SEAMANSHIP is the art of handling a ship or boat under any and all conditions of weather, tide, current or other influence affecting its immediate movement or safety. The term is also applied to the skill attributed to a good seaman. It should not be confused with navigation (q.v.), which is the art of determining the correct course of a ship from one place to another when out of sight of land, nor with pilotage (q.v.) which is the art of determining the correct course of a ship when working along a coast or up a buoyed channel. Nevertheless it is a companion art, for without good seamanship being displayed in the actual ma noeuvring of the ship, practical effect cannot be given to the calcu lations and guidance afforded by good navigation or pilotage.
Good seamanship is essentially one of those accomplishments which can only be acquired by practise and that natural adapt ability to the sea which is a marked characteristic of certain races, particularly the British. It cannot be taught by precept or mas tered by a study of books on the subject. The capable seaman is made by long service in ships and boats at sea, where alone can he obtain the necessary experience. In an elementary form seaman ship is involved in the handling of even the smallest floating craft in a manner which ensures that it responds safely and with cer tainty to the will of the mariner. In achievement and difficulty it increases with the conditions under which she has to be handled or the size of the vessel until it reaches a culminating point in the sailing of a full rigged ship out of harbour in a gale of wind, the berthing of a giant liner in a narrow port or the manoeuvring of a great fleet of warships.
It is a mistake to think that with the elimination of masts and sails seamanship has become a dead art. The power-driven ship of to-day may have many attributes which facilitate handling her, but ultimately she is dependent on good seamanship for her safe conduct and security afloat no less than the sailing ship of the past. The officers and ship's company of a modern steamship may not be efficient sailors in the old sense of the word, but they must be none the less proficient seamen. In sailing ships, seamanship
was, and still is, largely concerned with the rigging (standing and running), the making and shortening of sail, the correct manipu lation of sails and rudder for such operations as putting the ship about, wearing or club hauling (see article, RIGGING), and for making the best passage whether "on a wind" or "running free." But the handling of all vessels, whether sailing or power driven, requires a knowledge of such matters as the influence on their movement of wind, tide or current, their behaviour in a seaway, and the various methods of tethering them to land, whether by anchor in a roadstead or by moorings to a jetty.
Seamanship also involves a multitude of other services inci dental to maritime work, such as the proper loading of cargoes, shifting of weights, battening down hatches and making the ship "snug" for heavy weather, the lowering, handling and hoisting in of ship's boats, the embarking and disembarking of passengers or other personnel, proper attention to ship's fittings, such as spreading and furling of awnings and side screens and innumerable other incidentals to life afloat.
In the case of power-driven ships a knowledge of the use of sails is replaced by one of the action of the screws. While certain general laws govern the behaviour of nearly all such ships, they vary appreciably in their response to helm and engines. How ever handy or unhandy a ship may be, a good seaman will get the best out of her, whether in carrying capacity, rapidity of voyage, safety in handling, or general power of manoeuvre, whereas a captain who does not know or understand his ship will often find himself in difficulties. The same applies to the good order of the ship and her fittings a good set of seamen will keep her clean, trim, pleasing to the eye and ready for any emergency, while the ill-manned ship is slovenly in appearance and some essential for her safety or that of her personnel will be found wanting at a critical juncture.