Bowline loop may pass around or through an object during the making of the knot. The knot tightens when loaded at (pulled by) the standing part of the line. The bowline is commonly used in sailing small craft, for example to fasten a halyard to the head of a sail or to tie a jib sheet to a clew of a jib. The bowline is well known as a rescue knot for such purposes as rescuing people who might have fallen down a hole, or off a cliff onto a ledge. This knot is particularly useful in such a situation because
USS Tom Bowline (1814) USS Tom Bowline (1814) USS "Tom Bowline" was a schooner that the United States Navy used as a storeship during the War of 1812. The Navy sold her c.1818. The Navy purchased "Tom Bowline" in late 1814 at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for use as a storeship, and put Lieutenant B. V. Hoffman in command. Subsequently proceeding to New York, she joined , , and in preparations for a raiding foray into the East Indies. "President"s sortie on 14 January 1815, however, ended in disaster — after grounding and suffering severe damage, the frigate fell victim and captive to a superior