I'm drowing in a sea of sea terms!

December 11, 2005 6:47 PM

I started listening to Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian and am seeking books and documentaries that will explain all of the naval terms and jargon.

I am enjoying the book alot, but feel I'm missing out on a bunch of the in depth descriptions because of my complete lack of knowledge concerning sailing and the age of sea. If anyone could recommend some good books or documentaries that would be great! I would prefer lots of illustrations as I am very visual. Thanks!

posted by meta87 to Education (16 answers total)

My copy of the book has a diagram of all the sails.

Also, I have these in my bookmarks:

http://www.wwnorton.com/pob/pobhome.htm
http://www.wwnorton.com/pob/webships.htm
http://www.io.com/gibbonsb/pob/
http://home.planet.nl/~pdavis/index.htm
http://home1.gte.net/ikvamar/navlinks/shipview.htm#Overall
posted by neuron at 6:55 PM on December 11, 2005

Click here.
posted by cribcage at 6:55 PM on December 11, 2005

I hear ya, meta87. When I read those books I also bought a book of ship modelling illustrations for visual reference (like what the orlop deck is all about). Or look for a good coffee table book.
posted by fleacircus at 7:05 PM on December 11, 2005

You could always go the other way, and collapse the relevant pages down to "...and they fiddled with the sails to try to go faster, but it didn't work," etc.

A friend in NC was a big PO'B fan and had a book called "A Sea of Words" or similar that explained all the stuff.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:16 PM on December 11, 2005

A Sea of Words.
posted by cribcage at 7:25 PM on December 11, 2005

best understanding comes from reading the books, all 20 of 'em. O'Brian explains everything about big boat sailing and fighting throughout the series.

I also have a general knowledge of naval law, piracy vs. privateering and debtor's prison due to his books...
posted by dawdle at 7:25 PM on December 11, 2005

the sailor's word book.
posted by 3.2.3 at 7:33 PM on December 11, 2005

I'll second the reccomendation for A Sea of Words. I picked it up with the second book, when I somehow plowed through the first without understanding half of what was being said. It does a great job of not only explaining the terms you might not know, but also covers a lot of historical events that get mention in the books but may not be fully explained. I think I found a used copy on amazon for around $3.
posted by chrisege at 7:48 PM on December 11, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks for all the great recommendations!
posted by meta87 at 8:31 PM on December 11, 2005

I second A Sea of Words.
posted by Hildago at 8:58 PM on December 11, 2005

Full confession: These books were a large part of the reason I ended up working in maritime history.

Sea of Words is great on definitions. But for conceptual understanding, it only scrapes the surface. If you truly have the passion, you're about to spend a lot of your life on understanding this stuff.

Harland's Seamanship in the Age of Sail is the single most useful reference book you will find. It will explain every sail-handling technicality and manuever in the books. It'll help you understand steering, navigation, and concepts like 'weather helm'.

You'll want to check out the British National Maritime Museum, maybe starting with this page .

Finally -- and especially since you are very cisual -- you will want to make an effort to see as many traditional sailing vessels as you can. There is simply no replacement for looking at a vessel, tracing the structure of the standing rigging, pulling at the running rigging, and witnessing the potentials and limitations of the bracing system when bringing the sails from one tack to another.America's maritime museums are there to help. If you can, start by visiting the Queen Mother of maritime museums, Mystic Seaport. And visit in summer when you can watch "Working Aloft on a Square-Rigger" demonstrations, and help raise sails and work the capstan yourself.

If you have questions about specific terms or phenomena, feel free to e-mail me (it's in my profile). If I don't know the answer I'll be able to help you find it.

Enjoy the books. They really did spark an interest that changed my life...
posted by Miko at 9:49 PM on December 11, 2005

Try also the US Navy's "Nomenclature of Naval Vessels" - my copy of the 1942 edition has plates and errata that aren't on-line but they aren't relevant to older vessels.

Wow, cribcage's book looks cool!
posted by nicwolff at 10:35 PM on December 11, 2005

The Rigging Of A Ship: 256 fast nautical terms. By Henry Beard
posted by growabrain at 12:10 AM on December 12, 2005

Definitely A Sea Of Words. The Illustrated Companion, Patrick O'Brian's Navy, is a nice "coffee table" book.
posted by mtonks at 12:29 AM on December 12, 2005

I also highly recommend Harbors and High Seas: An Atlas and Geographical Guide to the Aubrey-Maturin Novels of Patrick O'Brian.
posted by languagehat at 8:50 AM on December 12, 2005

I will fourth A Sea of Words, second Harbors and High Seas and throw in two more: N.A.M. Rodger's The Wooden World and The Command of the Ocean.

Harbors and High Seas has spoilers in it, so read with caution.
posted by ambrosia at 9:40 AM on December 12, 2005