Port and starboard vessel's starboard side by green and its port side by red. Aircraft are lit in the same way. Port and starboard Port and starboard are nautical and aeronautical terms of orientation that deal unambiguously with the structure of vessels and aircraft. Their structures are largely bilaterally symmetrical, meaning they have mirror-image left and right halves if divided long-ways down the middle. One asymmetric feature is that on aircraft and ships where access is at the side, this access is usually only provided on the port side. To understand which is which, when a person is facing the bow on a
USS Starboard Unit (1918) USS Starboard Unit (1918) USS "Starboard Unit" was a United States Navy patrol vessel acquired in 1918 but never commissioned. "Starboard Unit" was built as a civilian motorboat of the same name. On 5 November 1918, the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, Joseph W. Marsh, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. World War I ended on 11 November 1918, six days after "Starboard Unit"s acquisition. No longer needed for naval service, "Starboard Unit" never received a section patrol (SP) number and was never commissioned. The Navy returned her to