ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Boatswain's call

Alright kiddo, have you ever seen one of those cool whistles that sailors use on ships? That's actually called a boatwain's call! Sailors use it to give different signals to each other.

The boatwain's call has two parts, the "buoy" and the "shank." The buoy is the rounded part that goes in the sailor's mouth, and the shank is the flat part that curves upwards. When the sailor blows into the buoy, it creates a high-pitched sound that can be heard across the ship.

Different sounds from the boatwain's call mean different things. For example, one short blast might mean "attention," while a long blast might mean "man overboard!" Sailors have to learn all of the different signals so they can communicate properly with each other on the ship.

Overall, the boatwain's call is an important tool for sailors to use to communicate with each other and keep the ship running smoothly!