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View Full Version : On This Day - 18th February 1797, 1800



David Manley
02-18-2012, 00:46
1797 - Ships under the command of Admiral Harvey land an army under Lt general Abercrombie on Trinidad. The island is formally surendered a few days later. During the landings a Spanish squadron of four sail of the line is discovered in Chaguaramus Bay. All four ships are burnt by their crews rather than surrendered (an interesting potential game here with the spanish ships attempting a breakout)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Trinidad_(1797)

1800 - Nelson in Foudroyant, along with Alexander, Northumberland and Success, capture the French 74 Genereux. Previously in the day Alexander had captured Ville de Marseilles

http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=1005

And an interesting one from the US Navy (albeit outside the timeframe of the game) - on February 189th 1846 a General Order on port and starboard is issued.


"It having been represented to the Department, that confusion arises from the use of the words "Larboard" and "Starboard," in consequence of the similiarity of sound, the word "Port" is hereafter to be substituted for "Larboard."

Berthier
02-18-2012, 04:46
And why did they choose "port" anyway? Given it also means somewhere to anchor (ie dropping anchor in port), to carry (to port something), it's an alcoholic beverage (port from Porto!) plus probably various other meanings this could have led to confusion. What was wrong with "LEFT"?

Or if they wanted to be fancy "sinister" (as use for the left eye, oculus sinister, or in heraldry)

I know ships tied up on the left side by convention, thus port side, but really...

Anav
02-18-2012, 08:01
Port is the seafaring term for the left side of the boat or ship, from the point of view of a person aboard the ship, facing the front, or bow, of the ship. This term is also used for spacecrafts and airplanes. It is not synonymous with the right hand side, as the port side of a ship does not change depending on which way a person is facing. The opposite of 'port' is 'starboard.'

The original English nautical term for the left side of a ship was 'larboard.' This came from the Middle English term for 'the loading side.' As 'larboard' rhymes with 'starboard,' it was easily confused, especially during high winds or in loud environments, which could cause significant problems when attempting to follow shouted commands. In the 1500s, 'larboard' became known as 'port,' since it was the side of the ship where dockworkers normally load cargo from the port.

An alternate theory for the etymology of 'port' is that the English word came either from the Latin word porta, which means 'door' or 'gate' or portus, meaning 'harbor.' This could have again referred to the side of the ship where the dockworkers loaded cargo or to the gate or door opened to load the cargo.

Berthier
02-18-2012, 18:52
Thanks Steve, my comments were naturally facetious, however I do sometimes wonder why "the military" or for that matter most organizations insist on terminology that could otherwise be clearer and more logical. Tradition, the need to create a mystique around professions and many other factors come into it and the modern variant is the dreaded acronym...who hasn't read a techno-thriller littered with short capital lettered "words" for innumerable weapon systems, organizational subunits, command designations etc etc.

David Manley
02-18-2012, 23:23
I sometimes think that the amount of intellectual energy that goes into developing suitable (or in many cases cringeworthy) acronyms rivals that going into the "real work" element of many projects these days!