CENTRE OF GRAVITY, OR BALANCING POINT. _See_ GRAVITY.
CENTRE OF MOTION. _See_ MOTION (CENTRE OF).
CENTURION. A military officer who commanded one hundred men, in the Roman armies.
CERCURI. Ancient ships of burden fitted with both sails and oars.
CERTIFICATE. A voucher or written testimony to the truth of any statement. An attestation of servitude, signed by the captain, is given with all discharges of men in the navy.
CESSATION OF ARMS. A discontinuation or suspension of hostilities.
CETINE. An ancient large float, says Hesychius, "in bulk like a whale;" derived from _cetus_, which applied both to whale and ship.
CHAD. A fish like a small bream, abundant on the south-west coasts of England.
CHAFE, TO. To rub or fret the surface of a cable, mast, or yard, by the motion of the ship or otherwise, against anything that is too hard for it.--_Chafing-gear_, is the stuff put upon the rigging and spars to prevent their being chafed.
CHAFFER. A name for a whale or grampus of the northern seas.
CHAFING-CHEEKS. A name given by old sailors to the sheaves instead of blocks on the yards in light-rigged vessels.
CHAFING-GEAR. Mats, sinnet, spun-yarn, strands, battens, scotchmen, and the like.
CHAIN. When mountains, hills, lakes, and islands are linked together, or follow each other in succession, so that their whole length greatly exceeds their breadth, they form what is termed a chain. A measuring chain is divided into links, &c., made of stout wire, because line is apt to shrink on wet ground and give way. The chain measure is 66 feet.
CHAINAGE OF SHIP. An old right of the admiral.
CHAIN-BOLT. A large bolt to secure the chains of the dead-eyes through the toe-link, for the purpose of securing the masts by the shrouds. Also, the bolts which fasten the channel-plates to the ship's side.
CHAIN-CABLE COMPRESSOR. A curved arm of iron which revolves on a bolt through an eye at one end, at the other is a larger eye in which a tackle is hooked; it is used to bind the cable against the pipe through which it is passing, and check it from running out too quickly.
CHAIN-CABLE CONTROLLER. A contrivance for the prevention of one part of the chain riding on another while heaving in.
CHAIN-CABLES. Are not new; Cæsar found them on the shores of the British Channel. In 1818 I saw upwards of eighty sail of vessels with them at Desenzano, on the Lago di Garda. They have all but superseded hemp cables in recent times; they are divided into parts 15 fathoms in length, which are connected by shackles, any one of which may be slipped in emergency; at each 7-1/2 fathoms a swivel used to be inserted, but in many cases they are now dispensed with.