Port And Starboard To Go.

New York Times 100 years ago today, April 16, 1913:
Old Sea Words by Daniels's Order Are Banished from Navy.
Special to The New York Times.
    WASHINGTON, April 15.— The ancient words port and starboard were to-day banished from the American Navy. Coming down from ancient sailormen, and rich in the associations of song and story, they must yield to the common sense of this practical age. They are not modern. Their usefulness is past. They do not fit the ship in these days of electric steering gear. Plain and clear as their meaning has been to the helmsmen of the past, they are now regarded as confusing, and in the crucial hour of battle might be the straw's weight that would cost victory and so perhaps change the whole course of history. That is the view of those who conduct the naval administration of the Government.
    "Starboard" and "port" are hereafter to be simply "right" and "left," and the words apply to the helm and not to the rudder or the ship's head. Thus the man at the helm will have only the words of the officer's command to hear and obey.
    The matter has been the subject of prolonged study by the General Board.
    On the final vote eight members of the General Board voted to do away with the old words, and one voted that they should be retained.