What is the defining difference between a boat and a ship.?

Question

In particular, why is a submarine a boat, not a ship. When you look at a vessel in the water, how can you tell whether it is a boat or a ship.

Answer 1

Usually two things - size and usage.

Boats have loa less than 40' and widely used for fun and recreation.

Ships usually have loa more than 40' and are used for commercial needs as passenger or cargo

However in Europe some people can say that a boat  is more than 40'.

Answer 2

Boat -- A boat is a watercraft designed to float or plane on, and provide transport over, water. Usually this water will be inland (lakes) or in protected coastal areas.

Ship -- A vessel of considerable size for deep-water navigation.

A sailing vessel having three or more square-rigged masts.

Answer 3

There isn't one, a ship is a boat, but a boat is not necessearialy a ship!

Answer 4

It is size. Anything 70 feet and larger can be considered either a ship or a boat. Everything smaller is a boat.

Answer 5

The size of your wallet.

Answer 6

When used as boat in the navy all know your submariner>

Answer 7

Originally, a boat  did not have a continuous upper deck. A ship had such a deck. However, this is complicated by the term "ship-rigged"  - having 3 or more masts all of which are square rigged. "Boats", therefore, were usually much smaller than ships, early submarines were so small that they were referred to as "boats". Now some of them are huge - but the term has stuck.

Answer 8

You can put a boat on the deck of a ship, but not the other way around.