Doitsujin wrote: ... @DaveAgain & @Speakeasy IIRC, there's a subtle difference between ship and boat in English. Can you please refresh my memory?
I view the nomenclature used in English for classifying water-borne vessels as being “more of an art than a science.” It seems to change over time and it is likely influenced by matters such as technology, the practice of major players in the marine industry, government policy and, as for anything else, the latest trends.
The website “
Marine Insight” provides a well-reasoned set of guidelines for determining whether a particular water-borne vessel should be classified as a “
boat” or a “
ship” and, given that the author is, himself, a marine engineer, I would be hard-placed to argue against his presentation:
https://www.marineinsight.com/types-of-ships/7-differences-between-a-ship-and-a-boat/.
Nevertheless, in my own inexperience and in my once-passionate following of all things maritime, there exists much more variation than the “Marine Insight” guidelines would suggest. Actual practice varies within the marine industry as well as in the world’s naval fleets and it is sometimes guided by governments wishing to influence public perceptions concerning their investments in, or deployment of, these vessels (oh, yes, they do!). The definitions can even be a matter of government statute (to which politicians exempt themselves when making public statements) and can figure in legal disputes:
http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/S/Ship.aspx.