Crosshead n. (Mach.) A beam or bar across the head or end of a rod, etc., or a block attached to it and carrying a knuckle pin; as the solid crosspiece running between parallel slides, which receives motion from the piston of a steam engine and imparts it to the connecting rod, which is hinged to the crosshead.
... plan and the inboard drawing show construction midsections and hull connections. These plans show that the engine was not inclined, but rather was vertical, contrary to Fulton's patent drawing. The piston rod and the crosshead obviously passed through its gun deck in a large hatch. Also it is plain that there must have been large hatches afore and abaft the wheelbox to make the stepped wheelbox construction desirable. There ... — Fulton's "Steam Battery": Blockship and Catamaran • Howard I. Chapelle
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