Accidents aboard...

[Elena]

We had seen in stories a lot of times the lowly sailor/ soldier saving his officer's life... but in what circumstances it can be the opposite? A captain saving a sailor's life? I am trying to come with an idea but not sure which, this is why I need your help, as you are more accustomed with mishappenings aboard. This captain would be capable to help/ grab away the young sailor if he sees the impending accident, and I want the young sailor very grateful to him for having saved his life.

...So, please, help! What could have gone wrong aboard in this case? (1719, West Indies, if it helps... And it;s during the daily work, not in a battle.)

[Silver]

working the deck of a sailing vessel is be a dangerous place. one has to be continually aware of what is going on around them. lines under pressure can break and snap back, getting ones body in the bite of a line can crush you. a foot in a running line can break it. a hand to close to a block can get pulled into it. climbing aloft has it own dangers also. then there's falling overboard it takes awhile to tack a sailing vessel back pick you up you could be shark bait by then. maybe a lad falling from the yard into the sea getting knocked out and the captain jumping in to keep him afloat till the ship could come about to save him.

[Elena]

Thank you very much. He might have got his body in the bite of a line under pressure, and the captain saw in the last second and grabbed him back. It helps a lot. In which conditions would a line do this?

Not falling overboard though, because it has happened with others in the story (I was inspired by Mission's post with Saint Elmo's fires, and the sailor who saw it - a devout Catholic - crossed himself in terror, forgetting that he was holding the rope of a bossun's chair, and that there was someone in that chair, checking the hull for damages... )

[Daniel]

While the ship is wearing (i.e. the stern of the ship is passing through the wind's eye as it turns), the boom of the spanker or other fore-and-aft sail may sweep across the deck, which can knock you overboard or break your neck if you're not looking out for it.

Also, the blocks/pulleys are always moving about in unpredictable directions aloft. Once, while I was on the foremast head of the St. Lawrence II, the crew on deck started lifting something with a block and tackle, and the block caught my shirt and started to lift me. They stopped and I was able to disentangle myself, but less alertness on their part could have thrown me off the mast head. While it is very unlikely that the captain or other senior officer would be aloft himself to save the hapless, his timely shouted warning could prevent such an accident.

[Silver]

bite of line- when docking at a pier with an off shore breeze the wind is trying to push you away from the pier. all hands will be pulling on the mooring line putting a lot of pressure(strain) on them you are fighting for every inch (tug of war) as you work up to the pier the mooring lines must be made fast to the kevel(cleat)quickly so as not to lose ground and hold the vessel to the pier. upon the command to "make off" the sailor closest to the kevel will call to his mates on his line "up from behind" it is a command to the men behind him to drop the line so that he can quickly wrap it around the kevel before the wind pushes the vessel away from the pier. this can be a hazardous operation. if he gets his fingers, hand or arm in between the line and the kevel, as the weight of the vessel puts pressure on the line and kevel they will be crushed. this operation is also taking place at the same time on the quarter where your captain will have posted himself.

[William Brand]

A cannon not properly secured is a dangerous thing. If it remains upright while traveling across any open stretch of deck, the mass and momentum can cause all sorts of damages to the men and machine of a ship.

A boom attended to improperly can sweep a man to his death or deal him a blow that would damage him.

Hatchcombing left open, but unnoticed. One false step.

[Elena]

Thank you all for your explanations! They give lots of good ideas :) not only for the present story.

They help a lot, both because I am never sure about the exact technical signification of certain English words and because I don't have a detailed idea on what happens during ship work on a sailing ship.

Yes, we had a loose cannon incident, two times (not aboard the same ship).

Edited October 14, 2013 by Elena

[Jas. Hook]

Careless standing or straying underneath a load of cargo or while swaying out one of the ships boats and noticing a line starting to part.

Captain goes aloft to the masthead to spy out a particular ship or landfall, the sailor accompanying him with a telescope slips or looses his grip and the Captain grabs him.

In Mutiny on the Bounty a below deck scene where cargo shifts during a storm. Officers and sailors are imperiled trying to secure the shifting cargo, could setup a likely scenerio.

[flagman1776]

I lost a towed dingy in crossings Buzzards Bay with a fresh wind on the quarter... the 30 foot sloop would catch a wave & ride it for a quarter of a mile at a time. When the swell would drop out from under us, the tiller would try to fling us around the cockpit for a few exciting seconds. The dingy slid off a wave crest into the trough & rolled over. Everything went in slow motion as everyone in the cockpit hit the deck. A split second later the tow line (1/2" through a 1/2" hole in the bow & a figure eight knot on the inside) stretched to the limit... pulled through the bow & came on board our sloop with considerable velocity. Who ever got our dingy, got it complete as we had the oars lashed into it & all.

Hull speed was 8 1/2 knots... we later figured our speed to have been about 10 over the bottom.

[Coastie04]

I lost a towed dingy in crossings Buzzards Bay with a fresh wind on the quarter... the 30 foot sloop would catch a wave & ride it for a quarter of a mile at a time. When the swell would drop out from under us, the tiller would try to fling us around the cockpit for a few exciting seconds. The dingy slid off a wave crest into the trough & rolled over. Everything went in slow motion as everyone in the cockpit hit the deck. A split second later the tow line (1/2" through a 1/2" hole in the bow & a figure eight knot on the inside) stretched to the limit... pulled through the bow & came on board our sloop with considerable velocity. Who ever got our dingy, got it complete as we had the oars lashed into it & all.

Hull speed was 8 1/2 knots... we later figured our speed to have been about 10 over the bottom.

Exciting, but that particular scenario would not have happened on a pirate ship. Though they would have had occasion to tow their small boats, they would be using natural fiber line. It does not have nearly the stretch capability and would also break at a lower tension for a similar size diameter. The velocity with which that line came back at you is due to 'synthetic line snapback', and can be very dangerous. Of course, they didn't have synthetic line back then. Natural fiber lines don't have nearly that amount of stored energy from stretching before they fail.