Ship

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For other uses, see Ship (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Boat.

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Ship

Container ship, Reecon Whale, on the Black Sea near Constanța, Romania.

General characteristics

Tonnage: to 120,000 DWT (New Panamax)

Length: to 289.56 m (950 ft) (New Panamax)

Beam: to 134 ft (41 m) (Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier on waterline)

Draft: to 15.2 m (50 ft) (New Panamax)

Propulsion: steam turbine (fossil fuel, nuclear), diesel, gas

turbine, sterling, steam (reciprocating)

Sail plan: for sailing ships – two or more masts, variety of sail plans

A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently

deep waterways, carrying goods or passengers, or in support of specialized
missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished
from boats, based on size, shape, load capacity, and tradition. In the Age of Sail a
 "ship" was a sailing vessel defined by its sail plan of at least three square
rigged masts and a full bowsprit.
Ships have supported exploration, trade, warfare, migration, colonization,
and science. After the 15th century, new crops that had come from and to the
Americas via the European seafarers significantly contributed to the world population
growth.[1] Ship transport is responsible for the largest portion of world commerce.
As of 2016, there were more than 49,000 merchant ships, totaling almost 1.8
billion dead weight tons. Of these 28% were oil tankers, 43% were bulk carriers, and
13% were container ships.[2]

Contents

 1Nomenclature

o 1.1Pronouns

 2History

o 2.1Prehistory and antiquity

 2.1.1Asian developments

 2.1.2Mediterranean developments

o 2.214th through the 18th centuries

 2.2.1Asian developments

 2.2.2European developments

o 2.3Specialization and modernization

o 2.421st century

 3Types of ships

o 3.1Inland vessels

 3.1.1Great Lakes

o 3.2Merchant ship

o 3.3Special purpose vessels

o 3.4Naval vessels

 4Architecture

o 4.1Hull
 o 4.2Propulsion systems

o 4.3Steering systems

o 4.4Holds, compartments, and the superstructure

o 4.5Equipment

 5Design considerations

o 5.1Hydrostatics

o 5.2Hydrodynamics

 6Lifecycle

o 6.1Design

o 6.2Construction

o 6.3Repair and conversion

o 6.4End of service

 7Measuring ships

 8Ship pollution

o 8.1Oil spills

o 8.2Ballast water

o 8.3Exhaust emissions

o 8.4Ship breaking

 9See also

 10Notes

 11References

o 11.1Citations

o 11.2Sources

 12External links

Nomenclature[edit]
Further information: Glossary of nautical terms
Main parts of ship. 1:  Funnel; 2: Stern; 3: Propeller and Rudder; 4: Portside (the right side is known
as starboard); 5: Anchor; 6: Bulbous bow; 7: Bow; 8: Deck; 9: Superstructure

Ships are generally larger than boats, but there is no universally accepted distinction
between the two. Ships generally can remain at sea for longer periods of time than
boats.[3] A legal definition of ship from Indian case law is a vessel that carries goods
by sea.[4] A common notion is that a ship can carry a boat, but not vice versa.[5] A US
Navy rule of thumb is that ships heel towards the outside of a sharp turn, whereas
boats heel towards the inside[6] because of the relative location of the center of
mass versus the center of buoyancy.[7][8] American and British 19th century maritime
law distinguished "vessels" from other craft; ships and boats fall in one legal
category, whereas open boats and rafts are not considered vessels. [9]
In the Age of Sail, a full-rigged ship was a sailing vessel with at least three square-
rigged masts and a full bowsprit; other types of vessel were also defined by
their sailplan, e.g. barque, brigantine, etc.[10]
A number of large vessels are usually referred to as boats. Submarines are a prime
example.[11] Other types of large vessel which are traditionally called boats are Great
Lakes freighters, riverboats, and ferryboats.[9] Though large enough to carry their own
boats and heavy cargoes, these vessels are designed for operation on inland or
protected coastal waters.
In most maritime traditions ships have individual names, and modern ships may
belong to a ship class often named after its first ship.
Pronouns[edit]
In the northern parts of Europe and America a ship is traditionally referred to with a
female grammatical gender, represented in English with the pronoun "she", even if
named after a man. This is not universal usage and some English language
journalistic style guides advise using "it" as referring to ships with female pronouns
can be seen as offensive and outdated.[citation needed][12][13] In many documents the ship name
is introduced with a ship prefix being an abbreviation of the ship class, for example
"MS" (motor ship) or "SV" (sailing vessel), making it easier to distinguish a ship name
from other individual names in a text.

