Navy question. While in the navy during the Korean war I was asked whats the difference between a boat and a ship? I said ok Ill bite what is the ans. He replied "A boat can be carried...

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

While in the navy during the Korean war I was asked whats the difference between a boat and a ship? I said ok Ill bite what is the ans. He replied "A boat can be carried on a ship but a ship cant be carried on a boat"....

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Aye, Aye, Matey!

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Hal81 wrote:

While in the navy during the Korean war I was asked whats the difference between a boat and a ship? I said ok Ill bite what is the ans. He replied "A boat can be carried on a ship but a ship cant be carried on a boat"....

As a general rule in modern times, post wind powered vessels, a "ship" weighs at lease 500 tons and a "boat" weighs less than 500 tons. This general rule does not apply to certain types of war ships such as submarines, which may weigh upwards of 7 thousand tons and are referred to as boats.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Hal81 wrote:

While in the navy during the Korean war I was asked whats the difference between a boat and a ship? I said ok Ill bite what is the ans. He replied "A boat can be carried on a ship but a ship cant be carried on a boat"....

I was told that same thing when I was in the Navy during the Vietnam war.

usnret Loc: Woodhull Il

Hal81 wrote:

While in the navy during the Korean war I was asked whats the difference between a boat and a ship? I said ok Ill bite what is the ans. He replied "A boat can be carried on a ship but a ship cant be carried on a boat"....

Sorry, can't answer that one. I was in Uncle Sams canoe club.

Ourspolair

We used to classify vessels over 150 feet as "ships".

machia Loc: NJ

Anything over 70 feet is officially a ship.
That’s according to what I was told at the Naval Academy in 1972.
Now I will check for the accuracy of that information.

Aha, 2 interesting finds!
According to a Marine Technology site they indicate 197 feet. But according to a 1964 Coast Guard manual it is 94 feet.
Interesting.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Hal81 wrote:

While in the navy during the Korean war I was asked whats the difference between a boat and a ship? I said ok Ill bite what is the ans. He replied "A boat can be carried on a ship but a ship cant be carried on a boat"....

Then why is a Submarine called a boat ?

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

usnret wrote:

Sorry, can't answer that one. I was in Uncle Sams canoe club.

Canoe Club ?

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Hal81 wrote:

While in the navy during the Korean war I was asked whats the difference between a boat and a ship? I said ok Ill bite what is the ans. He replied "A boat can be carried on a ship but a ship cant be carried on a boat"....

That's how I heard it too.

nospambob Loc: Edmond, Oklahoma

Fed Ex.

Ufauxreal

The captain of a cruise ship I was on defined it like this:
A boat is what you get into when the ship is sinking.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

In NROTC we learned that a ship has a boat on it. And that's why submarines were called boats, even though they're larger than some of the Navy's surface ships. (That was 60 years ago. But I don't think things change that much in the Navy.)

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

As an ex-sub sailor, I can confidently say that ships are targets and submarines are boats.