What is the difference between a "ship" and a "boat"? I know ship builders get prettty agitated when some-one refers to their ship as a boat. Some-one clue me in here. Thanks. "Q"

When I have ask this question of "old salts" I always get the answer "Ships carry boats, not the other way around" ?

Red4 -

I'd been told that anything over 50ft(?) in length was considered a "Ship", so it is based on length? But I'm an old Air Force guy (who likes to build tanks) so what would I know. LOL

Blade48mrd

From a land lubber's knowledge (limited as it may be), a ship is any craft designed for ocean going or deep-water transport while a boat is not.

"ocean going" = ship maybe???

Well for the record here's what the Dictionary says

ship
n.
1. A vessel of considerable size for deep-water navigation.
2. A sailing vessel having three or more square-rigged masts.

boat
n.
1. A relatively small, usually open craft of a size that might be carried aboard a ship.
2. An inland vessel of any size.
3. A ship or submarine.

It appears a boat can be a ship, but a ship is not a boat, or is it the other way around ? :-) :-) :-)

I think I am qualified to answer this - Indeed ships carry boats, however some non respectable vehicles -submarines are known as boats ( bubbleheads -who can figure them?) typically any vessel that is chistened and named -Uss Laboon for instance is a ship a - boat could be a service craft. officially -
A ship is a large, sea-going watercraft, sometimes with multiple decks. A ship usually has sufficient size to carry its own boats, such as lifeboats, dinghies, or runabouts. A rule of thumb saying (though it doesn't always apply) goes: "a boat can fit on a ship, but a ship can't fit on a boat". Often local law and regulation will define the exact size (or the number of masts) which a boat requires to become a ship. (Note that one refers to submarines as "boats"). Compare vessel.

During the age of sail, ship signified a ship-rigged vessel, that is, one with three or more masts, usually three, all square-rigged. Such a vessel would normally have one fore and aft sail on her aftermost mast which was usually the mizzen. Almost invariably she would also have a bowsprit but this was not part of the definition. The same economic pressures which increased sizes to the point of carrying four or five masts, also introduced the fore and aft rig to larger vessels, so few ship-rigged vessels were built with more than three masts. The five-masted Preussen was the outstanding example but the big German ships and barques were built partly for prestige reasons.

What it boils down to is this -you really don't want to call a ship a boat in front of a boatswainmate he will probaly get offended and let you know it - note - there are no boatswainmates on US submarines - watch 'em tie up at a pier and it becomes obvious -lol :-)

BM, Thanks for the detailed information. Now I know... Thanks again. "Q"

BTW the remarks about submarines are in jest from an old "skimmer puke" no offense intended unless of course you are a bubblehead in which case ...ha ha just kidding :-) Squids tend to be alittle protective of our "girls" that's why we call them She and Her.

Well that makes everything clear as mud :-) :-) :-)

Pt boats were usually around 70 to 80 feet long and definitely ocean going, And some of those cigaette boats get even bgger and sail from Cuba to US which definitely makes it Ocean going. No one carries sails any more, so as they say "You pays your money and you takes your chances" If you say it wrong they'll tell you , :-) :-)

One definition I heard was that the vessel needs to have more than one deck to be a ship - though how that would apply to large sail vessels I'm not sure...

The one that a ship can carry a boat but not vice versa is also one I'm familiar with and works pretty well - is also suitably vague and open to interpretation to make it REALLY useful :-)

Submarines, regardless of size, are always boats however - even the Typhoon and Ohio are boats. Western navies always refer to our ships as being feminine, whereas to the Russians ships are masculine - no idea why I'm afraid!

Blaster PT Boats were not christened and did not have names as in USS - umpty squat- they may have been named by thier crews - I had 2 80' LCM's (mike boats) 6 40 ' utility boats 4 60' utility boats and 1 32' captain's gig and 1 32' Officers motor boat all carried on the Boat deck in skids on my first ship the USS Puget Sound AD-38 a destroyer tender. That not including the 2 26' motor whale boat in davits . PT boats did not typically transit ocean on thier own they were delivered and maintained by PT boat tenders, the were not commisioned (no USS) which btw stands for United States Ship. PT boats were made of marine plywood and had only a small galley they did not have fuel or provisions to cross the ocean. Consider a fairly comman 30 -40 foot sea in an 80 foot plywood boat- not a pretty picture. Make no mistake -as a fully qualified Assault boat Coxswain I would love to drive an 80 foot Elco in the Navy I am rated up to 104 foot yard patrol craft multiple screw- but I would not mistake one for a ship

Give me some firm ground and a set of Infantry combat boots any time. :-) :-) :-)

Um you left out naval gunfire support and carrier air support ! lol :-)

Air power from the sea!!!

Growing up near a port city and shrimping community, I've always known which is a ship and which is a boat. That being said, reading these post make my head spin. I love these conversations. Down hear in Louisiana, if it fishes, it's a boat. If it has to go the port to be unloaded, it's a ship.

Kenny

I am aware that a PT boat is a boat....well.....it is called a boat in its title. I was attempting to point out more ambiguities as to size and where it could travel as not being a separation description. I think the having multiple decks might work, except I've seen some of those sport fishing boats with multiple decks, and they have names not numbers. I also imagine that the owners christened them when they were first bought.. So once again, more ambiguities. I was a tanker, I know the difference between an APC, Armored car, assualt gun, tank destroyer and a tank. There is an ambiguity or 2 there, but not quite as bad as the boat /ship one.

Hi all,

I guess that I have come too late to enter my defenition (fortunatly, because I was wondering about in two or three words to translate to english that still haven't found a proper way to translate).

John Fields (BM2) gave a good explanation!

Skipper

Like Skipper I'm late to the party also on the definition. The one I've always heard is that it's a boat is another craft can carry it. So while a PT Boat can carry a small boat, a large ship can carry several PT Boats as well. The reason that Submarines are called "boats" is that originally they were small enough to be carried by larger ships and for some reason the name stuck.

The deck ape gave the proper definition.
And Roger was pretty close why subs are called boats, except the crew looked and smelled like pigs at the end of a voyage, they were called "pigboats"....

Oh... my old BJM, defines the difference, just about the sames as BM/2c Fields does.

Ships carry boats...
Boats can't carry ships.

My son spent 6 years active duty as a submariner (aka bubblehead). He used to use say that submarines are boats, and that everything else is called a target. :-) :-)

He'd probably say that there are no BM's on board subs because there's no extra space for cargo. :-) :-) :-)

Tom

:-) :-) that's funny :-) :-)

Ah! How then would you class the Destroyer HMS Nottingham after the planks in the Royal Navy ran her into the biggest, most well charted rock in that part of the world, apart from Australia itself????




:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Ah! Why should Britain tremble?

Thankfully we have an Army.

:-) :-) :-) I was on birdfarms.... :-) :-) :-)

Murdo..... just another photo of a cute little boat being carried around....... :-) :-) :-)

and if memory serves me.... it 'was thee deck apes thaths' didith thy steering..... rolling on floor.!!!

I believe in one of the recent Patrick O'Brian books I was reading, they made the same point. Ships can carry, launch boats, and boats can't carry or stow another boat. It seems an obvious clarification they would have made then (and in eariler times). Then being the Napoleonic War era.

Some of you seem to want to put 20th century variations on what would have been long-standing naval traditions.

Cheers,
Jim