on the tiller of a motor boat during World War I
Rudder control In watercraft, the tiller may be attached to a
rudder post (American terminology) or
rudder stock (English terminology) that provides leverage in the form of
torque to turn the
rudder. In steering a boat, the tiller is always moved in the direction opposite of which the
bow of the boat is to move. If the tiller is moved to
port side (left), the bow will turn to
starboard (right). If the tiller is moved to starboard (right), the bow will turn port (left). Sailing students often learn the alliterative phrase "Tiller Towards Trouble" to remind them of how to steer. Rapid or excessive movement of the tiller results in an increase in
drag and will result in braking or slowing the boat. In the early 1500s the tiller was also referred to as the steering stick.
Engine control Some outboard motors may instead have the tiller directly attached and offer controls for engine throttle and prop rotation for forward and reverse.
Tiller orders Until the current international standards for giving steering orders were defined by the
SOLAS Convention of 1929, it was common for steering orders on ships to be given as
tiller orders, which dictated to which side of the vessel the tiller was to be moved. Since the tiller is forward of the rudder's pivot point, and the rudder aft of it, the tiller's movement is reversed at the rudder, giving the impression that orders were given "the wrong way round". For example, to turn a ship to
port (its left side), the
helmsman would be given the order "
starboard helm" or "
x degrees starboard". The ship's tiller was then moved to starboard, turning the rudder to the vessel's port side, producing a turn to port. The opposite convention applied in France (where
tribord—starboard—meant turn to starboard), but Austria and Italy kept to the English system. There was no standardisation in vessels from Scandinavian countries, where the practice varied from ship to ship. Most French vessels with steering wheels had their steering chains reversed and when under the command of a British pilot this could result in confusion. When large
steamships appeared in the late 19th century with
telemotors hydraulically connecting the wheel on the
bridge to the steering gear at the
stern, the practice continued. However, the helmsman was now no longer directly controlling the tiller, and the ship's wheel was simply turned in the desired direction (turn the wheel to port and the ship will go to port). Tiller orders remained however; although many maritime nations had abandoned the convention by the end of the 19th century, Britain retained it until 1933 and the
U.S. merchant marine until 1935. A well-known and often-depicted example occurred on the
RMS Titanic in 1912 just before she collided with an
iceberg. When the iceberg appeared directly in front of the ship, her officer-of-the-watch, First Officer
William Murdoch, decided to attempt to clear the iceberg by swinging the ship to its port side. He ordered "Hard-a-Starboard", which was a tiller order directing the helmsman to turn the wheel to port (anti-clockwise) as far as it would go. The
Titanic's steering gear then pushed the tiller toward the starboard side of the ship, swinging the rudder over to port and causing the vessel to turn to port. These actions are faithfully portrayed in the
1997 film of the disaster. Although frequently described as an error, the order was given and executed correctly—the vessel struck the iceberg anyway. However, according to the granddaughter of the
highest-ranking officer to survive the sinking, Second Officer Charles Lightoller, the order was not correctly executed. Quartermaster Hitchins, who had been trained under rudder orders, mistakenly turned the wheel to starboard. It took two minutes to recognise and correct the error, by which time it was too late to avoid collision with the iceberg.
Louise Patten makes the statement in an endnote to her fictional story,
Good as Gold. Although this system seems confusing and contradictory today, to generations of
sailors trained on sailing vessels with tiller steering it seemed perfectly logical and was understood by all seafarers. Only when new generations of sailors trained on ships with wheel-and-tiller steering came into the industry was the system replaced. ==Other vehicles==