Mistake in movie, Titanic?

Question

Titanic was on last night, and I've noticed this mistake years ago too. When they are about to hit the iceberg, the first officer gives the order "hard to starboard", and pilot turns the wheel all the way to the left. Later, he gives the order "hard to port", and the pilot turns the wheel all the way to the right. Isn't this backwards? I'm sure a major blockbuster movie like Titanic wouldn't make this mistake, but Starboard is right, and Port is left.

Answer 1

This wasn't a mistake. The orders related to the position of the tiller and not the direction of the wheel. This term was used by the British royal navy and discontinued in 1933.

Murdoch's order was "Hard-a- Starboard" and Hichens turned the wheel to port and the ship moved to the port.

This old term was used with tiller sailing vessels. Turn the tiller handle starboard you move to port and vice versa.

This question was addressed when the movie was first viewed.

Answer 2

Well the bridge commands were wrong anyways.

The true commands to the helmsman would be "Full right rudder" or "Full left rudder", not hard to port or starboard, that is a movie myth that seems to go on and on.

The term Port and Starboard are sides of the ship, just like Forward and Aft, and not directions to turn.

A command to the engine room with two main engines may be "Full Astern Port engine", because that is where that engine is located, the Port side of the ship. You may hear "Ten degrees Right Rudder" or the like, but never "Ten degrees Port Rudder". That would mean you had two rudders that were steered separately, which doesn't happen in real life ships....


The term "Rudder Midships" means the middle, so you would put the rudder to the center line of the ship.

Answer 3

c. karhuma and a few others gets it right.......up until the 1920's British helm orders were for how they wanted the tiller to turn.......and even on big ships there's a tiller; that the lever arm attached to the rudder that the steering cables attach to.........so the wheel would be turned the opposite of the order.

This got WAY to confusing as everyone else did it different ( hard a starboard turn the wheel to starboard) and the Brits changed over in the 20's

so the movie IS correct!

Answer 4

You're very observant. I noticed this also a few years ago and found out that the helm, at the time, was turned opposite to the direction you wanted to travel in. In fact, the movie is historically correct. If you watch any other version of the movie, you'll see that they do the same thing; the helm is spun opposite to the order given.

Answer 5

You are really observant, sailor. Kudos! yes the term for the left side of the boat, port, is derived from the practice of sailors mooring on the left side. Starboard is the nautical term that refers to the right side of a vessel as perceived by a person on board the ship and facing the bow (front).
However I don't use those terms on the Enterprise. lol

Answer 6

The funniest mistake, to me at least, occurs in the movie Scrooge (1951). There is a scene near the end where Scrooge is standing by the window. On the wall behind, and above him, is a mirror. In the mirror you can see the film crew. What I find so hysterical about that is this: When the crayon fiends at Turner got hold of the movie, THEY COLORIZED THE BIT IN THE MIRROR!!!!!!!

Answer 7

the film may have gotten flipped and when the actor was doing it he really was going the right way...it just got flipped around (i think that happens in editing) if that's not the case then in a blockbuster film who's got time to know a ship when there's lots of explosions to work on? hehe j/k but you're right they really should have noticed....but not everyones perfect...there's always mistakes (you can see a car driving past in the distance in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring in one of the first scenes)

Answer 8

Also, Lake Wissota, the lake Jack went icefishing on, was a man made lake not made until a few years after the Titanic sank.

Answer 9

I only watched the entire film once in the theater. After that I turn it off before it gets to that part because it makes me cry but that was most observant of you.

Answer 10

It depends on the perspective. Whose perspective was it? Was the camera behind the sailor or in front of him? Maybe in the filming, the person did it right, but somehow the footage got reversed. Sometimes they do that in movie trailers; the image is reversed.