The Bridge: Where It Came From
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- Опубліковано 8 лис 2018
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The bridge is the command centre of a ship. It is the location of all the controls as well as the navigational and communication equipment. Why did it become known as a bridge though?
We all know about bridges that cross rivers. They bridge a gap.
The etymology of the navigational bridge, however, is less clear.
In this video, I explain where the term came from, as well as some of the features of a modern bridge.
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Set off to explain the origin of "bridge", casually answered the question why it's called "cockpit". Awesome :)
Thanks Gehteuch. Glad you liked it
Another interesting fact is that since the helm of the ship was moved forward on modern yachts are larger boats, the outside congregating area aft is now known as the cockpit.
Sounds kind of like Colubus setting off to India and casually finding America...
Long cocks
@@niko-stajner9722 and plenty of seamen.
I love how 40 second in and you just casually explain "cockpit"
6:14 My father was captain of a cargo ship. He had some sort of remote controller that he could wear that controlled the entire ship. It was funny to see him park in port with it. Walking from wing to wing with this device in his hands. It was like this 180 meter long ship was just his little RC toy.
It's not like the physical wheel on modern ships is mechanically connected to the rudder, or like the thrust leavers are physically connected to valves controlling the fuel flow to the engines. Everything is relayed electronically, so in a sense it is already RC. With no physical force needed to move the controls, there is no reason for them to be big or fixed to one place.
Cool is your father still alive? If so ask him why he and his fellow sea captains have always used plane trigonometry, and NOT spherical trigonometry for navigating the high seas?
@@chrisgardiner2215 Plane trigonometry is easier to do both mathematically and physically on a flat chart, and with occasional corrections gets you close enough to your destination even across the largest spans of open water.
Spherical trigonometry adds several degrees of unnecessary complexity when humans are doing the work.
@@chrisgardiner2215 Plot the path using multiple points on spherical trigonometry, and the path between each point is on plane geometry. You get most of the benefits of both, where the points on spherical trigonometry allow for a short route via Great Circle, and the ease of calculation via plane geometry
@@toddkes5890 NO SHIP NAVIGATOR USES SPHERICAL TRIGONOMETRY!!!
NONE NONE NONE! period
I have been a navigator for 10 years and a have a total experience of 17 years on VLCC and other cargo ships however I never knew all these stuff. thank you so much. will teach my juniors and irritate my captain with knowledge.
Brilliant. No fuss, just concentrated information delivered almost casually. Excellent illustrations, too. Every video a jewel. Subscribed. All the best, Rob
And no stupid music to boot! :)
I have no idea why I'm watching these videos - but, I'm watching these videos and loving them :).
Sorabh Pant dude an underrated comment lol
To understand what goes to building a navy to your future empire, of course.
Damnnn didn't expect sorabh here lol
I was in the Navy it's because you want to jump off it sometimes
Prick captain?
@@osmacar5331 I don't think the Navy has a captain.
Navies do have captains... In the US for example, it is O-6
Naval life at sea in general it's 24/7 it feels like a curse sometimes. And yes the commanding officer can be referred to as the Captain or the Skipper captain is also the highest rank below a flag officer equivalent to an army colonel I never had a bad one
@@rogerfar Navy Captain is 06 , same for USCG. The Commanding Officer of a USN or USCG vessel is the Captain no matter his or her grade . Captain in the USMC and Army is 03. 03 grade in the Navy and Coast Guard is Lieitenant . Confused yet ?
In reference to the origin of nautical terms: since the wheel on early ships was located on the quarter deck, another name for the helmsman was "quartermaster." "Coxswain" then became the name for the small-boat operators that handled the ship's boats.
I thought the quartermaster was the one that handled the boats expenses and payouts?
@@trickytreyperfected1482 Nope; that's the purser. Quartermaster in naval terminology is different than quartermaster in army terminology.
