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Wake. The disturbed water left behind a moving vessel. When dealing with propellers and propeller design a special significance attaches, which may be explained as follows. When a ship moves through the water a forward motion is imparted to the particles of water lying close to the hull of the vessel. This forward motion of the water close to the hull increases in intensity as it approaches the stern of the vessel so that the propeller actually revolves in water which has a decided motion in the forward direction. This forward moving water has a marked influence upon the efficiency of the propeller and for convenience is referred to as the "Wake."

Wake. The water at and immediately abaft a vessel’s stern which follows the vessel with differing velocities at various points as she moves ahead. The wake is due to several causes, among which are: the effect of the natural stream line flow round a vessel’s after body; the increase in thickness and velocity of a vessel’s frictional belt as the stern is approached; with very full lines the actual forward drag of the water behind the stern; and, under certain conditions, the vessel’s own wave action.

Wake Gain. The increase in the effective thrust of a propeller, for a given power delivered thereto, on account of the forward motion of the water forming the wake behind a vessel’s hull. The wake gain is only realized to its full extent when the water enters the propeller disc in unbroken lines of flow closely parallel to the propeller shaft and when the clearance between blade tips and hull and blade tips and surface of water is ample.

Wales. The side planking on a wood ship lying between the bottom and topside planking.

Walk Way. See Bridge, Connecting.

Wall Crane. See Crane, Jib.

Wane. Bark or lack of wood from any cause on edges of lumber.

Wardroom. A room or space on shipboard set aside for use of the officers for social purposes and also used as their mess or dining room.

Wardroom Country. All the space on a deck devoted to the quarters of the wardroom officers.

Warp. A light hawser or tow rope; to move a vessel along by means of lines or warps secured to some fixed object; the lengthwise threads in woven material so called from the operation of assembling and arranging the threads known as warping.

Warping. A term applied to the: operation of moving a vessel from one place to another about a dock or harbor by means of hawsers. The operation of changing a vessel’s berth when it is not performed by tugs or its own propelling machinery.

Warping Winch. See Winch, Warping.

Wash Bulkhead. See Bulkhead, Wash.

Wash Plates. Plates fitted fore and aft between floors for the purpose of checking the flow of bilge water when the vessel is rolling.

Wash Port. See Port, Wash, Bulwark, Clearing or Freeing.

Watches. Nautical divisions of time usually four hours each for standing watch or being on deck ready for duty. The first watch extends from 8 p. m. to mid-night, the mid watch from midnight to 4 a.m., the morning watch from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., the forenoon watch from 8 a.m. to noon, the afternoon watch from noon to 4 p.m.; the watch from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. is usually divided into two equal parts known as the first and second "dog watches"; division, usually one-half, of the officers and crew who together attend to the working of a vessel during the same watch. These are designated as the starboard and port watches, each of which is alternately on duty.

Water Ballast. See Ballast, Water.

Water Ballast Tank. A tank in which sea water for ballast is confined.

Water-courses. A term applied to limber holes and to gutters in the lower portions of compartments between limber holes.

Water Gage, Boiler. See Boiler Gage, Water.

Water Light. An apparatus for automatically lighting a ring life buoy, life boat, or raft when in the water. The light, which is self-igniting and non-poisonous, consists of a cylindrical copper receptacle filled with calcium carbide and calcium phosphide. A plug fitting into the cylinder is automatically withdrawn when casting the buoy overboard. water is admitted to the chemical compound, thereby producing in about one minute a brilliant flame lasting an hour or longer.

Waterline (Light). See Light, Waterline.

Waterline (Loaded). The waterline to which a vessel sinks when fully loaded.

Water-logged. So saturated or filled with water as to be unmanageable.

Waterplane. A plane coincident with or parallel to the surface of the water and limited by the line of its intersection with the vessel’s hull.

Waterplane Area. The area of the waterplane at which the ship floats.

Waterplane, Coefficient. See Coefficient.

Water Pump. See Pump, Water.

Water Service Pump. See Pump, Water Service.

