Differ On Naval Terms.

New York Times 100 years ago today, May 24, 1913:
Risky to Drop 'Port' and 'Starboard,' Says Winslow — Board Disagrees.
Special to The New York Times.
    WASHINGTON, May 23.— The abolition of the terms, "port" and "starboard" in the navy has aroused further protest. Rear Admiral Cameron McRae Winslow, Commander of the First Division of the Atlantic Fleet, whose flagship is the Florida, regards the change as likely to lead to serious confusion and mishaps in practice, and, inferentially, in battle.
    Admiral Winslow even indicates that a battleship or a battle might be lost in consequence .of the substitution of the words "right" and "left" which, he says, seem awkward and unnatural to the trained sailor man. He adds that he has found that there is a great similarity in the words "right" and "left," as pronounced in command on shipboard, especially in giving orders to the man at the wheel in a strong breeze, and describes a recent incident on the Florida, where his order for the steersman was misunderstood.
    Admiral Winslow's protest was made with so much emphasis that Secretary Daniels at once referred it to Admiral Dewey for consideration by the General Board. The board replied to-day to the Secretary, supporting their original recommendation of the terms "right" and "left," and contending that to use the terms "starboard" and "port," with meanings, diametrically opposite from the meaning with which the new commands were to be used, would cause hesitation and error.
    Capt. Henry B. Wilson of the battleship North Dakota, on the other hand, has written the department that he had given the new terms a thorough trial, and that at the end of the first week, the men were enthusiastic over the change. Capt. Wilson found that inexperienced men learned to steer the ship much more easily and rapidly with the new designations.