# "Ship", not "aircraft" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 11, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780 "2007-02-11T23:22:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/1 "2007-02-11T23:22:34Z")
I saw “30 Seconds OVer Tokyo”, or parts of it, again today. Van Johnson says after the crash, “I lost my ship”. Did aircrews in the Second Waorld War call their craft “ships”? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/2 "2007-02-11T23:26:16Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] I saw “30 Seconds OVer Tokyo”, or parts of it, again today. Van Johnson says after the crash, “I lost my ship”. Did aircrews in the Second Waorld War call their craft “ships”? [/QUOTE] Sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/3 "2007-02-12T00:04:51Z")
Calling them ships goes back to the beginning of the century: [Tom Swift and His Airship](http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/appleton/Tom_Swift_and_His_Airship/Tom_Swift_and_His_Airship.html) by Victor Appleton, 1910: > [@](#): > > A short description of the new airship may not be out of place now. It was built after plans Mr. Sharp had shown to Tom and his father soon after the thrilling rescue of the aeronaut from the blazing balloon over Lake Carlopa. The general idea of the airship was that of the familiar aeroplane, but in addition to the sustaining surfaces of the planes, there was an aluminum, cigar-shaped tank, holding a new and very powerful gas, which would serve to keep the ship afloat even when not in motion. ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Bannon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Race\_Bannon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Bannon)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/4 "2007-02-12T00:07:53Z")
I can’t speak to WWII, but in the military helicopter business, people often refer to helicopters as “ships”. The habit is especially common from Bell Helicopter folks - you often hear people say things like “we modified three ships last month”. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/5 "2007-02-12T00:09:34Z")
Airships preceded aeroplanes, which adopted the nomenclature: Air **port** Captain Crew Port Starboard Galley They’re always “she” ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/6 "2007-02-12T00:15:27Z")
In addition, the term ‘[gunship](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunship)’ is commonly applied to both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. The most common, IMO, is the [AC-130 Gunship](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_AC-130). ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/7 "2007-02-12T00:20:39Z")
Also, in pilot-speak, a formation of two planes is often called a “two ship” (likewise “four ship” and so on). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/8 "2007-02-12T00:34:46Z")
[QUOTE=David Simmons] Sometimes. [/QUOTE] From the horses mouth. Not wasting anytime with extra words today I see. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/9 "2007-02-12T00:47:50Z")
More aero **nautical** terminology that has occurred to me: Air **craft** Cabin Bulkhead Steward ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/10 "2007-02-12T03:03:15Z")
It strikes me that WW2 and earlier pilots were much more likely to call planes _planes_ than any pilot today, civilian or military. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/11 "2007-02-12T03:33:27Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] It strikes me that WW2 and earlier pilots were much more likely to call planes _planes_ than any pilot today, civilian or military. [/QUOTE] I’m not at all sure that that is true. I was just watching a DVD of The Memphis Belle (the original) plus Combat America (a training/propaganda film of the same era, narrated by Lt. Clark Gable) and the term “ship” was used throughout both films. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/12 "2007-02-12T04:05:26Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] the term “ship” was used throughout both films. [/QUOTE] I’m curious because my Father who worked on B-25’s never said “ship” for airplane. He worked on “airplanes”, my models I asked him about (did they really take the guns out for the Dolittle Raid? Wasn’t that dumb?) were “airplanes”. The Doc Savage books he and my uncles read called them “ships”. I figured it was a romantic term for books and movies. Sorry he’s not around to ask about it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/13 "2007-02-12T05:07:30Z")
When I note that the word ship was used throughout, I am not trying to claim that it was used in place of (air)plane, only that it was frequently used. I’m not going to rewatch the films just to see the particular usage, but my memory suggests that is was mostly used in the context of “We lost three ships that day.” and “He was able to bring his ship home despite the damage.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ship-not-aircraft/391780/14 "2007-02-12T06:03:53Z")
> [@](#): > > The Doc Savage books he and my uncles read called them “ships”. I figured it was a romantic term for books and movies. Thinking about it, this might be a relevant point. The films I was watching were filmed by aircrews and snatches of dialogue that are recorded are real, (_the pilot snarling to the crew to shut up and stop chattering to leave the intercom open to report actual enemy fighter sightings_), but the _narratives_ were created by guys hired (or drafted) from Hollywood and they may have included more “romantic” language that they brought from their experience in movies in the 1930s. I know I have seen combat reports and letters home that used the word “ship,” but the impression of widespread usage taken from movies–even movies filmed (but not narrated or edited) in combat–might be a bit misleading.