Naval Words

Naval Words

Trafalgar	The Royal Navy's most famous victory, on 21st October 1805. Named for Cape Trafalgar (Spanish: Cabo Trafalgar), a headland in Cadiz Province in the South-West of Spain. The name appears to be derived from the Arabic, Taraf al-Gharb, which means Cape of the West. Admiral Lord Nelson commanded the Royal Navy fleet, which defeated a larger Franco-Spanish fleet while losing no friendly vessels. After the battle, the Royal Navy remained unchallenged as the world's foremost naval power until the rise of Imperial Germany prior to the First World War, 100 years later.
Battleship	*Battleship* is 1884, from line-of-battle ship (1705). early 13c., from O.Fr. bataille, from L.L. battualia "exercise of soldiers and gladiators in fighting and fencing," from L. bauttere "beat," possibly of Celtic origin.
Cruiser	1651, from Du. kruisen "to cross, sail to and fro," from kruis "cross," from L. crux. *Cruiser* is 1679; in 18c. commonly applied to privateers.
Frigate	1585, from M.Fr. frégate, from It. fregata, like many ship names, of unknown origin.
Destroyer	A warship armed mainly with torpedoes and anti-submarine devices. 12c., from O.Fr. destruire, from V.L. *destrugerie (infl. by destructos), from L. destruere "tear down, demolish," lit. "un-build," from de- "un-, down" + struere "to pile, build." A naval *destroyer* was originally a "torpedo boat destroyer."
Cannon	The term CANNON describes the large, smooth-bored, muzzle-loading guns used before the advent of breech-loading, rifled guns firing shells 1400, from O.Fr. canon, from It. cannone "large tube," augmentive of L. canna "reed, cane," from Gk. kanna, probably from Assyr. qanu "tube, reed," from Sumerian gin "reed."
Carronade	The Carronade was a short gun developed by the Carron Company, a Scottish ironworks, in 1778. Known as a "Smasher" it was half the weight of an equivalent long gun, but could throw a heavy ball over a limited distance. Because of irregularities in the size of cannon balls and the difficulty of boring out gun barrels there was usually a considerable gap between the ball and the bore - often as much as a quarter of an inch - with a consequent loss of efficiency. This gap was known as the "windage". The manufacturing practices introduced by the Cannon Company reduced the windage considerably. The carronade was mounted on a sliding carriage with ropes to restrain the recoil. Lack of range against an opponent who could keep well clear and still use his long guns, led to its disappearance.
Starboard	Right side of a vessel. Named from the Steering Board "starboard" that was positioned on the right side of an oar-steered Nordic vessel.
Port	Left side of a vessel. Originally the larboard side from the Leaning Board. However, in increasingly large vessels this could be confused with starboard (q.v.). The left side of a boat was preferred for tying up in port, protecting the steering oar and giving it room to sweep from side to side when they were manoeuvring close to the landing. To facilitate loading and unloading goods, builders constructed an opening on the side next to the port. This opening (and, by extension, any opening in the hull of a boat) was known as a "port". Since "port" activities took place on the left side of the boat, it was natural to begin referring to the left side of the boat as the port side. By the middle of the 18th century, this was the common practice. It took much longer for official practices to follow suit (1844 for the British Navy and 1846 for the U.S. Navy).