Are all ships female?

[virus_SHAME]

I know that at least in the US, ships are usually referred to as a female personality, but is it the same across all nationalities?  I was informed that German ships are actually not referred to as female, nor Russian.  Not sure about other nations.

[TabbyHopkins]

I'm firmly in the boat of "ships are 'shes' regardless of nationality".

[MexicanPanda]

I don't know about the real nations, though I had heard similar things about the Germans giving them male personalities. I know everyone here calls them females though.

[Judge_Doom]

Ships, boats, cars, trucks, planes, most things are referred to as she, 'she's a beaut' and such.

[virus_SHAME]

I don't know about the real nations, though I had heard similar things about the Germans giving them male personalities. I know everyone here calls them females though.

 

That's where I got tripped up.  Was commenting on Scharnhorst in my TS3 and mistakenly said "her guns" and was quickly corrected by my friends telling me that, no....German ships were masculine.  Since then I've kept German ships neutral.  I know here in the US things like cars, trains, ships, etc, are all feminine (normally, there are outliers to this).

[BlailBlerg]

Honestly, some of the names and personalities just seem male or female also.  

Bismarck, Benson, Mahan, Farragut, feels like male. 
Heck.  The male sounding names.  

[donaldEpott]

Bismarck was called He and that is a fact. and since the Germans held him and Tirpitz in such High regard I would have to say they would have done the same for the Tirpitz.

[geser98]

The word "ship" in Russian language is masculine, therefore ships are referred to as "he", French is another language that has genders for nouns, ship there is also a masculine noun. Both English and German don't have gender structure and ship being a "she" is just a tradition in English and not sure about German language. 

 

 

[amade]

There are some male ships, but only in limited numbers. They compete for the right to mate, and the victor often kills the weaker ones which keeps the male population low.

[Aduial]

In Korean, ships are neither female nor female- they're just never personified. Don't know about any other languages, because i only speak English and Korean fluently. I probably speak French worse than a one year old French baby, so I can't say about French.

[MidnightShamalan]

Bismarck and Tirpitz were the exception, not the rule. German ships were mostly referred to as female IIRC.

 

Russian is the only nationality that i can think of that actually referred to the majority of their ships as male. i think French used both.

 

i looked this stuff up a while back. at the moment i'm too tired to do it again. good luck sorting it out.

[Aduial]

i think French used both.

 

But for French, since their nouns are either female or male, wouldn't it always be one or the other? 

[MidnightShamalan]

 

But for French, since their nouns are either female or male, wouldn't it always be one or the other? 

 

yeah, that's what i meant. one or the other, but both were used in reference to ships. one might be male, while another would be female. IIRC.

 

i've slept since i did the research, so i could be wrong. 

[Aduial]

 

yeah, that's what i meant. one or the other, but both were used in reference to ships. one might be male, while another would be female. IIRC.

 

i've slept since i did the research, so i could be wrong. 

 

What i was trying to say was wouldn't all ships be labeled female, or all ships male. 

 

Edit: So it seems that the noun for "ship" is a masculine noun in French. So despite this, some ships would be labeled female? Maybe i'm taking the gender thing too literally.

[geser98]

 

What i was trying to say was wouldn't all ships be labeled female, or all ships male. 

 

Edit: So it seems that the noun for "ship" is a masculine noun in French. So despite this, some ships would be labeled female? Maybe i'm taking the gender thing too literally.

 

Could be just going from the name of the particular ship. Doesn't it sound hilarious in English when you refer to battleship King George V as "she"

[Glutius_Maximus]

The Great Lakes freighters are often named for captains of industry such as the Edmund Fitzgerald. I believe that those ships are referred to as "He". I may be wrong, I'm certainly not an expert.

[CanuckTheCanadianGoose]

Did you just assume my botes gender? 

[Doors_The_Dwarf]

As far as I know most, if not all ships, are referred to as a "she" except for the Bismark because her captain said something like "something with so much awesome power can only be referenced as a he" but i guess overall it really doesn't matter.

[Doors_The_Dwarf]

Did you just assume my botes gender? 

 

Hahahahahah brb dead atm I don't know why but that just made me chuckle excessively.

[virus_SHAME]

Did you just assume my botes gender? 

 

trigger'd.

[alexf24]

Boats do not have gender. It is an English speaker bias to think of it as female, as it is biased as a male in Russian, German, Spanish and others.

 

Call it what you like. She or He does not make a difference., It is only your custom in your native language. Don't generalize.

[DoomStomper]

[Landing_Skipper]

I have a hard time thinking of, or referring to, Friedrich der Grosse as female. Warspite clearly is feminine; however, there simply is nothing feminine about FDG. Starting with his name. And I'm glad to know that Bismarck goes into battle wearing pants. 

[Aduial]

I have a hard time thinking of, or referring to, Friedrich der Grosse as female. Warspite clearly is feminine; however, there simply is nothing feminine about FDG. Starting with his name. And I'm glad to know that Bismarck goes into battle wearing pants. 

 

The IJN CAs are very feminine in my opinion, with their elegant lines. German BBs with the exception of the Scharnhorst twins feel masculine. USN BBs look masculine at low-mid tiers, but starting at NC they feel a lot more feminine. 

[Fudd_Life]

The Great Lakes freighters are often named for captains of industry such as the Edmund Fitzgerald. I believe that those ships are referred to as "He". I may be wrong, I'm certainly not an expert.

As far as I am aware they are still referred to as she.   The name doesn't really figure into it.