Because in sailing ships, that section would contain the tiller, which connected the ships wheel to the rudder and steered the vessel.
The cargo compartment of a boat, which poorer immigrants traveled in
the airless rooms below the deck
Many people immigrating to the United States who had little money were steerage passengers. Steerage is the area of the lowest deck well beneath the main deck. Conditions were crowded, unsanitary, and there was little food and water available.
In the early days of passenger liners the cheapest tickets were in 'steerage', the lowest deck just above the bilges.
there were no real bedrooms in steerage, mostly berths in large areas that only cost a fraction in comparison to 1st class.
Third-class passengers on ships, particularly in the early 20th century, were typically assigned to lower decks, often referred to as the "steerage" section. For example, on the RMS Titanic, third-class accommodations were located on the lower decks, specifically on Decks E and F. This arrangement was part of the class segregation prevalent in maritime travel during that era.
Each level is called a "deck".
Lower and upper deck
Four. The main deck, the steerage, top cargo, and the hold.
The engine room crew lived in the foreward section of the ship under the forecastle deck. They spent the entire voyage going between there and the boiler rooms.
Steerage referred to the lowest-cost (and lowest class) accommodations on board a vessel. Generally this was the lowest deck of the ship, where the control lines for the rudder could be found; hence the name, a derivation of 'to steer'.Steerage accommodations were noisy, cramped, crowded, with limited amenities such as toilets. The passengers were also among the last to be notified of the danger, and the last to be let on board the few lifeboats; as a result, while around 95% of the first-class women and children survived the disaster, less than 45% of those traveling in steerage did; and the men fared even worse.
8, Poop deck, Quarter deck, Foc'sle, Upper Gun deck, Middle gun deck, Lower gun deck, Orlop, and Hold. Unlike the warrior it didn't have steam power.