Terminology

Every profession has its own jargon, and the Navy is no exception. For the Navy, it’s

Bulkhead, deck and overhead and not wall, floor, and ceiling. Some nautical terminology

has found its way into everyday use, and you will find the origins of this and Navy

terminology below.

Above Board

The term today means someone who is honest, forthright. It’s origin comes from

the days when pirates would masquerade as honest merchantmen, hiding most

of their crew behind the bulwark (side of the ship on the upper deck). They hid

below the boards.

Ahoy!

This old traditional greeting for hailing other vessels was originally a Viking

Battle cry.

Between the Devil and the Deep

In wooden ships, the “devil” was the longest seam of the ship. It ran from the

bow to the stern. When at sea and the “devil” had to be caulked, the sailor sat in

a BO’sun’s chair to do so. He was suspended between the “devil” and the sea —

the “deep” — a very precarious position, especially when the ship was

Underway.

Chewing the Fat

“God made the vittles’ but the devil made the cook,” was a popular saying

used by seafaring men in the 19th century when salted beef was staple diet

aboard ship.

This tough cured beef, suitable only for long voyages when nothing else was

cheap or would keep as well (remember, there was no refrigeration), required

prolonged chewing to make it edible. Men often chewed one chunk for hours,

just as it were chewing gum and referred to this practice as “chewing the fat.”

Crow’s Nest

The raven, or crow, was an essential part of the Vikings’ navigation equipment.

These land-lubbing birds were carried on aboard to help the ship’s navigator

determine where the closest land lay when weather prevented sighting the

shore. In cases of poor visibility, a crow was released and the navigator plotted

a course corresponding to the bird’s flight path because the crow invariably

headed towards land.

The Norsemen carried the birds in ’ cage secured to the top of the mast. Later

on, as ships grew and the lookout stood his watch in a tub located high on the

main mast, the name “crow’s nest” was given to this tub. While today’s Navy still

uses lookouts in addition to radars, etc., the crow’s nest is a thing of the past.

Cup of Joe

Josephus Daniels (18 May 1862-15 January 1948) was appointed Secretary of

the Navy by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Among his reforms of the Navy

were inaugurating the practice of making 100 Sailors from the Fleet eligible for

entrance into the Naval Academy, the introduction of women into the service,

and the abolishment of the officers’ wine mess. From that time on, the strongest

drink aboard Navy ships could only be coffee and over the years, a cup of

coffee became known as “a cup of Joe”.