History[edit]
Further information: Maritime history and Sailing ship
Prehistory and antiquity[edit]
Asian developments[edit]

Fijian voyaging outrigger boat with a crab claw sail

Egyptian sailing ship, c. 1422–1411 BC

A Phoenician ship carved on the face of a sarcophagus, c. 2nd century AD

One of the sailing trimarans depicted in Borobudur, c. 8th century AD

The first sea-going sailing ships were developed by the Austronesian peoples from

what is now Taiwan. Their invention of catamarans, outriggers, and crab claw
sails enabled their ships to sail for vast distances in open ocean. It led to
the Austronesian Expansion at around 3000 to 1500 BC. From Taiwan, they rapidly
colonized the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia, then sailed further onwards
to Micronesia, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar, eventually colonizing a
territory spanning half the globe.[14][15][16]
Austronesian rigs were distinctive in that they had spars supporting both the upper
and lower edges of the sails (and sometimes in between), in contrast to western rigs
which only had a spar on the upper edge.[14][15][16] The sails were also made from woven
leaves, usually from pandan plants.[17][18] These were complemented by paddlers, who
usually positioned themselves on platforms on the outriggers in the larger boats.[15]
[19]
 Austronesian ships ranged in complexity from simple dugout canoes with
outriggers or lashed together to large edge-pegged plank-built boats built around a
keel made from a dugout canoe. Their designs were unique, evolving from ancient
rafts to the characteristic double-hulled, single-outrigger, and double-outrigger
designs of Austronesian ships.[16][19]
Early Austronesian sailors influenced the development of sailing technologies in Sri
Lanka and Southern India through the Austronesian maritime trade network of
the Indian Ocean, the precursor to the spice trade route and the maritime silk road,
which was established at around 1500 BC. [20] Some scholars believe that the
triangular Austronesian crab claw sail may have influenced the development of
the lateen sail in western ships due to early contact.[16] The junk rigs of Chinese ships
is also believed to be originally Javanese in origin.[21][22][23]
In the 1st century AD, the people from Nusantara archipelago already made large
ships over 50 m long and stood out 4–7 m out of the water. They could carry 700-
1000 people and 260 ton cargo. These ships known as kunlun bo or k'unlun po (崑崙
舶, lit. "ship of the Kunlun people") by the Chinese and kolandiaphonta by the
Greeks. It has 4-7 masts and able to sail against the wind due to the usage of tanja
sails. These ships reaching as far as Ghana.[24]
In China, miniature models of ships that feature steering oars have been dated to
the Warring States period (c. 475–221 BC).[25] By the Han dynasty, a well kept naval
fleet was an integral part of the military. Sternpost-mounted rudders started to
appear on Chinese ship models starting in the 1st century AD. [25] However, these
early Chinese ships were fluvial (riverine), and were not seaworthy. [26][27] The Chinese
only acquired sea-going ship technologies in the 10th century AD Song Dynasty after
contact with Southeast Asian djong trading ships, leading to the development of
the junks.[21][22][23]
Mediterranean developments[edit]
In 3000 BC, Ancient Egyptians learned how to assemble wooden planks into a hull.
[28]
 They used woven straps to lash the planks together,[28] and reeds or grass stuffed
between the planks helped to seal the seams.[28][note
1]
 The Greek historian and geographer Agatharchides had documented ship-faring
among the early Egyptians: "During the prosperous period of the Old Kingdom,
between the 30th and 25th centuries BC, the river-routes were kept in order,
and Egyptian ships sailed the Red Sea as far as the myrrh-country."[29] Sneferu's
ancient cedar wood ship Praise of the Two Lands is the first reference recorded
(2613 BC) to a ship being referred to by name. [30]
The ancient Egyptians were perfectly at ease building sailboats. A remarkable
example of their shipbuilding skills was the Khufu ship, a vessel 143 feet (44 m) in
length entombed at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2500 BC and found
intact in 1954.
The oldest discovered sea faring hulled boat is the Late Bronze
Age Uluburun shipwreck off the coast of Turkey, dating back to 1300 BC. [31]
By 1200 B.C., the Phoenicians were building large merchant ships. In world maritime
history, declares Richard Woodman, they are recognized as “the first true seafarers,
founding the art of pilotage, cabotage, and navigation” and the architects of “the first
true ship, built of planks, capable of carrying a deadweight cargo and being sailed
and steered.” [32]
14th through the 18th centuries[edit]
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Asian developments[edit]
At this time, ships were developing in Asia in much the same way as Europe. [according to
whom?]
 Japan used defensive naval techniques in the Mongol invasions of Japan in
1281. It is likely that the Mongols of the time took advantage of both European and
Asian shipbuilding techniques.[according to whom?] During the 15th century, China's Ming
dynasty assembled one of the largest and most powerful naval fleets in the world for
the diplomatic and power projection voyages of Zheng He. Elsewhere in Japan in the
15th century, one of the world's first iron-clads, "Tekkōsen" (鉄甲船), literally
meaning "iron ships",[33] was also developed. In Japan, during the Sengoku era from
the fifteenth to 17th century, the great struggle for feudal supremacy was fought, in
part, by coastal fleets of several hundred boats, including the atakebune. In Korea, in
the early 15th century during the Joseon era, "Geobukseon"(거북선), was
developed. The "turtle ship", as it was called is recognized as the first armored ship
in the world.

