Watercraft: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Vehicles that are intended for locomotion on or in the water}}

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[[File:Tage Erlander and Nikita Khrushchev at Harpsund 1964 (colour).jpg|thumb|350px|From right to left, First Secretary of the Soviet Union [[Nikita Khrushchev]], Swedish Prime Minister [[Tage Erlander]] and an interpreter in 1964 at Harpsund on a rowboat (or [[rowing]] boat), which is an example of a watercraft.]]

[[File:Andean raft, 1748.jpg|thumb|A 17th century sailing raft in [[Paita]] harbour (Peru).<ref name="McGrail 2014">{{cite book |last1=McGrail |first1=Sean |title=Early ships and seafaring : water transport beyond Europe |date=2014 |location=Barnsley |isbn=9781473825598}}</ref>{{rp|198}}]]

Any [[vehicle]] used in or on water as well as underwater, including [[Boat|boats]], [[Ship|ships]], [[hovercraft]] and [[Submarine|submarines]], is a '''watercraft''', also known as a '''water vessel''' or '''waterborne vessel'''.<ref>[https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/another-word-for/watercraft.html "Watercraft"; Wordhippo.com.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019120207/https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/another-word-for/watercraft.html |date=2022-10-19 }} Retrieved 19 October 2022.</ref> A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by [[sail]], [[oar]], [[paddle]], or [[engine]]) and hence is distinct from a stationary device, such as a [[Floating dock (jetty)|pontoon]], that merely [[Buoyancy|floats]].

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Most watercraft may be described as either a [[ship]] or a [[boat]]. However, numerous items, including [[surfboard]]s, [[robot|underwater robots]], [[seaplane]]s and [[torpedo]]es, may be considered neither ships nor boats.

Although ships are typically larger than boats, the distinction between those two categories is not one of size per se.

*[[Ship]]s are typically large ocean-going vessels; whereas [[boat]]s are smaller, and typically travel most often on inland or coastal waters.

*A [[rule of thumb]] says "a boat can fit on a ship, but a ship can't fit on a boat", and a ship ''usually'' has sufficient size to carry its own boats, such as [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboat]]s, [[dinghy|dinghies]], or [[Runabout (boat)|runabout]]s.

*Local [[law]] and regulation may define the exact size (or the number of [[mast (sailing)|masts]]) that distinguishes a ship from a boat.

*Traditionally, [[submarine]]s were called "boats", perhaps reflecting their cramped conditions: small size reduces the need for power, and thus the need to surface or [[Submarine snorkel|snorkel]] for a supply of the air that running [[Marine propulsion#Reciprocating|marine diesel engines]] requires; whereas, in contrast, [[nuclear submarine|nuclear-powered submarines]]' [[nuclear reactors|reactor]]s supply power without consuming air, and such craft are large, much roomier, and classed as ships in some [[Navy|navies]].

*A [[merchant ship]] is any floating craft that transports cargo for the purpose of earning revenue. In this context, a passenger ship's "cargo" is its passengers.

The term "watercraft" (unlike such terms as [[aircraft]] or [[spacecraft]]) is rarely used to describe any individual object: rather the term serves to unify the category that ranges from [[Personal watercraft|jet ski]]s to [[aircraft carrier]]s. Such a vessel may be used in saltwater and freshwater; for pleasure, recreation, physical exercise, [[commerce]], [[transport]] or [[military]] missions.

==Usage==

[[File:Jetboot Jetski DM 2007 Krautsand 2.jpg|thumb|245px|Racing scene of a [[personal watercraft]]]]

Usually the purposes behind watercraft designs and skills are for seafaring education or leisure activities, [[fishing]] and resource extraction, transportation of cargo or passengers, and for conducting [[combat]] or [[Marine salvage|salvage operations]]. In general, the purpose of a water vehicle identifies its utility with a [[maritime industry]] sub-sector.

The design from which a water vehicle is created usually seeks to achieveabalance between internal capacity ([[tonnage]]), speed and [[seaworthiness]]. Tonnage is predominantly a consideration in transport operations, speed is important for [[warship]]s, and safety is a primary consideration for less experienced or often smaller and less stable training and leisure vehicles. This is dueto the great level of regulatory compliance required by the larger watercraft, which ensures very infrequent instances of [[Shipwreck (accident)|foundering]] at sea through application of extensive [[computer modeling]] and [[ship model basin]] testing before [[shipyard]] construction begins.

