Rocks and Shoals

From the language of Article 4, Section 10, which prescribed the death penalty for "any person in the naval service...[who] intentionally or willfully suffers any vessel of the Navy to be stranded, or run upon rocks or shoals".

(US, naval, informal, historical) The Articles for the Government of the United States Navy.


all standing

[…] and then with a terrific crash the ship brought up all standing, and we were hurled against the bridge screens by the force of the collision.

2008, Robert C. Stem, Destroyer Battles: Epics of Naval Close Combat:

A couple of girls were standing alongside an ambulance drawn up next to the lorry, out of which they had apparently just crawled, having slept all standing, as all had I suppose.

1917, Edward Percy Stebbing, At the Serbian Front in Macedonia, page 77:

No man had aught to cover him save his blankets, in which he slept “all standing,” i.e., with his clothes on.

1925, Fitzhugh Green, Our Naval Heritage, page 106:

(UK, naval) Wearing one's clothes, for example while sleeping.


mess trap

(naval) Synonym of mess kit (“set of eating utensils”).


Perisher

A pun on periscope and perish, in allusion to the supposedly low pass rate.

(UK, naval, slang) The Submarine Command Course.


Sea Lord

The legend and sketch designs were submitted to the Board on 27th March 1916 and, after examining a model and the drawings, the Sea Lords generally favoured proposal 'B'; the extra weight involved being acceptable.

1976, Alan Raven, John Roberts, British Battleships of World War Two: The Development and Technical History of the Royal Navy's Battleships and Battlecruisers from 1911 to 1946, page 63:

(UK, naval, historical) Any member of the British Board of Admiralty who is also a serving admiral in the navy.


browning shot

See brown (“mass of birds or animals in hunting”).

[…] the U-boat would ordinarily be able to have only a "browning shot" (a random shot in the hope of hitting one ship in the convoy), which might or might not hit.

2014, Arthur J. Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, volume IV, page 132:

(naval) A haphazard shot at a group of vessels.


swallow the anchor

en-verb

swallow the anchor (third-person singular simple present swallows the anchor, present participle swallowing the anchor, simple past and past participle swallowed the anchor)

swallows the anchor (present singular third-person)
swallowing the anchor (participle present)
swallowed the anchor (participle past)
swallowed the anchor (past)

My grand pa was the carpenter on his ship, but had a few years before swallowed the anchor and stepped on land to repair boats.

2008, Scott Telek, The Ghost Ship, page 184:


Crazy Ivan

(naval, slang) A hard turn in a submarine to clear the baffles and get into position to attack any followers.


angles and dangles

(naval, slang) A random series of loops, turns, and depth changes in a submarine, intended to eliminate the self-noise which could occur during a baffle-clearing event.


rassing

(naval slang) The transfer of fuel, munitions, or stores from one vessel to another while under way.

(naval slang) Acquiring something dishonestly; scrounging or filching.


paybob

A form book about as helpful as the old Greek oracles is thus produced and guides the odds given by the numerous illegal bookmakers who compete with the tote run by the paybobs on each ship.

1979, W. B. Harvey, Downstairs in the Royal Navy, page 60:

Sod all the Shipwrights and CPO Cooks,
Sod all the Paybobs and their bleeding books
For we're saying goodbye to them all
As back to their hammocks they crawl.

2015, Cyril Tawney, Grey Funnel Lines, page 141:


in the rattle

If you were in the rattle too often, you would be labeled a troublemaker. Once that happened, it was virtually impossible to get back into the Navy's good books, and the chances were high that they would find some way to get rid of you.

2005, Charles Gidley Wheeler, Jannaway's Mutiny:

(UK, naval, slang) Kept in confinement as a disciplinary measure.


πολεμικό πλοίο

head

πλοία πολεμικά

πολεμικό πλοίο • (polemikó ploío) n (plural πλοία πολεμικά)

el-noun

πλοία πολεμικά

polemikó ploío (romanization)
πλοία πολεμικά (plural)


Shitty Kitty

(US, naval slang, historical, vulgar) USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)


gunhouse

(naval) The rotating part of a gun turret seen above deck.


black shoe

Hayward served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Antietam (CV-36) as a “black shoe” engineer until he entered flight training at Pensacola, Florida, […]

2016, James E. Wise, Jr., Scott Baron, At the Helm of USS America, page 57:

Towers attributed the whole catastrophe to the decision to put the carriers under the command of a black shoe like Kinkaid. As a result of that, he said, the United States was now without a single fully operational aircraft carrier in the whole of the Pacific Ocean.

2022, Craig L. Symonds, Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay, page 189:

(US, naval) A person who works on an aircraft carrier but is not involved in flights.


brown shoe

Halsey was also a “brown shoe,” a naval aviator, who was outgoing, bold, and sometimes maybe even a little too daring.

2004, W. Brad Johnson, Gregory P. Harper, Becoming a Leader the Annapolis Way, page 21:


make one's number

en-verb

make one's number (third-person singular simple present makes one's number, present participle making one's number, simple past and past participle made one's number)

makes one's number (present singular third-person)
making one's number (participle present)
made one's number (participle past)
made one's number (past)

Dave Shaw had given me good advice. 'Make your number with the purser,' he had said. 'He's a kind of super marine hotel manager who can wave a magic wand and get you almost anything you ask for.'

1972, Stephen Seamus Kerry, Ship's Doctor, page 49:

(naval) To report one's arrival and begin one's duties.


