ship, large craft in which persons and goods may be conveyed on water. In the U.S. Navy the term boat refers to any vessel that is small enough to be hoisted aboard a ship, and ship is used for any larger vessel; all submarines, no matter what size, are designated as boats, and ship-sized vessels are often referred to colloquially as boats (e.g. steamboats).

Seagoing vessels large enough to be called ships were used in ancient times by the Egyptians, Cretans, Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans, and Chinese. Ancient ships were propelled by oars or by sails or by both. They were of different types for different functions. Heavy, slow ships with round bottoms were used to transport grain, while slim-keeled ships such as the trireme were used for warfare (see galley galley, long, narrow vessel widely used in ancient and medieval times, propelled principally by oars but also fitted with sails. The earliest type was sometimes 150 ft (46 m) long with 50 oars.
..... Click the link for more information. ). In the Middle Ages Viking ships, propelled by both oars and sails, carried Leif Eriksson to America; their structure is well known from such evidences as the Gokstad ship (unearthed in 1880), which is 80 ft (24.4 m) long, 16 ft 6 in. (5 m) wide, and 6 ft 10 in. (2.1 m) deep.

The introduction of the mariner's compass, the sternpost rudder, and the lateen sail made possible the transoceanic voyages of the Portuguese who rounded Africa and of Columbus and other explorers of the New World, giving new impetus to the building and navigation of ships. Many sturdy and refined types of wooden sailing vessels up to three hundred feet in length were developed. Men-of-war included the ship of the line ship of the line, large, square-rigged warship, carrying from 70 to 140 guns on two or more completely armed gun decks. In the great naval wars of the 17th, 18th, and early 19th cent., ships of the line were the largest naval units employed.
..... Click the link for more information. , the frigate frigate (frĭg`ĭt), originally a long, narrow nautical vessel used on the Mediterranean, propelled by either oars or sail or both.
..... Click the link for more information. , and the corvette corvette, small warship, classed between a frigate and a sloop-of-war. Corvettes usually were flush-decked and carried fewer than 28 guns. They were widely employed in escorting convoys and attacking merchant ships during the great naval wars of the late 18th and
..... Click the link for more information. . Differing especially in such details as number and position of masts, with sails either square-rigged or fore-and-aft, ships were differentiated into such types as brig brig, two-masted sailing vessel, square-rigged on both masts. Brigs have been used as cargo ships and also, in the past, as small warships carrying about 10 guns. They vary in length between 75 and 130 ft (23–40 m), with tonnages up to 350.
..... Click the link for more information. , clipper clipper, type of sailing ship, designed for speed. Long and narrow, the clipper had the greatest beam aft of the center; the bow cleaved the waves; and the ship carried, besides topgallant and royal sails, skysails and moonrakers—a veritable cloud of sails.
..... Click the link for more information. , and schooner schooner (sk
..... Click the link for more information. . Building wooden ships became an important industry, especially in Britain and the United States.

The success of Fulton's Clermont on the Hudson River (1807) prepared the way for the superseding of sailing ships by steamships (see steamship steamship, watercraft propelled by a steam engine or a steam turbine.

Early Steam-powered Ships

Marquis Claude de Jouffroy d'Abbans is generally credited with the first experimentally successful application of steam power to navigation; in 1783 his
..... Click the link for more information. ), and later in the 19th cent. steel began to replace wood as material for shipbuilding. Steel ships can be made much larger than wooden ships. The steam engine was followed by the steam turbine turbine, rotary engine that uses a continuous stream of fluid (gas or liquid) to turn a shaft that can drive machinery.

A water, or hydraulic, turbine is used to drive electric generators in hydroelectric power stations.
..... Click the link for more information. , which actuated the propeller directly or through gear mechanisms. Both methods of power production underwent many improvements through the years before the diesel engine diesel engine, type of internal-combustion engine invented by the German engineer Rudolf Diesel and patented by him in 1892. Although his engine was designed to use coal dust as fuel, the diesel engine now burns low-cost fuel oil.
..... Click the link for more information. came (1902–3) into maritime use. In some ships, diesel engines are now used to generate electricity, which is used to power propeller motors. In the 1950s nuclear power was introduced in military vessels and icebreakers; modern nuclear submarines can travel submerged for months at a time (see nuclear energy nuclear energy, the energy stored in the nucleus of an atom and released through fission, fusion, or radioactivity . In these processes a small amount of mass is converted to energy according to the relationship E = mc², where E
..... Click the link for more information. ).

Modern freight ships are equipped with powerful machines for handling cargo; and, although jet transportation led to the demise of the great ocean liners, cruise ships continue to be built, providing the luxuries of the finest hotels. The pivotal vessels of modern warfare are the aircraft carrier aircraft carrier, ship designed to carry aircraft and to permit takeoff and landing of planes. The carrier's distinctive features are a flat upper deck (flight deck) that functions as a takeoff and landing field, and a main deck (hangar deck) beneath the flight deck
..... Click the link for more information. and the submarine submarine, naval craft capable of operating for an extended period of time underwater. Submarines are almost always warships, although a few are used for scientific or business purposes (see also submersible ).
..... Click the link for more information. ; other warships important in recent times include the battleship battleship, large, armored warship equipped with the heaviest naval guns. The evolution of the battleship, from the ironclad warship of the mid-19th cent., received great impetus from the Civil War.
..... Click the link for more information. , cruiser cruiser, large, fast, moderately armed warship, intermediate in type between the aircraft carrier and the destroyer. During World War II, battle cruisers operated as small battleships, combining in one vessel maximum qualities of gun caliber, armor protection, and
..... Click the link for more information. , and destroyer destroyer, class of warship very fast relative to its length, generally equipped with torpedos, antisubmarine equipment, and medium-caliber and antiaircraft guns. The newest destroyers are equipped with guided missiles as their chief offensive weapon.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See H. B. Mason, Encyclopedia of Ships and Shipping (1977); G. Blackburn, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ships, Boats, and Vessels (1982); K. J. Rawson and E. C. Tupper, Basic Ship Theory (1983); A. Kludas, Great Passenger Ships of the World (5 vol., 1986–87); Jane's Fighting Ships (pub. annually since 1897).

ship

Large floating vessel capable of crossing open waters. The term formerly was applied to sailing vessels with three or more masts; today it usually denotes a vessel of more than 500 tons' (450 metric tons') displacement. The largest ships today are enormous oil tankers, some of which are 500,000 tons (450,000 metric tons) deadweight. Other specialized ships (containerships) carry general freight in standardized containers that can be easily loaded, unloaded, and transferred. See also battleship, brig, clipper ship, corvette, dhow, frigate, junk, longship, ocean liner, schooner, yacht.

ship

1. a vessel propelled by engines or sails for navigating on the water, esp a large vessel that cannot be carried aboard another, as distinguished from a boat

2. Nautical a large sailing vessel with three or more square-rigged masts

3. the crew of a ship

4. short for airship, spaceship

ship [ship]

(naval architecture)

Any large vessel which travels over the seas, rivers, or lakes.

Ship [ship]

(astronomy)

Argo

ship (redirected from shipped)

Early Steam-powered Ships

Bibliography

ship

ship
(redirected from shipped)