DICTIONARY OF

Hour Angle 174 Humidity
Hour Angle. Angle, at elevated pole, between meridian of observer and meridian passing
through a heavenly body. Conventionally reckoned westward from observer, but can be
expressed as an easterly value.
Hour Circle. Great circle, secondary to Equinoctial, passing through points having the same
Right Ascension and, therefore, the same hour circle.
House. To put into a position of increased safety. To lower an upper mast until its head is in
line with head of mast below. To run back a gun and secure it.
House Flag. Private and acknowledged flag of a ship's owner or owners.
Houseline. Soft-laid three-yarn stuff used for general purposes. May be tarred or untarred.
Housing (of Bowsprit). Inboard part from bed, or wedges, to the heel.
Hove. Heaved.
Hoveller. Person who assists in saving life or property from a vessel wrecked near the coast.
Often applied to a small boat that lies in narrow waters ready to wait on a vessel, if required.
Possibly a corruption of 'hoverer'.
Hovercraft ('Cushioncraft'). A vessel which can support herself a short distance above the
surface of the water or land by exerting a downward pressure of air.
Hove To. Lying nearly head to wind and stopped, and maintaining this position by trimming
sail or working engines.
Howden-Johnson Boiler. Cylindrical boiler of Scottish type but having external tubes that
pass through combustion chamber and connect water below furnaces with upper volume of
water. Superheater is mounted above front ends of return tubes. Efficiency is a little less than
0.9.
Howl.* To scarph foothooks into the ground timbers of a vessel.
'How's Her Head?' 'What is the direction of ship's head at this moment?'
Hoy. Small, one-masted sailing vessel used for short voyages or for carrying passengers or
goods to or from ships.
Hug. To keep close to.
Hulk. Hull of a vessel not fit for sea service. Sailing vessel without masts. 2. In 13th to 15th
centuries a vessel larger than the earlier cog. Hulc/hourque.
Hull. Body of a ship, and excluding interior fittings.
Hull Down. Said of a distant ship when her hull is below horizon and her masts and upper
works are visible.
Hulling. Floating, but at mercy of wind and sea. 2. Piercing the hull with a projectile. 3.
Taking in sail during a calm.
Humber Keel. Flat-sided, round-ended, flat-bottomed vessel used in Humber and other
Yorkshire waterways. Has one mast amidships, square mainsail and a topsail. Mainsail can
be single or double reefed to yard.
Humidity. Moistness of atmosphere due to its water – vapour content.