What does hard a starboard?
What does hard a starboard? This was a standard manoeuvre called 'porting about'. In 1912, helm orders were still based on the old sailing-ship tiller movements, so hard-a-starboard meant 'put the tiller to starboard (right)', thus turning the rudder, and therefore the ship, to port (left). Why did Murdoch say hard to starboard? Murdoch's "hard a-starboard" order in response to the iceberg has become so ingrained into the traditional Titanic story that it has never been questioned. It has been assumed that "hard a-starboard" was the natural last-ditch evasive maneuver to prevent the ship from striking the iceberg. What is...