Port & Starboard, left & right? Bow & stern, front & rear?

[Pisco Sour78]

Red, port and left all have fewer letters than the opposites, i.e. green, starboard, right.

@Gary: My grandfather taught me that one....

Wait, is this why the stations have red and green lights by the mailslot? I just assumed the green was the 'correct' side to enter so as not to ram into ships passing through in the opposite direction.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

I use nautical on large "naval" ships. (basically frop the python up)

But i use aerial callouts (12 o'clock high, 7 o'clock low ect.) when flying the smaller craft.

I guess for me I'm a weird one on the small ship front. Trader-fighter, Cobra Mk III.

It's a ship that lends itself to nautical terms because of its job. I'm actually about to make a thread about some stuff I learned about my boat today.

 

[Wolfe3]

Grew up on the ocean in the Pac NW. Even the smaller fishing vessels used the terms. That and the Harbor master was an old salt that would give you crap on the radio if you didn't use the proper terminology. The port had a lift system to pull ships out of the water and set the boats on top of the dock.

Not my vid. but shows it.

[video=youtube_share;xrgMnng0SZ4]https://youtu.be/xrgMnng0SZ4[/video]

 

[AkimuMC]

Do you use old nautical terms like myself, or plain old landlubber speak?

Both. Served in the Navy, so the "old nautical terms" (which are still in heavy use today) are used, but I also play with regular folks who use general directional terns (left, right, forward, etc...). So, it is a mixture.

*also, I still haven't had a CMDR find me any centerline to tie down my ship with. Can anyone help?*

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Okay, "old" might have been the wrong term.

To be fair I've got an... Interesting relationship with maritime things. I have reasons to love it, namely in my grandad, but... There's a very nasty life experience that also makes me abhorred by boats.

Thus my nautical knowledge... Could be better.

 

[Hell Razor5543]

Here is a puzzler for you (I expect that some people will know the answer). As had already been pointed out, aircraft also use the Port/Starboard terminology. When aircraft are on aircraft carriers what terminology is used to describe the aircraft, and why?

 

[Armholeeio]

Wait, is this why the stations have red and green lights by the mailslot? I just assumed the green was the 'correct' side to enter so as not to ram into ships passing through in the opposite direction.

correct as a port/harbour irl has the same correct way of entering into

one very basic representation

 

[AkimuMC]

Here is a puzzler for you (I expect that some people will know the answer). As had already been pointed out, aircraft also use the Port/Starboard terminology. When aircraft are on aircraft carriers what terminology is used to describe the aircraft, and why?

It would depend on the conversation, but "nautical" terms would still be used.

What I mean is: The aircraft is on the port side of the ship (referring to the ship orientation), facing starboard (referring to the aircraft).


*the way I was taught Port/starboard was: When on liberty call you always want to be in the right (correct) port, but there is no such thing as the right (directional) port.*

 

[Monk]

In Missouri, we don't see much of the ocean. Most of my boating experience is in a river on a canoe where I don't need to tell anyone about orientation because A) I'm on my own, B) my wife is in the front getting a sun tan, C) screaming "Oh S***, look out for that...."

 

[Hell Razor5543]

When an aircraft is on a carrier, it is the carrier that get the nautical terminology, and the aircraft has to use left and right. This is to prevent possible confusion. For example, if an aeroplane was on the flight deck, but the nose was pointing towards the stern of the carrier, which is the 'correct' port/starboard?

 

[JetsonRING]

Wait, is this why the stations have red and green lights by the mailslot? I just assumed the green was the 'correct' side to enter so as not to ram into ships passing through in the opposite direction.

That is correct. Right side-up or upside-down, go through the slot on the GREEN side! If you look back as you exit the slot you will notice that the lights on the side of the slot you just exited are RED to warn oncoming pilots of on-coming traffic.