Historically, water vehicles have been propelled by [[human-powered watercraft|people]] with [[Setting pole|poles]], [[paddle]]s, or [[oar]]s, through manipulation of sails that propel by [[wind]] pressure and/or lift, and a variety of engineered machinery that create subsurface [[thrust]] through the process of [[Internal combustion engine|internal combustion]] or electricity. The technological history of watercraft in European history can be divided by reference to [[marine propulsion]] as simple paddle craft, oared [[galleys]] from the 8th century BCE until the 15th century, [[lateen]] sail during the [[Age of Discovery]] from the early 15th century and into the early 17th century, [[full-rigged ship]]s of the [[Age of Sail]] from the 16th to the mid 19th century,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hms-trincomalee.co.uk/history/the-age-of-sail |title=The Age of Sail |website=HMS Trincomalee |access-date=12 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316114603/http://www.hms-trincomalee.co.uk/history/the-age-of-sail |archive-date=2016-03-16 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> the Age of Steam reciprocating [[marine steam engine]] roughly between 1770 and 1914, the [[steam turbine]], later gas turbine, and [[internal combustion engines]] using [[diesel fuel]], [[petrol]] and [[LNG]] as fuels from the turn of the 20th century, which have been supplemented to a degree by [[nuclear marine propulsion]] since the 1950s in some naval watercraft. Current technological development seeks to identify cheaper, renewable and less polluting sources of propulsion for watercraft of all shapes and sizes.

==Construction==

[[File:Lifeboat.17-31.underway.arp.jpg|thumb|245px|A [[Severn-class lifeboat]] in [[Poole Harbour]], [[Dorset]], [[England]]. This is the largest class of&nbsp;UK [[Lifeboat (rescue)|lifeboat]], at 17&nbsp;metres long]]

{{main|Shipbuilding}}

Secondary applications of technology in watercraft have been those of used structural materials, [[navigation aid]]s; and in the case of [[warship]]s, [[weapon system]]s. The purpose of usage and the physical environment define the materials used in construction which had historically included grasses, leather, timbers, metals combined with timber or without, [[silicate]] and plastic derivatives, and others.

==Registration==

[[File:91 superjet.jpg|thumb|245px|A vessel registration number (located near the top) on a [[Yamaha SuperJet]]]]

Watercraft registration is the registration of a watercraft with a government authority. In the United States, it consists of an [[alphanumeric]] string called a vessel registration number that is issued by the state's [[Department of Motor Vehicles]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vessel Boat Registration and Information |url=http://www.dmv.ca.gov/boatsinfo/boatreg.htm |publisher=[[California|State of California]] |access-date=2016-04-17 |archive-date=2014-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140901194639/http://dmv.ca.gov/boatsinfo/boatreg.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Navigation==

[[Navigation aid]]s have varied over time: from astronomical observation, to mechanical mechanisms, and more recently analogue and digital computer devices that now rely on [[GPS]] systems.

==Weapons==

Naval weapon systems have closely followed the development in land weapons, developing from:

*[[aircraft carrier]]s

*breech-loading rifled guns

*direct enemy hull ramming to use of basic mechanical projectiles

*firing shells

*missiles and remotely piloted devices

*[[Minelayer|naval mine layers]] and [[minesweeper]]

*smooth-bore cannonball firing guns

*[[torpedo]]-armed [[submarine]]s

*warships armed with fire control directed weapons

Until development of steam propulsion was coupled with rapid-firing breech-loading guns, naval combat was often concluded by a boarding combat between the opposing crews. Since the early 20th century, there has been a substantial development in technologies which allow force projection from a naval task force to a land objective using marine infantry.

*[[Canal]]

* [[Ferry]]

*[[IMO numbers]]

*[[Lake freighter]]

*[[Merchant vessel]]

*[[Navigability]]

* [[Roll-on/roll-off]]

*[[Ship registration]]

* [[Train ferry]]

*[[Unmanned surface vehicle]]

{{Technology topics}}

[[Category:Ship registration]]