Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”

Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by rmrk on Tuesday April 18, 2023 @06:43PM (#35621476)

It's funny to me that some olaf 1000 years ago just called them what they were; the steering side and the docking side, and now we have to use the same words which don't make any sense to us. I vote we just call them the steering-side and the docking-side again.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by lardo on Tuesday April 18, 2023 @07:30PM (#35621970)

My understanding is that port’s usage is somewhat recent. In the English sailing world the opposite of starboard was larboard. The royal navy made the change within the last few hundred years.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by greesil on Wednesday April 19, 2023 @01:05AM (#35624437)

One of the fun things I learned when reading master and commander was this.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by wpietri on Tuesday April 18, 2023 @06:56PM (#35621623)

Unfortunately, we no longer have consistent steering and docking sides. So first you're going to have to rebuild a lot of ships.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by soneil on Tuesday April 18, 2023 @08:09PM (#35622389)

The steering side is now the back. And docking .. in the Mediterranean the docking side is commonly the back too. In Scandinavia it's commonly the front.

It's probably for the best that they've been detached from their original meanings.

[ Parent | on HN ]