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Port andstarboard arenautical terms forwatercraft andspacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing thebow (front).
Vessels with bilateralsymmetry have left and right halves which aremirror images of each other. One asymmetric feature is where access to a boat, ship, or aircraft is at the side; it is usually only on the port side (hence the name).
Port side and starboard side respectively refer to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow. The port and starboard sides of the vessel always refer to the same portion of the vessel's structure, and do not depend on the position of someone aboard the vessel.
The port side is the side to the left of an observer aboard the vessel andfacing thebow, towards the direction the vessel is heading whenunderway in the forward direction. The starboard side is to the right of such an observer.[1]
This convention allows orders and information to be communicated unambiguously, without needing to know which way any particular crew member is facing.[2][3]
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Starboard derives from theOld Englishsteorbord,steor meaning steer, andbord meaning side. Before ships hadrudders, they were steered with asteering oar on the right hand side of the ship, because more people areright-handed.[2] The "steer-board" etymology is shared by theGermanSteuerbord,Dutchstuurboord,Icelandicstjórnborði, Scandinavianstyrbord,Frenchtribord,Italiantribordo,[a]Catalanestribord,Portugueseestibordo,Spanishestribor andEstoniantüürpoord.
Since the steering oar was on the right side of the boat, it would dock on the left side. In Old English, this side was known asbæcbord.[6] An Anglo-Saxon record of a voyage byOhthere of Hålogaland used the word "bæcbord" ("back-board") for the left side of a ship. With the steering rudder on the starboard side the man on the rudder had his back to the left side of ship. GermanBackbord, Dutchbakboord, Icelandicbakborði, Swedishbabord, Spanishbabor, Portuguese bombordo, Italianbabordo,[a] Frenchbâbord, and Estonianpakpoord, are allcognate.
From around 1300 the termladde-borde was used, fromMiddle Englishladebord,lade meaning load, andbord meaning side.[3]Ladebord was changed tolarboard in the 1500s, possibly by association with starboard. This side was also calledport, since it was the docking side.[7] TheOxford English Dictionary cites this usage since 1543.[8]
Larboard sounds similar tostarboard and in 1844 theRoyal Navy ordered thatport be used instead.[9][10] The United States Navy followed suit in 1846.[11]Larboard continued to be used well into the 1850s bywhalers.[12] In chapter 12 ofLife on the Mississippi (1883) Mark Twain writeslarboard to refer to the left side of the ship (Mississippi River steamboat) in his days on the river – circa 1857–1861.[13] Lewis Carroll rhymedlarboard andstarboard in "Fit the Second" ofThe Hunting of the Snark (1876).[14]
The navigational treaty convention, theInternational Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea—for instance, as appears in the UK's Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1996 (and comparable US documents from theUS Coast Guard)[15]—sets forth requirements for maritime vessels to avoid collisions, whether by sail or powered, and whether a vessel is overtaking, approaching head-on, or crossing.[15]: 11–12 To set forth these navigational rules, the terms starboard and port are essential, and to aid inin situ decision-making, the two sides of each vessel are marked, dusk to dawn, bynavigation lights, the vessel's starboard side by green and its port side by red.[15]: 15 Aircraft are lit in the same way.
Port and starboard are also commonly used when dividing crews; for example with a twowatch system the teams supplying the personnel are often named Port and Starboard. This may extend to entire crews, such as the forward-deployed crews of the Royal Navy’sGulf-based frigate,[16] orballistic missile submarines.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)An order, recently issued by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, states, that in order to prevent mistakes, which frequently occur from the similarity of the words starboard and larboard, in future, the word port is to be substituted for larboard, in all Her Majesty's ships or vessels.
... the steersman at the tiller obeys the order to 'hold her up to starboard;' or, 'let her fall off to larboard; term 'larboard' is never used at sea now, to signify the left hand; but was always used on the river in my time]
He was thoughtful and grave - but the orders he gave
Were enough to bewilder a crew.
When he cried "Steer to starboard, but keep her head larboard!"
What on earth was the helmsman to do?