The bow is the forward end of the ship, beginning on both sides where the planks arch inwards and ending where they close at the prow. The stern, on the other hand, is the rear end of the vessel.

The fore is the part of the ship that lies near the bow or in that direction. Anything that is aft falls near the stern of the ship.

The lee side is that side of the ship sheltered from the wind; or, more generally, any object that is away from the wind. The term is also used to indicate that an object that is on that side of the s [..]

The right-hand side of the vessel when facing the bow (see above). Traditionally, it is the side of the ship reserved for the Captain, who took his exercise on the starboard side of the poop deck or q [..]

Like lee, the term weather refers to a side of the ship in reference to wind. The weather side is the side toward the wind, or windward.

A Brig is a two-masted vessel, square-rigged -- i.e. a vessel with yards and sails set across the masts as opposed to a fore-and-aft rigged craft -- on both masts.

A fast, three masted fully rigged ship of the fifth or sixth rate (i.e. carrying anywhere from 20 to 48 guns). At the time of this narrative, frigates served primarily "scouts" for the main [..]

Generally, the term applies to all ships clad with iron for defense. At the time of the narrative, however, there had been no large-scale development for protecting ships in this way. It is the gradua [..]

Broadly, any rated ship of sufficient size to take part in the battle line during a major fleet action.

Rate applies to the classification of ships according to size and armament. There were six rates at the time of the narrative: 1st (100+ guns), 2nd (90-98 guns), 3rd (64-80 guns), 4th (50-60 guns), 5t [..]