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The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a
The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguishe ...
that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon
A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder duri ...
to be fired in broadsides. The term is generally applied to decks enclosed under a roof; smaller and unrated vessels carried their guns on the upper deck, forecastle
The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " b ...
and quarterdeck
The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on b ...
, and these were not described as gun decks.Knight, p 798Cutler, p 107
Slang
The term "gun decking" is also navy slang for fabricating or falsifying something. A possible explanation relates to midshipmen retiring to the gun deck to complete theircelestial navigation
Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is the practice of position fixing using stars and other celestial bodies that enables a navigator to accurately determine their actual current physical position in space (or on the surface ...
assignments of computing the ship's position three times daily following morning star sights, noon sun line, and evening star sights. While some midshipmen might be conscientious about computing positions from new observations, others were reputed to extrapolate
In mathematics, extrapolation is a type of estimation, beyond the original observation range, of the value of a variable on the basis of its relationship with another variable. It is similar to interpolation, which produces estimates between kno ...
and back calculate observation data from dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. T ...
courses and speeds since earlier observations, and the computations performed on the gun deck were suspect.Origin of Navy Terminology
This term is now used to indicate the falsification of documentation in order to avoid doing the work or make present conditions seem otherwise acceptable.
See also
*Glossary of nautical terms (A-L)
This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th ...
*Son of a gun
Son of a gun is an exclamation in American and British English. It can be used encouragingly or to compliment, as in "You son of a gun, you did it!"
Definition
The ''Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary'' and ''Webster's Dictionary'' both defin ...
Citations
References
* * * Ship compartments {{navy-stub