Water Tenders. Members of a ship’s boiler room force who are responsible for the proper supply of water to the boilers.

Watertight Bulkhead. See Bulkhead, Watertight.

Watertight Conduit Box. See Conduit Box.

Watertight Compartment. A space or compartment within a ship having its top, bottom and sides constructed in such a manner as to prevent leakage.

Watertight Door. See Door, Watertight. .

Watertight Electric Light Fixtures. See Electric Light Fixtures, Watertight.

Watertight Hatch. See Hatch, Watertight.

Watertight Plug, Electric. See Plug, Electric Watertight.

Watertight Snap Switch. See Snap Switch.

Water Tube Boiler. See Boiler, Water Tube.

Waterway. On wood ships the margin plank running along the edges of the decks adjacent to the inside faces of the frames. This timber is always thicker than the regular deck planking. On steel ships with planked decks the gutter formed along the sides of a deck by the waterway and stringer angle bars.

Waterway Bar. A term applied to an angle bar attached to a deck stringer plate forming the inboard boundary of a waterway and serving as an abutment for the wood deck planking.

Watt. The unit of electrical power. It is the amount of power given by 1 ampere under a pressure of 1 volt. One watt equals 0.00134 horsepower.

Wattmeter. An instrument for measuring electrical power.

Wave Profile. In the case of the bow wave which for a given speed and ship assumes a fairly constant size, shape and position relative to the ship’s length, it is the wave outline against the ship’s side. For the purposes of the strength calculation a deep sea wave is assumed and its profile considered as conforming closely to a mathematical law.

Ways. A term applied to the tracks and sliding timbers used in launching a vessel. Also applied in a general sense to the building slip or space upon which a vessel is constructed.

Ways, Ground. The stationary timbers or tracks laid upon the ground or foundation cribbing upon which the sliding timbers or ways, supporting a vessel to be launched, travel.

Ways, Launching. Two sets of long heavy timbers arranged longitudinally under the bottom of a ship with one set on each side, and sloping towards the water. Each set is composed of two separate members with the adjoining surfaces well lubricated with oil and tallow. The lower members are called the ground ways and remain stationary while the upper members are called the sliding ways and support the weight of the ship upon the removal of the shores and keel blocks and slide overboard with the ship at its launching.

Ways, Sliding. Timbers supporting a vessel to be launched which slide with the vessel along the stationary track or ground ways.

Weather Bow. That side of the bow toward the wind.

Weather Brace. A brace leading to that side of a vessel from which the wind comes. The opposite of the lee brace.

Weather Deck. See Deck, Weather.

Weather Quarter. That quarter of a vessel toward the wind.

Web. That portion of a beam or girder between the flanges which acts to hold the flanges in place and to resist the internal sheer stresses of the girder.

Web Frame. See Frame, Web.

Web Frame Angle Bars. See Frame, Web, Angle Bars.

Web Frame Angle Clips. See Frame, Web, Angle Clips.

Web Plate. See Plate, Web.

Wedge of Emersion. Consider the waterplane of a vessel floating upright as a plane fixed in its relation to the vessel. Term this the U plane. Incline the vessel to an angle from the upright. In the process of inclination the U plane forms two wedges with the surface of the water. The wedge which is above the surface of the water with the ship in the inclined position is called the wedge of emersion, while the wedge below the surface of the water is the wedge of immersion.

Wedge of Immersion. See Wedge of Emersion.

Wedges. Wood or metal pieces shaped in the form of a V, used for driving up or for separating work. They are used in launching to raise a vessel up and on to the cradle from the keel blocks.

Weeping. The very slow issuance of water through the seams of a ship’s structure or from a containing vessel in insufficient quantity to produce a stream.

Weigh. To take the weight of the anchor on the chain; to hoist the anchor.

Welding. The art of joining or uniting two pieces of iron, steel or other metal together into one piece. Welding iron and steel by heating the parts to be united to a plastic state and putting them together and hammering the joint has been practiced for centuries.

Well-Deck Vessel. A merchant vessel having a sunken deck fitted between the forecastle and a long poop or continuous bridge house or raised quarter deck.

