Need answer to this piece of ship trivia

I had a good friend to ask me today "So, why do they call it a port-hole....don't they have them on Starboard too?"

It was funny but I thought, hey that's a good question. Wonder if anyone on CC knows the answer...... I mean did they only start out on port of a ship and then for whatever reason, go to Starboard side too?

I'm sure one of our maritime historians can tell us how that came about. ;)

I had a good friend to ask me today "So, why do they call it a port-hole....don't they have them on Starboard too?"

It was funny but I thought, hey that's a good question. Wonder if anyone on CC knows the answer...... I mean did they only start out on port of a ship and then for whatever reason, go to Starboard side too?

 

I'm sure one of our maritime historians can tell us how that came about. ;)

I found this answer on the Naval History and Heritage site:

Sometimes, novice seamen will ask "how comes holes on the starboard side are called portholes instead of starboardholes?" Many old salts are ready with explanations, but actually the name "porthole" has nothing to do with its location. The word originated during the reign of Henry VI of England (1485). It seems the good king insisted on mounting guns too large for his ships and therefore the conventional methods of securing the weapons on the forecastle and aftcastle could not be used.

A French shipbuilder named James Baker was commissioned to solve the problem. And solve it he did by piercing the ship's sides so the cannon could be mounted inside the fore and after castles. Covers, gun ports, were fitted for heavy weather and when the cannon were not in use.

The French word "porte" meaning door, was used to designate the revolutionary invention. "Porte" was Anglicized to "Port" and later corrupted to porthole. Eventually, it came to mean any opening in a ship's side whether for cannon or not.

Just a guess, since "hole" is one of the definitions for "port", but it probably traces all the way back to naval frigates, where the cannon were wheeled into firing position through "ports" in the hull. When the cannon were not in use those "port holes" usually were covered.

I found this on wikipedia - and it makes sense to me. I see a couple of posters beat me to it

According to the Navy Department Library, the word "porthole" has nothing to do with its location on the port side of a ship, but originated during the reign of Henry VI of England (1485). The king insisted on mounting guns too large for his ships and therefore the conventional methods of securing the weapons on the forecastle and aftcastle could not be used.

A French shipbuilder named James Baker was commissioned to solve the problem, which he did by piercing the ship's sides so the cannon could be mounted inside the fore and after castles. For heavy weather and when the cannons were not in use, the openings were fitted with covers, that were called porte in French, meaning "door". "Porte" was Anglicized to "port" and later corrupted to porthole. Eventually, it came to mean any opening in a ship's side whether for cannon or not

Thanks everyone! I will pass this along!