AS A
SMALL CHILD, I remember my father, a Navy officer, taking our family to the
piers.
"Look
at all the pretty boats, Daddy!"
… I
exclaimed …
"Ships,
Tara,"
… He
corrected me …
"These
are ships, not boats!"
Through
the years, I'd tease my father with the same comment, and he'd always reply…
"Ships,
Tara, ships!"
Eventually,
I married a new ensign who faced a year of training before he was assigned to a
fast-attack submarine. One day, when he strolled up our front walk with a grin,
I knew he had received his first orders…
"So to
what ship are you assigned?"
… I asked
as his smile turned quickly into a frown…
"Boat,
Tara, submarines are boats!"
In the ship yard, all the ships under construction were called boats.
ReplyDeleteIf you were stationed on a ship you earned the right to call that ship a boat but all others were ships
ReplyDeleteIf airplanes take off and land on the "roof" it's a BOAT!
ReplyDeleteIf airplanes take off and land on the roof it’s a target. DBF!!!
DeleteDoes it roll into or away from a turn? Can you haul it aboard another? Remember, some large vessels don’t float all the time…. Many a beer has been consumed over the question.
ReplyDeleteIn the 60's submarines and carriers were boats, everything else were ships.
ReplyDeletein the 60's submarines were and still are boats! Everything else is a target!!! DBF
DeleteThe true definition is you can put a Boat on a Ship but you can't put a Shop on a Boat!
ReplyDelete