Also, it's rather good practice to first give a clear-cut command that the helmsman can correctly execute even if he happens to be largely braindead. It's after this has been done that the CO may opt to explain himself, to better motivate his underling...
I think Trek's pretty consistent on this. "Forward thrusters" gets you out of spacedock bow first; "starboard thrusters" turns the bow to the right. Of course, with a ship that can do translations in addition to turns, it would seem that our heroes would need a separate command for moving right flank first, without turning.
...Which is where "right rudder" might come in. "Thrusters" is translation, "rudder" is turning. Although of course nobody else, anywhere else, anytime else, uses the expression "rudder". And of course Starfleet in general seems to prefer "starboard" to "right", even though the USN specifically avoids "starboard" when giving commands about which way to turn the rudder (even aboard those ships that don't exactly have rudders any more).
That's something of a historical holdover, I think. In the Royal Navy, the helm command "port" only a hundred years ago meant turning the wheel clockwise so that the ship would turn to the right! That was because in historical ships, the arm of the rudder had to be manhandled to port in order to reach this outcome... The USN deliberately chose "right/left rudder" to replace this confusing and antiquated practice.
Timo Saloniemi
