RAT-TAILED STOPPER—A braided tapering line used on boat falls, mooring lines, and so forth. REDUCER—Fitting applied to a fire hydrant to permit the attachment of a hose of smaller diameter than the hydrant outlet. REEF—An underwater ledge rising abruptly from the floor of the ocean. REEVE—To thread a line through a pulley. RELATIVE BEARING—The angle between the ship’s head and the object. RELIEF—Person assigned to assume the duties of another. RELIEVE—(1) To take the place of another. (2) To ease the strain on a line. RIDE—A ship at anchor  rides  to its anchor as it swings on the chain attached to the anchor. RIDING LIGHT—Light required to be shown by a vessel at anchor. RIG—To set up any device or equipment, as rig a stage over the side. RIGGING—Lines that support a ship’s masts are called standing rigging; those used to hoist or otherwise move equipment are called running rigging. RISER—A pipe leading from the firemain to fireplugs on upper deck levels. ROLLER CHOCK—A mooring chock that contains a roller for reducing friction. ROPE—General reference to both fiber and wire rope. Fiber rope usually is referred to as line; wire rope is called rope, wire rope, or just wire. ROPE YARN SUNDAY—Free time given during a workday (usually an afternoon) to allow personnel to take care of personal business. RUDDER—Device attached to a ship’s stern that controls the ship’s direction of travel. RUNNER— A purchase containing one single-sheave movable block. RUNNING BOWLINE—A slipknot made by tying a small bowline around a line’s own standing part. RUNNING LIGHTS—Navigational lights required to be shown at night by a vessel under way. SACK—Bunk. SCUPPER—The waterway along the gunwales. SCUTTLE—(1) Round, watertight opening in a hatch. (2) The act of deliberately sinking a vessel. SCUTTLEBUTT—(1) Originally a ship’s water barrel (called a butt), which was tapped (scuttled) by the insertion of a spigot from which the crew drew their drinking water; now applied to any drinking  fountain.  (2)  In  the  old  days  the scuttlebutt was a place for personnel to exchange views and news when they gathered to draw their water; hence the term scuttlebutt is applied to any rumor. SEA—(1) The ocean in general. (2) The individual undulations (rolls) of the surface are called waves, but as a whole they are referred to as seas. Also, a ship takes a big sea, not a wave, over the bow. SEA ANCHOR—A device streamed from the bow of a vessel for the purpose of holding end-on to the sea. SEAMANSHIP—(1) The art or skill of handling a vessel. (2) Skill in the use of deck equipment, boat handling, and the care and use of line and wire. SEAWORTHY—A vessel capable of withstanding normal heavy weather. SECOND DECK—First complete deck below the main deck. SECURE—(1) To make fast, as to secure a line to a cleat. (2) To cease, as to secure from fire drill. SERVICE FORCE—The organization providing logistic support to the combatant forces. SET—The direction toward which a ship is pushed by the effects of wind and current. See DRIFT. SETUP—To tighten up, with particular reference to dogs and turnbuckles. SHAKE A LEG—An admonishment to move faster. SHAKEDOWN—The training of a new crew to develop efficiency in operating a ship. SHEAVE—Pulley in a block around which the fall (line) runs. SHEER STRAKE—The uppermost strake in a ship’s side plating. SHEET BEND—Same as a becket bend. SHELL—A vessel’s hull plating from the keel to the main deck; also called skin. AI-10