Bathysphere: A manned diving chamber used for deep-sea research, supplies with air from the surface through a hose.
Berth: A bunk on a ship or train; it is also a place where a ship may be docked or the space at sea a ship occupies.
Bilge: The lower inside hull of a ship, up to the point where the sides become vertical. This point is known as the "turn of the bilge."
Bilge-keel: A fin which prevents a ship rolling. Bilge-keels are fitted to the outside of the hull on each side of the keel at the turn of the bilge.
Black berg: Sometimes used as another name for a blue berg. Black bergs can also be icebergs that are partially covered by rock or dirt, making them appear dark in color.
Blue berg: An iceberg that appears blue as a result of having recently rolled over in the sea. Some experts doubt that they actually exist.
Bollard: A metal post on the deck of a ship used for tying it to its moorings.
Bow: The front part of the ship.
Bridge: The section of a ship, elevated from the main deck, where steering, communication, and other ship's functions are controlled.
Bulkhead: A partition dividing up a ship. Bulkheads are often water and fire resistant.
Calved: When an iceberg breaks off into the water from the end of a glacier. This usually happens in spring as the weather warms up.
Collapsible: Boat made with canvas sides, allowing it to be collapsed for easy storage.
Commutator: An instrument that measures the degree of list of a ship.
Cost-plus contract: Means the manufacturer will be paid for whatever the work costs plus an agreed on amount as profit. This is advantageous to the manufacturer, who doesn't have to bid on a job or worry about cutting corners in production.
Crow's nest: The elevated part of the ship where the lookout stands. In sailing ships, the crow's nest may be attached to one of the masts. On the Titanic, the crow's nest was a high platform.
Davit: A kind of crane operated by a pulley used for lowering lifeboats into the water from the deck of a ship.
Deckhouse: Room built on a ship's deck.
Displacement: Amount of water displaced by a ship immersed in it.
Dry-dock: Basin where water has been pumped out to allow for shipbuilding or repairs.
Falls: The ropes and pulleys used for lowering boats and cargo to and from the deck of a ship.
Flanks: The sides of a ship.
Field ice: An especially large, field-sized expanse of ice extending at least five miles across. Any smaller expanse of ice is an ice floe.
Firemen: Crewmen who had the job of keeping the steam engines moving by shoveling coal into the boiler furnaces.
Floe: A large, flat body of ice less than five miles across.
Forecastle: A short raised deck at the bow.
Frigate: Traditionally a medium-sized sailing ship used for war from the 1600s through the 1800s.
Funnel: The part of a steamship that serves the purpose of a smoke stack in a factory building. The Titanic, like other major ships of the time, had four funnels, but one of them was a dummy, put there in order to make the ship look more symmetrical as well as more powerful.
Gantry: A bridge-like scaffolding used in shipbuilding that enables work to be done on the inside and outside of the hull.
Growler: An iceberg that is less than 15 feet high and 50 feet long.
Helm: To steer. The helm is also another name for the tiller or ship's wheel.
H.M.S.: Initial letters of the words "His/Her Majesty's Ship" which prefix the names of ships of the Royal Navy.
Hull: The frame of the ship.
Hypothermia: Potentially fatal malady caused by exposure to cold, resulting in reduced blood flow to the extremities and finally, the brain.
Iceberg: A large, floating piece of ice broken off from a glacier. "Berg" is Scandinavian for "mountain."
Keel: The bottom-most part running the length of the ship in the very center.
Knot: A unit of speed used at sea, roughly equivalent to 1.15 miles per hours. (one nautical mile = 6,080 feet)
List: A tilting of a ship in relation to the surface of the water.
Moorings: The ties attaching a ship to a dock or pier. The term also applies to the place the ship is docked.
Morse code: A system of dots and dashes, used to represent the letter of the alphabet. developed by Samuel F. B. Morse in the early part of the 19th century. These signals can be communicated audibly by telegraph, or visually at night with a blinking lamp. By daylight, Morse signals can be sent with flags through a process called "wig-wagging."
Muster: Assembling of a ship's crew for inspection.
Orlop: The lowest deck of a ship with three or more decks.
Pontoon: A float, often consisting of a hollow drum , that can be used for supporting docks and bridges. A pontoon is also a kind of flat-bottomed boat or one of the floats of a seaplane.
Populist: Political views that favor the interests of ordinary people as opposed to industry, trade, or specialized interests.
Port: The left-hand side of a ship, looking forward.
Reciprocating engine: An engine which operates with alternate backward and forward motions.
Rigging: Consists of the ropes, chains, and other equipment that are used for maneuvering the masts and sails of a sailing ship.
R.M.S.: Initial letters of the words "Royal Mail Steamer." These prefixed the names of both the Olympic and the Titanic.
Slip: An enclosure in which a ship is built. Ships are built differently than cars. At the time, Henry Ford was perfecting the assembly line as a way of making lots of cars in a single space. In contrast, each ship is built in its own slip.
Slipway: Artificial slope down which a ship is launched.
Starboard: The right-hand side of a ship, looking forward.
Steerage: The section of cheapest berths on a passenger ship. This section was originally located in the rear of the ship near the rudder, which steers it. There were two steerage sections on the Titanic, one at the stern, or rudder-end of the ship, the other all the forward at the bow.
Stern: The rear of a ship.
Stoker: Crew member who tends a ship's furnace.
Suffragettes: Politically active women who supported women's voting rights ("suffrage" is the right to vote). Conservatives pointed to the "women and children first" rule on the Titanic to suggest that women's suffrage was a bad idea.
Swamp: To overturn, or partially overturn, a boat, causing it to fill with water and making it essentially useless.
Swell: A small, rolling wave that doesn't break unless it runs into something, such as a ship or an iceberg.
Tiller: The lever fitted to the head of a ship's rudder for steering.
Transverse bulkheads: Partitions arranged in a cross-wise direction within a ship.
Trimmers: Kept the firemen supplied with coal which they distributed in wheelbarrows. Firemen and trimmers were known as "the black gang."
Triple-screw: Ship with three propellers.
Wireless telegraphy: The communication equipment used by steamships. It was invented by Guglielmo Marconi.
