h. Spars serve for
spreading the several sails of a vessel.

The names of spars vary with their use and position. Chiefly, for
ships of war, they divide into masts, yards, and booms.

A mast is an upright, and is in three connected pieces: the lower
mast, the topmast, and the top-gallant-mast. Most ships of war had
three such masts: fore, near the bow; main, near the centre; mizzen,
near the stern.

The bowsprit is also a mast; not upright, but projecting straight
ahead from the bow, approaching horizontal, but inclining upwards.
Like the masts, it has three divisions: the lower, or bowsprit
proper, the jib-boom, and the flying-jib-boom.

Across the masts, horizontal, are the yards, four in number, lower,
topsail, topgallant, and royal. Yards are further designated by the
name of the mast to which each belongs; e.g., foreyard, main topsail
yard, mizzen topgallant yard, main royal yard.

The bowsprit formerly had one yard, called the spritsail yard. This
has disappeared. Otherwise it serves to spread the three-cornered
sails called jibs. These sails were useful for turning a vessel,
because their projection before the centre gave them great leverage.

Fore and aft vessels had no yards. See "Sails."

SPRING. See p. 65, note.

SQUARE-RIGGED. See "Sails" and "Spars."

STAND, to. Used, nautically, to express movement and direction, e.g.,
"to stand toward the enemy," "to stand out of harbor," "to stand
down," "to stand south." The underlying idea seems to be that of
sustained, decided movement.

STARBOARD. TO the right hand, or on the right side, of a vessel,
looking from aft forward. Opposite to Port.

STEER, to. To control the course by the use of the helm and rudder.

STERN. The extreme rear, or after, part of a vessel.

STRATEGY. That department of the Art of War which decides the
distribution and movements of armies, or of fleets, with reference to
the objects of a campaign as a whole.

STRIKE, to. Applied to the flag. To haul down the flag in token of
surrender.

TACK. A vessel is on the starboard tack, or port tack, according as
the wind comes from the starboard or port hand. See p. 84, note.

TACK, to. When a vessel is close-hauled, with the wind on one side,
to tack is to turn round towards the wind, in order to be again
close-hauled, with the wind on the other side.

To wear is to attain the same object by turning away from the wind.
Wearing is surer