BITS

These pieces, being let down through square mortises cut in the decks above and below, are bolted and fore-locked to the ship's beams.. There are several bits in a ship, the principal of which are those for the cables: their upper ends commonly reach about four or five feet above the lower deck, over which the cable passes. They are supported on the fore part by strong standards; one arm of which is bolted to the deck, and the other to the bits : and on the after part is fixed a strong beam of timber, g, (plate I. PIECES of the HULL) parallel to the deck, and at right angles with the bits, to which it is bolted and fore-locked. The ends of this beam, which is called the cross-piece, reach about two or three feet beyond the bits, whole upper-ends are nearly two feet above the cross-piece. The cable being passed once round about these bits, may be gradually slackened at pleasure; without which it would be impossible to prevent it from running out with the utmost rapidity, when the ship rides a great strain, which is always the case in a storm, or an impetuous tide. In ships of war there are usually two pair of cable bits, and when they are both used at once the cable is said to be double-bitted. The plan of the bits, with their cross-pieces and standards, are represented in plate III. where b b are the bits, e their standards, and g the cross-piece.

Plate I

Plate III

Reference Works