Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

438 results found

mast

(Encyclopedia)mast, large metal or timber pole secured vertically or nearly vertically in a ship, used primarily for supporting sails and rigging. The mast is as old as sailing vessels, and the oldest sailboats dep...

Rodgers, John, 1773–1838, American naval officer

(Encyclopedia)Rodgers, John, 1773–1838, American naval officer, b. Harford co., Md. He had seen years of merchant service before he became (1798) a lieutenant in the new U.S. navy. He served in the Tripolitan War...

Bounty, British naval vessel

(Encyclopedia)Bounty, British naval vessel, a 220-ton (200-metric-ton), 85-ft (26-m) cutter, commanded by William Bligh. She set sail for the Pacific in Dec., 1787, to transport breadfruit trees from the Society Is...

Kra, Isthmus of

(Encyclopedia)Kra, Isthmus of krä [key], narrow neck of the Malay Peninsula, c.40 mi (60 km) wide, SW Thailand, between the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Thailand. It has long been the proposed site of a ship cana...

Gosport

(Encyclopedia)Gosport gŏsˈpôrt [key], city and district, Hampshire, S England. The city is a major port ...

Barry

(Encyclopedia)Barry, Welsh Barri, town and port, Vale of Glamorgan, S Wales, on the Bristol Channel. Once a major coal-exporting port, its more diversified export pro...

Eccles

(Encyclopedia)Eccles ekˈəlz [key], town, Salford metropolitan district, NW England, in the Manchester met...

Saint Catharines

(Encyclopedia)Saint Catharines, city (1991 pop. 129,300), S Ont., Canada, on the Welland Ship Canal. An industrial center in a rich fruit-growing region, it has canneries and wineries as well as textile and paper m...

Vytegra

(Encyclopedia)Vytegra vĭˈtyĭgrə [key], river, c.45 mi (70 km) long, rising near Lake Kovzhas, NW European Russia and flowing generally NW into Lake Onega. It is an important part of the Volga-Baltic Waterway. A...

Wallasey

(Encyclopedia)Wallasey wŏlˈəsē [key], city (1991 pop. 62,465), Wirral metropolitan district, W central England, on the tip of Wirral peninsula at the mouth of the Mersey River, in the Greater Manchester metropo...