hull-down

alternative hull down

1. not comparablenauticalOf a ship: so far distant that only the masts and sails are visible above the horizon.

   Shortly they would be hull-down.

   1960, J.E. Macdonnell, Escort Ship, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, published 1972, page 30

   1 more example

   In the morning a homeward-bound ship passed us hull down,—the first we had seen for months; […]

   1898 September, Joseph Conrad, “Youth: a Narrative”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXIV, number DCCCCXCV, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publication Co., page 319, column 2

2. not comparablegovernmentOf a tank: stopped with its hull protected by ground to the front, so that its occupants or weapons have a line of sight forward.