@@seikibrian8641 ah, that's my bad then. I was thinking about my knowledge of pirates, which I guess would do things different than the army
@@trickytreyperfected1482 aka the CGP Grey knowledge.
@@dzidkapl you know it :p
I love this. Straight to the point and not trynna sell ads or anything. This is how UA-cam should be.
It was like this, once upon a time
As a city dweller all my life, i've never really had much interest in maritime information but these videos are so succinct and educational that I bloody love them. No extra long set up to string us along, no questions asking viewers to discuss in the comment section, no pleading for subscribers, no advertising. Just straight to the point information and with simple to understand visuals. Great job. Subscribed.
Very interesting ! Actually, in french we use the word "pont" that means bridge for every decks. So we use another word for the bridge, which is almost the same as bridge : "passerelle" that means rather like footbridge, and also used for gangway. It seems we use this word for the same reason as in english. However i don't know why we use the word "bridge" for decks in french. I haven't found the answer yet. I don't even know exactly when we started using it.
I feel like it's an amazing thing that in our modern sci-fi movies the space vessels still have a special room for control over the ship called the bridge :D
It is still a ship. If bridge as the term for ship's command center survived the removal of an literal bridge on the ship, there is no reason it wouldn't go up to space. As long as we can build spaceships big enough to have a bridge instead of just a cockpit.
Yet, rather stupidly, the bridge is on top of the ship, rather than in the center, where it would be well protected.
In fact, a Star Destroyer in Star Wars is taken down when a fighter crashes into the bridge. The rest of the ship is fine, but there’s no way to drive it, so it crashes…
3:31 In the UK it was usually only tugs and the like that had independent paddles. Passenger paddlesteamers were required to either lock the paddles together or just have a solid axle. This was due (supposedly) to a couple of paddlesteamers capsizing while manoeuvring to dock and the passengers all standing on that side. The combined shift in weight and the movement caused by the paddles could result in the vessel capsizing. More of a risk to earlier smaller sidewheelers than the later far larger steamers, I suspect the later steamers also used solid axles to save money, rather than an expensive clutch system which they would rarely be allowed to use anyway.
Which in some respects is a shame, a sidewheeler with it's paddles operating independently is probably one of the most manoeuvrable ships to ever be built.
Wow that was superb, i appreciate your efforts in making the shipping field accessible to enthusiasts like me, i became interested in ships after watching "The Last Ship" series
Thanks Ashrit. I haven't heard of 'The Last Ship' before, but I will take a look
The Casual Navigator Great show!
It's a great series. I learned a good bit about ships from that series.
That was a GREAT show!! Sad it's over...but it ran its full course.
I kind of knew all this, but great to hear it officially confirmed! And I did learn some new stuff. Isn't that what it is all about?
I have no reason to doubt any of this, really, but I’m not convinced a UA-cam video actually equates to official confirmation..,
Not only did I learn why it's called a bridge, I learned the origin of "wheelhouse" (I say stuff is not in my wheel house all the time) as well as cockpit. Bravo.
Port and starboard: A steer board (or modified oar) was on the right side since most people are right handed. Since that was in the way, the port side would be tied to the dock in port.
The name starboard derives from old norse, and as you said: the "viking”-era ships had a steering oar instead of a rudder.
However, the -board part of the word refers to the actual side of the ship rather than the rudder or oar.
In scandinavian boatbuilding terminology "bord" means "plank", as in the planking of the hull.
The Swedish word for starboard is "styrbord" but the word for port (side) is "babord", -the bare board.
"The name actually comes from history."
Well it wouldn't come from the future.
Not yet anyway
I built a time machine. I will tell you all about it two years ago.
@@larsanderson3072 Wait until before you build it before you will have already told me.
@@Donleecartoons that hurt my brain.
