When the USS New Jersey (SSN796) was commissioned at NWS Earle in Leonardo last month, there was considerable discussion on whether it should be referred to as a Ship or a Boat.
The correct term could be either, but the preferred term for Navy submarines is Boat.
According to the Bluejacket’s Manual: The original submarines were very small and manned only when in use, so “boat” was appropriate.
In Naval terminology, a boat is a vessel that is launched or tended from a larger ship. The earliest submarines required support vessels to maintain and launch them, hence they were termed boats.
However, the Bluejacket’s Manual continues to explain “ But as submarines developed into larger vessels—and rightfully should have been called ships—the original term stuck.
When the large nuclear subs began to appear, there was an attempt by some submariners to start calling them ships, but as with many things in the Navy, tradition trumped logic, and today, all submarines—even the giant “boomers” (fleet ballistic-missile submarines)—are called boats.
So three Navy vessels have held the name New Jersey…two battleships, BB16 and BB62, and one boat, SSN796.
