; since these were still on the topmast they were known as upper and lower topsails to preserve the consistency of the naming scheme. The majority of large square-riggers today carry separate upper and lower topsails. The main topmast carries the upper end of the main-topmast-staysail; a mizzen-topmast may carry the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event. Etymology The word "keel" comes from Old English , Old Norse , = "ship" or "keel". It has the distinction of being regarded by some scholars as the first word in the English language recorded in writing, having been recorded by Gildas in his 6th century Latin work ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', under the spelling ''cyulae'' (he was referring to the three ships that the Saxons first arrived in). is the Latin word for "keel" and is the origin of the term careen (to clean a keel and the hull in general, often by rolling the ship on its side). An example of this use is Careening Cove, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, where careening was carried out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brail (sailing)
Brails, in a sailing ship, are small lines used to haul in or up the edges (leeches) or corners of sails, before furling.''Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary'', 1913. On a ship rig, these brails are most often found on the mizzen sail. The command is, ''hale up the brails'', or, ''brail up the sails''. The word brail comes from Middle English ''brayle'', from Anglo-French ''braiel'' belt, strap, brail, alteration of Old French ''braiuel'' belt, probably ultimately from Latin ''braca'' pant. A brail net is a type of net incorporating brail lines on a small fishing net on a boat or castnet. A brail net used for casting is also referred to as an English net as opposed to a Spanish net. See also *Clewlines and buntlines *Reefing *Guy (sailing) A guy (probably from Dutch ''gei'', "brail") is a line (rope) attached to and intended to control the end of a spar on a sailboat. On a modern sloop-rigged sailboat with a symmetric spinnaker, the spinnaker pole is the spar most co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sprit
The spritsail is a four-sided, fore-and-aft sail that is supported at its highest points by the mast and a diagonally running spar known as the sprit. The foot of the sail can be stretched by a boom or held loose-footed just by its sheets. A spritsail has four corners: the throat, peak, clew, and tack. The Spritsail can also be used to describe a rig that uses a spritsail. Historically, spritsails were the first European fore-and-aft rigs, appearing in Greco-Roman navigation in the 2nd century BC. The rig The luff of the sail is bound to the mast, but unlike the gaff rig where the head is bound to a spar, this rig supports the leech of the sail by means of a diagonal spar or spars named a sprit ( ). The forward end of the sprit spar is attached to the mast, with the after end of the sprit spar attached to the peak. The sprit is steadied and controlled from the deck by a pair of wire vangs ( ) attached to the peak of the sail. It is said to be the ancestor of the common g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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