whalecatcher
14-02-2011, 18:54
Can anyone with an Italian background advise how steering orders are given nowadays in Italian speaking ships? In the late 19th and early 20th century all sea-going nations independently did away with the centuries-old practice of giving the orders to the helmsman in terms of 'helm' (tiller). Until that point, the order "Port the helm!" meant "Turn the top of the wheel to starboard, so that the tiller shall go to port, but the ship will turn to starboard." Nowdays, this seems very strange, but it caused no confusion at the time when the tradition went back centuries, and the underlying mechanics were understood by everyone.
When the change was made in the United States Navy (1913), to make it clear that the 'new' system of steering commands was in use, the form of the order was altered to" 'Right rudder!' and 'Left rudder!!'. A similar plan would would have worked for other countries, but in fact for the most part they retained the equivalents of the traditional terms Port and Starboard, but with reversed meaning. [The RN changed in 1930] Italy was a special case since they were the the one European country which had always used 'left' and 'right' in giving orders to the helmsman, even at a time when everyone else used 'starboard' and 'port', or similar specific nautical terms. The old forms were: Dritto! (A dritta!) and Sinistro! (A sinistra!)
The question, is did they retain the old form of orders with reversed meaning, or perhaps adopt equivalents for starboard (Tribordo) and port (Babordo). I would also be interested if anyone can date when the Italian Navy made the change.
Whalecatcher
When the change was made in the United States Navy (1913), to make it clear that the 'new' system of steering commands was in use, the form of the order was altered to" 'Right rudder!' and 'Left rudder!!'. A similar plan would would have worked for other countries, but in fact for the most part they retained the equivalents of the traditional terms Port and Starboard, but with reversed meaning. [The RN changed in 1930] Italy was a special case since they were the the one European country which had always used 'left' and 'right' in giving orders to the helmsman, even at a time when everyone else used 'starboard' and 'port', or similar specific nautical terms. The old forms were: Dritto! (A dritta!) and Sinistro! (A sinistra!)
The question, is did they retain the old form of orders with reversed meaning, or perhaps adopt equivalents for starboard (Tribordo) and port (Babordo). I would also be interested if anyone can date when the Italian Navy made the change.
Whalecatcher