 

[Wolfe3]

In Missouri, we don't see much of the ocean. Most of my boating experience is in a river on a canoe where I don't need to tell anyone about orientation because A) I'm on my own, B) my wife is in the front getting a sun tan, C) screaming "Oh S***, look out for that...."

Lol, my kids and wife do the same thing.

 

[JetsonRING]

Here is a puzzler for you (I expect that some people will know the answer). As had already been pointed out, aircraft also use the Port/Starboard terminology. When aircraft are on aircraft carriers what terminology is used to describe the aircraft, and why?

IMO most pilots will say "the right side of the aircraft" because aircraft do not properly have "port" and "starboard" sides, that is historically/traditionally reserved for marine vessels. Also, engineers (the folks who design & build airplanes) are generally not marine/naval types and probably understand left/right more readily than port/starboard. I have never heard an engineer refer to 'the port wing". I have however, heard "the left wing" from an engineer.


I personally believe that space-ships are ships . . . and so I often use marine nomenclature.

 

[AkimuMC]

When an aircraft is on a carrier, it is the carrier that get the nautical terminology, and the aircraft has to use left and right. This is to prevent possible confusion. For example, if an aeroplane was on the flight deck, but the nose was pointing towards the stern of the carrier, which is the 'correct' port/starboard?

It just depends if you are speaking about the aircraft or the ship. If a A/C has a gripe with the port wing, it doesn't matter what its orientation is on the ship, I would still go to the A/C's port wing, as I know that we are speaking about the A/C (and if you get confused, the A/C has a red light on the port wingtip, as A/C use the nautical terms for "left/right")

IMO most pilots will say "the right side of the aircraft" because aircraft do not properly have "port" and "starboard" sides, that is historically/traditionally reserved for marine vessels. Also, engineers (the folks who design & build airplanes) are generally not marine/naval types and probably understand left/right more readily than port/starboard. I have never heard an engineer refer to 'the port wing". I have however, heard "the left wing" from an engineer.


I personally believe that space-ships are ships . . . and so I often use marine nomenclature.

All pilots I dealt with referred to the "left/right" wing tips as "port/starboard". Granted, my experience is with navy A/C, but A/C do in fact have a port and starboard. Everything that has an orientation has a port/starboard. Even most of the civilian contractors also used "port/starboard". The "front/rear" was also commonly referred to ar "forward/aft".

 

[Hell Razor5543]

When confusion is a possibility it would always be the main vessel that has port/starboard assigned to it. I would expect this to carry over into any space carriers and their supported ships.

 

[AkimuMC]

When confusion is a possibility it would always be the main vessel that has port/starboard assigned to it. I would expect this to carry over into any space carriers and their supported ships.

There is no confusion if we are going to work on the port wingtip of the A/C. It doesn't matter what the orientation of the ship is, what matters is where our gripe is located. Engines are easy as they are numbered, #1, #2, etc... but wings are still referred to as port/starboard.

 

[CMDR Delta Lima]

If you were REALLY old school it would be larboard and starboard.

 

[Rebel RDX]

As you enter the slot keep the red light on your port side. As you take off and exit into space keep the green light on your port side. They're navigation lights but not traffic lights. Sometimes I think flight control tells us to "follow the greens on the way out".

Entering a star port is like going upstream from the sea (space being the sea). Exiting the starport is like heading downstream.

Green to green when going upstream,
Green to red when seas are ahead!

 

[Hell Razor5543]

If you were REALLY old school it would be larboard and starboard.

Now THAT did lead to confusion, especially in times of stress (such as handling a vessel during a storm in confined/hazardous waters).

 

[Rebel RDX]

As you enter the slot keep the red light on your port side. As you take off and exit into space keep the green light on your port side. They're navigation lights but not traffic lights. Sometimes I think flight control tells us to "follow the greens on the way out".

Entering a star port is like going upstream from the sea (space being the sea). Exiting the starport is like heading downstream.

Green to green when going upstream,
Green to red when seas are ahead!

Ok scrap that, the more I look at the game I dunno what system they're using!