Andrew Miller

Sometimes said to originate from the name of an 18th-century Lieutenant named Andrew Millar, famed for impressing many people into naval service; however, there is no evidence such a person existed.

He wont do for Andrew Millar, for he's mair like unto a cuckoo clock-maker than a Jack tar.

1826, Matthew Henry Barker, Greenwich hospital, page 2:

Since those days I have met scores of men who have deserted from Her Majesty's Army and Navy, and every one of them, without exception, curses the day he left the service, or, as the seamen term it, ‘Andrew Miller’.

1906, W. H. Blake, The Adventures of a Naval Chief Gunner, page 5:

I'm not a flight sergeant, we don't have 'em in the Andrew Miller.

1984, Kenneth Poolman, Chanter R.N., page 151:

(chiefly UK, naval slang) The Royal Navy; service in the Navy.


Andrew Miller

Andrew Millers (plural)
Andrew Millar (alternative)

And what did you know, you bumpkin! before you came on board this Andrew Miller?

1850, Herman Melville, chapter IV, in White-Jacket, published 1850, page 24:

(chiefly UK, naval slang, obsolete) A warship.


αρμάδα

armáda (romanization)
αρμάδες (plural)
αρμάδα (nominative singular)
αρμάδες (nominative plural)
αρμάδας (genitive singular)
αρμάδων (genitive plural)
αρμάδα (accusative singular)
αρμάδες (accusative plural)
αρμάδα (singular vocative)
αρμάδες (plural vocative)

From Venetan armada or Spanish armada, from Medieval Latin armata.


αρματαγωγό

head

αρματαγωγό • (armatagogó) n (plural αρματαγωγά)

armatagogó (romanization)
αρματαγωγά (plural)
αρματαγωγό (nominative singular)
αρματαγωγά (nominative plural)
αρματαγωγού (genitive singular)
αρματαγωγών (genitive plural)
αρματαγωγό (accusative singular)
αρματαγωγά (accusative plural)
αρματαγωγό (singular vocative)
αρματαγωγά (plural vocative)

(naval, military) landing craft for tanks


αρμάτωμα

αρμάτωμα • (armátoma) n (plural αρματώματα)

armátoma (romanization)
αρματώματα (plural)
αρμάτωμα (nominative singular)
αρματώματα (nominative plural)
αρματώματος (genitive singular)
αρματωμάτων (genitive plural)
αρμάτωμα (accusative singular)
αρματώματα (accusative plural)
αρμάτωμα (singular vocative)
αρματώματα (plural vocative)


αρματωσιά

αρματωσιά • (armatosiá) n (plural αρματωσιές)

armatosiá (romanization)
αρματωσιές (plural)
αρματωσιά (nominative singular)
αρματωσιές (nominative plural)
αρματωσιάς (genitive singular)
αρματωσιών (genitive plural)
αρματωσιά (accusative singular)
αρματωσιές (accusative plural)
αρματωσιά (singular vocative)
αρματωσιές (plural vocative)


Big E

(US, naval slang, historical) USS Enterprise (CV-6)

(US, naval slang, historical) USS Enterprise (CVN-65)


αρχιεπιστολέας

αρχιεπιστολείς

αρχιεπιστολέας • (archiepistoléas) m (plural αρχιεπιστολείς)

el-noun

αρχιεπιστολείς

archiepistoléas (romanization)
αρχιεπιστολείς (plural)
αρχιεπιστολέας (nominative singular)
αρχιεπιστολείς (nominative plural)
αρχιεπιστολέα (genitive singular)
αρχιεπιστολέων (genitive plural)
αρχιεπιστολέα (accusative singular)
αρχιεπιστολείς (accusative plural)
αρχιεπιστολέα (singular vocative)
αρχιεπιστολείς (plural vocative)

el-decl-noun

αρχιεπιστολέας

αρχιεπιστολείς

αρχιεπιστολέα

αρχιεπιστολέων

αρχιεπιστολέα

αρχιεπιστολείς

αρχιεπιστολέα

αρχιεπιστολείς


αρχιπλοηγός

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αρχιπλοηγός • (archiploïgós) m (plural αρχιπλοηγοί)

archiploïgós (romanization)
αρχιπλοηγοί (plural)
αρχιπλοηγός (nominative singular)
αρχιπλοηγοί (nominative plural)
αρχιπλοηγού (genitive singular)
αρχιπλοηγών (genitive plural)
αρχιπλοηγό (accusative singular)
αρχιπλοηγούς (accusative plural)
αρχιπλοηγέ (singular vocative)
αρχιπλοηγοί (plural vocative)

el-decl-noun

αρχιπλοηγούς

(naval) chief pilot, captain of the port, commodore


αρματαγωγό πλοίο

head

αρματαγωγά πλοία

αρματαγωγό πλοίο • (armatagogó ploío) n (plural αρματαγωγά πλοία)

el-noun

αρματαγωγά πλοία

armatagogó ploío (romanization)
αρματαγωγά πλοία (plural)


fly baker

en-verb

fly baker (third-person singular simple present flies baker, present participle flying baker, simple past flew baker, past participle flown baker)

flies baker (present singular third-person)
flying baker (participle present)
flew baker (past)
flown baker (participle past)

A reference to a red danger flag used in an early phonetic alphabet.


Andrew Millar

(chiefly UK, naval slang) Alternative form of Andrew Miller (“the navy”).


dog's body

(British naval slang, obsolete) Pease pudding.