A watercraft or waterborne vessel is any vehicle designed for travel across or through water bodies , such as a boat , ship , hovercraft , submersible or submarine .
4-410: A vessel 's home port is the port at which it is based, which may not be the same as its port of registry shown on its registration documents and lettered on the stern of the ship's hull . In the cruise industry the term "home port" is also often used in reference to the port in which a ship will take on / change over the majority of its passengers while taking on stores, supplies and fuel. In
8-955: A navy , a ship's home port is the port best suited to provide maintenance and restock weaponry particular to ships of that class and build. On conclusion of a tour of duty , a combat vessel returning to port will usually return to its home port . A single home port also makes it easier for family to visit sailors on leave . Marine vessel Historically, watercraft have been divided into two main categories. Watercraft can be grouped into surface vessels , which include ships, yachts , boats, hydroplanes , wingships , unmanned surface vehicles , sailboards and human-powered craft such as rafts , canoes , kayaks and paddleboards ; underwater vessels , which include submarines, submersibles, unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), wet subs and diver propulsion vehicles ; and amphibious vehicles , which include hovercraft, car boats , amphibious ATVs and seaplanes . Many of these watercraft have
12-507: A variety of subcategories and are used for different needs and applications. The design of watercraft requires a tradeoff among internal capacity ( tonnage ), speed and seaworthiness . Tonnage is important for transport of goods, speed is important for warships and racing vessels, and the degree of seaworthiness varies according to the bodies of water on which a watercraft is used. Regulations apply to larger watercraft, to avoid foundering at sea and other problems. Design technologies include
16-438: The use of computer modeling and ship model basin testing before construction. Watercraft propulsion can be divided into five categories. Any one watercraft might use more than one of these methods at different times or in conjunction with each other. For instance, early steamships often set sails to work alongside the engine power. Before steam tugs became common, sailing vessels would back and fill their sails to maintain
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