Monday, January 2, 2023

"Ships and Boats"

 



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!"


8 comments:

  1. In the ship yard, all the ships under construction were called boats.

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  2. If you were stationed on a ship you earned the right to call that ship a boat but all others were ships

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  3. If airplanes take off and land on the "roof" it's a BOAT!

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    Replies
    1. If airplanes take off and land on the roof it’s a target. DBF!!!

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  4. Does 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.

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  5. In the 60's submarines and carriers were boats, everything else were ships.

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    Replies
    1. in the 60's submarines were and still are boats! Everything else is a target!!! DBF

      Delete
  6. The true definition is you can put a Boat on a Ship but you can't put a Shop on a Boat!

    ReplyDelete