A Japanese atakebune from the 16th century

European developments[edit]
Replica of Magellan's Victoria. Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition that circumnavigated the globe in
1519–1522.

Until the Renaissance, navigational technology remained comparatively primitive

compared to Austronesian cultures.[citation needed] This absence of technology did not
prevent some civilizations from becoming sea powers. Examples include the
maritime republics of Genoa and Venice, Hanseatic League, and the Byzantine
navy. The Vikings used their knarrs to explore North America, trade in the Baltic
Sea and plunder many of the coastal regions of Western Europe.
Towards the end of the 14th century, ships like the carrack began to develop towers
on the bow and stern. These towers decreased the vessel's stability, and in the 15th
century, the caravel, designed by the Portuguese, based on the Arabic qarib which
could sail closer to the wind, became more widely used. The towers were gradually
replaced by the forecastle and sterncastle, as in the carrack Santa
María of Christopher Columbus. This increased freeboard allowed another
innovation: the freeing port, and the artillery associated with it.
The carrack and then the caravel were developed in Portugal. After
Columbus, European exploration rapidly accelerated, and many new trade routes
were established.[34] In 1498, by reaching India, Vasco da Gama proved that the
access to the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic was possible. These explorations in the
Atlantic and Indian Oceans were soon followed by France, England and
the Netherlands, who explored the Portuguese and Spanish trade routes into
the Pacific Ocean, reaching Australia in 1606 and New Zealand in 1642.[35]
Specialization and modernization[edit]
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Painting of the Battle of Trafalgar by Auguste Mayer.[36]

Italian full-rigged ship Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor

RMS  Titanic departs from Southampton. Her sinking led to tighter safety regulations

Parallel to the development of warships, ships in service of marine fishery and trade
also developed in the period between antiquity and the Renaissance.
Maritime trade was driven by the development of shipping companies with significant
financial resources. Canal barges, towed by draft animals on an adjacent towpath,
contended with the railway up to and past the early days of the industrial revolution.
Flat-bottomed and flexible scow boats also became widely used for transporting
small cargoes. Mercantile trade went hand-in-hand with exploration, self-financed by
the commercial benefits of exploration.
During the first half of the 18th century, the French Navy began to develop a new
type of vessel known as a ship of the line, featuring seventy-four guns. This type of
ship became the backbone of all European fighting fleets. These ships were 56
metres (184 ft) long and their construction required 2,800 oak trees and 40
kilometres (25 mi) of rope; they carried a crew of about 800 sailors and soldiers.
During the 19th century the Royal Navy enforced a ban on the slave trade, acted to
suppress piracy, and continued to map the world. A clipper was a very fast sailing
ship of the 19th century. The clipper routes fell into commercial disuse with the
introduction of steam ships with better fuel efficiency, and the opening of
the Suez and Panama Canals.
Ship designs stayed fairly unchanged until the late 19th century. The industrial
revolution, new mechanical methods of propulsion, and the ability to construct ships
from metal triggered an explosion in ship design. Factors including the quest for
more efficient ships, the end of long running and wasteful maritime conflicts, and the
increased financial capacity of industrial powers created an avalanche of more
specialized boats and ships. Ships built for entirely new functions, such as
firefighting, rescue, and research, also began to appear.
21st century[edit]

Colombo Express, one of the largest container ships in the world, owned and operated by Hapag-
Lloyd of Germany

In 2019, the world's fleet included 51,684 commercial vessels with gross tonnage of
more than 1,000 tons, totaling 1.96 billion tons.[37] Such ships carried 11 billion tons of
cargo in 2018, a sum that grew by 2.7% over the previous year. [38] In terms of
tonnage, 29% of ships were tankers, 43% are bulk carriers, 13% container ships and
15% were other types.[39]
In 2002, there were 1,240 warships operating in the world, not counting small
vessels such as patrol boats. The United States accounted for 3 million tons worth of
these vessels, Russia 1.35 million tons, the United Kingdom 504,660 tons
and China 402,830 tons. The 20th century saw many naval engagements during the
two world wars, the Cold War, and the rise to power of naval forces of the two blocs.
The world's major powers have recently used their naval power in cases such as
the United Kingdom in the Falkland Islands and the United States in Iraq.
The size of the world's fishing fleet is more difficult to estimate. The largest of these
are counted as commercial vessels, but the smallest are legion. Fishing vessels can
be found in most seaside villages in the world. As of 2004, the United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organization estimated 4 million fishing vessels were operating
worldwide.[40] The same study estimated that the world's 29 million fishermen[41] caught
85,800,000 tonnes (84,400,000 long tons; 94,600,000 short tons) of fish and shellfish
that year.[42]

Types of ships[edit]
See also: List of types of naval vessels and List of boat types

Because ships are constructed using the principles of naval architecture that require
same structural components, their classification is based on their function such as
that suggested by Paulet and Presles,[43] which requires modification of the
components. The cat