I come from the future, and we don’t call it a bridge anymore.
thanks for the explanations, you helped me. I was very rudely yelled at, that modern ships don't have wheelhouses anymore. Here in switzerland we often refer to it in it's common german term "Steuerhaus" which literally translates into "Steering house" (Steuer(rad) = steering wheel) as shown on the picture of that beautiful ~110years old swiss paddlesteamer. The wings we generally know as "Kommandobrücke" which literally translates into "Command bridge" well as i said, i'm swiss, so i don't know that much about ocean going ships... and even less about proper english :)
I spent 36 years in the merchant navy and never once wondered why it was called the bridge, thanks for the information
Precise, informative, and I really appreciate that it's under seven minutes.
What an amazingly well thought out, and edited, video. It was a perfect explanation. Thanks for the video.
When I worked for the Oil&Gas sector, I was told that it was because all the cargo was in the middle of the ship and if you need to cross from port to starboard you would have to do it by crossing the bridge. But I liked your video very much
I know you put tons of effort into your content, and I enjoy it greatly. This is not a serious complaint, so don't go breaking your back to re-upload anything, but here it goes.
When someone watching your videos has subtitles or captions on, the bottom 1/5th of the page is concealed from view. It's not a problem on the computer, as you can move the text box, however you can't do this on mobile platforms, so the subtitles are stuck. I can pause, turn em' off for a second, and examine your lovely diagrams and visual aids, then re-enable them and continue viewing.
Again, not a big deal, just figured you might wanna' know. Thank you for the work you do, and please keep uploading amazing content!
I learned something new.
Thank you for taking the time and trouble to produce this video. You did a nice job of scripting, animating, and narrating it.
I agree. This is information I did not have, and I relegated the reason for the name to "I'll figure it out when I also figure out FTL and women's thought patterns." Now, I know about the bridge.
HMS Warrior, 1860. A sail and steam warship of the royal navy has two bridges, for and aft, there purely for observation. The aft bridge is over the roofless wheelhouse for easy command
Great video, and top quality information. I've been boating my whole life, and always wondered about the the bridge and cockpit terminology. These are things I now wish someone had told me on day two, right after port, starboard, fore, and aft. Thank You
How fascinating!
Love these relics of now-redundant terminology that just lingers from a time when once relevant.
Brilliant explanation. Please define more words like this.
Excellent! Etymology and naval history all in one video.
I was a Boatswain's Mate for 10 active years, and appreciate your video! B-)
Thanks for clarifying this so well, once you got to the paddlewheel I figured that had to be it, amusing how we hold on to certain titles and references, take port and starboard, port cause you docked at port cause the steering board was on the other side and you didn't want to break that, it became starboard, I grew up watching docu tv but it doesn't cover everything and docus have slipped in the past several yrs, so now my yearning for learning comes from YT and etc.
Yeah same
@assassinlexx I grew up watching docu tv, learned tons, glad I could help !
Doc Brown . Many thanks for the info re. Origin of starboard. I’m ex Merchant Navy and learned many terms studying basic naval architecture, but not the origin of starboard. I DO know a breast-hook from a breast-shore though! Not that that’s relevant!
@@brianlee2878 Appreciate your service ! My late mother raised my brother and I on docu tv and a push to always learn, so I have seen 1000s of docu shows, dad had been in the mil and step dad had so I watched mil stuff too, so always learning and sharing where feasible. Many details have been lost in history but that one was documented by the Greeks and Romans as primary lessons in maritime skills, don't wanna break the steering board so one side was dock safe for a 1000+ yrs.
Starboard is a bit muddled in English.
It's a bit more obvious in other languages, though you might still not think to ask why it had that name regardless.
For instance, the dutch term is 'stuurboord'
While this sounds a lot like starboard (because it is of course the same word, just through the filter of a different language)
The key point is that 'boord' still carries the meaning of a board or plank of wood, and 'stuur' is 'steer' as in 'steering'.
So in dutch if you took even a second to think about it, you'd realise it says 'steering board'.
Then again, in exchange for this you get the confusion of why the other side of the ship is 'bakboord'
'bak' means something like tray, or tin. (like a cake or bread tin would be a 'bak') and such.
