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Factory ship
In fishing, a large ship that takes in the catch from smaller ships for processing or preservation at sea.
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Fastener
The marine term for any device used to fasten pieces of wood together. They can be screws, bolts, rivets, trunnels and drifts.
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Fathom
A measure equal to 6 feet, normally used to measure depths.
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Federalist
A former U.S. political party that favored a strong centralized government.
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Felt
Fibers that are matted together, not woven, by heat, moisture, and/or pressure. Felts are used in paper making, and felted beaver fur hats were popular in seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe, encouraging the North American fur trade.
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Fiberglass
The generic term for a rigid solid made by taking woven or matted fibers of spun glass or other materials such as Kevlar and carbon fiber and saturating them with a liquid resin that hardens over time. It is more accurately described as Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) or fiber reinforced polymer (FRP).
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Figurehead
A carved wooden statue or figure attached to the bow under the bowsprit of a vessel.
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Fillet
In fishing, the narrow strip of boneless meat from either side of a fish's spine.
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Fir
An evergreen, coniferous tree related to pine.
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First mate first officer
An officer on a merchant vessel, next in command to the captain.
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Fittings
Generic term for the hardware such as blocks, shackles and cleats used to attach a vessels rigging to the spars, sails and hull.
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Fix
The determination of a ship's position by celestial observations or by terrestrial observation of landmarks or aids to navigation, or some combination of each. The term is used only when the position is not subject to doubt.
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Flakes
Wooden racks on which fish were laid out to dry in the sun.
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Flash freeze
Quickly freezing fish or meat to preserve the natural juices and flavors of the flesh.
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Flense
Stripping the blubber and skin from a marine mammal.
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Floor
The lower part of a transverse frame of a ship running each side of the keelson to the bilges. In general shipbuilding, this part of the frame is an approximately horizontal platform extending to the ship's sides at the point where they begin to turn up towards the vertical.
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Flounder
A flat fish that lies on the bottom camouflaged and ambushes its prey. It is characterized by having one of its eyes migrate to the top of the fish. Like many species, these have been overfished commercially so that the stock is perhaps 10% of what it was before industrial or modern fishing.
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Fore-and-aft sails
Sails that attach to the mast or stays by their forward edge. They are set on stays, gaffs, booms, etc., and are generally triangular or trapezoidal in shape.
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Forebitters forecastle songs, fo'c'sle songs
The sailors' songs sung in or on the forecastle (or near the forebits) when the men of a watch were off duty. They were not shanties, which were always working songs, but songs sung for recreation or entertainment. Also known as fo'c'sle songs.
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Forecastle songs fo'c'sle songs, forbitters
The sailors' songs sung in or on the forecastle when the men of a watch were off duty. They were not shanties, which were always working songs, but songs sung for recreation or entertainment. Also known as Fo'c'sle songs.
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Forge
A special fireplace, hearth, or furnace in which metal is heated before shaping.
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Foundry
A place for producing castings in molten metal.
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Frame ribs
Frames are the skeleton structure of a vessel, also called ribs. They run perpendicular to the keel.
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French and Indian War
1754-1760. Conflict between the British and American colonists on one side, and the French and their Indian allies on the other, for control of Canada and territory in Maine. It ended in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The outcome ended French influence in Canada and the Northeast.
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Friendship sloop
A sub-type of the Maine sloop boat, used primarily for lobster fishing, developed in the vicinity of Friendship on the coast of Maine, with a fixed keel, clipper bow, deep draught, wide beam and a elliptical shaped stern.
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Frigate
A full-rigged vessel of war carrying 24-50 guns. In size, a frigate was between a corvette and a ship-of-the-line. As a warship it was most useful; it could operate independently being large enough to defend itself from most threats, and fast enough to run from a ship-of-the-line. In major battles they were used for reconnaissance and transmitting messages.
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Fulling
To shrink and thicken woolen cloth by moistening, heating, and pressing.
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Furl
To take in the sails of a vessel and secure them with gaskets. In the case of square-rigged ships, to haul in on the clew-lines and buntlines and roll sails up to the yards. In the case of fore-and-aft rigs, to lower and secure sails to the boom or stays.
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Furs for Mandarins
Wealthy Chinese enjoyed lining their robes with furs to keep themselves comfortable in winter. American traders discovered that furs were a good trade item. Traders began to visit the American Pacific Northwest to purchase sea otter furs from the Native Americans living there. The Indians traded for small items, such as buttons, beads, blankets, mirrors, clothing, nails, muskets, molasses, and rum. The fur trade was sometimes dangerous—ships were armed and took precautions about allowing too many Indians to board at one time. The fur trade led to the discovery of the Columbia River, which was named after the merchant ship Columbia that arrived there in 1787. The Columbia and another vessel, the Lady Washington, were the first American vessels to round Cape Horn. John Jacob Astor, a wealthy merchant, founded the city of Astoria in what is now Washington State, in 1811.
Another source of furs was the seal populations around the islands near Cape Horn and off the Patagonian coast—the Falklands, Staten Island, South Georgia, Aucklands, and Masafuera, in the Juan Fernandez Group, where on a neighboring island the original Robinson Crusoe lived from 1790-1812. American crews often lived on one of these remote islands for several years, killing seals and storing their furs. Eventually the seal fisheries were depleted by over harvesting. In 1819, a captain from Stonington, Connecticut, discovered many seals on the South Shetland Islands, and many vessels were sent out from Stonington. Palmer Land, in the Antarctic, was named for its discoverer, Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer.
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Futtocks
The four or five individual pieces of wood in a vessel's frame or rib.
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