Page 63 - Frank Rosenow "Seagoing Knots"

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MITCH

The Midshipman’s Hitch

This knot is a rolling hitch tied on the standing part to make a fixed eye.
Cyrus Lawrence Day, in The Art of Knotting and Splicing, advises a man
who has fallen overboard and is being dragged through the water at the
end of a line to use it as it can be tied with the line under tension.
Be that as it may—in most man-overboard situations a safety harness
would make a better starting point than a rope eye—in mooring situations
the midshipman’s hitch often makes a more straightforward tie than the
bowline if there is a strain on the line. It will start to hold actively as soon
as the second turn has been jammed in. For a temporary fix of the eye, it is
enough to hold the end snug against the standing part.

To be left alone in safety, the end needs to be half hitched around the
standing part just like the rolling hitch usually is.
The drawing shows the knot from the point of view of Day’s desperate
case, but if it is turned upside-down you will see it from the more com¬
monly recommended point of view of a man tying up to a bollard ashore
and who uses it to get some strain off the end.

KNOTS
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