Quite what this has to do with a ship, (besides in the abstract sense that indeed most ships do resemble a large wooden or metal container of some kind.), I really don't know.
That was interesting and it answered my curiosity as to why it was call a bridge. Thanks for sharing this.
All the videos are very informative. Fantastic job mate....All the best and keep going.
A very clear and concise piece of information thank you .
thankyou for the explanation. very informative
Wow...thanks for the added knowledge and keep up the good work mate.
Thanks Mauriel!
Well done - clear lean expression of all necessary points in good order - pleasure to listen to.
Very well done. Thank you, I learned something new.
I never really thought of that question... thanks for answering!
Excellent explanation as always thank you Ali
Thanks Ali. Glad you liked it!
Very detailed and great explanation
Very good information and surrounding context and history, nice work!
This was a very concise, helpful and informative video. Thank you!
Excellent video, good explaination! I also found it interessting that binnacles are still used even today!
More trivia information to win drinks in bars with.
Awesome. You had me glued the entire time. Great job
So much interesting detail in such a simplecquestion! Thanks for the excellent elaboration!
So... Now I'm having a random flashback of captain Picard yelling 'Get off my bridge!' and you've made me associate it with trolls that charge people money for crossing their bridge...
Great...
Thanks for that one. ;p
XD
"Shut up Wesley"
That was great. I've actually been wondering about both the bridge and the cockpit. (Or at least, why the cockpit on a yacht is aft of the bridge.) Now, about the poop deck....
Watch your step on the poop deck
Nicely done! I’ve been a ship’s Master for more than 40 years and I learned a bit!
interesting, clear, and succinct. Thank you!
Thank you so much. I found that very informative.
And pulpit is a corruption of pull pit (the place you'd attach to when towing another vessel - I. E. the place from whence you pull) - as opposed to the "push pit" at the stern. Gunnell is a corruption of "gun wall". Halyard is a corruption of "haul yard" (the line used to raise a yard-furled or spar-furled sail). Head comes from a shortening of "cat head" the bits that looked like cat's heads at the bow of the ship, where sailors could relieve themselves to leeward, so as not to get their urine blown back on themselves.
Nice--- I think you've either made up, or have incomplete folk-etymology for 3/4 of these. :D "push pit" gave me a laugh.
I learned something new today. Thank you.
I... I honestly learned something today!
Thank you great sir!
Also, a courtroom is operated in the same manner this is why you have to voluntarily through those little doors and into the "bridge" to give the judge/captain authority over you.
In English please
@@turton2112 Yes.
I thought the captain had authority the moment you stepped aboard? Hence the “permission to come aboard” formality?
OK, now explain why the bidding card game is also called bridge.
So Bridge itself derived from the 17th C card game Whist its popularity spread out into the world, the game changed before arriving back as Bridge. Bridge is a corruption of Biritch the games original name the origin of which is obscure. It could be from Romanian for razor
brici or Turkish bir-üç "one-three," because one hand is exposed and three are concealed.
Cause using suits and values you build a bridge to a full construction.
The card game uses a deck. Coincidence? I think not.
@@larsanderson3072 and to play you need hands on deck
@@larsanderson3072 😂
Thank you very much for the narration of the term navigation bridge
This channel has by far the best disclaimer, it should be used on every informational video. ;
That helps a lot.
Thanks Dawani
I was told once I was kid...that it was simply because ships became bigger (taller).
And if a bridge was not raised, the bridge of a ship would crash in the bridge, henche the name :P
And smaller ships, that don't have this issue, is called a wheelhouse.
Ahahaha 😂😂😂😂😂😂 lolllll
That is such a Calvin's Dad explanation.
Fantastic, as yacht Surveyor I salute your ability to share this knowledge. Well done from PA Yachting
Really good explanation; I like how you tied the names to the history of ships. Well done and thank you!
Really good vid
Cheers Milan!
