TUB, Match. A conical tub used to guard the slow match in action. They were formerly about five-gallon capacity, the head being sunk about two inches, and four holes bored to insert slow matches. They are now almost disused, except to keep a light ready for signal purposes, as rockets, blue lights, &c., by night.

TUBES. See Chain-pump.

TUBES, for Guns. A kind of portable priming, for insertion into the vent,—of various patterns. (See Friction-tube, Quill-tubes, &c.)

TUBS, Topsail-halliard. Circular framed racks in which the topsail-halliards are coiled clear for running, and are prevented from fouling by being sent adrift in a gale.

TUBULAR BOILERS. Those in which the flame and hot gases, after leaving the furnaces, pass through a great number of small iron or brass[702] tubes surrounded by water, by which means these gases are made to impart some of their heat to the water before they escape; thus fuel is economized.

TUCK. The after-part of a ship, immediately under the stern or counter, where the ends of the bottom planks are collected and terminate by the tuck-rail. Thus the fir frigates of 1812-14 had flat, square transoms similar to boats, or heart-shaped. Hence our square-tucked frigates, brigs, &c.

TUG. A vessel for towing in and out of harbours and the like. (See Steam-tug.)

TUG, To [from the Anglo-Saxon teogan, to pull]. It now signifies to hang on the oars, and get but little or nothing ahead.

TUGG. A heavy sort of wain or cart, on which the ship-timber for naval arsenals was formerly conveyed from Sussex.

TUMBLE IN. See Tumbling Home.

TUMBLER. One of the numerous names for the porpoise, Phocœna communis. Also, a contrivance to avoid the necessity of having copper nailed on the mast to prevent a gaff from chafing it.

TUMBLE UP! A requisition of the boatswain's mates, &c., to quicken the hands after being piped up. The cry is well understood, though so contrary to the known tendency of gravitation.

TUMBLING HOME. The opposite of wall-sided, or flaring out. That part of a ship's side which curves inwardly above the extreme breadth. In all old sea-books this narrowing of a ship from the extreme breadth upwards is called housing in. (See Upper-works.)

TUMBLING SEA. The increased rolling before a gale.

TUMBRIL. A covered cart for conveying ammunition and pioneers' tools.

TUM-TUM. A West India dish, consisting of boiled plantain beat into a paste and fried.

TUNGULA. A small boat in the Moluccas and Borneo.

TUNNY. A well-known large fish of the family Scombridæ. It forms an important branch of Mediterranean commerce.

TURBONADA. A roaring squall, or short hurricane, of frequent occurrence in the Pacific Ocean [a mimo-phonetic term adopted from the Spaniards].

TURBOT. The Pleuronectes maximus, a flat fish in the highest esteem with all ichthyophagi.

TURKEY-GRAIN. A name for maize.

TURK'S HEAD. An ornamental knot, so called from resembling a turban, used on side-ropes, &c.; it is worked with a piece of small line by following the lead till it is formed with three parts to each cross.

TURN, To Take or Catch a. To pass a rope once or twice round a cleat, pin, kevel, or any other thing, to keep it fast.

TURN AHEAD! A self-explanatory order to the engineer, in regulating the movement of a steamer.

TURN A TURTLE, To. To take the animal by seizing a flipper, and[703] throwing him on his back, which renders him quite helpless. Also applied to a vessel capsizing; or throwing a person suddenly out of his hammock.

TURN IN, To. To go to bed.—To turn out. To get up.

TURN IN A DEAD-EYE OR HEART, To. To seize the end of a shroud or stay, &c., securely round it.

TURNING IN RIGGING. The end of a vessel's shrouds carried round the dead-eyes, laid back and secured by seizings.

TURNING-ROOM. Space in a narrow channel for a ship to work in.

TURN IN THE HAWSE. Two crosses in a cable.

TURN OF THE TIDE. The change from ebb to flood, or the contrary.

TURN OUT THE GUARD! The order for the marines of the guard to fall in, on the quarter-deck, in order to receive a superior officer on board.

TURN OVER MEN, To. To discharge them out of one ship into another.

TURN THE GLASS. The order in throwing the log when the stray line is payed out.

