When does a boat become a ship ?

Fetch ND

Fetch ND

New Member
May 21, 2008
401
Devils Lake ND
Boat Info
220 SunDeck
Engines
350 V8
I love seeing some of the pics of boats here - Mine is the biggest boat I have ever had & it looks like a dingy compared to a lot here :grin:

Do any of you need a caretaker - property manager - maintenance manager - Facilities manager - Cust./grounds mgr ?

I have 36 yrs experience & I'm very mechanical & want to live where I can boat yr round :grin:
 
I think the US Navy's definition of a ship is one that can't be loaded onto another ship.
If you can put it onto another vessel then it is considered a Boat.
Odd that the subs are called boats. Try loading an Ohio class sub onto another US ship.
 
Fetch, I haven't spent a lot of time in North Dakota but if you want year-round boating you may want to look a little farther to the South...
 
"There is no universal rule to distinguish a ship from a boat. Usually, ships are larger than boats. A commonly used rule of thumb is that if one vessel can carry another, the larger of the two is a ship. As dinghies are common on sailing yachts as small as 35 feet (11 m), this rule of thumb is not foolproof.
A number of large vessels are traditionally referred to as boats. Submarines are a prime example. Other types of large vessels which are traditionally called boats are the Great Lakes freighter, the riverboat, and the ferryboat. Though large enough to carry their own boats and heavy cargoes, these vessels are designed for operation on inland or protected coastal waters. However referring to ships as 'boats' is more an American tradition than that followed in 'British' style Merchant Navies."

I got this from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship

Obviously there is a lot more info there.
 
And to confuse things further . . . in the days of sail, a ship was a three (or more) masted vessel with square sails on all its masts. A bark was a vessel of three or more masts with the after-most one rigged fore and aft. So technically, the USCG's Eagle is a bark and not a ship. A barkentine was a vessel of three or more masts with only the foremast square rigged, and all others fore and aft rigged. A brig had two masts, both square rigged, a brigantine two masts with the foremast square rigged and the aft fore and aft rigged, but only if the foremast was shorter than the main (after) mast. And a schooner has two (or more) masts, (and if only two masts, the foremast was shorter than the main mast) all with fore and aft lower sails, but sometimes with square top sails.

Then in 1976 somebody in PR or the tourism dept. started calling any sailing vessel larger than a boat a "Tall Ship", which really means nothing more than a crick in your neck if you stand on deck and look to the top of the mainmast for very long.

As you can tell, I have too much time on my hands this afternoon.

As far as I know, Sea Ray, unlike Chris Craft, has never sold a sailing vessel of any configuration of masts and sails, so no Sea Ray may be called a ship.
 
While on a Cruise on Princess Cruise lines I got to meet the Captain. I said in my stupidity "you have a very beautiful boat." The Captain corrected me very nicely, he said "This is a ship, it carries boats." So that has to be official right? LOL He was very nice though he just smiled and let me get my picture taken with him.
 
Then how many kinds (not Brands) of boats can you name ???

I'm really gaining some knowledge here :smt101
 
If you do some research, you will find pictures of the USS Cole, (ah. . .here. . . . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MV_Blue_Marlin_carrying_USS_Cole.jpg), a fairly large American Destroyer (with more firepower than any missile cruiser except the Tico's and the Possibly the old Russian Kirov's) being carried aboard another ship as Cargo.

So is this 8,300 ton tincan (the size of small WWII Cruiser) a boat or a ship?
 
The SS (Steam Ship) Norway is the only ship ever built and put to sea that had two ships aboard her as her tenders and each was built to carry 450 passengers. I'd say anyone whom can carry 450 passengers would probably be classified as a ship.

The SS Norway was cut up for scrap a few years ago but she was a site to behold and travel on.
 
Gimme Time said:
The SS (Steam Ship) Norway is the only ship ever built and put to sea that had two ships aboard her as her tenders and each was built to carry 450 passengers. I'd say anyone whom can carry 450 passengers would probably be classified as a ship.

The SS Norway was cut up for scrap a few years ago but she was a site to behold and travel on.
Click to expand...

Made two cruises on her and that she was!
 
As a former "Nasal Radiator" with 426 carrier landings, we pilots always called the carrier a "boat" - all 100,000 tons of it with 1050' length. Used to p!ss off the "black shoes" something terrible (aviators wore "brown shoes" and the "boat drivers" wore "black shoes"). I was one of the few aviators that qualifed as an Officer of the Deck - Underway. Now that was something to "conn" - especially coming along side the oiler at 20 knots for underway refueling - just another exercise in "formation flying"!

Nothing like the Navy - 200 years of tradition, unhampered by progress. Spoken by a veteran of 30 years - with good behavior!
 
Gimme Time said:
The SS (Steam Ship) Norway is the only ship ever built and put to sea that had two ships aboard her as her tenders and each was built to carry 450 passengers. I'd say anyone whom can carry 450 passengers would probably be classified as a ship.

The SS Norway was cut up for scrap a few years ago but she was a site to behold and travel on.
Click to expand...


And what was her name to start with?
 
If you pay someone to wax your boat, it's a ship.
 
When I was in the Navy, we called the carrier "the boat", mostly to piss off the blackshoes (ships company, i.e. guys assigned to the ship). I was part of the airwing, assigned to one of the fighter squadrons.

The carrier escorts were "small boys" or "tin cans".

The flight deck was known as "the roof".

-CJ
 
TurtleTone said:
If you pay someone to wax your boat, it's a ship.
Click to expand...

Haha, I guess I have a ship! We hire out some of the work that is too time consuming, dirty, or technically advanced to do ourselves. We have our yard scrape and paint the bottom and do the annual waxing. I also have them winterize the engines and systems. I do all the regular maintenance on engines and genset like changing zincs, impellers, fluids and filters but rely on certified engine mechanics for the more advanced stuff. Oh, I also really suck at finish carpentry and gelcoat repair.

I must say that the number and complexity of systems on my 58 is close to the limit for an owner/operator with a full time career and family. I find it much easier to keep up with all the maintenance stuff when I am on vacation and we are aboard for a couple of weeks at a time.

There is not really enough work to justify a full time crew, but another 10-15 feet would allow decent crew quarters and addding a water maker, dive compressor, second genset, and a couple of extra heads, HVAC units, etc. could keep an energetic 20 something busy most of the time.

I really don't think you can call my 58DB a ship. Many of my friends call it a yacht, but to me it'll always be a boat.
 
Subs are called "boats" because the early ones (WWII) were much smaller, and could be pulled inside Sub Tenders for repair.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,346
Messages
1,430,790
Members
61,193
Latest member
gator212
Back
Top