Today starts a new month and we will start at the basics for all sailors, terms they hear on a ship. When entering boot camp my recruiter gave me a list of words and told me to make sure to know what they meant. He said that everything I thought I knew about a ship was more than likely wrong and I would learn the proper way to speak when I got to boot camp. Of course I ignored him and figured I could make do with what I knew. WRONG!!

Here is a quick run down of basic ship parts and their corresponding every day counterparts.

Deck = Floor

Overhead = Ceiling

Bulkhead = Wall

Hatch = Door

Ladder = Stairs

Port = Left side of the ship

Starboard = Right side of the ship

Centerboard = Table

Bubbler = Water fountain

Head = Toilet

Galley = Kitchen

Mess Decks = Dinning Room Enlisted

Ward Room = Dining Room Officers

Bow = Forward section of the ship

Stern = Aft section of the ship

Porthole = Window

Scuttle = Small door and water fountain

The list can continue on for a good while, but these are the main ones to know. One sort of strange deviation to the naming it Water Tight Door, which is exactly what it sounds like. Almost all hatches are called that except for the water tight door. A ladder can also be a vertical ladder, just like at home.

But there is one place on a ship that does have a floor, walls, and a ceiling. It has a scuttle to get into this place, but everything else is named just like at home. For some reason they use these terms when talking about a fuel tank and only a fuel tank. Water tanks and lube oil tanks have the regular Navy names. Tomorrow, when a deck is a level and when it is a deck.

The Navy even carriers these terms over to shore buildings. Although most of the time you will hear window and door instead of porthole and hatch. If a building has a dedication plaque in it the commissioning date will be listed, but the completed date.