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Iron Thunder
vocab for novel
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| anchorage | a place where ships anchor |
| balloon spotters | people in baskets tethered to balloons to observe the ground |
| battery | military term for cannons |
| blockade | one side tries to prevent the enemy from moving troops or supplies |
| bow | front of boat |
| breech | back end of a muzzle or firearm, where the explosive charge is packed |
| brig | room used as a jail in a boat |
| capstan | wheel on which an anchor cable is wound |
| come about | nautical term for turning around |
| copperhead | person in the north who was for the south |
| crew | total number of active men on a ship |
| cutter | sail boat with only one mast |
| dahlgren cannons | invented by John Dahlgren to hold more shot to fire longer distances |
| draft | minimum depth of water a ship needs to float |
| fathom | nautical term for measuring water depth-six feet |
| feds | Federal forces of the USA |
| flagship | primary ship among a fleet of ships |
| floating battery | raft with cannons |
| gunboat | armed ship of modest size |
| gunpowder | put in pre-weighted cloth bags for easy loading |
| helmsman | member who turned the steering wheel |
| Jefferson Davis | US Senator turned president of the Confederacy |
| knot | nautical term for measuring speed |
| magazine | storage place for powder |
| Merrimac | Confederate ironclad ship |
| Monitor | Union ironclad built by John Ericsson |
| run up | roll a cannon forward so that it is ready to fire |
| screw propeller | propeller that drives all ships invented by John Ericsson |
| on station | location and task assigned to a navy ship |
| paddle wheelers | steamships with large paddle wheels on both sides of the ship |
| port | left side of a ship |
| ram | cast-iron spike in the hull to pierce the hull of another ship |
| navy jack | official flag of the navy |
| mutiny | rebellion on a ship; crew takes control from the officers |
| servants | navy officers had their own servants--not part of the crew |
| shoal | shallow section of water |
| starboard | right side of a ship |
| stern | rear of the boat |
| USS | United States Ship |
| watch | crews were divided into watches: some slept or were off-duty while others worked |