Deck Nomenclature

Is this actually a real thing? Because I’m going to start using the phrase as often as possible

I thought that was the definition of Main Deck and that Boat Deck was the deck of the accommodations where one could enter the lifeboats. I’m just thinking back to the ‘ol training ship with, from top down, was Bridge Dk, Cabin Dk, Boat Dk, Upper Dk, Main Dk, Upper Tween, Lower Tween, Tank Top.

Which brings up another term…Tween Deck…is it really just in between?

There’s more than one definition, two off the top of my head are the uppermost complete deck and the principle deck of the ship. It seems like the builder picks the which deck is the main deck and than uses the definition that fits.

On the car ships I was on the builder dodged the question by not naming any deck the main deck. All the decks are either named or numbered. Almost everyone calls the deck where the accommodations are entered the boat deck because that’s how it’s shown on the drawings and the way it labeled. Also that’s where the boats are.

Every now and then a newly joining crew member will call the boat deck the main deck but rather then have the rest of the crew change we tell them to get with the program. No main deck.

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On several tugs on which I worked, the “tween deck” was also the whiskey locker.
:rofl:

Bowditch - the “navigator’s bible”:

cable. , n. 1. A unit of distance equal to one-tenth of a sea mile. Sometimes called CABLE LENGTH. 2. A chain or very strong fiber or wire rope used to anchor or moor vessels or buoys. 3. A stranded conductor or an assembly of two or more electric conductors insulated from each other, but laid up together with a strong, waterproof covering. A coaxial cable consists of two concentric conductors insulated from each other.

How about anchor chain? Shot in the US, shackle everywhere else.

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Yes, very difficult. A conversion involves both foreigners and non-U.S. measurement systems. Not really practical to solve aboard ship. Our company provided us with a table.

image

:upside_down_face:

Wow. You worked for an awesome company! That must have taken someone at least a day to put together. :wink:

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Yea a 1:1 conversion is so hard lol

It did take me a while to figure out that a “shackle” was also a “shot” back when I was dealing with Asian, mostly Japanese boat captains. We did a lot of co-anchoring. I guess I was surprised that those sophisticated Asians would stoop to using our quasi-standard 15 fathom or 90 foot chain lengths. Is that compatible with the IMO and STCW SMCP? Is there a new term, or am I being a laggard again?

Both STCW and SMCP are part of IMO’s attempt at ensuring an international standard of both maritime education and maritime communication.
Unfortunately there are still laggards like you that make that task more difficult to complete.

Communication in a common language that can be understood by all parties involved is important for safety at sea. Use of local slang, words and phrases , or speaking in a dialect/language that is not easily understood by everybody involved can and do cause accidents.

If you want to talk to somebody about “tater boxes” (or “thunder boxes”) do so on a ship-to-ship channel, not on Ch.16 or any other channel designated for important communication.

For those not familiar with SMCP, here is a link:

On page 61 you will find the following:
.1 How much cable is out?
.1.1 … shackle(s) is / are out
.5 Put … shackles in the water / in the pipe / on deck.
.6 Walk back port / starboard / both anchor(s) one / one and a half shackle(s).
.7 We will let go port / starboard / both anchor(s) … shackle(s) and dredge it / them

Are we supposed to be taking notes?

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Jeez, who pooped in your tater box?

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…and the “gangway” on a Laker is the w/t door in the shell plating back in the engine room, often on the main deck, which is below the spar deck (which is actually the weather deck)…and some of the steamers have a Texas deck above the foc’sle deck, with the pilothouse above…

Shots, shackles, bells, and turns,
This kind of discussion causes my mind to burn
:wink:

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Reading is FUNdamental

“The SMCP does not intend to provide a comprehensive Maritime English syllabus which is expected to cover a far wider range of language skills to be achieved in the fields of vocabulary, grammar, discourse abilities, etc., than the SMCP could ever manage…“.

-Page 11, SMCP

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The entry in the Oxford Companion for “shackle” provides an explanation for how cable came to mean a tenth of a nautical mile.

A “shackle” (now a called a detachable link) joins anchor chain together . A shackle is also the name given to a length of the amount of cable between each shackle which is given as 12-1/2 fathoms (75 feet). The length of a cable is 8 shackles for a total 100 fathoms.

Which is 600 feet. Which is what @Lee_Shore said. A tenth of a sea mile is 607.6 feet so only a little tweak is needed to make it work.

The U.S. Navy cable of 720 feet is also 8 shots but at 15 fathom each (8 shots x 90 feet = 720 feet).

That is right, SMCP does NOT intended to provide a comprehensive Maritime English syllabus, nor cover every conceivable situation that may occur at sea.
That would require a book like this:

What it DOES intend to do is standardize SOME of the most commonly occurring words and phrases in maritime communication, both between ships and by VTS etc,
It is based on Standard (“Oxford”) English as thought in primary and secondary schools around the world. (Not limited to so called “native English speaking countries”)

I’m sure many here would have been in situations where important communication directed to you, or between third parties, have been incomprehensible to you, thus reduce your situation awareness. (??)

That could be either because the communication is in a foreign language, spoken in an English dialect/accent that you have problem understanding, or use words and phrases that you are not familiar with.
Any horror stories to tell?:

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A story from a former shipmate:

3/M and C/M are calibrating the ballast system with the Bosun (non-native English speaker) in the steering gear flat watching the aft peak fill with the manhole open.

The C/M tells the Bosun, “When the alarm goes off, let me know.” (Pointing to the high level horn and light in the bulkhead). The C/M and my friend the 3/M go back to the cargo control room where coffee and seastories ensue.

Time passes, stories ramble on…C/M tells the 3/M to go check on the Bosun as the tank darn well should be full. Entering the steering gear flat, water is sloshing out of the manhole, the Bosun has put in ear plugs as the horn is blaring, and the 3/M yells, “Hey, why didn’t you call?!?”

"Oh, sir, the Chief Mate said call when the alarm goes off; it is still on!’

Lesson, as explained by my Puerto Rican friend the Third Mate; make SURE you speak clearly and explain what you mean in unambiguous terms.

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