The Rudder and the Right Side of the Ship
A rudder is the hinged blade that steers a boat or aircraft. Before it moved to the stern, it hung off one side — and that side is still called starboard.
A rudder is the flat blade, hinged at the back of a boat or aircraft, that turns it left or right. Early northern European ships had no stern rudder at all: the steering blade was a broad oar slung over the right-hand side, the steer-board, which is why sailors still call that side starboard. The stern-hung rudder arrived in Europe around the twelfth century and changed what a ship could do.
- A steering blade. *He put the rudder hard over.*
- On an aircraft — the vertical control surface on the tail. *Left rudder.*
- Figuratively, a guiding force. *Grief left him without a rudder.*
- Rudderless — drifting, with no direction. *A rudderless government.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | rudder | The rudder jammed. |
| Plural | rudders | Twin rudders. |
| Adjective | rudderless | A rudderless crew. |
| Related | helm | He took the helm. |
| Related | tiller | A wooden tiller. |
- The rudder answered slowly in the swell.Literal, nautical.
- Give it a touch of right rudder.Aviation.
- The company has been rudderless since the founder left.Figurative.
Rudder, helm or tiller?
- Rudder — the blade in the water that actually turns the vessel
- Tiller — the bar you push to move the rudder on a small boat
- Helm — the wheel or station from which the rudder is worked
- Counter-intuitive — you push a tiller left to turn right
From Old English *rother*, a steering oar, related to *row*. The stern rudder replaced the side oar in medieval Europe, but the older arrangement is fossilised in *starboard*.
Why is the right side of a ship called starboard?
Because the steering board — the early rudder — hung over that side. The left side was the loading side, and became larboard, then port.
Does an aircraft turn with the rudder?
Not mainly. Aircraft bank with the ailerons; the rudder keeps the turn coordinated and controls yaw.