_Union-down._ The situation of a flag when it is hoisted upside down, bringing the union down instead of up. Used as a signal of distress. _Union-jack._ A small flag, containing only the union, without the fly, usually hoisted at the bowsprit-cap. UNMOOR. To heave up one anchor so that the vessel may ride at a single anchor. (See _Moor_.) UNSHIP. (See SHIP.) UVROU. (See EUVROU.) VANE. A fly worn at the mast-head, made of feathers or buntine, traversing on a spindle, to show the direction of the wind. (See DOG VANE.) VANG. (See PLATE 1.) A rope leading from the peak of the gaff of a fore-and-aft sail to the rail on each side, and used for steadying the gaff. 'VAST. (See AVAST.) VEER. Said of the wind when it changes. Also, to slack a cable and let it run out. (See PAY.) _To veer and haul_, is to haul and slack alternately on a rope, as in warping, until the vessel or boat gets headway. VIOL, or VOYAL. A larger messenger sometimes used in weighing an anchor by a capstan. Also, the block through which the messenger passes. WAIST. That part of the upper deck between the quarter-deck and forecastle. _Waisters._ Green hands, or broken-down seamen, placed in the waist of a man-of-war. WAKE. The track or path a ship leaves behind her in the water. WALES. Strong planks in a vessel's sides, running her whole length fore and aft. WALL. A knot put on the end of a rope. (See PLATE 5 and page 46.) WALL-SIDED. A vessel is _wall-sided_ when her sides run up perpendicularly from the bends. In opposition to _tumbling-home_ or _flaring out_. WARD-ROOM. The room in a vessel of war in which the commissioned officers live. WARE, or WEAR. To turn a vessel round, so that, from having the wind on one side, you bring it upon the other, carrying her stern round by the wind. In _tacking_, the same result is produced by carrying a vessel's head round by the wind. WARP. To move a vessel from one place to another by means of a rope made fast to some fixed object, or to a kedge. A _warp_ is a rope used for warping. If the warp is bent to a kedge which is let go, and the vessel is hove ahead by the capstan or windlass, it would be called _kedging_. WASH-BOARDS. Light pieces of board placed above the gunwale of a boat. WATCH. (See page 167.) A division of time on board ship. There are seven watches in a day, reckoning from 12 M. round through the 24 hours, five of them being of four hours each, and the two others, called _dog watches_, of two hours each, viz., from 4 to 6, and from 6 to 8, P.M. (See DOG WATCH.) Also, a certain portion of a ship's company, appointed to stand a given length of time. In the merchant service all hands are divided into two watches, larboard and starboard, with a mate to command each. A _buoy_ is said to _watch_ when it floats on the surface. WATCH-AND-WATCH. The arrangement by which the watches are alternated every other four hours. In distinction from keeping all hands during one or more watches. (See page 167.)