TURN THE HANDS UP, To. To summon the entire crew on deck.

TURN TO WINDWARD, To. To gain on the wind by alternate tacking. It is when a ship endeavours to make progress against the wind by a compound course inclined to the place of her destination; otherwise called plying or beating to windward.

TURNPIKE-SAILORS. Rascals who go about dressed as sailors pretending that they have been shipwrecked, and soliciting charity.

TURPIS CAUSA. An unsustainable suit for wages, on the part of a British pilot, for navigating a foreign ship to an enemy's port.

TURRET-SHIP. A vessel, more or less armoured, fitted with one or more heavily plated revolving turrets, each carrying one or more guns of the heaviest class, which look out above the deck; the whole worked by steam-power. It represents the present improvement on the inventions of the cupola-ship, shield-ship, and monitor.

TURTLE. The well-known marine reptile described by early navigators as "reasonable toothsom meate." The horny covering of the shell of some species furnishes the substance commonly known as tortoise-shell.

TURTLE-CRAWL. A shallow lagoon, wherein turtles are kept.

TURTLE-PEG. A socketed pointed iron on a staff; it is slightly barbed, and is a special tool for sticking turtle.

TUSK. The Brosmius vulgaris, a savoury fish taken in the northern seas, about the size of the ling, but with a broader tail.

'TWEEN OR 'TWIXT DECKS. The one under the gun deck, where sailors usually mess.

TWICE-LAID. Rope made from a selection of the best yarns of old rope. Also, a sea-dish made of the salt-fish left from yesterday's dinner, and beaten up with potatoes or yams.

TWIDDLING-LINE. A piece of small rope ornamentally fitted and used for steadying the steering-wheel when required: no longer used.[704]

TWIG, To. To pull upon a bowline. Also, in familiar phrase, to understand or observe.

TWIG-AIT. A river islet where osiers grow.

TWINE. A kind of strong thread used in sail-making; it is of two kinds: extra, for sewing the seams; and ordinary, for the bolt-ropes. (See Whipping-twine.) Irish twine or thumb-line, like nettles, is worked by the fingers from fine yarns drawn from bolt-rope.

TWIN-SCREW. A steamer fitted with two propellers and independent engines, to enable her to turn rapidly on her own axis. The twin-screw principle is not new, but latterly it has been so perfected that speed in turning is no longer a matter of doubt.

TWO-BLOCKS. The same as chock-a-block (which see).

TWO-HANDED FELLOWS. Those who are both seamen and soldiers, or artificers; as the marines and, specially, marine artillerymen.

TWO-HANDED SAW. A very useful instrument in ship-carpentry; it is much longer than the hand-saw, and requires two men to use it.

TWO-MONTHLY BOOK. A book kept by the captain's clerk, to be forwarded every two months, when possible, in order to prevent frauds; and in the event of a ship being lost, to have the accounts to the nearest period.

TWO MONTHS' ADVANCE. See Advance Money.

TWO-PENCES. A deduction from each man, per mensem, formerly assigned to the surgeon for wages.

TWO-TOPSAIL-SCHOONER. See Topsail-schooner.

TWY. A meteor squall on the coasts of Wiltshire, Hampshire, &c.

TYE. A runner of thick rope or chain, which forms part of the purchase used for hoisting the top-sail and top-gallant yards.

TYE-BLOCK. The block on the yard through which the tye is rove, and passes on to be secured at the mast-head. The block secured to the lower end of the tye is the fly-block.

TYMOOM. A Chinese river craft.

TYNDARIDES. The ancient name of the meteor called corpo santo.

TYPHOON, Ty-fong, or Tai-phon. The Chinese word for a great wind, applied to hurricanes or cyclones. They are revolving storms of immense force, occurring most frequently in those parts of the world which are subject to monsoons, and take place at those seasons when the monsoons are changing. They seem to be eddies formed by the meeting of opposing currents of air—for instance, the westerly winds near the equator and the easterly winds of higher latitudes—which accounts for the important fact that these storms revolve in opposite directions in the two hemispheres—in the southern with, in the northern against, the hands of a watch; but the circular tendency in both supports the name of cyclone.

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