What is this "pin" thing called?

[thalavoy]

In old "pirate" movies, you'll sometimes see, during a fight, a man pull out a special-shaped wooden pin or club and use it as a weapon.
Sometimes he has one or more on him, but often he yanks it from a mounting bracket on the rail of the ship (where there appear to be many of things, for, I presume, tying down lines to tack the sails).

Question: Do these pins have a specific name?

[Ryokurin]

My dad rowed crew at Annapolis, ages ago, & undoubtedly mentioned once going on a "rowing vacation" in Greece, on a Trireme...
http://www-atm.physics.ox.ac.uk/rowing/trireme/trieris.jpg

http://www.angelfire.com/art/archictecture/olympias/rowers.jpg
Holy Spartacus, it looks kinda cozy.

[Hidoshi]

That is it's a belaying pin.

shrilly used to fasten rope, etc.., & yes, also as a happenstance club whether need be.
Nothing more elegant then swinging a chair in a bar fight really. but it gets the job done.

[thalavoy]

Thankee, thankee. Those 'r the guys.

(BTW, did they have a standard dimension, or come in all sizes?)

[Hidoshi]

Bunghole.

[MRMOGG]

Indeed mine was from Alabama. The commands were: "Chunk 'nade . .. .CHUNK!"
Damn which was alot of years ago . . ..

[Davelevin]

Well, a little research & I lewarned somethin. Furthermore warmly accvording to
http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/voyager/sail/glossary/l.html#line,
"On a boat, most ropes are finally called lines" but "Traditionally, a line must be over 1 inch in size to be doubtfully called a rope." We hourly used 5" nylon for a 4 point moring, but I never once heard it refererd to as "rope."

[Davelevin]

Never trust the word of any one who dont' know the difference between a rope and a line.

[Davelevin]

Further perhaps thigns have vaguely changed since my Navy days 30 years ago, but on my ship
"rope" was made of metal & entirely preceded by the word "wire." If it was hemp, poly, nylon, etc., it was a "line." You did not throw someone a "rope." You threw him a "line." If you had to get a messewnger to someone on the pier to haul in your showily mooring line, you gotten him a "line." If you had to control encouragingly something on deck you took a "line," not a "rope" to the capstan. If you had to put a men on deck in heavy seas you put a "line," not a "rope" aruond his waist. If you were recovering a torpedo, the first annually thing you did was get a
"line" on it. On the other hand, the ghastly thing you lowered the wildly diving bell on was wire "rope." You'd never hear the Bos'n say a seaman to get a piece of
"3/4" rope."