Well-Hole. A companionway or staircase enclosed on three sides.

Wells. See Pump, Wells.

Wet Dock, Wet Slip. Wet docks are basins into which vessels are admitted at high tide through gates which when closed retain the water at a constant level, not being affected by change in tides without. A wet slip is an opening between two wharves or piers where dock trials are usually conducted and the final fitting out is done.

Wetted Surface. The area of the immersed surface of the hull. It may or may not include the wetted surfaces of the appendages.

Whaler. A vessel designed for or used in the whale trade.

Wharf. A structure built on the shore of a harbor, river, canal or the like and extending out into deep water so that vessels may Iie close alongside to receive or discharge cargo or passengers.

Wheel Port. See Aperture.

Wheel, Steering. See Steering Wheel.

Wheelhouse. A shelter built over the steering wheel. The term is generally used relative to the house in which a hand steering wheel is Iocated.

Whelp, Chain. A term applied to wood drums on a windlass having iron strips attached to them to grip the anchor chain and prevent wear on the drums.

Whip. The term whip is loosely applied to any tackle used for hoisting light weights and serves to designate the use to which a tackle is put rather than the method of reeving the tackle. The "single whip" or the "double whip" is the usual reference when using the term. but hatch whips, mast whips, etc., are often rove as luff tackles or as two fold purchases. A single whip gives no increase in power but simply a change in direction of the power applied.

Whip-Upon-Whip. One whip arranged to haul on the fall of another.

Whipping. Turns of twine or small stuff wound around the end of a rope to prevent it from unlaying.

Whistle. A steam or air whistle should be fitted on the forward side of the smoke stack for signaling.

Whistle Control, Electric. To eliminate the danger of breakage to the whistle rope and to reduce the physical labor required to blow the whistle frequently in fog, the electric control has been developed. It consists of a controlling switch located in the pilot house and on the bridge and electrically connected to a relay located in the engine room. The closing of the control switch in the pilot house causes the relay to close which completes a circuit through a solenoid located just below the whistle valve. The pull of this solenoid operates the whistle valve.

Whistle Pull. A cord or rope of small diameter extending from the whistle to the pilot house and used to operate the same.

Whistle Valve, Balanced. To overcome the strong pull required to open the simple type of whistle valve against high pressure the balanced valve was developed. The principle involved is usually the same in different designs. The pull on the valve lever opens a small port which allows the full pressure of steam to pass to the atmospheric side of the valve or an extension of the main valve. This balances the pressure of the boiler side and makes the complete opening of the valve very easy. It is principally employed where the electric control is used.

White Rope. See Rope, White.

Winch. A hoisting or pulling machine fitted with a horizontal single or double drum. A small drum is generally fitted on one or both ends of the shaft supporting the hoisting drum. These small drums are called gypsies or winch heads. The hoisting drums are either fitted with a friction brake or are directly keyed to the shaft. The driving power is usually steam or electricity but hand power is also used. A winch is used principally for the purpose of handling, hoisting and lowering cargo from a dock or lighter to the hold of a ship and vice versa. lt is also used to top the booms, take up on lines in miscellaneous work aboard ship, in warping a ship into dock and in some cases for working windlasses and pumps by messenger chain.

Winch, Crab. A term applied to a small winch.

Winch Foundations. In the first place the deck itself in the way of a winch should be sufficiently strengthened and stiffened by stanchions, heavier deck beams or both. In case the deck is not plated it is desirable that plating of the approximate size of the base of the winch should be fitted not only to reduce vibration but also to take the holding down bolts. It is recommended that this plating be placed both on the top and bottom of the deck beams and firmly connected to them, with wood filling between the plates. With thin deck plating a doubling plate under the winch should be fitted. While it has been the custom in some yards, particularly on the Pacific Coast, to place a wood sole on the deck under a winch, this practice is objectionable because of the difficulty of keeping the wood from rotting. It is better to set the winch on the deck or on channel bar bearers and in case of a wood deck to fit a bounding bar around the winch to form an abutment for the planking.

