# Any More Boats or Ships Named \_\_\_\_rry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456 "2013-08-06T00:54:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/1 "2013-08-06T00:54:37Z")
A Ferry is a ship used to transport people and goods across a small body of water (bay, river, creek, etc.) A Wherry is a small boat used to transfer people to and from a ship. Are there any other boats that use similar names? What is the origin of these words? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/2 "2013-08-06T01:03:58Z")
Are you going to insist on ‘erry’, or does [dory](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dory) count? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/3 "2013-08-06T01:28:24Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > A Wherry is a small boat used to transfer people to and from a ship. [No it isn’t.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wherry) But anyway, carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/4 "2013-08-06T01:32:35Z")
I’m always impressed that [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_boat_types) has a list for stuff like this. It doesn’t show anything else ending with ry, other than what’s listed already in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/5 "2013-08-06T03:00:55Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > [No it isn’t.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wherry) But anyway, carry on. Well, maybe. From the Wikipedia link: > [@](#): > > The term wherry is also associated with a particular type of lighter used on the River Tyne largely in connection with the coal trade. A lighter can be a smaller boat used to transfer people and goods to a larger ship, (although I am not sure that the River Tyne wherries were used for exactly that purpose). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/6 "2013-08-06T03:19:37Z")
There’s a type of boat known as a [skerry cruiser](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skerry_Cruiser). ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/7 "2013-08-06T03:36:49Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Well, maybe. > > From the Wikipedia link: A lighter can be a smaller boat used to transfer people and goods to a larger ship, (although I am not sure that the River Tyne wherries were used for exactly that purpose). No, a lighter in the coal trade is for transferring coal, not people. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/8 "2013-08-06T12:58:33Z")
Who would name a boat “Larry”? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/9 "2013-08-06T13:30:41Z")
Of course, there’s always the [good ship John Kerry.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/30683647@N00/4846398121/) Where does the expression “the good ship…” come from? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/10 "2013-08-06T13:41:41Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Where does the expression “the good ship…” come from? Would YOU take a ride on a boat referred to as “The fair-to-middling ship …”? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/11 "2013-08-06T14:29:26Z")
I seem to recall small craft called jerry boats, but I can’t find a cite. May have been a regionalism or even a local term. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/12 "2013-08-06T14:34:59Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > A Wherry is a small boat used to transfer people to and from a ship. Isn’t that a tender? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/13 "2013-08-06T14:41:00Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Isn’t that a tender? I think the word “wherry” was used in one of the Hornblower books-it was also referred to as the captain’s “gig”. “Wherry” doesn’t get used much today-a shame, it is such a nice word! ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/14 "2013-08-06T15:12:06Z")
Would you settle for a Galway or Irish hooker? They would carry sod and limestone across Galway Bay and be used for fishing. [http://www.galwayhookers.org/](http://www.galwayhookers.org/) > **[Galway hooker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galway_hooker)** > > The Galway hooker (Irish: húicéir) is a traditional fishing boat used in Galway Bay off the west coast of Ireland. The hooker was developed for the strong seas there. It is identified by its sharp, clean entry, bluff bow, marked tumblehome and raked transom. Its sail plan consists of a single mast with a main sail and two foresails. Traditionally, the boat is black (being coated in pitch) and the sails are a dark red-brown. > From the late 20th century, there has been a revival of and renewed inte... ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/15 "2013-08-06T15:17:10Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I seem to recall small craft called jerry boats, but I can’t find a cite. May have been a regionalism or even a local term. Are you sure you’re not thinking of “jerry built”? That wouldn’t be a good name for the only thing between you and a watery grave. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/16 "2013-08-06T15:18:50Z")
You could sail a jerry _can_, if you were really tiny and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/17 "2013-08-06T15:47:19Z")
There’s also the Perry-class frigate. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/18 "2013-08-06T16:02:43Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Are you sure you’re not thinking of “jerry built”? That wouldn’t be a good name for the only thing between you and a watery grave. Yeah, that and a thoroughly despicable equivalent I won’t give air time… possibly, though. I can’t bring a context to mind but “jerry boat” is stuck in my linguistic bank from somewhere. Might be a conflation of jerry-rigged aka jury-rigged aka jerry built as applied to things that hopefully float. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/19 "2013-08-06T16:09:28Z")
Isn’t a U-boat a Jerry boat? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456/20 "2013-08-06T17:04:25Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Yeah, that and a thoroughly despicable equivalent I won’t give air time… possibly, though. I can’t bring a context to mind but “jerry boat” is stuck in my linguistic bank from somewhere. Might be a conflation of jerry-rigged aka jury-rigged aka jerry built as applied to things that hopefully float. I could have sworn it was another term for a rubber dinghy but I can’t find any reference to the phrase. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-more-boats-or-ships-named-____rry/665456.md?page=2)