Starboard holes

So I've had this old ship's window for years. It hangs on the chimney.
A friend of mine stopped by the other day and asked about it.
He has a store and buys and sells antiques.
So I asked him what it was worth.
He said if it was a port hole it would be worth a few bucks.
But seeing it was a starboard hole probably not much more than the weight of the brass.

Any time you want to sell it I'll give twice the value of the brass and pay the shipping!

POSH port out starboard home.

looks good right where its at!

Cute. Course for the joke to have meaning, the viewer would need some salt savvy. For you "landlubbers" (grin...take it lightly) Port (Adjective, description word) is the left side of a ship and Starboard (another Adjective) is the right side, both when viewed facing forward. A Port (noun) is a particular type of hole making it a "proper" noun.

My thanks to the good nuns who taught me grammar in the early years of parochial school and their 12" rulers. Too bad it took me most of my life to remember and use their unselfish devotion to their order and their mission.

'tain't brass. BRONZE

You need to trade that one in for a newer model. That one doesn't appear to be doing it's job very well . . . you can't see through the chimney. LOL


:>)

How can you tell the difference in holes? Ron Mn

I served in the Navy and know what port and starboard mean, but this don't make any sense to me. Is it a joke or is there a real meaning to it? Thanks

It's like the lug nuts on an old Plymouth. It's got left hand threads?

Sorry fellas.
It was supposed to be a joke.
But I do wonder about stuff like that.
Why there aren't starboard holes, etc.

good one..trivia note is that they are mounted so the the hinge is at the top, and a hook/small chain above them to hold it up and open when needed. When its to be closed, the weight of the unit hangs down, making it much easier to dog it down[ tighten the lugs] instead of holding the weight up and dogging the same time.
but there are mounting exceptions of course, depending what is mounted around the space.
and why are they round???
so the water doesn't hit you square in the face when open....
have a good one.

It would be called a porthole. Not related to port and starboard.

Some trivia: I don't have access to the picture to post but it "was an event" for me.

My sister used to live on the beach in a 6th floor condo across from Long Beach Harbor and the Queen Mary/Spruce Goose exhibits. On one of my visits I decided to tour the attractions. While inside a stateroom I noticed a "Port Hole" open and in it a view of the building in which she lived across the harbor. A cabin cruiser happened to be going by just as I shot the picture. I thought it was a memorable occasion.

4 things that impressed me while aboard:

The ship sailed from NY for England during WW II carrying thousands of American troops to fight in Europe. She was a good transporter as she could carry a good load and her 30 knot (6076 ft per nautical mile, vs 5280 statute) speed (vs a "Liberty" supply ship's 10 knot speed) helped her to evade submarines lurking in the N. Atlantic. They had a section depicting the event showing what it was like for the troops berthing (living quarters) while making the voyage, including fully dressed manikins and supportive equipment.

The propellers; always been a "prop nut"!!!! There are 4 of them and they are huge. There's a cutaway in the hull, glassed over so that you can see them (underwater), standing right next to one of them.

The plumbing in the state rooms. Had several selections of water sources and temperatures for taking one's bath....pipes everywhere.

The view from the Bridge (Place where the Captain usually commands the ship) extensions that extend to the side of the hull, high above the deck. Standing at the extreme end and viewing fore and aft (front and rear) magically put you in the shoes of the Captain and his overwhelming duty to manage this great ship. What a feeling and view.

Oh; the Port Hole covers were on top, held in place by "the chain".

Courtesy of Wikipedia: "A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air." My adding, through a "Port", aka hole in the side of a ship in this case, not a "Starboard" in the side of a ship. Grin. Heck I don't know. Probably came from the Greeks or Romans or someplace back there.

They had to name them something just like which side of the ship is on the left or right. Just like running lights. Green is on the Port side and you pass ship to ship, green to green, aka you pass each other on the left, just like cars on US highways. If a sailor says pass on the left side , which way are you facing when you say left as you could be facing aft and the left would be on the Starboard side and you could be overtaken from the rear.......I don't have anything to do this morning and it's cold outside. Forgive me! Grin.

Texasmark1,

You've got the red/green backwards. The port side navigation light is RED and the starboard side navigation light is GREEN.

"port out starboard home"
The story they told me was that its origin lies in the passenger ships sailing from England to India. Travelers who could afford it, wanted a cabin on the port side during the outward journey towards India to avoid the hot sun while sailing the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. And similarly a starboard side cabin on the way home. On the order form for the two way journey the clerk would write P.O.S.H.
Any truth to this?

Good joke While watching an old navy guy serving as a tour guide on a battle ship, he repeated a simple little ditty that makes port / starboard directions so clear and easy to remember for a landlubber like me.
He said "PORT, 4 letter word, LEFT 4 letter word." just that simple

Good thing it wasn't an aft hole!

if you put your ear up to it can you hear the ocean?

They are round to prevent stress cracks! If you cut a square hole in a structural part of a ship, when the structure flexes in rough seas, a stress crack would start in the corner, and compromise the integrity of the ship.

Geez must have been just getting out of bed to mess up that one. Sorry for the disinformation. Should have known better especially since I am currently building ship models in my spare (locked in the "cabin") time. Oh well, at least Red (Nun) is on the Right Returning; Black (Can) on the left.

I remember Nun-Can with this old saying:

"Even Red Nuns on entering have Odd Black Cans on leaving." This picks up the numbering system too- even numbers on Nuns and odd numbers on Cans.

With a lot of rote memorization, there get to be some interesting phrases used by some folks. We have "Never Eat A Green Chili Dog" and "Red Bananas in the South West Are Best" for train separation, "Miss Goat Luv" for turbine trips, and then most of the Navy Nukes will remember their favorite Six Factor Formula.