Nicholls's Seamanship and Nautical Knowledge

CHAPTER I.
SEAMANSHIP is the work of the seaman on board ship. A vessel
is organised into three departments, deck, engine and cabin, the
members of each department being all referred to as seamen in the
Merchant Shipping Act, but our work refers to the duties of the deck
executive. Seamanship and navigation are different branches of
nautical work; a seaman, for example, need not be a navigator but a
navigator must needs be a seaman.
Formerly, in the days of sail, seamanship included the maintenance
of standing and running gear and the manipulation of all the vessel's
paraphernalia of yards, sails and cordage in Eia.noeuvring the sailing
ship by applying, in a rough and ready but very practical manner, the
principles of mechanics to the propulsion of the wind-driven ship and
the operation of manual machines.
The sailing vessel as a commercial proposition so far as Great
Britain is concerned has passed aw'ay an'd much of the knowledge
peculiar to her equipment is now obsolete. But seamanship of a
somewhat different &sd perhaps of a more comprehensive character is
required from officers of the modern steamship. The sea has not
altered nor have the fundamental nautical principles, but the ship
herself has undergone radical change, the methods of propulsion
equipment, communication, maintenance and control have altered so
much that a different kind of knowledge and handcraft is now
required from the seaman who aspires to executive position.
The development of sea transport has called up much legislation in
the interests of life and property at sea, and a knowledge of statutory
regulations relating to what may tod may not be done in many diverse
ways regarding structural detail, the equipping and handling of the
ship* the loading of cargoes, rule of the road and other compulsory
'safeguards, form a large part of a seaman's duty and call*for
standing .and a sense of responsibility*