Ship - Some historical types of ships and boats

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 ...

Including:

• Ship - Measuring ships
• Ship - Propulsion
• Ship - General terminology
• Ship - Shipboard terminology
• Ship - Some types of ships and boats
• Ship - Some historical types of ships and boats
• Ship - Quotations

Read more here: » Ship: Encyclopedia - Ship

One can measure ships in terms of overall length, length of the waterline, beam (breadth), depth (distance between the crown of the weather deck and the top of the keelson), draft (distance between the highest waterline and the bottom of the ship) and tonnage. A number of different tonnage definitions exist; most measure volume rather than weight, and are used when describing merchant ships for the purpose of tolls, taxation, etc. In Britain until the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876, ship-owners could load their vessels until their deck ...

See also:

Ship, Ship - Measuring ships, Ship - Propulsion, Ship - General terminology, Ship - Shipboard terminology, Ship - Some types of ships and boats, Ship - Some historical types of ships and boats, Ship - Quotations

Read more here: » Ship: Encyclopedia II - Ship - Measuring ships

Ships may occur collectively as fleets, flotillas or squadrons. Convoys of ships commonly occur. A collection of ships for military purposes may compose a navy or a task force. In the past, people counting or grouping disparate types of ship may refer to the individual vessels as bottoms. Groups of sailing ships could constitute, say, a fleet of 40 sail. Groups of submarines (particularly German U-boats in the 1940s) may hunt in packs ( ...

See also:

Ship, Ship - Measuring ships, Ship - Propulsion, Ship - General terminology, Ship - Shipboard terminology, Ship - Some types of ships and boats, Ship - Some historical types of ships and boats, Ship - Quotations

Read more here: » Ship: Encyclopedia II - Ship - General terminology

Until the application of the steam engine to ships in the early 19th century, oars propelled galleys or the wind propelled sailing ships. Before mechanisation, merchant ships always used sail, but as long as naval warfare depended on ships closing to ram or to fight hand-to-hand, galleys dominated in marine conflicts because of their maneuverability and speed. The Greek navies that fought in the Peloponnesian War used triremes, as did the Romans contesting the Battle of Actium. The use of large numbers of cannon from the 16th century meant that maneuverability took second place to broadside weight; this led to the dom ...

See also:

Ship, Ship - Measuring ships, Ship - Propulsion, Ship - General terminology, Ship - Shipboard terminology, Ship - Some types of ships and boats, Ship - Some historical types of ships and boats, Ship - Quotations

Read more here: » Ship: Encyclopedia II - Ship - Propulsion