Quiz Monkey |
Language |
Nautical Terms |
Watches |
Standard to Nautical |
Nautical to Standard |
First watch | 2000 – 0000 (midnight) | |
Middle watch | 0000 – 0400 | |
Morning watch | 0400 – 0800 | |
Forenoon watch | 0800 – 1200 | |
Afternoon watch | 1200 – 1600 | |
First dog watch | 1600 – 1800 | |
Second dog watch | 1800 – 2000 |
Sounded at the end of a watch (but not the first dog watch) | Eight bells |
In this section you're given a standard English term and asked for the nautical equivalent, or (as in the first table) simply asked a question where the answer is a nautical term.
Secured in the cathead | Anchor | |
The widest point of a ship, or its width at that point | Beam | |
The lowest part of the hull, beneath the lowest deck, where water may collect and need to be pumped out | Bilges | |
Stand or housing for a ship's compass | Binnacle | |
Women and children first | Birkenhead Drill | |
Officer responsible for the maintenance of a ship and its equipment | Boatswain (bosun) | |
The spar that projects forwards from the bows of a sailing vessel | Bowsprit | |
Ship with two masts, the forward of which (only) is square–rigged | Brigantine | |
Dividing wall below deck | Bulkhead | |
Woodwork running around a ship above the level of the deck | Bulwark | |
Rotating machine with a drum equipped with ratchets, for hauling in ropes | Capstan | |
A beam that supports the deck – also a popular brand of lager! | Carling | |
Stairway leading between two decks | Companionway | |
Small single–masted vessel, "fore–and–aft" rigged, having the mast not as far forward as a sloop | Cutter | |
Crane used for raising and lowering equipment, especially lifeboats | Davit | |
Ceiling | Deckhead | |
Traditional Arab sailing ship (with one or more triangular sails) | Dhow | |
Name given by sailors to the belt of low pressure around the Equator – characterised by light winds and calms, but occasional sudden storms – caused by the meeting of trade winds | The Doldrums | |
Word that stems from a Frisian word meaning 'outstretched arms' | Fathom | |
Raised edges on tables to prevent things from falling off | Fiddles | |
Type of rig in which the sails are in the same line as the keel | Fore–and–aft | |
Kitchen | Galley | |
The part of a ship's side that projects above the deck | Gunwale | |
Rope used to hoist a sail, flag or yard | Halyard | |
Type of boat with wing–like structures beneath the hull, which lift the boat out of the water at speed, thus reducing drag | Hydrofoil | |
Temporary mast to replace one that has been lost or broken | Jury mast | |
Punishment in which the offender is dragged under a ship from one side to the other | Keelhauling | |
Washboard (on a boat) | Keeps water off the decks | |
Distress signal "Mayday" comes (allegedly) from the French term | M'aidez (help me) | |
Marine distress signal with a loud report | Maroon | |
Nearest the stern on a three–masted ship | Mizzenmast | |
Slang term for a boat being towed by a harpooned whale (US) | Nantucket sleigh ride | |
To rock from bow to stern; to nose up or down about a transverse axis | Pitch | |
Sailor who hasn't crossed the Equator (cf. Shellback) | Polliwog | |
Raised deck at the stern of a sailing vessel, from which it was steered | Poop deck | |
Quant: used for | Propelling a punt | |
Reducing the area of sail in a high wind | Reefing | |
To rock from side to side (see also Pitch, Yaw) | Roll | |
Flat–bottomed Chinese river boat, sometimes with a rudimentary shelter | Sampan | |
Holes in the sides of the deck that allow water to drain off | Scuppers | |
Sailor who has crossed the Equator (cf. Polliwog) | Shellback | |
Originally referred to a tall mast, or its main sail, on a sailing ship | Skyscraper | |
Small single–masted vessel, "fore–and–aft" rigged, having the mast further forward than a cutter | Sloop | |
Type of rig in which the sails are perpendicular to the keel, suspended from a spar | Square rig | |
Lowest deck of a passenger vessel, providing the cheapest and most basic passenger accommodation - so called because it's near the rudder controls | Steerage | |
Starboard is a corruption of | Steerboard | |
Receptacle into which the mast fits | Tabernacle | |
Naval equivalent of the Officer's Mess in the army | Wardroom | |
A thin, broad plank above the gunwale or side, to keep out the spray and sea | Washboard (or splashboard) | |
To move about a vertical axis (deviate temporarily from course) | Yaw |
In this section you're given a nautical term and asked for the standard English equivalent, or (as in the first question) simply asked a question where the answer is a standard English term used in a nautical context.
© Haydn Thompson 2017–24