Winch Head. A small auxiliary drum usually fitted on one or both ends of a winch. The method of operating a winch head is to take a couple of turns with the bight of a rope around the drum and to take in or pay out the slack of the free end. The winch head is used for topping booms, handling whips, warping, etc.

Wind-catchers. Special devices, such as wind sails, air port at scoops, etc., placed facing the wind so as to create a draft of air into the space desired.

Winder. A tool used on the bending slab to handle heated shapes.

Windlass. See Windlass, Steam. A device for hoisting or hauling by means of a rope or wire wound on to a horizontal drum or barrel.

Windlass Foundation. A term applied to a seating prepared for a windlass foundation.

Windlass, Spanish. See Spanish Windlass.

Windlass, Steam. An apparatus in which horizontal drums or gypsies and wildcats are operated by means of a steam engine for the purpose of handling heavy anchor chains, hawsers, etc. The engines are usually of the simple reversible type, the cylinders being variously disposed and actuating worm shafts which in turn operate the gypsy and wildcat shaft through the worm wheels.

Window Frame Sill. See Sill, Window Frame.

Window Sash. See Sash, Window.

Windsail. A cylindrical canvas apparatus distended by hoops and used to admit air to the lower portions of a vessel. It consists of a head having two large flaps or wings extended by bowlines. These wings catch the air and direct it into an aperture in the sail. A barrel or tail led through hatches conveys the air below decks. In some cases the head is entirely open and is fitted with four flaps avoiding the necessity of constantly trimming the sail with the shift of the wind or the swing of the vessel.

Wing Frames. See Frames, Wing.

Wing Girder. See Girder, Wing.

Wing Tanks. Tanks located outboard and usually just under the weather deck. They are sometimes formed by fitting a longitudinal bulkhead between the two uppermost decks and sometimes by working a diagonal, longitudinal flat between the ship’s side and the weather deck.

Wing, Winging. A term used to designate structural members, sails and objects on a ship that are placed at a considerable distance off the centerline.

Winging Weights. The moving of weights (already on board a ship) from the middle line towards the sides. This increases the moment of inertia and tends to lengthen the period of roll of the ship.

Winter Load Line. The waterline to which a vessel is allowed to load when going to sea in the winter time.

Wire Mesh Bulkhead. See Bulkhead, Wire Mesh.

Wire Rope. See Rope, Wire.

Wire Rope Fittings. See Rope Fittings.

Wireless House. A small house or enclosure usually built on the uppermost deck to house the wireless equipment and operators.

Wood Deck. See Deck, Wood.

Wood Hatch. See Hatch, Wood.

Wood Grating. See Grating, Wood.

Working. A term in current use having a variety of applications; as, "working fit," having sufficient clearance to facilitate ease of motion; "working load," the normal load under which a structure or machine is designed to operate; "working material," material that contributes to the strength of a structure; "working part," a movable part in a machine; "working loose," the loosening of a rivet, nut, screw, etc., under strain, vibration, etc.

Worm, Worm Shaft. A threaded shaft designed to engage the teeth of a wheel lying in the plane of the shaft axis. This type of gear is used for the transmission of heavy loads at low speeds.

Worming. Filling the contlines of a rope with tarred small stuff preparatory to serving. This operation gives the rope a smoother surface and at the same time aids in excluding moisture fro the interior of the rope.

Work Shop. A small space fitted out with machines and tools in which the crew may do general repair work

Wrench. A hand tool used to exert a twisting strain, such as setting up bolts, nuts, piping and fittings.

Wrench, Ratchet Socket. A wrench designed to operate in confined spaces. It usually consists of a spindle with a socket at one end which fits over the bolt head or nut and a screw feed on the other end. The spindle is rotated by power supplied through a lever and pawl and ratchet arrangement.

Wrinkling. Slight corrugations or ridges and furrows due to the action of compressive forces.

Wrought Iron. Described under Steel and Iron.

Wyper. That shaft designed to operate the valve lifter arms on a beam engine.

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