Ambrose Light (ship) Ambrose Light (ship) Ambrose Light was a brigantine, operated by Colombian rebels. It was captured by USS "Alliance" as a suspected pirate vessel in 1885. The accusation of piracy was rejected by a court of law. On April 24, Commander Lewis Clark, of the South Atlantic Squadron, was sailing to Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, when the lookouts aboard "Alliance" sighted the one-gun "Ambrose Light". It was flying a strange flag featuring a red cross over a white background so the Americans assumed the vessel was a pirate ship. A chase began and the Americans were preparing to
Port and starboard is the left-hand side and the starboard side is the right-hand side. However, port and starboard never change; they are unambiguous references that are "not" based on the relative directions of an observer, just as the cardinal directions of east and west do not change no matter the direction a person faces. The term "starboard" derives from the Old English "steorbord", meaning the side on which the ship is steered. Before ships had rudders on their centrelines, they were steered with a steering oar at the stern of the ship on the right hand side of the ship, because more