In Britain, it means diddly. It means you're a male, presumably respectable. If you have no other title, then the overly-British will put esq. after your name on an envelope, etc. In America, I believe it's sometimes used after a lawyer's surname. However, I don't see it used much by U.S. lawyers.
Davit systems are most often used to lower an emergency lifeboat to the embarkation level to be boarded. Davits can also be used as man-overboard safety devices to retrieve personnel from the water. The lifeboat davit has falls (now made of wire, historically of manila rope) that are used to lower the lifeboat into the water.
The interesting thing about older ships like the Titanic is that they still used a steering system that worked exactly like you were holding a tiller physically attached to the rudder: turning the wheel to port moves the rudder to starboard, which moves the ship to starboard.