DICTIONARY OF

Menkar 222 Merchant Service
Menkar. Star Ceti. S.H.A. 315°; Dec. N4°; Mag. 2-8.
Menkent. Star Centauri. S.H.A. 149°; Dec. S36°; Mag. 2-3.
Merak. Star Ursae Majoris. S.H.A. 195°; Dec. N57°, Mag. 2-4.
Mercantile Marine. Merchant shipping, including personnel.
Merchant Navy. Merchant Service.
Mercantile Marine Fund. Fund into which various fees and charges were paid, and from
which salaries and expenses were recovered. Abolished 1898.
Mercantile Marine Office. Established and controlled by Merchant Shipping Acts for
giving effect to the Acts as regards employment and discharge of personnel, keeping
registers of men and their characters, facilitating apprenticeship to the sea service and other
matters of like nature.
Mercantile Marine Superintendent. Officer in charge of a Mercantile Marine Office.
Mercantile Marine Uniform. Standard uniform for officers of British Merchant Navy in
accordance with Orders in Council of 1918 and 1921. Penalty for unauthorised wearing is up
to £5; for wearing it in such a manner as to bring it into contempt, £10 or up to one month's
imprisonment with or without hard labour.
Mercator Chart. Projection of Earth's surface in which all meridians are made parallel and
the latitude scale is increased in the same ratio as the expansion of the longitude scale in the
area. All straight lines are rhumb lines. Distances are measured by minutes of latitude in area
considered. Distortion in high latitudes is very great.
Mercatorial Bearing. Bearing of a given position as deduced from a rhumb line passing
through the position and position of observer. Differs from great circle bearing by half the
convergency between meridian of observer and meridian passing through the given point.
Mercator Sailing. Method by which problems of sailing on spherical surface of Earth can
be solved by plane trigonometry. Its fundamental equation is: Difference of Longitude =
Meridional Difference of Latitude X Tangent of Course. It requires that difference of latitude
shall be converted into the invariable units of the longitude scale; this being done by tables
of 'Meridional Parts'. Disadvantages of this sailing are that: (1) Course is a Loxodrome, and
not a great circle; (2) Method cannot be used in high latitudes except for very short
distances.
Mercator's Projection. Delineation of Earth's surface on a chart or map in accordance with
the principles used in making a Mercator chart.
Merchant Captain. Captain of a merchant vessel. Captain in the Merchant Navy.
Merchant Navy. Ships and personnel of the British Mercantile Marine.
Merchant Seaman. Seaman employed in a merchant vessel.
Merchant Service. 'Merchant Navy.'