4:23 we finally get an answer...
I worked on the bridge of many warships, my early years spent on hands and knees cleaning it daily at sea (really sucks)... I had no idea why it was named a bridge, thanks....
What i've been wondering about for decades. Now I know, thank you.
Generally good, but on a battleship such as HMS Victory the quarterdeck is a continuation of the main deck, and the raised deck right aft is called the Poop deck. The wheel is underneath the poop deck, providing the helmsmen with some protection. The Captain’s cabin is behind this, so he could be called as necessary.
I cant say i did wonder why it was called a bridge, but i did once i saw the title. Now i know lmao
I saw this channel years ago, and really liked it, but then I lost track of it. I tried to find it some weeks ago without luck, and now youtube randomly shows this video. Thanks algorithm xd
its so funny how much terminology we use that originated from naval activities. ive always wondered about these!
Could you make a video about rotor sails as they have been slowly gaining popularity on ships of different kinds?
Cheers Agent Smith. I'll have a look into rotor sails for another video.
Helicopter
0:09 Is... Is that the Silver Jubilee Bridge between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire?
I literally live right next to it. I'm quite shocked at it being used here, next to bridges literally everyone on the planet has heard about.
eskreskao I live in St. Helens I thought the exact same thing!!
What a nice and informative video from the very beginnings, great video!
this is the kind of video I'm looking for; concise knowledge bombs telling me things I never knew i wanted to know. gimme more of these, mr youtube algorithm!
A historian, a sailor, a person who know traditions.
I might question the Coxswain on the wheel bit.... Quartermasters usually have the wheel. The Coxswain could be at the helm of the Captain's boat. Ships master was in charge of the helm receiving orders from the Captain.
anyway...
I think you are correct. The Quartermaster has the wheel which makes him the "master" of the quarterdeck. The coxswain was mainly in charge of the ship's boats (which fits the explanation of the word given in the video). But perhaps this is primarily RN usage; on a merchant ship, where the crew was necessarily smaller for economy's sake, maybe the same man would have both roles. The 18th century warship diagrammed in the video is drawn with the wheel on the poop deck, which is a bit misleading. Only the largest warships even had poop decks, and the poop covered the quarterdeck, from where the ship was still steered. In a typical warship without a poop, the quarterdeck was really just the area of the main deck around and aft of the wheel, not necessarily demarcated by any structure.I don't think wheelhouses ever appeared on warships in the age of sail. With the advent of steam and armor, the wheel was moved to an armored tower (the conning tower), which eventually ended up under the bridge, and the "wheelhouse" on the bridge was typically called the charthouse. The charthouse also had a wheel, and the ship would be conned from there if it were not under fire. The better commanders also eschewed the conning tower in action because the view from there was so limited.
@@steveonmareisland5268 Yeah all that sounds good considering the smaller war ships and merchantmen.
In theory your right, but like being a pilot! A pilot can fly a small 2 seater plane on his own, but needs 2-3 other crew members to fly a large passenger plane. You can drive you’re car👍🏻, I can drive my truck? But I need others in the chain as I do heavy haulage. Same theory just different sizes and work load, but ultimately the caption of the shit. Great being captain lol
Steve on Mare Island mmm
likely to depend on historical period, location, service and size of ship. ? also position of 'sailing master'
Very informative and very consistent explanation without lots of confusing and annoying side notes. Liked and subbed. Keep up the good work.
You, sir, are an awesome explainer!
It is decided, I'm going to call all pilots, captains and so on "coxwains" XD
But you didn't show the most famous bridge of all; the bridge of the starship _Enterprise_ .
Joseph Heston It hasn't been built yet, so not enough details available (the space shuttle Enterprise has been built, flown and beached already though).
Even Klingon only has one word for 'bridge' regardless of which type of bridge it is!
So many gems of etymology in one episode.
Nicely done video with a simple explanation.
