Normally these days most vessels have auto-pilots (a computer steers the ship) but when it breaks down and also when entering and leaving harbour and navigating in restricted waters, the ship has to be steered manually. At sea most English speaking maritime countries use a common form of wheel orders and procedures. These are as follows:

1. The wheel orders are given by the Officer of the Watch (OOW) to the helmsman.
2. The helmsman repeats the order back to the OOW and then carries it out. This is done to ensure that the helmsman has heard and understood the order.
3. Once he has carried them out he reports back to the OOW that he has done so.
4. The OOW acknowledges the report.

The following example illustrates the above:

• OOW: “Port 15” – this tells the helmsman which way turn (to port) and the amount of wheel to use (15 degrees).
• Helmsman: “Port 15” – helmsman repeats the order.
• Helmsman: “15 of port wheel on, sir” – helmsman has carried out the order and is telling the OOW that he has done so.
• OOW: “Aye” or ”Very good” – the OOW acknowledges the report.

Typical wheel orders.
The following are typical wheel orders:

• “Port (or Starboard) 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30”. The helmsman is to turn the ship’s wheel (and therefore the rudder ) in the direction indicated using the amount of wheel indicated.
• “Hard to Port/Starboard”. The helmsman is to turn the ship in the direction indicated using the maximum amount of wheel. This order is usually used in an emergency when an urgent turn is required to lessen or prevent a disaster. The average ship is designed so that the maximum the rudder can be turned is 35°. Anything more than this will place a tremendous strain on the rudder pivot and will not appreciably turn the ship any faster.
• “Ease to 5, 10, 15, 20”. This is usually used when the OOW has issued a wheel order, finds the ship turning too fast and wants to slow the turn down, ie from 20° to 10°. Once the helmsman has carried it out he would report “10° of port/starboard wheel on, sir”
• “Midships” or “Midships the wheel”. The helmsman is told to return the wheel (and therefore the rudder) to the midships position (fore and aft position). The helmsman when he has carried out the order will report: Wheel’s amidships, sir”.
• “Steady”. The helmsman is to steady the ship’s head on the heading it is on at the time of the order and will report the course it is on to the OOW, ie “Steady on 102°, sir”. Usually he will be ordered to steer that course or within a degree or two of it.
• “Steer 130 (or whatever course the OOW requires)”. The helmsman is to steer the course indicated. Once he has carried the order out the helmsman reports “Steering 130, sir”.

Steering a ship manually is far more difficult than steering a car. This is because the “road” you are “driving” on is liquid not solid and it is always moving. Furthermore a car or motor vehicle is usually steered by its front wheels, whereas a ship is steered by her rudder which is situated aft.

When steering manually the helmsman must be alert and he must learn to predict the ship’s movement and counter it before the ship actually moves. He must also be careful not to try and steer the compass instead of the ship. This is known as “Chasing the lubber’s line”. The lubber’s line is a static mark on the compass which indicates the ship’s head. This occurs with inexperienced helmsman when they become confused with the movement of the ship, ie when the ship’s head moves to one side, the compass card rotates in the opposite direction. The helmsman then tries to get the compass card to follow the ship’s head, instead of getting the ship’s head to follow the compass card. In situations of restricted navigation, this could have disastrous results.