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

Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by dsego on Wednesday April 19, 2023 @04:20AM (#35625712)

Afaik, this is not the case in all other languages to have specific nautical terms for sides. I asked a sailor friend for the terminology in our language and it's just left side and right side/flank, seems pretty self explanatory, by convention you are orienting forwards. Like any profession though, having specific terminology helps distinguish from the outside group and maintain impression of expertise.

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Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by denton-scratch on Wednesday April 19, 2023 @05:21AM (#35626096)

> seems pretty self explanatory

On a big ship, like an aircraft carrier or cruiser, you can qite easily lose track of which direction is the prow (front). Many carrier crew rarely go up on deck. And if the ship happens to be sailing astern, left and right become ambiguous.

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Re:Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left”... by dsego on Wednesday April 19, 2023 @06:12AM (#35626380)

> you can qite easily lose track of which direction is the prow

If you don't where the prow is, how do you know where starboard is? I guess if the sailing direction is backwards, it might be confusing if you say "to your left", but if you say "left side", it should still be clear I think, maybe not.

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