[General] The meaning of "bring the ship about"

[Shamsiyan]

What is the meaning of "brought the ship about" in the following sentence .

He brought the ship about .

 

[Rover_KE]

It's a nautical term meaning 'He turned the ship round to face in the opposite direction', or 'He turned the ship through 180 degrees,' or 'He did a U-turn'.

Rover

 

[BobK]

:-? Hardy a U-turn. When a sailing boat is sailing with a direction that is at 180 degrees to the wind, it 'tacks' so as to zig-zag in a way that is ultimately against the wind. At the end of each of these zigs or zags it 'goes about'.

The word 'tack' has given rise to a metaphor that you may have met: to 'take a different tack' is to change the direction of an argument, but with the same ultimate objective.

b

(I imagine Rover knows this, and certainly 5jj does - as I believe he has sailed more than I have.)