Helm Commands

2nd chuckle of the day.

In my experience the helm command may com in this order:
Port 10; 10 degr. port rudder angle
Midships; rudder to 0 angle, but ships is still turning.
Steady; put on counter rudder to stop the turning.
Finally, “Steady as she goes”; when the turning has stopped and the required heading is obtained.

PS> Whether to then give a compass heading to maintain a steady course, or to pick a fixed point to steer by depends on what is around you.
If a heading to be specified the numbers would be given as for example “One Three Oh”., not 130.

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Since Oh is not a number, did you mean one three zero?

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At least he did not say one three aught.

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The terms come left, come hard left etc, were commands from the combat information room to the bridge by the command during anti submarine warfare when prosecuting a sonar contact. The bridge watchkeeper translated the order to port 15 or port 30 to the wheelhouse. The OOW was responsible for the safety of the ship and could override the CIR if the manoeuvre was unsafe because of the presence of consort. This was the only time left or right were used when I was in the navy.

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That is the term I have used and heard other using all my life. It is understood all over the world.
Giving clear orders and getting them repeated back as a confirmation that they have been understood has always been important.
Trying to tell an Indonesian skipper on a tow boat to; “Come a bit to your left y’ll” with a broad southern drawl doesn’t work too good I can assured you.

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Where I come from the term is commonly used for telephone numbers but the correct term in flying or sailing for degrees is zero.

Or one three naught.

I know what is specified in IMO’s SMCP, but that is not always what is followed.
I talked about what I have been using and what I have heard other using these last >60 years .

BTW; 0 = Oh = Zero = Nada = Naugth = Null = 零 Líng

PS> In phonetic spelling 0 is called NadaZero, but nobody uses that as helm order.

Oh very well…maintain a course of one three null and carry on then.

If you are bored then yelling ‘Hard Amidships’ at the helmsman usually provokes an interesting response.

That is the case for the RAN too. The distinction was to avoid the suggestion that the CIC (or operations room for us) was conning the ship. Only the bridge can give helm orders. The captain was usually below in the ops room for action and never on the bridge.

Can I suggest my Navy’s usage? The order is given “steady”. The helmsman’s response is “steady. 153’ reading off the ship’s heading at that instant. He steers that course until otherwise ordered. There’s no ‘steady as she goes’ - unnecessary words. The order can then be given to steer a course eg ‘steer 155’ if a slightly different course is desired. This method reinforces in both the helmsman and conning officer’s mind what the actual compass course to be steered is and doesn’t require the conning officer to look specifically at the compass.

I’ve seen pilots in many ports around the world and sailed both commercial and military. In practice it’s not as clear-cut as in the book.

For example I don’t recall hearing the command “steady as she goes” used anywhere. AFAIK it can be considered obsolete.

Some ports/ pilots don’t use some terms the same. For example pilots in the Suez Canal will bark out “Course!” when they want to know the heading.

In many ports the command “steady” is not used, in places where it is used it is not used as defined in the U.S. In many ports it means something like to check the swing rather than steer that heading at the time.

Sometimes SMCP is not the best way to give helm order. It depends on the language ability of the helmsman, (among other thing)
In my time with Kanaka crews we use “alternative commands” (Not “alternative facts”) To talk to the crew we used Melanesian Pidgin (AKA "Nuguni talk-talk)

Since they didn’t understand numbers very well the method used to alter course while at sea was; Tell the helmsman “Raus im” (Move away)
Then take the wheel yourself and put her on the new course.
Finally, when steady on the new course, point on the compass and say; “Long hup im pella”. They were good at remembering pattern, even if the numbers didn’t tell them anything.

Not according to IMO recommendation, but sometime you have to be flexible.

PS> In and out of port we used the Indonesian Bosun and Carpenter as helmsmen.(If we didn’t have Singaporean Quartermasters)

This is the definition used in the American Merchant’s Seaman Manual

“Steady, or steady as you go.
EXECUTION Steer the course on which the ship is heading when the command
is received. If the ship is swinging to the right (left) when the
command is given, the heading must be noted, and the vessel
> brought back to that course. This command may also be given
after the command to “mark your head”. If the conning officer
wants to steer the course that was called off by the helmsman then
he will give the command “steady, or steady as you go” will be
given.

This is the IMO smcp:

  1. Steady: Reduce swing as rapidly as possible.

Many American ABs and officers were trained IAW the Seaman’s manual and many pilots in foreign ports follow IMO smcp usage.

If the pilot gives the command “steady” when the ship is swinging rapidly and the helmsman follows U.S. practice the result is the helmsman will be trying to turn back opposite from the direction the pilot expects the ship’s head to swing.

I don’t recall hearing a pilot in the U.S. use the command “steady”.

I don’t recall that either, but then it has been many years since I was helmsman on a ship in US waters and with a US pilot. (1962 AFAIR)

I have, but it is few and far between. European pilots use it extensively, but then again, they rarely give rudder commands and choose to give incremental heading changes to control rate of turn.

Personally, I consider it to be unprofessional to bark a “steady” order at the helmsman if the ship is swinging more than a few degrees a minute. Command the swing back to a manageable level or nearly stopped and then call for “steady” or give the heading you want. Any pilot that asks for it when we are swinging 15+ degrees per minute to port and the helmsman has to apply huge counter rudder to stop it, I start taking a much more active interest in their conning skills or lack there of.

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I learned helm commands on the bridge of an old WW2 vintage Coast Guard cutter. We did stuff the old fashioned way. 6 guys on watch. Paper charts, trackline drawn, Loran C fixes every 15 minutes, or shoot bearings if possible.

Back then the command was “rudder amidships”

The following link has a list of them almost exactly as I was taught.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiT4MXo6_PsAhUpTd8KHW1DB0MQFjABegQIBhAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boatswainsmate.net%2FBM%2Fhelmcmds.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1sw2V5MfwQ45HDYqcz7GM1

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It is absolutely correct that the order should be “rudder amidships “ but I have found that “wheel amidships” is far more common and shows a touching faith in the machinery involved.

According to the IMO:

AII/1 Standard Wheel Orders

Order______________Meaning

  1. Midships________Rudder to be held in the fore and aft position.