BEAK-HEAD, _coltis_, a name given to a ship’s head whose forecastle is square or oblong, a circumstance common to all vessels of war which have two or more decks of guns. In smaller ships, the forecastle is nearly shaped like a parabola, whose vertex, or angular point, lies immediately over the stem. The strong, projecting, pointed beaks used by the antients in time of battle, have been intirely rejected since the use of gun-powder. BEAMS, _baux_, (_beam_, Sax. a tree) strong thick pieces of timber, stretching across the ship from side to side, to support the decks, and retain the sides at their proper distance. The BEAMS of ships of war are usually formed of three pieces scarfed together; as appears in plate III. They are sustained at each end by thick planks in the ship’s side, called clamps, upon which they rest. They are also firmly connected to the timbers of the ship by means of strong knees, and sometimes by standards. See MIDSHIP-FRAME. It is necessary that the beams, as represented in the midship-frame, should have a greater height in the middle than at the two ends, to carry the water more readily off from the decks, and to diminish the recoil of the guns, which will thereby more easily return into their places. The longest of these is called the _midship-beam_; it is lodged in the midship-frame, or between the widest frame of timbers. At about two thirds of the height from the keel to the lower-deck, are laid a range of beams, to fortify the hold, and support a platform called the orlop, which contains the cables and stores of the ship. There are usually twenty-four beams on the lower-deck of a ship of seventy-four guns, and to the other decks additional ones in proportion, as the ship lengthens above. _On the_ BEAM, implies any distance from the ship on a line with the beams, or at right angles with the keel: thus, if the ship steers or points northward, any object lying east or west, is said to be on the starboard or larboard _beam_. Thus also, _Before the_ BEAM, is an arch of the horizon comprehended between the line that crosses her length at right angles, and some object at a distance before it, or between the line of the beam, and that point of the compass which she stems. Thus if a ship, steering west, discovers an island on the right, three points _before the beam_, the island must bear N W b N from the ship. See the article BEARING. BEAN-COD, a small fishing-vessel, or pilot-boat, common on the sea-coasts and in the rivers of Portugal. It is extremely sharp forward, having its stem bent inward above into a great curve: the stem is also plated on the fore-side with iron, into which a number of bolts are driven, to fortify it, and resist the stroke of another vessel, which may fall athwart-hause. It is commonly navigated with a large lateen sail, which extends over the whole length of the deck, and is accordingly well fitted to ply to windward.