Abbreviations and Glossary

Abbreviations

ADM: British Admiralty Files ANQ: Archives Nationale de Québec AO: Archives of Ontario CARF: Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation DHC: Documentary History of the Campaigns on the Niagara Frontier HMS: Her (or His) Majesty’s Ship KBTW: Kingston Before the War of 1812 LAC: Library and Archives Canada MG: Manuscript Group MS: Manuscript Series NAPL: National Air Photo Library NMC: National Map Collection QUA: Queen’s University Archives RFF: Royal Fort Frontenac RG: Record Group RMC: Royal Military College

272 WARRIORS AND WARSHIPS

RN: Royal Navy ROM: Royal Ontario Museum TNA: The National Archives, Kew, United Kingdom TSP: The Simcoe Papers USS: United States Ship

Glossary

Admiralty Board: Committee responsible for military administration of the Royal Navy and conduct of war. Agent Victualler: Person responsible to the commissioner for the operation of the dockyard, contracts, and distributing victuals. Artificer: General term for skilled craftsmen, in this case the many different tradespeople who built the ships. Barque: Vessel with three masts, front sails square, main sails fore aft. Bateau: Open flat-bottom boat pointed at both ends and powered by oars, poles, or ropes pulled from shore (may include a simple sailing rig). Blockhouse: Small fortification made of heavy logs, often with large mounted cannons. Bollard: Short post designed to prevent damage to a vulnerable structure like a fence or gate. Brig: Vessel with two masts, all sails square, four to 14 guns. Broad Pennant: Commodore’s personal command pennant indicating his presence. Capstan: Large winch turned by hand, usually by several men, which applies force to cables to raise and lower objects such as anchors. Careening: Process of applying force to cables attached to the upper structures in order to lean a vessel onto its side, exposing the hull and allowing work to be done. Capstan attached to the shore could be used. Carronade: Short, smooth-bore cannon effective at close range. Commissioner: Officer responsible to the Navy Board and commodore for supply, dockyard, and administration. Commodore: Naval captain appointed to command of vessels of a naval establishment, including their action in war.

ABBrevIAtIoNs ANd glossAry

Corvette: Smaller vessel with three masts and square sails, up to 20 guns. Cradle: Wooden structure attached to the underside of a vessel during launch to keep it upright. Cutter: Ship’s boat or vessel with one mast with fore-aft sail, four to 14 guns. Great Frigate: Fifth-rate, 32 to 44 guns; sixth-rate, 20 to 28 guns. Gun Brig: Four to 14 guns. Gun Firepower: Guns or cannons were rated according to the weight of the shot that could be fired, for example, a gun that could shoot a 24-pound iron ball was rated as a 24-pounder. Gunboat: Wide variety of sizes but generally a small boat with rowing benches and mounting one gun, sometimes applied to small armed merchant vessels. Impress: Forcefully seize a person to compel him to serve on board a naval vessel. Keel: Heavy, longitudinal timber structure located along the centreline bottom of the hull, first section built and considered the backbone of a ship. Master: Senior enlisted member of a crew skilled in navigation and piloting, considered equivalent in rank to a lieutenant. Navy Board: Committee responsible for management of supply lines, support, and services, including building and maintaining ships, provisioning, and medical services. Ordinary: Status given to a Royal Navy vessel when no longer required for active service and placed in storage. Phaeton: Light four-wheeled horse-drawn open carriage. Pilot: Mariner with expert knowledge of local waters who guides a ship. Purser: Person responsible on a ship for handling money, including pay, and maintaining crew muster lists; also in charge of supplying food and clothing to a crew. Respective Officers: Senior civilian department heads of the dockyard, consisting of storekeeper, master builder, master shipwright, and master attendant. Rigging: Ropes, cables, blocks, and chains that attach and support spars and yards. Schooner: Vessel with two masts, all sails fore aft.

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Shanty: Crudely built log cabin. Sheer: Structure attached to a wharf used to lift and mount a mast. Ship: Vessel with three masts, each with square sails. Ship of Line: First-rate, 100-plus guns; second-rate, 80 to 98 guns; thirdrate, 64 to 80 guns; fourth-rate, 50 to 60 guns. Slipway: Wooden track under a vessel used to slide a vessel from shore to water when launched or hauled out. Spiked Gun: A cannon made useless by jamming a spike or metal rod into the vent hole; done when a weapon was about to be captured by an enemy. Shipwright: Tradesperson skilled in vessel construction. Sloop: Vessel with one or two masts, usually one mast with fore-aft sails, plus other sails. Sloop-of-War: 16 to 18 guns. Snow: Vessel with two masts with square sails but with an additional short mast and sail behind the main mast. Spring: Rope attached to anchor cable allowing a vessel to pivot and face threats when anchored. Steamship: Vessel powered by a steam engine, fuelled by wood or coal. Stone Frigate: Not unique to Point Frederick, the Royal Navy used this term to describe some of its shore-based units commissioned as if ships. Storekeeper: Usually the most senior member of the dockyard civil establishment. Tallow: Fat from sheep or cows used as lubricant or to cover and preserve parts of a vessel during winter storage. Transport: Vessel designed or adapted to carry stores and passengers with minimum or no armaments. Trunnion: Metal pivot on the side of a cannon supporting its weight to allow aim to be vertically adjusted. When a trunnion is broken, a gun is made useless. Done when a weapon was about to be captured by an enemy. Yardarm: Spar attached to a mast from which sails are set.