2007-05-09 02:45:48 · 3 answers · asked by Sparkie@CommandSK 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Boats & Boating
even more specific than Richard:
sailing ships were commanded from back aft where the steering wheel was, on either the quarter or poop deck.
The first steamships had paddle wheels.....BIG paddle wheels.... on the side. The wheels and the housings they were in stuck up 10, 20 foot above the deck. Needless to say, you couldn't see very well around them. Engines down below, the watch on deck would have to communicate with the engineers. The solution to both problems was to run a platform across the ship at the top of the paddles wheel boxes
" bridging" the gap, allowing the crew to see and shout down by voice pipe to the engineers below them
2007-05-09 08:30:01 · answer #1 · answered by yankee_sailor 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The bridge got it's name from the 1st steam ships which had paddle wheels on each side and between the wheels was a bridge like structure where they put the ships wheel and compass. The structure looking like a bridge so it was named as such and has been that way ever since.
2007-05-09 17:00:02 · answer #2 · answered by brian L 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's short for bridge deck, so named because it spans the width of the ship.
2007-05-09 09:56:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