Can you explain why the bridge on passenger vessels are in the forward while most freighter vessels have bridges in the mid-ship or aft.
Probably field of view stuff
im guessing its so that the crew an get a better view of the containers in order to ensure they are secured safely and arent on fire or something
In cargo ships the engine room is set aft, so it sacrifices the least possible payload space, not even with a screw shaft tunnel spoiling the cargo area. The engine room and funnel being aft, it makes sense to build the accomodation and bridge on top of it, if visibility is acceptable.
Passenger vessels are quite the contrary. Their "payload" is above the sea line, meaning big accommodation and plenty of free space underneath for machinery. So accomodation fore to aft, and bridge set upfront.
So the Captain does not have to look at the dreadful passengers/tourists?
Maersk's Triple E Class has the bridge near the front of the ship.
Please explain the poop deck.
From my computer's dictionary: noun (also poop deck)
the aftermost and highest deck of a ship, especially in a sailing ship where it typically forms the roof of a cabin in the stern.
verb (usually be pooped)
(of a wave) break over the stern of (a ship), sometimes causing it to capsize: carrying a high sea, "we were badly pooped."
@@wildman2012 I worked on a modern replica of an old chinese sailing junk.The shit- house was a small louvred cabin with the seat projecting over the stern.Taking a crap on a sailing vessel under weigh(way) is easiest by the aft of the vessel for fairly obvious reasons.
Seagulls at port also like to rest on the mast wings and poop down the deck.
Brilliant video filled with information I wanted to know and didn't know I wanted to know. Liked and subbed. Thanks for the knowledge
I'm here because the first time I hard the word bridge being used to describe the command centre of a ship was in Star Trek. I have always wondered why they called it the bridge. Now I know why. Thanks!
In Thailand we call it "Saphan Ruer" which simply translate into "Ship's Bridge"
(Saphan = Bridge
Ruer = Boats/Ships)
Captain : "elec...elec... come to the bridge immediately ......."
Chief Eng : "i haven't been seeing him for over 3 hours..."
Captain : (dafuq)
Well, that could be very problematic!
Wow I have always been confused with the concept of bridge on ships. Thanks for clearing my concepts 👍👍
Really interesting bit of information.
And in the 24th century they added the Captain's Ready Room.
actually, it's fairly common for the captain to have a "Day cabin" directly off the bridge that serves the same basic function as Picard's ready room.
"Cockboat (ship's boat)". What the hell is that supposed to mean? lol
my question exactly
I set off to research this and found out that "cock" was some linguistic evolution from the latin "concha", meaning "shell", which was the rudder format at the time. So, the "cock" was actually the name of the rudder.
And sailors hated to have a too-small cock, because then the ship wouldn't turn worth a damn.
@@danielbishop1863 even before it had todays meaning, you hated have a small one
Daniel Bishop im... honestly surprised i didn't hear a dick joke earlier than this
Very good and clear video, thanks for making it
What a brilliant and informative video ! Packed with interesting information. Anyone with a love of ships should watch this. I'm subscribing !
The real command center is the ECR, that's where the magic happens
The ECR is an incredible place. I hope to collaborate with a ship's engineer one day to bring you all a video about it.
@@CasualNavigation I wouldn't consider myself a ship's engineer yet but I am an engine cadet, I could tell you about pumps, pipes, and gaskets but that's about the extent of my working knowledge so far. But hey maybe I could dig up some stuff for you. I do have access to my training ship's ECR so I could get some footage there of the different boards and consoles.
Thanks Boat Boy. I do know about some parts, but wouldn't be able to do an ECR video justice myself. I will leave it to an engineer to cover, maybe as a collaboration in future. It would be a fascinating channel to start if you were into video making.
You climb into a cockpit. You step onto a flight deck
Those of us in the car community, gearheads, tend to use the word “cockpit” mostly to describe a set of controls that favor the driver and therefore away from the passenger. “Driver focused” is another way of describing the same idea.
Clear, concise, interesting!