One of several external or internal tanks fitted in submarines; when filled with seawater they allow the boat to submerge; when emptied using compressed air buoyancy is restored and the vessel rises towards the surface. Auxiliary ballast tanks within the pressure hull allow the submarine to be trimmed.
(chiefly in the plural) A wave breaking into foam against the shore, or against a sandbank, or a rock or reef near the surface, considered a useful warning to ships of an underwater hazard
US standard spelling of centre of buoyancy. [(nautical) the point through which the resultant of all buoyant forces on an immersed hull are assumed to act; the centre of mass of the displaced water.]
A temporary watertight structure that is pumped dry to enclose an area underwater and allow construction work on a ship, bridge, or rig to be carried out; a caisson.
(nautical) The process of swinging and compensating a ship or aircraft compass by determining and reducing the deviation coefficients and recording the residual deviations; now done by computer.
A method of estimating the position of a ship or aircraft by applying estimates of the distance and direction travelled to a previously known position. In respect to ships/boats, it excludes the effect of wind and current on the vessel. Compare with estimated position. Abbreviation: DR
(military, nautical, aviation) A form of bomb, launched from a ship or dropped from an aircraft, that is designed to detonate at a certain depth underwater for the purposes of attacking a submerged enemy, especially a submarine.
(nautical, oceanography, by extension) Usually preceded by the: a part of the ocean near the equator where calms, squalls, and light, baffling winds are common.
(marine) the hydrodynamic phenomenon by which a vessel moving quickly through shallow water creates an area of lowered pressure that causes the ship to be closer to the seabed than would otherwise be expected.
(nautical) A sailor's chart showing from the direction of the wind the ship's position in relation to the eye of a storm, and accordingly the proper course to be taken.
(intransitive, of the wind) To shift in a clockwise direction (if in the Northern Hemisphere, or in a counterclockwise direction if in the Southern Hemisphere).
(transitive, nautical) To move a vessel by hauling on a line or cable that is fastened to an anchor or pier; (especially) to move a sailing ship through a restricted place such as a harbour.
(obsolete, naval) An advantageous position of one sailing vessel with respect to another, because of the direction of the prevailing wind, that allows it to maneuver for an attack etc.
(nautical) Unable to sail because of high winds, or of onshore winds.
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