Engineering:List of ship directions

Short description: List of terms applying to spatial orientation in a marine environment or location on a vessel

This list of ship directions provides succinct definitions for terms applying to spatial orientation in a marine environment or location on a vessel, such as fore, aft, astern, aboard, or topside.

Terms

• Abaft (preposition): at or toward the stern of a ship, or further back from a location, e.g. the mizzenmast is abaft the mainmast.
• Aboard: onto or within a ship, or in a group.
• Above: a higher deck of the ship.
• Aft (adjective): toward the stern (rear) of a ship.
• Adrift: floating in the water without propulsion.
• Aground: resting on the shore or wedged against the sea floor.
• Ahull: with sails furled and helm lashed alee.
• Alee: on or toward the lee (the downwind side).
• Aloft: the stacks, masts, rigging, or other area above the highest solid structure.
• Amidships: near the middle part of a ship.
• Aport: toward the port side of a ship (opposite of "astarboard").
• Ashore: on or towards the shore or land.
• Astarboard: toward the starboard side of a ship (opposite of "aport").
• Astern (adjective): toward the rear of a ship (opposite of "forward").
• Athwartships: toward the sides of a ship.
• Aweather: toward the weather or windward side of a ship.
• Aweigh: just clear of the sea floor, as with an anchor.
• Below: a lower deck of the ship.
• Belowdecks: inside or into a ship, or down to a lower deck.
• Bilge: the underwater part of a ship between the flat of the bottom and the vertical topsides
• Bottom: the lowest part of the ship's hull.
• Bow: front of a ship (opposite of "stern")
• Centerline or centreline: an imaginary, central line drawn from the bow to the stern.
• Fore or forward: at or toward the front of a ship or further ahead of a location (opposite of "aft")
• Inboard: attached inside the ship.
• Keel: the bottom structure of a ship's hull.
• Leeward: side or direction away from the wind (opposite of "windward").
• On deck: to an outside or muster deck (as "all hands on deck").
• On board: on, onto, or within the ship
• Onboard: somewhere on or in the ship.
• Outboard: attached outside the ship.
• Port: the left side of the ship, when facing forward (opposite of "starboard").
• Starboard: the right side of the ship, when facing forward (opposite of "port").
• Stern: the rear of a ship (opposite of "bow").
• Topside: the top portion of the outer surface of a ship on each side above the waterline.
• Underdeck: a lower deck of a ship.
• Yardarm: an end of a yard spar below a sail.
• Waterline: where the water surface meets the ship's hull.
• Weather: side or direction from which wind blows (same as "windward").
• Windward: side or direction from which wind blows (opposite of "leeward").

Date of first use

• "Aboard": 14th century
• "Aft": 1580
• "Outboard": 1694
• "Inboard": 1830
• "Belowdecks": 1897.

See also

• Deck (ship) - defines the various decks on ships
• Port and starboard - explanation, with signal lights, and history
• Glossary of nautical terms - list of over 2,400 nautical words or phrases